In his role as a reporter at Forbes Middle East, Kelsey Warner meets and interviews startup entrepreneurs on a regular basis. He shares his top five tips to get you going in the right direction if you are considering taking the leap into the world of entrepreneurs.
1. PICK A BUSINESS WITH A LARGE MARKET
Before you build a product or offer a service, make sure it’s something customers want. Do your research and compare your findings with market analysts and experts in the sector you are considering. Investors are only interested in giant market opportunities, where there is little competition and the potential for a big payoff.
2. CROWDSOURCE
Quora, Reddit, and online forums for web developers are all places to turn to when you are racking your brain to solve a startup problem. Sure, you might have to sift through a few trolls, but there are real subject matter experts to be found from all over the world on these sites who are eager to share what they know about coding, pitching
and hiring, you name it.
3. FINISHED BEATS PERFECT
Repeat after me: You cannot stay in alpha or beta mode forever. Launch and learn along the way. Trust that you,
and your product will only get better over time.
4. DON’T BE AFRAID TO COLD EMAIL OR BETTER YET, COLD CALL
Few entrepreneurs find success on their own. Here are a couple of useful tools to supplement the contacts list
in your iPhone: Keep track of who you need to get in touch with – mentors, funders, sales gurus – and who you
have already contacted on a spreadsheet in Google Drive. This way it’s always at your fingertips. If you find yourself
with some spare time, hit up your list. Rapportive, an email tool, shows you the social media accounts associated
with the person you are cold emailing. Scope out their Twitter and LinkedIn for common ground before firing
off something impersonal.
5. DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND YOU’LL LOVE WHAT YOU DO
When in doubt, heed the advice of Steve Jobs. His 2005 commencement speech at Stanford is a particularly good
pep talk: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you
believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep
looking. Don’t settle.”
