4 Lessons for Success from Millionaire Entrepreneurs
For many of us, we always read the successful stories about entrepreneurs and their companies. They are filled with great anecdotes about their path to making money, growing their businesses and achieving successes. Sometimes it almost sounds kind of easy but what are not usually included in these narratives, are the bumps in the road faced by this group.
It can be a tough journey for an entrepreneur as the outlook may not be so good but according to Harvard researchers, persistence will pay off in entrepreneurship.
For a first-time entrepreneur, he will have an 18 percent chance to succeed while that entrepreneur who has failed before but is trying again, has a 20 percent chance of success.
Yes, everyone has faced failure one time or another and at the October Chicago Ideas Week, a weeklong forum bringing together world-renowned thought leaders to share and discuss ideas, some entrepreneurs shared stories from their business journeys. They also offered the following four words of wisdom, according to FOXBusiness.com.
Failure is Part of the Journey:
Many great entrepreneurs will treat failure as part of their entrepreneur journey. If you have a setback in your new company, you should keeping trying different things to make it work.
Eric Lefkofsky, CEO of Groupon, said of failure, “The great ones treat failure as a necessary part of their journey. It’s not win or lose. It’s always win or learn.”
Lefkofsky shared some of his failings and added there was no magic to him finding success but continually trying things has enabled him to find something that did work.
Keep Your Eyes Open for Opportunities:
You may have a great idea for a product. Think about what’s already out there in the marketplace and what annoys/frustrates you about it. Make a change to create a better product and by doing so, opportunity will ensue.
Dr. Barry Nalebuff, the founder of Honest Tea, used economic theory to find success. He believed that the best tea beverage should not be as sweet as the ones currently on the market. He wanted fewer calories for the product and lower manufacturing costs.
Nalebuff did this through Honest Tea in 1998 and in 2011, he sold the company to Coca Cola.
Be Ready When Opportunity Knocks:
You may come across a networking opportunity when you least expect it. Be ready to share your idea or product. You never know what type of opportunity will come out of it.
Nalebuff, always carrying Honest Tea samples with him, met Oprah Winfrey at a yoga retreat. He offered her a bottle of his beverage to try; she liked it and mentioned it in her magazine.
We all know the positive effect on a product if Oprah endorses it.
Moral of the story: be ready to talk about your small business or product to anyone, anywhere.
No Fixed Path for Success:
While you may be an organized entrepreneur and have a great business plan and idea, there’s no set path to success. Be ready to veer off course. It doesn’t mean failure will follow but perhaps a different path than you initially intended—one that could prove to be successful.
Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans said at Chicago Ideas Week, “There’s no set path to success, there are many ways to get there.”
And one a final note from another well-known millionaire (well really a billionaire), Richard Branson gave his perspective on the skills needed when he first started. This came in response to a letter from a 12-year-old girl.
Branson said via Entrepreneur.com, “The key enterprising skills I used when first starting out are the very same ones I use today: the art of delegation, risk-taking, surrounding yourself with a great team and working on projects you really believe in.”
Your success is only as good as your small business idea, hard word and persistence. We just make it easier to execute.
