Is your dream to be your own boss, making all the decisions and working hard to achieve your business goals? Become an entrepreneur!
When you own and run your own business, you feel financially independent and manage your own life and work. You can build things and then see how they change over time. An entrepreneur always makes decisions on his or her own, puts unusual, creative ideas into practice, and builds long-term relationships with customers and other entrepreneurs.
However, it is not that easy. 90% of new businesses fail within 2-3 years. The good news is that starting a business can be one of the most exciting, rewarding and interesting things you'll ever do.
From our guide, you will learn who is an entrepreneur, how to start your own business and put it in motion, and what’s the difference between an entrepreneur and a freelancer and business owner. Read on to learn more!
Who is an entrepreneur?
How to define ‘entrepreneur’ as a concept? An entrepreneur is a person who starts a new business and runs it by taking financial or personal risks. It is often said that an entrepreneur is anyone who takes risks to make money and does not work for someone else. However, an entrepreneur's risk is usually only in the form of financial investment - while their employees take all the physical risks.
Entrepreneurs can be small business owners, people who create their own content, people who start companies, or anyone who wants to build a business and work for themselves. To be an entrepreneur, you don't need a degree or completed courses, but you do need a lot of knowledge, passion, and enthusiasm. You need to invest in yourself for better future - more on that can be read here.
How to become an entrepreneur?
To become a successful business entrepreneur, you require simply to do one thing. To start your own business. Many successful entrepreneurs have started many start-ups in their careers, and when they failed—as most companies frequently do—they moved onto the next ones. We have presented how to start your own business elsewhere on our blog, but here are the things you need to run your own company modeled more like a start-up:
A great business idea
There is no good company without a good business idea. Think about what you want to sell, about your prospective product and service. Consider the things you know how to do, what you can create and design. It's not that a good salesman can sell just about anything. Your first business must be something that you are perfectly familiar with like the back of your hand.
Even if you don't have a “perfect” product, you can create one by choosing your niche and target audience appropriately. Ask yourself, does your product satisfy a need or desire? You need to sell things that make people happy or solve problems—otherwise no one will buy them.
Make your product manufactured and tested
Once you know what you want to sell, you have several options on how to do it. You can produce your own stuff by hand - here you have the advantage of knowing every aspect of the product. You can find a manufacturing partner who will produce your good exactly the way you want it. Likewise, you can also buy back products that have already been produced in the wholesale market.
How to become an entrepreneur that sells services? Well, start by thinking about what tools you require. If you want to capitalize on a new niche, you may need entirely new tools. For example, legal consultations at a client's home require a car to get there and a tablet with a library of legal books—which are also a cost.
It's also a good idea to try and test out the product before you introduce it on the open market. It's not just about testing and safety, but also whether people will be interested in it. Ask friends to distribute it to their network of contacts, add the product for free to another product, and watch how people use it and whether it has found the niche you had in mind.
Make a plan for your business
Once you know what you're going to do, it's time to write a business plan. A business plan is a document that contains almost everything you need to know about your business. In it, you need to describe who you can reach and sell to, how much each product will cost, which product lines you will start with and how you will do marketing.
A business plan is useful to banks and investors, but it's more useful to you - lay out your strategy and tactics in it. If you want to know how to be an entrepreneur, you can’t start without a proper business plan!
Get the money to find your business
Running a business costs money, especially if you want to sell your own product.
For many people, self-reliance and own work are things that define ‘entrepreneur’. You can finance your own business if you have your own money and savings. Just make sure you can pay for it for a while—especially if you intend to hire employees. Depending on your business, you may not see profits for several years.
Another choice is to get a small business loan. A bank can give you one, sometimes even a government like the European Union. Many programs can help small businesses spread their wings.
Small startups can also get funding from angel investors. These accredited investors give money to startups and companies in their early stages. In return for their investment, they receive shares of ownership or convertible debt, which can be converted into equity in the future.
Legally register your company
The exact details vary from country to country. You can register your company with the national office or chamber of commerce in your state. You can also register a phone number, bank account and email address (and secure a domain). It's best to be ready to work from day one.
What is the difference between a business owner and a self-employed person and a freelancer?
The word “entrepreneur” can be used to describe many things. In this blog post, we looked at it mainly from the point of view of a startup, not necessarily from the point of view of a small business owner or freelancer.
Small business owners and freelancers are independent, self-sufficient people who are willing to take risks. However, in some important respects they are not the same as entrepreneurs.
Freelancers earn money by doing direct work. They often turn their hobbies or interests into a full-time job. An entrepreneur is more interested in doing business than making money from it. They don't have to work alone, and can make a lot of money by selling their business or turning it into a partnership or corporation.
This also differs from small business owners, who typically start their companies with the idea of being in business for decades and growing slowly. On the contrary, an entrepreneur is more interested in rapid growth in a short period of time.
There are many ways and ideas on how to become an entrepreneur - we hope that you use our ideas as a useful guidebook to start a small business!
