5 THINGS EVERY ENTREPRENEUR SHOULD KNOW
You may not know this, but as the founder of Student-Made, I say (or type) the word entrepreneur probably 25 times a day.
Yes, a few of these times might be me referencing myself, but mainly they are referring to YOU! Well, our community of 400 student creators, which includes you.
The interesting part? The whole concept of Student-Made began because I thought creatives like you should feel confident in identifying with this word. And with this comes a need to understand and anticipate the journey ahead.
When you're excited about something, it's easy to become attached to that first picture of what it could look like.
This is a necessary part of the creative process, but remember that building something means allowing it to evolve.
And that's not always a sign that you got something wrong… It's a sign that you're learning. So don't be afraid to outgrow your original idea and get excited for how it’s going to take shape in ways you never expected.
Right now you’re in the perfect experimental time, so take advantage of input coming in from all around you. Remember to ask others for their input too, and “be a sponge” as I was
always taught.
In our day-to-day lives you may have noticed how we’re constantly surrounded by… numbers!
Followers. Views. Likes. Sales. Subscribers.
And while tracking and analyzing metrics for your business is important, it's easy to confuse the need to have a large audience with the need to have a meaningful one.
It’s much more important that you have the right people connecting with you and the brand you’re building. Think about it…
Growth doesn't always have to look like a viral post or a huge sales day…sometimes, it's one person at a time. I’ve even heard from several founders that a viral video doesn’t always translate into making a ton of sales!
So carefully choose the outcomes that you want for with your unique brand. And this will determine where you spend most of your time, too.
If you’re tight on budget in the early stages of growth, you know one of the cheapest things you can always afford to pay?
Attention!
Here are some questions you can constantly ask yourself to hone this skill of listening and learning…
All of these questions create important information for you to analyze and reflect on. Sometimes we spend the most time looking for the answers on our own, when actually some quality feedback is the most valuable thing we can get at the time.
More often than not, the people you're building for are already telling you what you need to know…just try and listen.
And if it’s hard to hear, it’s likely the most important feedback you can get. Some of the most valuable feedback is the feedback that makes you rethink something.
Everyone’s brain thinks a little different, and sometimes you need to default to someone else’s perspective. That’s alright! We’re not meant to do this journey alone.
Something that has been proven to me time and time again is that you never know which connection is going to be the BIG one that pays back down the road. Maybe even years down the road.
You don't build a strong network because you know exactly what you'll get from each relationship. You build one because you don't know what's going to happen next, but you lean in anyway!
Networking isn't just about meeting more people (remember the numbers thing…) instead it's about being someone people want to stay connected to—building authentic relationships and supporting a few others when you can.
When something is yours, it's easy to feel like you should be able to figure everything out yourself. But asking for help isn't a weakness, it's a skill.
Beyond just asking for help, this might mean bringing on a partner, or “co-founder” to fill in where you lack.
Some of the best things that have come out of Student-Made happened because my co-founder and I have gone back and forth strategizing our next step together.
Other BIG improvements to our program have come from new members joining our team who brought different perspectives.
Again, your first idea isn’t the best version!
Expect it to be super crazy, abstract, and all over the place— it hasn’t been defined yet!
I can guarantee that you will change your mind. Some things just won’t work, and other things will that you didn’t expect. You'll meet people who change the direction you're headed.
You’ll outgrow ideas that you thought you could never let go of. It’s all a part of the journey.
So keep experimenting. Keep listening. Keep building community. Keep asking for help. And keep going, you got this!
