What are the cornerstones of entrepreneurship? Resilience and skillsets are essential. The knowledge.insead.edu website advises to never forget to think about the value you are bringing to your customers.
A businessman's story
Chatri Sityodtong had to share his dorm room with his mother while attending his MBA course at the Harvard Business School. Their family had gone bankrupt and his father abandoned the family. The only solution he could think of was to make as much money as possible. After finishing his studies he worked for several years in consulting and investments. Eventually he started his own company and managed a hedge fund on Wall Street. However, some years later he retired. He chose a path that was very different to what he had been doing before. He began to focus on martial arts and found One Championship, Asia’s largest sports media property.
That was his true passion. He said that the decision was a result of his feeling of not adding any value to the world. Later, although everyone warned him that he shouldn't mix passion and business, he created a highly successful broadcast that now reaches billions of people around the world. He explained that when an entrepreneur is close to failure, he must always refuse to give up just because he has run out of cash.
Do you have all the necessary skills?
There are some skills that are necessary for any project or start-up if you want it to be successful. If you personally lack some of these skills, you need co-founders or partners. You need different perspectives. Diversity can only broaden your scope and help you with checking your assumptions and expectations about what your customers want.
Value added
Your main task as an entrepreneur is to continue to grow your value proposition. Your strategy and value proposition determine your success. Finding space to grow is important. Successful start-ups are able to create new markets. Big markets mean there are opportunities to come back to when you make a mistake. Don’t be afraid of discovering new markets.
-jk-