It's never too late to start something, start where you are with what you have and each time you succeed, raise the bar a little higher. That is my favorite quote!
There is never a perfect time, perfect environment, perfect financial standing, perfect market(all these, i call Condition), only you can create a perfect condition. i am writing this basically for the under 20s and the 20s, but if you fall outside this range, it's still good you read this, maybe there was something you missed in your time. But you're all lucky!
One of the main reasons that young entrepreneurs can build incredibly successful businesses is that they have absolutely nothing to lose, you have the energy, the drive, Zeal or enthusiasm, you can solve problems in with a completely different mindset, you have no capital expenses, no immediate family to cater for and you can eat anything that keeps you healthy. you can move around without having to worry about filling your gas tank, you don't have to think about paying your child's school fees. That said, you can streamline that little savings of yours to start something small (remember, Rome was not built in a day). the young entrepreneur has the energy to consistently burn the midnight candle.
On the contrary, a more experienced entrepreneur that is starting a company later in life has everything to lose. By this time in their career, they are used to a strong-paying salary. They live in a nice neighborhood with a comfortable car — maybe even a luxury car with a monthly payment attached. When his/her spouse thinks about starting a new company, he/she will also consider the stark reality of losing the comforts of life that they have worked hard to build up during their career. Suddenly, when thinking about all that he/she has to lose, the experienced entrepreneur’s plan to build a successful company include hedges, calculated moves, and conservatism.
“I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.” — Bill Gates
For example, you are reading my blog(a very big thank you!), creating a blog is not an easy task- 24/7 update, a broadband that is connected to the internet, time to spare (if you're not ready to spend time, sorry! you're getting no result), content creation(like i took my time to write this...) etc. i am able to do all these simply because i'm still young, vibrant and inspired to inspire people to succeed!
Take a look at these people:
Founders of Google: Sergey Brin (25) & Larry Page (25)
Founders of Apple: Steve Jobs (21) & Steve Wozniak (26)
Founders of Microsoft: Bill Gates (20) & Paul Allen (22)
Founder of Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg (20)
Founder of Wal-Mart: Sam Walton (26)
Founder of Dangote: Aliko Dangote (21)- Now the richest black man in the world!
Can you recognize the pattern? Each one of the founders was between the ages of 20 and 26 when they founded what turned out to be one of the most successful companies of our lifetime. So tell me, why can't you start something big yourself!!!
"There will never be a better time in your life to live your dream of entrepreneurship. Swing for the fences with a goal to add your name to the prestigious list above. If you fail, it will have been one of the best learning experiences of your life"
If you have a knack for rendering solutions to complex domestic problems, devise a method for solving it, Consequently, your solutions are new, innovative, and groundbreaking, and with persistence and consistency, believe me, that magical moment will come when your idea, your trend will cross a treshold, when your idea will tip and spread like wildfire (you will start an epidemic!!!)just like the Facebook epidemic, the Google epidemic, the Wal-Mart epidemic the Dangote epidemic etc.
Take Google. Would you have thought that this startup, which initially faced heavy competition from other search engines like Yahoo!, Alta Vista, Lycos, and others would eventually dominate the industry?
Or take Apple. Would you have bet in 2004 that Apple would develop sensational products and become the world's largest company based on market capitalization? And that from 2004 to 2011, the company's revenues would grow EIGHT times?
Both of these feats, and virtually every other feat achieved by entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial companies have seemingly been impossible. But, they were achieved.
From reading countless books on success, I have identified 5 key reasons why entrepreneurs achieve success. (READ ON!)
1. Surround yourself with influential people.
We are influenced by others' behaviour like a ripple effect. powerful people are powerful influences. If you hang out with losers, unfortunately, you'll be a loser, but if yoiu hang out with winners, you'll definitely win! because winners have a way of thinking and winners (particularly other successful entrepreneurs with whom yo should be spending time) have already encountered and overcome challenges you face in your business.
2. Identify your limiting beliefs and then overcome them
Limiting beliefs are beliefs that we hold either consciously or subconsciously that serve as obstacles to achieving and attracting what we want.
For example, each year many schoolchildren are told by teachers that they "aren't smart" or "won't amount to much." As a result, these children often carry, throughout their lives, this extremely negative and limiting belief. They incorrectly believe, at either conscious and/or subconscious levels, that they can't achieve success, and as a result they don't.
This holds very true in business, and, as such, it is imperative that you both identify and overcome your limiting beliefs.
For example, do you hold any of the following limiting beliefs?
I don't have enough time to become a successful entrepreneur
I can't start or grow my business since I don't have enough money
Failure is shameful, and if my venture fails I will be shamed
I can't be a successful entrepreneur because I'm lacking certain educational degrees
I can't change or improve; I do things my way and that's who I am
These false beliefs and "excuses" prevent many entrepreneurs from achieving greatness. So identify these beliefs and force yourself to expose of them.
3. Accept the idea of failure
While you shouldn't dwell on the possibility of failure, you must accept it. If you don't, you may be striving in your business to prevent failure, rather than striving to achieve success. The latter will always help you achieve better results.
It turns out that actual failure is never as bad as we think it will be. Specifically, research shows that when people fear the worst and it happens, it's not as bad as they thought it would be, and they recover quickly.
MANY entrepreneurs have failed before achieving success. Milton Hershey, P.T. Barnum, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Donald Trump -- all of these super successful entrepreneurs failed big at one point in their careers and had to claim bankruptcy.
That's why I love this quote from Phil Knight, the co-founder and chairman of Nike, Inc. - "people only remember your last success." So, even if you've failed before, or fail again, as long as you end up on top, that's all people will remember.
4. Dream positive
What you think about in your mind often comes true. So you need to stay positive. For example, rather than thinking about what to do to prevent customers from leaving you, think about ways to better satisfy your customers and get them to tell all of their colleagues about you.
5. Believe in yourself
The biggest barrier to your success is often believing that it is possible.
You must believe in yourself if you want to succeed. You CAN do it!!! Simply stating that you can do it in front of a mirror every morning for 30 days will improve your belief in yourself. Maybe that sounds "whack" to you, but it works, and if you really want to become a super-successful entrepreneur, it's worth doing.
At the end of the day both of these thoughts are similar, but framing it in a positive light is proven to increase your chances of success.
The road to success is never a smooth one, it is fraught with pitfalls and setbacks but forge ahead for there is light at the end of the tunnel.
This not a guide on HOW TO MAKE MONEY, but a guide on BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR. Money is just its product.
Thank you for reading, Kindly check again.
By DANIEL FALONIPE (Admin, Naija Clique)
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