how to become an entrepreneur
after retiring her professional dancing shoes judi sheppard missett became an entrepreneur by teaching a dance class in order to earn some extra cash but she soon learned that women who came to her studio were less interested in learning precise steps than they were in losing weight and toning up sheppard missett then trained instructors to teach her routines to the masses and jazzercise was born soon a franchise deal followed and today the company has more than 8 300 locations worldwide following an ice cream making correspondence course two entrepreneurs jerry greenfield and ben cohen paired 8 000 in savings with a 4 000 loan leased a burlington vermont gas station and purchased equipment to create uniquely flavored ice cream for the local market today ben jerry s hauls in millions in annual revenue in the 21st century the example of internet giants like google goog and later its parent company alphabet as well as facebook and now its parent company meta meta both companies have made their founders wildly wealthy have been clear examples of the lasting impact of entrepreneurs on society unlike traditional professions where there is often a defined path to follow the road to entrepreneurship is mystifying to most what works for one entrepreneur might not work for the next and vice versa that said there are seven general steps that many successful entrepreneurs have followed this first step is not a strict requirement but is definitely recommended while entrepreneurs have built successful businesses while being less than financially flush starting out with an adequate cash supply and stable ongoing funding is a great foundation this increases an entrepreneur s personal financial runway and gives them more time to work on building a successful business rather than worrying about having to keep raising money or paying back short term loans once a person has strong finances it is important to build a diverse set of skills and then apply those skills in the real world the beauty of step two is it can be done concurrently with step one building a skill set can be achieved through learning and trying new tasks in real world settings for example if an aspiring entrepreneur has a background in finance they can move into a sales role at their existing company to learn the soft skills necessary to be successful once a diverse skill set is built it gives an entrepreneur a toolkit that they can rely on when they are faced with the inevitability of tough situations much has been discussed about whether going to college is necessary to become a successful entrepreneur many well known entrepreneurs are famous for having dropped out of college steve jobs mark zuckerberg and larry ellison to name a few though going to college isn t necessary to build a successful business it can teach young individuals a lot about the world in many other ways and these famous college dropouts are the exception rather than the norm college may not be for everyone and the choice is personal but it is something to think about especially with the high price tag of a college education in the u s as important as developing a diverse skill set is the need to consume a diverse array of information and knowledge building materials is equally so this content can be in the form of podcasts books articles or lectures the important thing is that the content no matter the channel should be varied in what it covers aspiring entrepreneurs should always familiarize themselves with the world around them so they can look at industries with a fresh perspective giving them the ability to build a business around a specific sector through the consumption of content across multiple channels an aspiring entrepreneur is able to identify various problems in need of solutions one business adage dictates that a company s product or service needs to solve a specific pain point either for another business or for a consumer group through the identification of a problem an aspiring entrepreneur is able to build a business around solving that problem it is important to combine steps three and four so it is possible to identify a problem to solve by looking at various industries as an outsider this often provides an aspiring entrepreneur with the ability to see a problem others might not successful startups solve a specific pain point for other companies or for the public this is known as adding value within the problem only through adding value to a specific problem or pain point does an entrepreneur become successful say for example you identify that the process for making a dental appointment is complicated for patients and dentists are losing customers as a result the value could be to build an online appointment system that makes it easier to book appointments most entrepreneurs can t do it alone the business world is a cutthroat one and getting any help you can will likely help and reduce the time it takes to achieve a successful business networking is critical for any new entrepreneur meeting the right people who can introduce you to contacts in your industry such as the right suppliers financiers and even mentors can mean the difference between success and failure attending conferences emailing and calling people in the industry speaking to your cousin s friend s brother who is in a similar business will help you get out into the world and discover people who can guide you once you have your foot in the door with the right people conducting a business becomes easier every entrepreneur needs to be a leader within their company simply doing the day to day requirements will not lead to success a leader needs to work hard motivate and inspire their employees to reach their best potential which will lead to the success of the company look at some of the greatest and most successful companies all of them have had great leaders apple with steve jobs and microsoft with bill gates are just a couple examples study these people and read their books to see how to be a great leader and become the leader that your employees can follow by the example you set entrepreneurship financinggiven the riskiness of a new venture the acquisition of capital funding is particularly challenging and many entrepreneurs deal with it via bootstrapping financing a business using methods such as using their own money providing sweat equity to reduce labor costs minimizing inventory and factoring receivables while some entrepreneurs are lone players struggling to get small businesses off the ground on a shoestring others take on partners armed with greater access to capital and other resources in these situations new firms may acquire financing from venture capitalists angel investors hedge funds crowdfunding or through more traditional sources such as bank loans there are a variety of financing resources for entrepreneurs starting their own businesses obtaining a small business loan through the small business administration sba can help entrepreneurs get the business off the ground with affordable loans here the sba helps connect businesses to loan providers if entrepreneurs are willing to give up a piece of equity in their business then they may find financing in the form of angel investors and venture capitalists these types of investors also provide guidance mentorship and connections in addition to capital crowdfunding has also become a popular way for entrepreneurs to raise capital particularly through kickstarter or indiegogo in this way an entrepreneur creates a page for their product and a monetary goal to reach while promising certain givebacks to those who donate such as products or experiences bootstrapping refers to building a company solely from your savings as an entrepreneur as well as from the initial sales made from your business this is a difficult process as all the financial risk is placed on the entrepreneur and there is little room for error if the business fails the entrepreneur also may lose all of their life savings the advantage of bootstrapping is that an entrepreneur can run the business with their own vision and no outside interference or investors demanding quick profits that being said sometimes having an outsider s assistance can help a business rather than hurt it many companies have succeeded with a bootstrapping strategy but it is a difficult path a small business and entrepreneurship have a lot in common but they are different a small business is a company usually a sole proprietorship or partnership that is not a medium sized or large sized business operates locally and does not have access to a vast amount of resources or capital entrepreneurship is when an individual who has an idea acts on that idea usually to disrupt the current market with a new product or service entrepreneurship usually starts as a small business but the long term vision is much greater to seek high profits and capture market share with an innovative new idea entrepreneurs seek to generate revenues that are greater than costs increasing revenues is the goal and that can be achieved through marketing word of mouth and networking keeping costs low is also critical as it results in higher profit margins this can be achieved through efficient operations and eventually economies of scale the taxes you will pay as an entrepreneur will depend on how you structure your business sole proprietorship a business set up this way is an extension of the individual business income and expenses are filed on schedule c on your u s personal tax return and you are taxed at your individual tax rate partnership for tax purposes a partnership functions the same way as a sole proprietorship in the u s with the only difference being that income and expenses are split amongst the partners entrepreneurs operating as sole proprietors can deduct any legitimate business expenses from their income to lower their tax bill this includes expenses such as their home office and utilities mileage for business travel advertising and travel expenses c corporation a c corporation is a separate legal entity and has separate taxes filed with the irs from the entrepreneur the business income will be taxed at the corporate tax rate rather than the personal income tax rate s corporation an is corporation is a corporation that is not taxed like a typical corporation all the income passes through to the individual owner or owners and is reported and taxed on their personal returns limited liability company llc an llc can either be taxed as a corporation a partnership or on the individual s return this will depend on the number of members and how they elect to be taxed 7 characteristics of entrepreneurs