“Entrepreneurship — it’s not for everybody. You have to be able to weather uncertainties, and you have to fail your way to the top.”
That’s according to George Ray III, a consultant for Florida SBDC at FIU, who specializes in assisting startup entrepreneurs and franchisees. Some pretty famous entrepreneurs had to fail a few times before they were successful, he said.
Fortunately, Ray shared numerous tips with entrepreneurs and we will share them with you.
Successful entrepreneurs need to be self-starters, self-nurturing, action-oriented, highly energetic and tolerant of uncertainty, he said in the recent webinar for SBDC at FIU, the small business development center with FIU’s College of Business, called Step Up Your Startup.
Launching a business is not going to happen overnight. Hi tips? Learn from others. That includes reading about others’ experiences, study and research your field, and investigate startup programs and resources at universities and colleges or in the community such as SBDC at FIU, Ray said. Consider getting experience with a side hustle, or taking a job as an apprentice in the industry you are interested in.
“There is no blueprint for success and every good idea doesn’t translate into a good opportunity,” said Ray, who is a business professor and entrepreneur.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with a new business model; sometimes you can bring a more efficient method for something that is already out on the market or a new strategy into the marketplace.
Most startups fail because they haven’t properly planned and are underfinanced. A business plan forces you to focus your thoughts, he said, and it is mandatory if you are talking to bankers or many investors. It can also give you the confidence to launch your startup.
“The ability to know the market and react quickly to market needs is one of the greatest advantages of small businesses,” he said.
Sunbiz.org and the Miami-Dade County website are good places to start to research and register your business. SBDC at FIU have a number of resources that can help you with research.
Franchising may also be a good avenue for you, Ray said. “You are in business for yourself, but not by yourself,” Ray said. But there are, as always, pros and cons to getting a business in a box, so to speak. For SBDC at FIU, Ray is a business consultant on franchising as well as startup entrepreneurship.
Learn more tips and tricks from Ray, including about business planning and startup finances, in his Step Up Your Startup webinar here.
The Florida Small Business Development Center (FSBDC) at FIU’s GrowBiz blog features a wealth of advice on how to grow your business. For more information on the no-cost consulting services for businesses in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties provided by FSBDC, visit their website.
