Written by: Stephanie Kable, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I’ve just celebrated 15 years at Live-English.net.
Fifteen years ago, I left my regular job and jumped in the water to create my own online business. What a journey it’s been! I’ve learned so much, about entrepreneurship, about myself, about mindset, about strategy.
I want to share here 15 lessons I keep from these 15 years of entrepreneurship.
1. Believe in your product.
When I started Live-English.net in 2006, the concept of learning English online with a native-English teacher was very new. We put a website together and did a bit of Adwords advertising, but nothing was happening. Actually, for 6 long months, we were getting low-quality leads, nothing else. People did not understand what we were offering, the website was not very attractive, and the pricing was not right. I believed in what we were doing, and I could not understand why it wasn’t working. After tweaking this and tweaking that month after month, suddenly, we got our first client! Then a second, and a third! We finally found a recipe to get a regular flow of clients. Had I not believed in what we were offering, I would have given up after a few attempts and missed out on this wonderful opportunity.
2. Have a clear vision of where you want to go.
At first, I didn’t have a clear vision of my business. I tried many different markets, niches, kinds of services until I found what was truly aligned with what I wanted to build. Learning English is very vague and can include a lot of different kinds of products or services. Our raison d’être was to help professionals in Europe feel more confident when they speak English through practicing with native-English teachers at their convenience. Every time I am tempted to add a new service, I ask myself if it really corresponds to the vision I have defined.
3. Get over your errors and mistakes, even the biggest ones.
As entrepreneurs, we need to make dozens of decisions every single day. Sometimes they are based on data. Sometimes they are based on our gut feeling. Either way, mistakes happen. It’s natural. Expect them. When it happens, spend your energy to fix it, minimize its impact and consider it a lesson for the future.
4. Don’t listen to people.
As your company's founder, you are the most qualified to know whether an idea is worth pursuing or not. Many people will come to you and tell you what you should do or should not do. Of course, some ideas might be good, and you might want to integrate them into your projects, but do not blindly listen to people. They don’t have the full picture. You do.
5. Get help from a business coach.
We, entrepreneurs, have lots of ideas, we have a good knowledge of our audience and their pain points, we might be good in certain areas like marketing or finance. A business coach that we trust is incredibly valuable to grow our entrepreneurial mindset, help us manage our priorities, and point out where we should invest our time and energy.
6. Make your business a source of predictable revenue.
The business you build should have systems in place to become a predictable source of revenue. Your sales should be clear, simple, tweaked, and improved over time.
Without a system, you might only rely on chance to find clients.
7. Get used to the ups and downs.
This is probably the most difficult thing to get used to as an entrepreneur. When things go really well, lots of projects come to my mind. I’m optimistic and feel great about the business. However, other times, something comes up, and suddenly things don’t look as rosy as they were earlier. Stress and anxiety suddenly take over. Know yourself, understand that it’s all temporary and keep the direction you’ve defined for your business.
8. Hire as soon as you can.
An entrepreneur should understand that their purpose is to work on their business, not in their business. Especially at the beginning, we might want to do everything ourselves. However, this is not sustainable in the long run. Once the business is after the proof of concept stage, once we know the business has true potential, hiring should be the priority to scale.
9. Competition is good.
Very few businesses are strong enough to create and educate a new market. For a small business, competition is good news! It proves that there is a market and that enough people should be interested in your product or service. Don’t get annoyed because your field has many different players.
10. Choose between a Lifestyle business and a growth-minded business.
There are 2 types of businesses: the lifestyle business and the growth-minded business. The former is a business that will give you the freedom to do what you like, work when and where you want. The latter is a more goal-oriented business, often with investors. Its goal is to take over the market through innovation. Know what kind of business you’re after and act accordingly.
11. Focus on a few objectives at a time.
When you own a business and want to take it to the next level, you need to work smart. A small business is typically understaffed and wants to do too many things at once. Pick 2-3 priorities to pursue over the next quarter so that you don’t spread yourself too thin.
12. Differentiate yourself the right way.
Trying to beat the competition by offering a product or service at a lower price is risky. Many small business owners who feel underconfident price themselves too low. Unfortunately, they don’t have enough clients to make a living out of it. Finding something that brings a lot of value to the customer that the competition has missed is a great way to differentiate yourself. Find a real added value.
13. Expand your network.
In particular, the people you meet, particularly the entrepreneurs you can exchange ideas with, are a tremendous asset to the entrepreneurial journey. No one understands you better than another entrepreneur. If they are not entrepreneurs themselves, your spouse or best friend might not grasp all your concerns and ambitions. By networking with like-minded entrepreneurs, you won’t be alone.
14. Read.
Reading is the activity that will give you the best return on investment. Learning from people who are a few steps ahead of you is an amazing opportunity. Books about self-development, growth mindset, psychology, marketing, finance, management will open your mind to new ideas. They will allow you to apply them to your own business at your own scale.
15. Disconnect.
We’ve spoken a lot about what to do when you’re an entrepreneur. I want to finish this list by disconnecting. An entrepreneur is someone obsessed with their business, day and night. Finding time to stop for a moment is equally vital. Find your way to disconnect, whether through daily meditation, a day without your smartphone, a regular night out with friends, a long weekend in the countryside with your spouse. These are great opportunities to get back to work with renewed motivation and unique ideas that will make a big difference to your business.
Entrepreneurship is not an easy path. There are many lessons to learn from it. Make your own list along the way, and keep creating and contributing to the world. We tend to measure business success by its turnover, profit, and customer acquisition, to name a few. It’s much more than that. Entrepreneurship is a way of life.
Stephanie Kable, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Stephanie Kable is the CEO of Live-English.net, an English online school that helps professionals worldwide feel more confident with their English as a second language. Through online one-to-one and group lessons via Zoom, the team of native-English teachers provides an efficient, convenient, and fun way to improve English speaking skills. Stephanie holds a B.A. in Management from the University of Paris-Dauphine (France) and an M.A. in Information Systems from Institut Mines-Telecom - Business School (Paris, France). Fond of languages, technology, business, and personal development, Stephanie combines all these knowledge fields to offer unique English courses focused on each learner's needs.
