8 Things I Wish I Had Known When I Started My Entrepreneurial Venture

Starting out in your entrepreneurial pursuit can be very daunting, especially if you have no clue where to begin and who to turn to for help.

I began my entrepreneurial journey because I always dreamt of working for myself. I started all sorts of businesses: dropshipping, eBay, digital products, software and apps…you name it! Some businesses did great (for a while) while others flopped. It was a testing ground for me back then while I was trying to get out of my day job I hated.

I stopped looking for that silver bullet years back and now run a successful digital product company selling eBooks and online courses, serving over 20,000 customers, and run an online coaching membership.

In my 10+ years of being an entrepreneur, I definitely made many mistakes. My naivety and lack of responsibility as a business owner took its toll. Business started to decline and I lost passion. As a result, I went through a pretty rough time, owing a lot of debt and trying to find my way in life.

In this post, I want to share some lessons I learned so you can hopefully be more aware of what to expect when you pursue your venture as an entrepreneur, and know that it’s not always what media makes it out to be.

If you want to build a business that will be profitable and fulfilling for many years to come, follow these pointers:

1. Don’t expect quick results. The first few years won’t be easy. The learning curve will be a lot to take in. No one teaches you this stuff in school so most of what you’ll do in your business will be new. It took me a good 4–5 years to actually make a full-time income online where I could confidently quit my day job. If you’re one to give up easy, then it’s really not for you.
2. Expect failures. Being an entrepreneur means you’re willing to take risks, despite knowing that you may fail. Most people give up before they even try. There will also be failures when you’re in business. Getting back up and learning from a failure is what’s more important.
3. Don’t be afraid to outsource. One thing I should have done earlier in this business is to outsource. You’re probably thinking, outsourcing cost money and you’re only just starting out, when in fact, outsourcing can make you money instead. It’s an investment. It’s leveraging on other people’s talents. Why spend 6 hours trying to figure out how to design a logo that will most likely look mediocre when you could hire a professional designer to do it for you? Not only will you be saving time but you’ll also save the stress so that you can work on more important things. My basic guide is if you’re doing a particular task more than once, and you either hate doing it or someone else could do it better than you, then it should be delegated.
4. It’s all about delivering value. The easiest way to really stand out from the crowd is to simply do more or offer more to your customers than your competitors. Overdelivering on your service or product is a surefire way to win customers. What actions can you take today to make you/your business more valuable?
5. Just do one thing. Forget trying to add this plug-in and that plug-in to your site. Forget trying to get all complex with your sales funnels. How about just getting that one thing up first? It could be a YouTube video that you’ve been meaning to upload, your first lead magnet, your first Facebook Ad or that one project that’s been on the back of your mind but can’t seem to do because you have a million other things you feel you need to do. Today your aim should be to just work on that one thing. Nothing else. No answering emails. No opening up social media sites. Just that one thing. Tick it off once you’ve done it then move on to your next one thing. That’s how you get results.
6. Model success. The fastest way to success is to model those who have already done it. This doesn’t mean to literally copy everything they do, but take a look at the path they took to get to where they are. What actions did they take? What failures did they make which you can learn from? How are they building an audience? What traits do they possess? Those are the types of things to look for.
7. Create a routine. Nothing is better than to stick to a routine. When you know what you have to do today, everything else around it gets filtered and blocked out. Write it down on paper or on your Google Calendar. Example, from 9–10AM, you’ll write content for your blog. 11 AM — 12 PM you’ll write a newsletter. 12–3PM, work on your ebook, etc.
8. Reward yourself. Small or big task, it’s always nice to be able to celebrate your accomplishments. It’s not all about just working hard, you’ve got to be able to enjoy the process, too. Your reward could be as simple as chilling on the hammock, do a little gardening or as big as going on an overseas trip. You name it.

No matter what advice you get from people and what I’ve shared with you, you’re bound to experience hiccups and stuff ups. It’s really part of the process of being an entrepreneur.

But the best part about it all? You get to live life on your terms.

Thanks for reading!

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