9 start up tips for entrepreneurs.

Posted on 20. May, 2009 by Guillermo in Life

Starting a company is a wonderful way to make a living. You get ample opportunity to make important decisions, plan products and services, and learn invaluable lessons along the way.

As you probably already know, there is an almost infinite number of resources for the budding entrepreneur online. With the right attitude and an internet connection, you can brush up on your accounting skills, read up on your target market, check out the competition, not to mention market yourself cheaply.

Tip #1 JUST START

Although there are many reasons to start a company, there is really only one way to do it, which as blunt as it sounds: just start. No matter where you are or what you have, at some point you need to take a deep breath and start. Rest assured, if you do start doing something (related to building your business of course ) and keep doing it day in and day out, it’s almost guaranteed with persistence everything else well come in due time. As Amelia Earhart once said, ¨The most effective way to do it, is to do it. ¨ I happen to think she was right, as nothing is more “effective” then actual doing.

While I cannot speak for other companies, I can tell you starting up what eventually lead to the creation of Malbec Media, S.A, (software creation and design shop) in Argentina, has been quite the adventure.

For example, when we first started we had no funds whatsoever. We had an amazing person on our staff who spent most of the day cold calling people from the yellow pages to get our first clients. My nights consisted of sleeping on the floor in our “office” (friends living room) to save money. We had a strict BYOC policy (bring your own computer). I learned how to give longwinded inspirational speeches that were cleverly (I hoped) designed to soften the blow of low pay and keep a team of people motivated.

Out of all this a real company with real income was born. After about 3 years plugging along and quite a bit of drama we got the company off the ground with an A+ team of engineers and designers, our own equipment and nice office space. This has not been the easiest thing I have ever been a part of, but definitely a great learning experience and worthwhile way to make a living.

So, for those of you who find yourself with the task or desire of creating your own job in a foreign land or your own backyard I say go out and do it, investing your time in a low paying job is for suckers. Seriously, if you are going to work for someone I can only hope great pay is involved, otherwise it might as well be for your own company.

With that in mind, here are the other 8 tips I have put together from my experience that has either helped keep me sane or hopefully can help you to avoid a few problems in your start-up adventures:

Tip #2 ATTITUDE.

Attitude is everything. So before you leave the house (or country for that matter) on some crazy start-up adventure, remember that the only thing you have the power to change at any moment is your attitude. Let that sink in a bit, and remember it as you run into the thousands of challenges that lay ahead of you. Having a good attitude when things go wrong will allow you to step back and buy yourself time in difficult situations allowing you to find creative solutions.

Tip #3 LANGUAGE.

If you plan to move somewhere where they speak a language other than your own, try to learn as much as humanly possible of this language before hand, then dive in and learn as much as humanly possible in your day to day. Trust me this will help you not only in business but also in other areas in your life if you are living overseas.

Tip #4 MONEY.

Save up before you try to start something if possible, as start up cash cannot always be easily had. You will find money, like water, is important for survival. Yes, great things can and have been done without it, but unless you enjoy sleeping on the floor, SAVE FIRST. *If you are reading this and want to start something but don’t have the money, don’t worry, money will make things easier, but at the end of the day money and people follow good ideas. Even more important, Action = Jackson (as in President Jackson on a $20 bill!, hopefully more then one) so just get started with what you have, then find the money later!

Tip # 5 FRIENDS & PEOPLE.

One of the quickest ways to get things done, learn the system you will be trying to navigate, and meet the people you need to meet etc, is through the good choice of friends and associates in your new land or business venture. Quality people are extremely important when your business and livelihood depend on the skills, follow through, and reliability of others. Get good at reading people and make sure you only associate yourself with like-minded and responsible individuals. Making the wrong choice in this is one of the quickest ways to get yourself into serious trouble.

Tip #6 PERSISTENCE.

Some of us are born with this skill, others like myself have had to develop it. Keep in mind what type of person you are and adjust for that. If you are the type of person who is constantly starting and stops things in life such as education, personal projects, hobbies etc, its important that you realize that starting a company is incredibly hard, time consuming, frustrating, and expensive. For you to achieve anything worthwhile chances are you are going to have to persist, day in and day out for at least a few years before things start to come together. The best way to persist is to learn the importance of setting goals and commitment, as those two things will help you stay on path.

Tip #7 BE A PROBLEM SOLVER.

In the beginning, you are not going to know everything about running your company, although, if you know HOW to look for the answers you need, you will almost always be able to find them. Many of us go to university to learn a profession, which is great, what is even more important (imo) is the skill education gives us in learning how to learn. As long as you can identify a problem and think of an ideal solution, tools such as Google, libraries, friends, and other professionals make finding the information you need manageable. The key is looking at problems and knowing with a little work you can solve it. A good friend once told me problems are good, without them we would all be out of work)

Tip #8 GO ALL IN.

If you are serious about making your company work you are going to have to go all in. Besides putting your heart and time into whatever it is, you have to make things happen. Take risks, commit, find the money, sleep on the floor, whatever you need to do, do it. Going all in is not easy by any means so when in doubt, when friends and family think you’re crazy, remember, “yesterday’s nut is today’s mighty oak tree who stood his ground”… powerful words!

Tip #9 GIVE REAL VALUE.

Last but not least, there is really only one business idea you need to follow religiously. That of course is the idea of value / money. As in, give people something of real value for a price they can pay + work your excel sheet to make sure it’s profitable. If you can do that while following the above advice, you should be good to go! Oh, and remember to pay yourself first when possible, because you’ve gone all in you, so you definitely deserve it.

9 start up tips for entrepreneurs.