Career Advice: What Does It Take To Succeed As A Young Entrepreneur?

Success. What is it? It can be defined in a thousand different ways. For some entrepreneurs it might mean business automation (the use of technology to auto repeat day-to-day tasks; accelerating the speed in which work gets done). For others, it may mean achieving high profit margins — a representation of what percentage of sales have turned into profit. 

If a company sees that it has a 40% profit margin, it means that the company has a net income that equals $0.40 for each dollar made. Regardless of which one it is, it takes extensive amounts of consistency, perseverance and optimism. My own journey taught me that in the start-up phases there are times when your product or service may have to be free and voluntary in order to gather insight. Initially putting your product or service out with no immediate return can be long and tiring. Yet, as you continue towards your vision, you'll eventually reach a point where things flow together.

Despite all of the challenges that you will encounter, they can be overcome with preparation. Getting organized and creating a business plan can help those early in their entrepreneurial journey maintain a positive outlook and personal motivation. For example, your plan can include systems to keep you organized and effective. Simply think about a system as a way to establish a consistent process for which you operate. This process can evolve as your business grows. Having a system will help you consistently stay on the path to success while keeping your daily, weekly, monthly and even annual performance smooth and intact. 

Some systems require a team, this can include marketers, sales experts, operation specialists and financial specialists. Every person only has 24 hours in a day, and if your vision is big enough you'll eventually hit the physical and mental cap of your production. At this point the business may demand that you invest in more people and/or tools to support growth. The more people on board, the more time is accumulated for progressive production. 

Other systems require you to network. A lot of the time success comes down to who you know rather than what you know. If you are consistently networking and expanding your contacts, more and more opportunities will come knocking at your door — for kids this may mean looking towards your teachers, parents, counselors, and mentors. For adults this will mean working in collaboration with your co-workers, attending various mastermind events, searching for mentors, and connecting with individuals who have more industry experience. Eventually you will be able to leverage these contacts for your business, leading to multiple opportunities and ongoing sales.

My advice to everyone is to always push for the higher end of greatness, we never know what we are capable of until we get out of our comfort zone.