Rules of Successful Entrepreneurship

By Candace Huntly

RULE #1: THERE ARE NO RULES

Take what you have heard about entrepreneurship and set it aside. Your experience will be different from those around you. There is no magic bullet to get you to successful entrepreneurship faster. Sure, owning a business may come more naturally to some entrepreneurs. But they still have to go through the motions of making decisions and sometimes failing so they can get back up and try again.

Even though every entrepreneur’s journey will be different, there will be lessons learned from others that can guide you on your entrepreneurship journey. Let’s focus on the things that will guide us rather than set out a pathway that may not be right for us.

LESSON #1: DON’T TRY TO BE SOMEONE ELSE

As I mentioned above, every entrepreneur is different and every journey is unique. You may have entrepreneurs that you admire and try to model yourself after, but remember that you are unique. You may offer a similar service to other businesses, but YOU are the biggest reason your brand is different. Try to build your business based on you being a part of your Unique Selling Point.

LESSON #2: BUILD SOMETHING YOU ENJOY WORKING ON

Let’s all be honest, there are some businesses and business models that are just sexier than others. That being said, you don’t need to have had a passion for something your entire life to enjoy selling it as an entrepreneur. They key is finding something that drives you to get up every day and grind. It could be outside factors like family and lifestyle, but it could also be that you enjoy the process of what you do and the trajectory of building the business.

Passion for something does not automatically mean you will enjoy building a business off of it.

LESSON #3: DON’T DO IT JUST FOR THE MONEY

Depending on the industry you are in and the trajectory your business takes, your business may or may not be profitable in the short term. You should focus on enjoying what you are doing and the money will be secondary. Of course, we all need to live, so you want to build a business model and strategy that will allow you to do so as soon as possible. It will take hard work and dedication – even through tough times – to carry you through.

Find those moments of joy that you can focus on to help you through tough periods.

LESSON #4: IT’S OK TO FAIL

Your path to successful entrepreneurship won’t be a straight line to the top. There will be ups and downs along the way. And that is absolutely OK! The important thing is to learn from the low points, pick yourself up, and try again. That is why it’s important to enjoy what you do. You will need that motivation to get up and keep going.

LESSON #5: SURROUND YOURSELF WITH SUPPORTIVE PEOPLE

You have likely heard that it “takes a village” to raise a child… Well, you could say the same thing about building a business. Sometimes you need a nudge to take risks, sometimes you need a little encouragement during tough times, sometimes you need an expert to walk you through a specific challenge… Whatever the challenge, it’s best not to face it alone.

Are you thinking about starting a business? Not sure where to actually get started? Set up a free 20-minute consultation with SongBird Founders Trevor and Candace and we’ll help to point you in the right direction.