Last October 23, 2020 I posted a question on a Facebook group named Startup PH where a lot of founders, CEOs, business enthusiasts, mentors, etc. are joined. As of now it has 36.9k members and still growing. This is an interactive group where people usually share opportunities, webinars, launching of partnership and the like.
As part of our Day 3 activity for the PhilDev-ISIP Visiting Professor Program with Ms. Paula Mills, CEO & Founder of Academy of Entrepreneurs Australia. Our task is to interview at least 5 entrepreneurs from different verticals and ask them the following questions,
What was your biggest mistake/mistakes when you started your journey as an entrepeneur?
What is/are your biggest recommendation/s for first time entrepreneurs?
What are your current challenges?
I decided to post this question on this Facebook group since I believe most of the members of that group would relate and would definitely love to give advises to future founders. Of course, at some point they also had mentors whom they ask the same questions so I believe there are a lot of them who wants to share their own journey.
As of writing, I was able to get 47 reacts and 82 comments from these startup founders and here are some of the best answers I got from them.
1. YOUR MINDSET (Individually and as a team)
Most of the successful entrepreneurs do not start with the great idea, but rather, they started with a vision and their goal in mind. Knowing your goal from the very start is important in being an entrepreneur, founders at times focuses more on themselves and not looking on what value they want to give and what is their vision to the company.
Getting partners with the same goal is a must too! Partnerships and team commitment is very important in starting up. Having the same vision and passion makes a great company. Steve Jobs has Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates has Paul Allen, these successful CEOs/founders were able to reach their success with the help of their team/partners.
2. KNOW YOUR TARGET CUSTOMERS
This is a very common mistake that most of the first time entrepreneurs make. Often times, they are more focused on the solution and building the company they dream of but they always forgot the very first part creating your own venture which is knowing who will pay for your product! Customers, customers, customers, you should always set aside your solution and understand their needs. Create something that people would want and address their pains. We don't want to create a product/services that no one would really want. Look at these statement by startup founders themselves.
3. CONSULT AN EXPERT AND BE MENTORED
It's just not about you. Having someone who practically guides you and shares your worries with you will give you reassurance. Mentors are experienced individuals, they've been there, done that and have seen it all. Every startups need someone who can guide them along the way and honestly tell them if they are going good or not. If you want your business to stay longer, find a mentor and be mentored.
4. FAIL FAST
Founders don’t execute fast enough. They want to create the best product or over-think things rather than testing and measuring results. As what most of startup founders say, Build, measure and learn. A lot of us are aspiring to be a CEO/founder of our own company but not everyone of us are willing to take and risk, mainly because we are afraid of failure. But that should not be the case, we should be open with failure, because that is the the best time to learn. We should accept that failure is part of being an entrepreneur, the more it happens the more we can learn and grow as an individual and as a company.
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