7 KEYS TO ENTREPRENEUR
We always talk about the difficulties we encounter today when starting out. And it is true, no one gives anything away and everyone who undertakes decides to “go on an adventure”, whatever the business may be.
From our short experience, we want to share with all of you seven keys that have helped us a lot during this first year and that we hope will be of help to you:
1. The idea you carry out must excite you
It doesn't matter what type of business you want to create. One thing is clear: you must be passionate about it. You have to take into account the number of hours, sacrifice and trouble that starting a business entails. If you don't really love what you're doing, it's going to be very difficult to stay motivated, especially during the bad times (and there will be some).
In our case, throughout the process of creation, launch and first months of the brand, we have been combining our freelance jobs with Morrison. If we had not had that passion for our brand from the beginning, we might have fallen by the wayside.
2. Have good partners, who share your enthusiasm
Oh the partners!… one of the most important elections. Surely you know some examples of people who have tried to start a business and who, due to differences with their partners, have not reached a successful conclusion.
We like to compare the partners theme with the couple theme. For a romantic relationship to go well and prosper, both people must be at the same point: wanting to meet someone, to give up something for their partner, to adapt a little to the other... in creating a company it is quite similar. If the partners are aligned, have a clear objective and all row in the same direction with effort, there is much to be gained. We are such good partners that… we even live together!
3. Carry out an initial business plan
It is important to try to develop an initial plan for the business you want to start. The business plan mainly helps to analyze different factors of all the areas that make up a company and to shape everything we have in mind. But, above all, it will give you an overview of the problems you will have to face. You will have many more than you thought during your business plan but, at least, many of them will not come by surprise because you had already anticipated them.
With the business plan we are going to challenge the viability of the project from the technical point of view (technology, production...), economic (necessary investment, sources of financing...), commercial (market analysis, marketing strategy...) and human ( organizational structure, necessary profiles...).
There are many ways to make a business plan which you can find by doing a little searching on the internet. For us personally, even today when it comes to analyzing and trying to improve our company, the Business Model Canvas is very useful to us. Take a look, it's very simple.
4. Explore alternative funding sources
We have just commented in the Business Plan section that one of the things we have to consider is the necessary investment and sources of financing. As many of you know, we were born thanks to Crowdfunding and that is why we give a lot of importance to this point. You must always try to stay informed about new forms of financing and Crowdfunding is a tool that, although it is not yet very common in Spain, is gaining strength little by little.
5. Find out about all the aid or related centers for entrepreneurs
Starting an entrepreneurial adventure can sometimes overwhelm you due to the number of procedures you will have to do. But there is more help than one thinks. We are not talking about financial aid but about advice, management, etc.
Our recommendation is to go to the Entrepreneur Service Points (PAE). They are centers that are responsible for facilitating the work in the creation of new companies. It was very useful to us, they helped us a lot in all the initial procedures and the treatment they have with the entrepreneurs is very good.
6. Don't wait to find perfection, get started and improve
We all want our business, our “baby,” to be perfect before we show it to the world. And it is true, we must always pursue maximum quality in everything we do. But on the other hand, you have to be careful about wanting to find perfection, there are people who spend their lives looking for what for them is perfection and never manage to launch a business.
It is important to start your business idea, feed off customer opinions and improve little by little over time.
7. Surround yourself with professionals who help you in fields that you do not master
Finally, a piece of advice about one of the great evils that almost all of us who undertake work have. You don't have to know how to do everything and we must select what to invest our time in, something key, especially when starting a business. That is why we advise you to subcontract those tasks typical of a business that, due to the training received, escape you and leave them in the hands of professionals. Time is money.