 10 Things To Do Before Becoming An Entrepreneur An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew, hoping he'll quickly learn how to chew it, says Roy Ash, co-founder and president of the American company Lytton Industries. Starting or building a business is like planting a flower. It requires you to invest your time and money. Also, you must take care of it while expecting nothing in return, at least for the first couple of months. However, when your startup blossoms, it makes all the patience and hard work worthwhile. Little wonder, Jessica Herron, founder and CEO of Stellar and Dot, said, you'll have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as an end. Have you ever wondered why a good number of startups fail and eventually cease to exist after only a few years have been launched? Well, one of the main reasons is the lack of expert startup advice founders received. In this video, I'll share with you 10 things you must do before becoming an entrepreneur. If you're new here, consider subscribing so you won't miss other exciting videos like this. Number 1. Identify Your Mission Before you commence the execution of all the great ideas in your head, you need to identify your mission to execute correctly. Identifying your mission is a fantastic motivator, and it draws you to your goals than you pushing yourself towards it. Amber Hurdle said, your mission statement outlined why your company exists. It doesn't have to be all fancy pants, just a clear statement of what you do. So identifying your mission means stating in clear terms what your company intends to do, the services you aim to provide. Number 2. Save A Lot Once you have your goals, vision and mission all sorted out, you want to save a lot of money for execution. Don't start your business with the presumption that you'll get funding right out of the gate. Note that it is a bad idea to think that once you start running your business, it'll generate enough money for the successful running of the company. Remember Jessica Herron's advice? You'll have to see failure as the beginning and the middle but never entertain it as an end. Of course, you can try pitching your ideas to a few investors who might be interested. However, you can't entirely rely on the possibility of being picked or not, hence the need to save a lot so that you can fund your business. Number 3. Learn How To Sell Sales are about an essential thing in business. After all, we all go into one form of business or the other because we want to make some money. Hence, you'll have to learn how to sell and market your product. You need to be able to communicate clearly, add effectively to your customers, investors or whoever you are dealing with. You can read books, attend conferences and seminars, seek advice from mentors and other successful entrepreneurs on some of the best marketing methods and strategies to make a business thrive. Number 4. Network And Build Great Relationships Meredith Mahoney said, Know where you want to go and make sure the right people know about it. Robert Kiyosaki, an American businessman and author, said, The richest people in the world look for and build networks. Everyone else looks for work. Marinate on that for a minute. Networking with other people increases your chances of exposing your business to the right audience. For example, have you witnessed a situation where a friend calls you to say, Hey, can you remember a good content writer or the right food vendor and the like? So, whatever industry you're in and whatever phase you're at as an entrepreneur, everything to you should be about relationships. Number 5. Educate Yourself with Finance It would help if you learned how to manage your finance and separate your business account from your account. For instance, say you get one or two investors who are willing to invest in your business. A financial plan or document are a few of the requirements they'll need to determine if they want to go ahead or not. So, make sure you read up on how to effectively manage your finance. You equally might consider getting help from the mentor if you have one. Number 6. Learn How to Take Risk Taking the first step of becoming a businessman or businesswoman is a risk in itself. I mean, who likes the idea of leaving a job with a guarantee of a stable income for a venture that is built under the possibility of survival? I'm sure that doesn't sound like a fun thing to do. However, that is the first risk every entrepreneur should prepare his mind to take. As an entrepreneur, you'll need to not only face risks head on but actively embrace them. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't. Number 7. Build Your Audience That you are doing the exact same business as your friend doesn't necessarily mean that your audience is the same. You have to build your audience. However, in building a brand, you should understand that you are a brand. So, whatever you post and do online is part of a parcel of your brand identity. To build your audience, you can start by publishing content that is near and dear to you and share it with people with similar interests. The essence of doing this is to build a following that will be receptive to the products and services you'll be offering when you become an entrepreneur. Number 8. Learn How To Research Life is all about growing, so is business. You need to keep improving your product, your marketing strategy and everything else involved in your business if you want to remain relevant in your industry. This means that you have to keep researching from time to time about what's new and trendy. Number 9. Discover Your Strengths and Weaknesses Discover your strength as far as your business and content strategies are concerned. Think back on the last time you were complimented or praised on a specific skill you possessed or something you did that got you noticed. Once you have discovered this, leverage on it and make it world-class. Number 10. Learn More About Your Industry and Others Now that you have everything figured out, research as much as possible about your industry such as finding out the top individuals in your industry, the changing trends and every other thing there is to know. Take time to study the things that are working and the things that aren't. This information will help you position your business in the right place. Once you have these 10 things figured out, then you are ready to start your own business and begin your journey to entrepreneurship. Thank you very much for watching our videos. If you like this video, watch more videos on our channel and subscribe. We love you.