We look at many businesses around us and wonder, “How did someone like him manage to become so big?” The answer is that you do not need to possess exceptional and unique skills to be able to build a successful business. You also do not necessarily need existing experience in the field to be sure of your success. Jeff Bezos, for example, had no experience running an online bookshop. In this blog post, we will look at ways in which you can grow a great business even if you lack having exceptional skills.
Some of the greatest entrepreneurs started their journeys without any formal education in the field or prior business experience. How did they do it?
Having a business background might not be essential to your progress. Through great teammates and advisors, you can acquire and learn business skills over time.
What is more important is that you have a unique insight into the industry you are working in or possess a core competence that not a lot of people have, giving you the competitive edge to start your venture. You will also need to possess a natural passion for the service or product, tenacity, intense motivation, perseverance as well as a strong vision to turn your business ides into reality.
Assuming that you have some of the core competence and are willing to learn others, below are some of the foolproof ways to start a business without strong skills. Here’s what other successful business founders did:
They brought in a Co-Founder that has Complementary Skills
Begin with a clear vision on the company you would like to start. You will need to look inside yourself and chalk down the role you would like to play in the business and the type of help you will need to get the business off the ground.
Chances are that you already have some idea of the product or service you would like to target. You would ideally like to be in charge of something as important as designing the product. What you will need is someone who can actually turn your idea into a strong and viable business. You need someone who can also provide you guidance on how your product can be designed effectively, how you can manufacture it smartly. You need someone who can help market and sell the product like a pro.
While you can look for this help in many ways, the best would be to find a co-founder who possesses these complimentary skills that you might lack. These skills can include things like sound business background or experience with business development. Your co-founder will need to be as excited as you are about the venture for it to have a great start.
They got Involved in Startup Communities
Deciding on bringing a co-founder is actually the easy part. What really is a challenge is actually finding one that perfectly fits the profile you are looking for. A good place to start is attending your local startup community’s meetup events. You can use such events to share your ideas with as many people as you can and see the ones you click with.
Research all the big events happening in your area, especially the ones that relate to your industry. Your search can be also broader if you are looking for a more diverse skillset. At the events, make sure you share your ideas with every person you meet and make it clear that you are actively looking for an individual who can start a business with you. You should stop worrying about someone stealing your idea. Know that execution is usually much more difficult than the idea itself.
As you go to these events, you are surely going to meet a number of people who will be excited about your product or service and some may also take out time to give you valuable advice. Try to keep in touch with these contacts after the event. Having a strong team of advisors will be a great way for you to augment the knowledge that your co-founder and you bring to the table. Advisors in the relevant field will be particularly valuable.
They found the Perfect Place to Excel
It is likely that you might find yourself in a place that simply is not that great for the industry that you are targeting. My advice would be that you look for a location where you feel your venture would boom. This will also help you in garnering the right skills and resources and build the right team for you to succeed in the modern competitive world.
With the help of great co-founders and a team of strong advisors as well as a growth in industry connections, you will be starting a new company just the right way, especially if you do not come with prior experience. Put yourself in the ideal situation to meet as many people as possible, who can accelerate your development while at the same time, maximize your opportunities for success.
Golden Tips of Starting a Business without Experience
You need to start somewhere – you should not be expected to know everything at the time of your first venture. Inexperienced entrepreneurs founded most of the big companies. You need to have the right competence when you start a business. You can say that your entrepreneurial competence need to be a combination of your entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial experience and entrepreneurial skills. Once you know you have the entrepreneurial competence, you should follow the following 4 steps in making sure that you start a business with no business experience:
- Develop Business Ideas Around Things You Already Know. Now do not get me wrong – I am not stopping you from following your heart and doing something very new. I just feel that you will be better off doing something that you already have some idea of. Ask yourself questions like: “What differentiates me from other?” and “Can I use this knowledge to build something that will benefit others?” Answering such questions will give you the right picture of all that you already possess and how can you use it to differentiate yourself from other. Such an exercise will also help you understand areas where you need to improve yourself. Use all this information to start building a unique competence for the new business.
- Build Your Competence Using Knowledge of the Market. After having an initial business idea, you can start building yourself as an entrepreneur. To make it possible, you just have to do your own research. You need to answer questions like: “Is there a specific market for my services and products?” and “Who will be the main competitors for me in this market? What type of competitors already exist in the market? What are their individual strengths and weaknesses?” To answer these questions thoroughly, you will need to conduct extensive market research. You might also need to change your initial business idea slightly to have a more comprehensive plan.
- Have a Robust Plan that Can Tackle Issues. Once you have your main idea based on the biggest competences, adjusted to your knowledge and research, it is time for you to start planning your course of action. Write down how you would like to implement your ideas, transforming them from merely ideas into something that is more executable. Plan for questions like: “What will happen tomorrow?” While writing your plan, you should think about taking small steps, one at a time. This way, you will have enough time to increase your knowledge, experience and skills needed for tomorrow. You should take out time each day to think about ways to improve yourself and your business plan, helping you to move towards your targets.
- Start Small So You Can Test The Market And Your Research. If you already have a strong plan, you will need to start testing things from it in the real market. Build your products and services and start talking to your potential customers, identified through research. This step will help you learn more about your customers while at the same time develop your own entrepreneurial competence related to business development, selling as well as marketing. You should be able to answer questions like: “What is my offering to the target customers?” and “How much are they comfortably willing to spend on my existing offer?” Adjusting things according to your customer requirements will prepare you for the big launch. Building all necessary systems needed for the business to run smoothly will be essential.
These are some of the essential tips and tricks for you to grow a successful business without having superstar skills. What you need to keep in mind is that it is critical for you to have self-belief. You need to trust your abilities and you also need to be active in understanding how the market is responding. While relevant education and experience can help you with any business, they are by no means, a prerequisite to a new venture or a guarantee of success.
Do you have any other tips of your own? Have you excelled in a business that you were not very skilled in at start? Share your stories in the comments sections. Do also check our other blog post on The Flexibility of Business Development through Crowdsourcing.
