Why Getting Advice Is Important For Young Entrepreneurs

Just how valuable is input to the newbie entrepreneur?

Today, being an entrepreneur is made up of two simple things “being smart” and “keeping lean.” Factor in the current economic distress, and the changing face of traditional bricks and mortar business, and you have an increasingly difficult environment for a young, inexperienced entrepreneur to get started in.

“Passion for your journey as an entrepreneur is not the only factor you need to consider when you are starting your business”

Get Sound advice

There are so many laws, rules and regulations, hundreds of options, opportunities and pitfalls, that leveraging someone else’s experience is the perfect way to avoid the ‘down-side’ of going it alone. Someone on the ‘outside’ looking in will often see things you may overlook.

More experienced and qualified people may be able to offer sound and important advice on certain situations. Often, they will share their own failures and bad times and you can draw on this experience to enhance your journey as an entrepreneur.

Lack of confidence

Having worked with and mentored young and inexperienced people through their business journey, I have found they often lack the confidence and knowledge of the grey areas of business to really take their product or service to market.

The best business ideas never reach paper because the mentee lacks encouragement or is too embarrassed to ask questions.

Bouncing ideas past someone, getting their valuable input and asking for other people’s opinions and questions not only saves short term time and money, but also pain and heartache in the long run.

Ask those questions

“Never be afraid to ask questions”

“Never be afraid of embarrassing yourself or saying you don’t know or understand something” My father, a businessman himself, gave me this advice when I first started out as an entrepreneur. I now constantly ask questions and find sharing and learning is the best way to earning!

I love brainstorming sessions with budding entrepreneurs about the right and wrong ways of ‘doing business’ It opens up new channels of thought, new processes and wonderful new strategies for routes to market.

Delve into your ideas

It’s so important to delve right into your ideas, and there’s no better way than to ask questions. If someone responds negatively to a genuine question, then they’re not the person you should be seeking advice from.

“Watch the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves”

In my very first business in the motor trade, I never used to charge customers for small stock items like washers and bolts. I needed to increase profits and asked for advice from my father, a businessman himself  who advised “Watch the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.”

We then spent hours and hours counting all the stock that I had previously given away free, and devised a small retail price  to charge on to customers. That was an instant £75 per month increase in profits, (almost one weeks rent in those days!) and, during those early days, was the most valuable advice I have ever received.

Be Smart – Keep It Lean…

Often, in targeting the big contracts, and the huge sales, business owners forget about the smaller, regular payments they will need for the leaner times to keep them afloat.

Little snippets of advice and inspiration will go a long way to helping someone who is just starting out in the wonderful world of self employment. Encouragement and support will make all the difference.

So is input valuable to the newbie entrepreneur?

Absolutely! Getting advice and sharing ideas is the perfect recipe for any successful business. Did you seek advice when you started out? Whats the best business advice you have received? Share below.