What if you could turn back the clock on your business? How would you feel about starting all over again? Would you follow the same route to where you find yourself today or would you be keen to avoid some of the pitfalls, large and small, that you fell into along the way?
You can’t travel back in time but you can think about how you might mentor someone keen to set up their own business. In this blog, we ask you to think about some topics of advice that you would have given your younger self or that you could impart today for the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
The Early Days
Perhaps you would focus on the early days when your business idea had yet to come into fruition. You might encourage your younger self to go out there and find an idea that is both niche and has the potential to make you money.
Encourage them to explore the options thoroughly, coming up with a business plan that goes into detail about how the model they’ve chosen will bring them money and how they might go about getting off the ground in terms of investment, whether that’s setting up a plumbing firm or facebook ad agency.
On a personal level, you might tell them that those first steps are going to be daunting and that there might be some sleepless nights ahead as they worry that they’ve made all the right decisions. On that, you’ll know that you don’t always get things right so prepare them for an element of failure every now and again and the fact that you might get things wrong. This doesn’t, of course, mean the end of the world or the end of your business but it does mean that you need to learn from those mistakes to stop them being repeated as your business continues to grow.
Success
Another area that might have taken you by surprise is success. It can catch people unawares so perhaps you’d warn your younger self to get ready to do well. It seems so obvious but for many entrepreneurs, a sudden surge in trade can lead to crashing websites and a sense of overload as they struggle to cope with extra work.
Ask them how they might prepare their website or manage their day better of work to increase suddenly.
Finally, stress. With success comes a certain amount of stress and a feeling that you and you are alone are carrying the burden of running a business. Outside of work, what would you tell a budding business man or woman to do that might help them deal with the stress? Perhaps you’d encourage them to switch off their emails after work and make sure they get adequate rest, or perhaps you’d impart the importance of asking for help when you find yourself up against pressure.
You’ve come a long way in your own business and it’s time to pass on some of that hard-won knowledge to the next generation. After all, you’ll want to hand your business over to a safe pair of hands when it comes time for you to retire.
