Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Top 10 Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

From Richard Branson and the folks at Virgin Media

Deciding to put your money where your mouth is can be daunting at the best of times but when you’re considering life as an entrepreneur, it can be even more so. That’s why we’ve put together our top 10 tips for aspiring entrepreneurs.

1. Get started

The difference between an entrepreneur and a would-be entrepreneur is daring. In lots of ways, becoming an entrepreneur and starting out on your own is a scary proposition but it doesn’t have to be so ‘either/or’. Lots of successful entrepreneurs started their own business whilst working another job to pay the bills. There’s no shame in starting slowly. Just start.

2. Admit you don’t know

When you’re first starting out, it may be tempting to pretend you know everything. There’ll always be an element of ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ when it comes to things like confidence but when it comes down to knowledge that’ll help you make the most of your business, you need to know for sure. Good entrepreneurs have enquiring minds and they never stop learning or asking questions. You’ll be amazed by how many people hide behind jargon to make something sound more complicated than it actually is.

3. Keep things simple

Once you know the jargon, it’s easy to forget that other people may not. Communicating in jargon works well in specialised environments and can earn you professional respect but you better be really sure that you know what you’re talking about. Misusing jargon can lead to confusion, frustration and costly mistakes. If in doubt, keep it simple. Don’t forget that even the most senior, influential people may be nodding their heads throughout your entire pitch whilst thinking that they could really do with a Google translation of what you’re saying.

Read the rest of these ten tips at Virgin Media Pioneers

All ten are solid tips. I believe that the most important ones are tip one and tip ten. In fact, tip ten is the real litmus test of an entpreneur.





George Torok Host of Business in Motion Business Speaker Listen to Business in Motion audio PodCasts On iTunes Business in Motion on Facebook

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