Be A Successful Entrepreneur

Before starting up a business make sure you have carried out your research concerning the business, it's not just about having interest you should be passionate about the business you are venturing into. Everybody wants to be an Entrepreneur but no one is ready to go through the challenges and struggles that comes from being a successful business person. Entrepreneurship is not as easy as it sounds, sometimes you will fail, you will cry, you will make mistakes that will make you give up, you will lose, you will gain, but in all, be patient with your goals and stay focus. In this article i will be discussing briefly on how to be a successful Entrepreneur, there are so many ways but I will be taking a few.

How To Be A Successful Entrepreneur

To be a successful entrepreneur you have to set up your goals and vision, check your market niche, understand your customer base, create a business plan for your business and consider your financial capability. Your services or products should be put into consideration first, how you want to be perceived (branding), the problems you are trying to solve, who are your customers and how you intend to get to reach them, either by word of mouth or via digital. Most importantly identify the problem you are trying to solve and how to also make profits from solving the problem, every business person gets into a business to earn but there are times you have to make some sacrifice.

Set Up Your Goals.

Setting up a goal is paramount to run a successful business, your goals should be realistic, specific, measurable, action and time-abound. A realistic goal is one that is achievable in any possible time, with hard work, great planning and focus. Let's say for example in the next 6months , John wants to be the number one fashion designer in Nigeria, John doesnt have any skills or idea on how to put a thread in a needle, John have not gone to any fashion school, but he believes that in 6months he will beat other fashion designers that have been working for more than 10-15 years in the fashion industry, this is so unrealistic. It is not possible in one year to achieve that goal no matter John's financial capability and connection. To be a successful fashion designer, John must first of all learn how to sew and design for 3months or more, get an office for his business, furnish it, buy all necessary equipments, build his customers base, people need to trust your work before they can employ your services.

Consider Your Customers Channels.

How to reach your customers should be top priority. Using John the Fashion designer's example in (II) for more clarity. The channels and strategy to reach your customers should be map out, traditional marketing (word of mouth) or digital marketing should be considered, for digital marketing, create a strong online presence, build a website for professionalism, create social media accounts and get a good social media manager to mange them. For example, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter LinkedIn and others, to show case your products and services online,  increase customers base, and brand awareness. Brand awareness is more than contents creation and good graphics, it's the quality of service and products you offer. Also ads campaign, content creation, and good marketing strategy should be considered to reach more audience and create more interactions. Attend events, dress up celebrities, big society ladies  and gents for occasions and events, politicians for campaigns and meetings, feature on magazines, news papers, and blog posts, with time you will be known as number 1 fashion designer in Nigeria and your set goal will be achieved.

OutlineYour Long-term Mid-term and Short-term goal

As an entrepreneur before setting up your goals, first of all decide if it's a long term, mid term or short term goal, this will help you plan and produce great results. Long-term goals are goals that will take from 6 years upward, like building a production factory, refinery or going to med school and so on. Mid term goals are goals that will take from 5months to 5years, for example going to a fashion design school or becoming no 1 fashion designer in Nigeria and so on. Short-term goals can be actualise in a short period of time, from day 1 to 5months, for example learning a new skill, starting a petty trade and so on. When you have clearly stated your goal, use the SMART rule to achieve them.
Specific, Measurable, Action, Realistic, Time bound. Write down your goals, set up deadlines, get your business running, be humble, network, socialize, read good books, learn more about your business, check out your competitors, learn about your weakness and strength and improve on them.

Article Written by
Omojoye Nkiruka.