4 Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship, undoubtedly, has been the hot topic of the last two decades. Initially piquing public interest with Silicon Valley e-giants eBay, Amazon, and PayPal, the innovation boom was heard around the world and has since transformed the modern millennium into an age of opportunity for those who have the courage to turn their ideas into reality.

What’s the difference between you, or someone else who has a ‘the next big idea’ and the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Neeti Mehta, or Michelle Zatlyn? Why does success seem normal when it happens to others, but so out of reach when it comes to us? Where do you even begin when it comes to making your idea a reality? Here are just a few tips and words of advice to anyone who dreams of bringing their idea into the world from an established entrepreneur to aspiring one.

You can’t eat a burger in one bite. Break down the process.

Procrastination or delaying something we need to do isn’t laziness – it’s the result of feeling overwhelmed or not knowing where to start. Not having a roadmap to where we need to go makes the fear of failure too paralyzing to even take the first step. Rome wasn’t built in a day – neither will your business. Break it all down into the tiniest steps possible, and log all the milestones you achieve to become one step closer to your goal. Not only will you feel productive and accomplished seeing tasks done, it will be a visual aid to help you evaluate your progress.

Now’s not the time to be shy. Good growth only happens outside the comfort zone.

Do you ever doubt your ability to do something? Talk to someone? Send that email? Have you ever asked why? Is it fear of failure or rejection? If you don’t act or do these things, you’ll be saving yourself from the possible sting of rejection, but denying yourself the opportunity for success. The next time you’re unable to bring yourself to network, reach out or push yourself into a new opportunity, identify that anxious feeling in your body and put your focus on it. Feel it melt away in a few moments when you realize that’s all it is – a feeling, and not reality. Watch new opportunities manifest.

Use the current scenario to your advantage. There’s a new world of opportunities out there.

The headlines right now might seem grim – but they’re failing to show the other side of the coin. Opportunity for change and innovation. As we read about economic slumps and recessions, there’s an army of entrepreneurs such as yourself looking at things from a productive perspective, thinking “what can I do to bring value into the new world?”. If you haven’t had an idea that you thought was the one, now’s your time to be inspired by the new changes happening and go back to the drawing board. Restaurants, hotels, aviation, education, travel, and leisure – all of these industries need to reinvent themselves for a new world. What are you planning to do about it?

Don’t give up even when you think it’s all over. Give yourself time and pick yourself back up.

While you might be reading this and thinking it’s all easier said than done, or somehow success is meant for others and not for you. That other entrepreneurs had a magical roadmap or shortcut. The universe of opportunities is available to us all – and you are as deserving of success as the next person. All the big names and stories of rags to riches or great ideas changing the world – the people behind these ideas all went through the very same doubts, fears, struggles and anxieties you’re going through. The only difference is, they kept going. And if you want to reach your goal, you will too, even when it feels like you can’t. You’ll take a break, pick yourself back up, recharge, and get back out there. And then, one day too, you’ll be passing on advice to the next generation of entrepreneurs.