Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in anticipating change today. Either they’re never really ready to commit, study an opportunity until it passes, or fail with tools and techniques from a bygone trading era. The Internet and the current information wave has changed everything.
Being a successful entrepreneur these days requires current insight into a myriad of changes, including many that have not yet been integrated into the traditional academic teaching vehicles of textbooks and professors. The Internet is the problem, by facilitating constant change, and it is the solution, by providing an up-to-date view of customers, trends, and best practices.
The challenge is to have the time and initiative to keep up with the information wave, and be able to turn data into knowledge that must be learned, unlearned or re-learned. This requires an approach to self-education, versus the assumption that someone else will provide the education. For entrepreneurs, change is the norm, so you have to enjoy it before you do.
This essential ability is aided by some helpful personal characteristics, such as self-confidence, initiative, problem solving and determination, but the basic principles of learning should include the following:
Learning something new every day will bring satisfaction. It goes hand in hand with every entrepreneur’s desire to make things better and make a real impact on the world. It’s an important part of enjoying the journey, as well as the destination. It does not imply a sense of superiority or weakness, but often provides motivation beyond money. Success requires challenging assumptions and the status quo. With this principle, true entrepreneurs begin with the firm belief that new learnings will expose the flaws in existing models, creating new opportunities. The Internet is a source of data for alternative ideas, and social media allows direct customer interaction to test these ideas. Learning means understanding beyond memorization. Great entrepreneurs strive to understand the depth of a customer’s need rather than just the ability to recite a long list of features. Technologies are not solutions, but understanding a technology in the context of a customer need will yield more competitive and longer lasting solutions. The act of communication and writing enhances learning. The process of documenting what you envision in a business plan for the team and for investors solidifies your own understanding of your new business. With that learning, you are able to more effectively share and market your solutions to customers and business partners. Building a new business is not rocket science. Growing a business is about understanding the needs and thoughts of regular people and simple financial transactions, not some complicated technology you may assume you can never learn. With the Internet, you can find everything you need in a dozen ways in text, video, pictures, and podcasts. Learning is nothing more than looking outside your box. Expanding your knowledge is like dealing with competitors – if you’re not expanding your comfort zone, you’re losing ground. With the Internet, you can quickly test your new business concepts with crowd funding and social media, and get instant feedback from around the world at low cost. Relationships are the test of your readiness to learn. Building a new business today means building relationships with your customers and your team. As an entrepreneur with a new startup, you are the brand and customers today expect a relationship. In addition, you always need relationships with mentors, investors, influencers, and peers. Proactively ask for help and anticipate the need to pivot. With the Internet, you can seek help from normally inaccessible experts with minimal personal risk and cost. It’s easy to see how many times others have made changes, so your own learning and related pivot should never be an embarrassment. Avoid the trap of ego.
No one is too old to learn new things as an entrepreneur, whether you’re fresh out of school at twenty, or you just landed your first career at sixty. If you follow the principles outlined here and take advantage of the vastness of the Internet, you too can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. A failed startup is the hardest lesson, and we need to change that attitude.
marty mithun