"I strongly believe that Entrepreneurship should be approached and treated as any other profession..."
Entrepreneurship should be approached and treated as any other profession. If you wanted to become a doctor you are expected to invest years to prepare, commit to the profession and also focus on acquiring the knowledge, skills and experience you would need to perform the duties of a doctor. Same is true for a Lawyer and Accountant etc. It is only in Entrepreneurship that we rush in with little to no preparations and you still expect that you will figure it out with little to no guidance, support, counseling or coaching.
The pain and failure entrepreneurs experience could be reduced or even totally prevented with proper preparations and study. It is why incubation hubs work for startups. It is also why "second time" or "third time" entrepreneurs perform better than first timers because they have learnt many lessons from their first attempt that they can now apply. It is why many people say you should "fail fast" but I say why fail when you can invest time in learning before you begin?
We all must become students of Entrepreneurship because if we pay close attention Entrepreneurship teaches us about ourselves, about others and about the world we hope to serve. In reality your very first attempt is a lesson and you are actually learning on the job. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is not a fluke. Luck plays little because without the right level of preparations, tenacity, intellectual rigor, financial support etc. businesses die and ideas fail.
Here are my top 5 reasons why entrepreneurs fail:
- Mindset - This is perhaps the biggest issue I have found. The level of awareness of an entrepreneur is a great predictor for success. Cluelessness and a blindness to reality is a sure recipe for disaster. When we only live in our designed fantasy world reality eventually strikes. My new podcast is crafted and centered around addressing both the negative mindsets to avoid and the positive ones an entrepreneur would need to embrace for success.
- Lack of Skills, Experience - To design the right strategies and tactics for your business a certain level of skill and experience is required. I often compare a building plan to a business plan - just imagine handing over the best architectural drawing to a contractor who has never built a building before... yes that is how I want people to now realize that your business plan is great but you need skills to bring it to reality.
- Knowledge - Understanding the market you wish to serve, the needs of your customers and clients, marketing and sales strategy as well as business model engineering and value proposition design will go a long way in preparing entrepreneurs for success.
- Lack of Patience - Everyone underestimates how long it takes to pull off everything we say we want to accomplish. Dreamers must soon confront market realities. Just know that it will take longer than you think. There are strategies you can apply to shorten the time frame and blitz scale but without these set of unique skills be ready to ride the uncertainty of the market wave and also spend marketing dollars to educate your customers about your new innovation, services or product.
- Network and Lack of "Community of Support" - Entrepreneurs would be better served if they immersed themselves in the right community that would support their mission. Entrepreneurs need to spend time with other entrepreneurs. Spending too much time in the wrong communities will only slow you down and could even deflate all that you are trying to do. Build a community for yourself of people who believe in you and your work and also wish you success!
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Toyin Umesiri Coaches Entrepreneurs on how to build global brands, their commercial empire and how to effective work with government stakeholders, international buyers, investors and strategic partners. Visit www.toyinumesiri.com to signup for programs and memberships
