Feeling out of control is one of the major causes of anxiety and stress, something many professionals experience daily when trying to hang on to their precarious, corporate jobs. However, a growing number are jumping before they’re pushed, to take control of their lives by becoming entrepreneurs.
While the Internet, low-cost IT and outsourcing are opening up a world of entrepreneurial opportunities, it’s not always clear how to take advantage of them. So, whether you’re just about to escape corporate life, or have been ‘free’ for a while, here are seven tips to help you become an effective Entrepreneur, someone who takes charge of their own destiny and leaves behind the uncertainty and fear that comes when others make decisions for you.
- Sharpen your decision-making abilities. When something is not the way you want, determine to change it. Sitting indecisively on the fence, waiting to see what might happen tomorrow, next week, or next month, is a sure recipe for sleepless nights and an unfulfilled life.
- Look for role models to inspire and guide you, especially those who’ve experienced major setbacks on their journey to success themselves. Choose someone you empathise with, and use their achievements as the catalyst for your own.
- Have a vision about where you want to go with your business. Whatever your passions and interests, there is a niche demand for what you have to offer in today’s global market. Test your ideas as quickly as possible, without spending too much time and money. Then, having chosen the best, don’t wait to perfect it, push forward fast, learning from the ‘real’ feedback of customers.
- Find ways to maintain momentum. You will encounter problems and difficulties, but don’t view them as permanent roadblocks to progress, but as temporary events to overcome. Each apparent obstacle brings new opportunities.
- Value your health while you have it. Setting up and running a business is hard work, so you must maintain your health and fitness. Little is achieved by burning yourself out. So treat your mind and body as a finely-tuned instrument, that can help you achieve the success you desire – if you give it the respect it deserves. Drink enough water. Take enough sleep. Eat healthily!
- Build your team from the beginning. While it may be tempting to set up on a shoestring, success will take longer without investing in the help of others. So do more of what you’re good at, delegating as many tasks as possible to those who do them better. Playing to your strengths is where the key to your success lies.
- Always remember WHY you’re doing what you’re doing. You can only get to a better future starting from where you are right now.
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