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Fortune favours the bold

With the current economic downturn and graduate unemployment at its highest in over a decade, entrepreneurship holds the key for the UK to recover out of the recession. Whereas in the past, the 'corporate career' may have been the norm for many bright graduates, with less graduate jobs in blue-chip firms and growing disillusionment with ‘the City’ now is the perfect time to start your own business. Starting a venture whilst you are young and have fewer commitments is ideal; you probably don’t have a family to support, a mortgage to pay and can adjust to the often frugal life of an entrepreneur – with little or no money when you’re starting up.

When I refer to entrepreneurship I do so in its broadest sense and include the burgeoning field of social enterprise. We are facing some deep routed social issues in our world such as poverty, environmental degradation, social and political unrest and entrepreneurs are often left to find the solution to many of these problems.
Why not team up with the people around you and start thinking about how you can create the next Facebook or Virgin? Sir Richard Branson started Virgin in his early 20s - proof that you are never too young to start a business.

Here are some of my top tips for those of you who are considering striking out on your own:

5 top tips:

1) Network network network: remember the saying ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know?’ Well this very true, especially in the world of business. The earlier you start getting out there, meeting people, attending events, talking about your idea / business the better. You never know who you will come across and who in turn they may know so keep an open mind when meeting people. Whilst synergies may not be immediately obvious, you would be surprised how random connections can arise from the most unexpected circumstances.

When attending meetings and events always carry business cards with you and when taking business cards from other people – jot down a few notes on the back i.e. where and when you met them and any action points you discussed. This will help jog your memory in months/years to come and make follow-ups easier. Do not wait too long to follow up with people; try to follow up with people you’ve met within a week (to ensure they remember who you are and what you talked about!)

In business it is all about developing long term relationships with your contacts. Just meeting someone, taking their business cards and filing it away is not a good idea. Keep your network active by making introductions between people you know and keeping people informed of what you are up to. Remember though that it is not just a one-way relationship; just as you are looking for help, always think to yourself when you meet someone, ‘how can I help this person?’ Just a simple introduction to someone you know could help the other person immensely and your kindness will not be forgotten.

2) It’s all in the execution: lots of people come up with ideas, but very few go on to execute on them in a successful way. A common downfall for entrepreneurs is being over protective about their idea and failing to discuss it with others for fear of it being ‘stolen’. Whilst this may be a legitimate concern (and you can seek professional advice about this from an Intellectual Property lawyer), I find more often than not, the process of talking to others about your idea helps you to refine and improve it further. Moreover it enables those around you to offer their advice and support which most people are willing to do.

3) “Bootstrapping”: accessing external finance is likely to become more difficult in the current economic climate. It is therefore essential that you are self-sufficient by keeping costs to a minimum. This means cutting back on unnecessary expenses – live more frugally, which in the entrepreneurship world is known as ‘bootstrapping’! Starting a company is far cheaper than it used to be, especially if your business is an online venture.

When putting together a team to work with you, consider offering them equity in your business rather than a salary (or a mixture of the two) – that way they are sharing the risk with you and have a greater incentive to work hard and see this venture succeed (as ultimately the value of their share options will depend on the success of the business as a whole).

There is no need to spend lots of money on expensive advertising / PR; be creative about how you get the word out about your business – use social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn, create a viral marketing video on YouTube; promote yourself and your company using Twitter – there are so many tools out there which you can use for free – make the most of them!

4) Seek advice: you’d be surprised by how helpful people can be. There are many successful entrepreneurs and business people who are willing to offer young upstarts advice and mentoring. One organisation worth looking into is TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs). They have a fantastic mentoring programme where they match you to an experienced entrepreneur from your industry; developing a strong rapport with a mentor who has “been there, done that” will be invaluable to you and help you to grow your business whilst avoiding some of the pitfalls your mentor may have faced.

5) Get started, but be willing to adapt: too often I hear people saying, “I’ll start my business after I’ve worked for a few years”; “after I’ve turned 30”; “after I’ve done my 500 page business plan” etc. These are often just stalling tactics which to be honest are not going to get you anywhere. I admit, starting a new business can be daunting and you may not have a clue what you are doing at first, but do you know what – most people don’t! I am a firm believer in learning by doing, and the quicker you start the better your chances are of success. That being said don’t forget the tip about seeking advice; you should be agile enough to adapt your proposition and re-invent yourself based on feedback you receive and the changing nature of the market. If you have created a business plan for yourself then great – it’s a good exercise in getting some focus on your idea and the market you are serving but do not be fixated on following your plan to every minute detail.

If you don’t think you’re ready to start up just yet but want to learn more about business first hand then check out my new venture: www.enternships.com We connect students and graduates to start-ups and “SMEs” (small and medium enterprises) to provide you an entrepreneurial internship – which we call an ‘enternship’. With less jobs available in corporates, now is the perfect chance to augment your CV with experience in alternative work environments. Often these can be far more rewarding and interesting, offering you the chance to take on significant responsibility and make a real difference in the company. It is also the perfect training ground for people who want to start their own business, as by being in a start-up you can learn from those around you and by shadowing the entrepreneurs themselves. This can be the perfect opportunity to experience the excitement (and challenges) first hand of a start-up.

It is important to remember that the recession brings with it opportunity; it is the time to take a step back and see what is broken in the world we live and what we can do to fix it. I expect that in 10 years we will look back at this time to find that some of our very best and bravest entrepreneurs started their ventures in the midst of this recession - and as the Latin phrase "Fortes fortuna adiuvat" says - fortune favours the bold.

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