The journey of entrepreneurship is not an easy one. Every entrepreneur who has started walking this path knows that it is fraught with difficulties. There are certain truths that every entrepreneur needs to know. These help them prepare better when facing such circumstances. Let’s explore some of the harsh but much-needed truths entrepreneurs need to know in their business:
1. Money does not make money in business-
If you believe that only money can make money in business, you lose out on focusing on some more important things like strategies, systems, skills and teams. Money is important, but to make the optimum use of money in business is when you invest in building strategies, and systems, upskilling and developing teams, and exploring strategic partnerships. That’s when having money actually makes you money! So, develop capabilities, don’t simply pump money if your business is not yielding enough results.
2. Selling is a skill and it’s damn important-
This is absolutely pivotal for a business! Your business grows, the more your customers are aware of you. That happens when you sell! The more you sell, the more your business is known to be a valuable addition to the problems that your customers have. If your customers don’t understand why your business is great value addition and the right solution in their lives and problems that they have, then your business will never grow as much as you want! Sales is a lifeline of any business. You’ll get hell if you don’t know how to sell. So, ensure you know how to sell and that you sell more than enough!
3. Only hard work is not the key-
This might come as a shock but you have to embrace this reality. Hard work is important but just hard work without smart work is just working hard without any tangible results. What is needed along with hard work is- reflection and realisation or analysis of what’s working in your business, what’s not working, and what needs to be corrected or amplified. Hard work along with constant evaluation and analysis make sure the efforts you are putting in are actually worth it! So, while you strive to work hard, make sure your hard work is actually yielding results by measuring it regularly!
4. Passion is overrated-
Yes, I said it. So many motivational speakers and coaches out their harp on and on about how if the business is your passion then it is bound to grow. I disagree! If you did not have passion, you wouldn’t be an entrepreneur in the first place. You started your own venture because you have passion. But passion is not everything. Along with passion, you need preparation, market research, and building fundamental capabilities! Without these, a business is not sustainable no matter how much passion is pumped into it! So, make sure to keep the passion alive by planning for it, preparing for it and making sure results happen.
5. Business is a team sport, not a solo sport-
So many entrepreneurs out there pride themselves on doing everything by themselves. But this is not a long-term plan. Even if you hustle during the beginning stages of a business, truth is that eventually, you will need a team, you will need a second line of leaders to support you in creating a scalable and profitable business. Doing everything by yourself is not a sign of achievement, it is a sign of ignorance!
You cannot do everything on your own! You either build a business for scale for which you need a high-performing team or you get stuck in survival when you don’t build a team! So, play the game along with your best players!
These are bitter pills but these are remedies to doing business for a long time with regular profits. If these truth bombs piss you off at first, remember that these will impact your business and your mindset and also your business results. These are truths I have realised in the 16 years of being in the industry! So, realise, plan and execute these in your business to ensure growth and scale.
