My two cents on being an entrepreneur.

Pleasant greetings fellow hivians.

Being an entrepreneur can feel like a daunting task but it is not quite the truth. While I agree that it is no small feat to becoming an entrepreneur, there are certain steps to take which would make the journey fairly easier.

Who is an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and also enjoying most of the rewards.

Starting up a business is one thing but starting up the right business is what is more important. A lot of people think that venturing into a particular business just because it is lucrative to onlookers, is the real deal and so they go ahead to venture into it but along the line and in a short period of time, the business folds up and they end up blaming their ancestors.

One key factor to becoming a successful entrepreneur is that the intending entrepreneur needs to have a good grip on the business plan he or she is intending to start. Knowing the pros and cons of the business, having adequate knowledge of the target market, customers and location is also important before starting up a business.

My entrepreneurship experience

Ten years ago, I decided to thread the path of entrepreneurship because I wanted to have a side income source. I was working in a shoe factory at the time and I noticed that no one sold recharge cards, I mean airtime for cellular communication around my vicinity. One had to walk a great distance just to get airtime. Here, in my country mobile communication networks require regular airtime top up to enable continuous communication flow.

After my quick survey on that little fact, I went to a supplier and bought the recharge cards in bulk to sell in retail. They usually come in paper strips with a set of numbers written on it that will be used to top up airtime on one's phone. These recharge cards are specifically produced for each network provider.

Before I started the business, some people who heard about it tried to derail me by reminding me that there was not much profit from such a business and that soon It would fold up but I didn't take their words to heart and still went ahead to start it up. The first day was not so blissful as I didn't get many customer patronage but from the second day, things changed for the better. People who knew I sold airtime began to look for me and they went about spreading the word to others. In one week, I made up to 200% of my start up capital and that helped to motivate me. Further along, I got wind of virtual top up and added that to my products as well and I must say that it was a smart move, as I got to reach a wider customer audience than before.

My practical tips

Practically speaking, I have been able to run this business for years now because of the tips I will share with you. I didn't study business or economics but I learnt from other business morguls and their experiences.

To be a successful entrepreneur, never eat your whole profit for the first three years*. What should be done is to reinvest that profit back into the business and watch it grow. The throes of making some profit especially for a new business can be quite tempting but a true entrepreneur knows that he or she needs to stay afloat for the long run and reinvesting the profits made is a major key.

The second tip that has helped me so far is innovation. This is the ability to be creative and move with the times. Almost everything is now computer- based and if one does not have badic knowledge of how to do digital then such an entrepreneur might end up behind. Seek new ways of doing your business and rendering your services. Keep up abd abreaet with what is new and on board so that you can put your business out there in the lime light.

Take as an illustration, advertising business. Formerly it used to be only on posters, flyers, radio jungles and television placement but today, advertising has evolved to become so rapid. Almost every app has an in-ad feature that advertises products to phone users.

Without innovation, I believe that an entrepreneur would go stale and no one wants anything that is stale.

Thank you all for reading. This is my entry to the day #8 July inleo prompt.

Images belong to me.