Successful entrepreneurs, especially those in the media, make it look easy.
The truth is, entrepreneurship is a challenging career choice and it takes a lot more than just blood, sweat and tears to start up, develop, run and enjoy the rewards of, a successful business. As an entrepreneur for over a decade, Gilles Baudet agrees.
Gilles Baudet is a successful entrepreneur based in Glasgow, United Kingdom. He started his direct sales business over ten years ago in 2012. Since then, he has started up a series of other related businesses and enjoys a healthy profit from each year on year, and each of the companies continues to grow. So, how has he become a successful entrepreneur?
Here are 10 tips from Gilles Baudet on how to become a successful entrepreneur:
1. Remember Your Purpose
Entrepreneurship is a challenging career and it would be incredibly easy to become demotivated or disheartened and quit along the way. If you want to succeed, you have to remember why you started, your purpose and your goals to keep moving forward.
2. Keep Your Eye On Competition
Someone will always be trying to do what you do, and do it better, so don’t let them. Always be aware of your market competitors and stay ahead of the curve and compete by offering a better ‘everything’ at every step of the way.
3. Understand Your Audience
Your customers are the lifeblood of your business and will ultimately determine your success so always keep them at the forefront of your mind in everything you do. A deep and comprehensive understanding of your audience will keep your business growing.
4. Just Go For It
Don’t think of reasons not to, just do it. If things go wrong along the way – great! Learn from it, retain that information and move on. Too much time can be spent assessing pros and cons and at the time a decision is made, it’s too late. Just go for it.
5. Educate Your Customers
To ensure that you continue to grow your customer base, educate them. Give them reasons why they should choose you, and find every way you can to tell them. Direct sales, social media, PR, face to face, as far as your resources allow – teach them about you and your offer.
6. Focus On Solutions
There will definitely be a lot of problems and challenges along the way as your business grows, but don’t focus on them – focus on the solutions. If your mindset is fixated on the negatives, you become negative, disheartened, deflated – and this WILL impact your business. Focus on solutions to move forward with, and keep moving!
7. Design A Great Brand
In order to stand out from your competitors and within your marketplace, be sure to design a great brand. You know when you consider the branding of the biggest players out there, they are instantly recognisable and as are their messages.
8. Be Consistent
Consistency is key in everything you do. Making quick and impulsive decisions on a regular basis can make progress difficult. Some things you have to see out before making a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision. Be consistent in your processes, products, approach and ethos.
9. Use Your Support Network
Entrepreneurship is challenging enough without making the decision to go it alone. All successful entrepreneurs boast a strong support network in different forms. Whether this be your family or your staff or your coach or your business partner, be sure to lean on others when it matters for what you need.
10. Always Be Learning
Don’t be arrogant enough to think you know it all, you don’t, and you never will. Self education is crucial to becoming a successful entrepreneur so always be learning and willing to apply what you learn to keep growing.