The 3 Keys to Successful Entrepreneurship

Building a business is one of the hardest things an individual can do. Entrepreneurship is building a company from the ground up with no prior reference to learn from. This means constant iteration in building your product or service to reach the market, building a company both physically and structurally, creating the right team, and managing your business to be successful. Your biggest disadvantage will be the risk you are taking, however, if successful the reward of entrepreneurship will be not only monetary, but the satisfaction that you will have built a company through your ideas and processes successfully. I can think of no greater reward than building a business from the ground up. In football terms, it's like Andy Reid deciding to take on the coaching job for an average Kansas City Chiefs team, and turning it into the dynasty that it is today. As part of our interview series, we met with David Ronn and Vic Friday, co-founders of a hardware-based cybersecurity company Zecurity Tech to discuss entrepreneurship. 

1. Mindset and Decision-Making 

Building a business is tough, and it’s often harder than you think. While you may dream of more freedom, fun, and financial success, the reality is that it will take twice as much time, effort, and money as you originally anticipated. You have to build a product or service, develop a team, create a strong culture, and implement an effective strategy. This journey is challenging, but with the right mindset, it's possible to make it through. According to Vic, one must be capable of making hard decisions for the business's good, even if it means disappointing friends or colleagues. If you cannot make the decisions you want, you will either feel unfulfilled in your company or will experience regret. David added to our conversation that regret is a significant obstacle for entrepreneurs. To overcome regret, entrepreneurs need to learn from their mistakes and practice having an even disposition to avoid dwelling on decisions that didn't turn out as expected. As an entrepreneur, having the ability to recognize your flaws and find areas of improvement without getting too high or low will give you a significant advantage over competitors. The mindset of a great coach will share and inspire that of their team. That said, leaders need to exhibit resilience, adaptability, and a positive attitude to truly motivate their team members and themselves. 

2. Communication

Communication is one of the most important aspects of business as it sets the tone for your business. It is also how you direct your team to achieve success. Despite everyone talking about how important communication is, many entrepreneurs and managers struggle to be effective communicators. As part of our interview series, David and Vic expressed the ways they communicate as entrepreneurial partners. They found that success in a startup requires a long-term commitment and a willingness to find alternative paths when faced with obstacles. To overcome these obstacles, they openly communicate their goals and vision of success for Zecurity and make decisions together ensuring both are fully on board before moving forward. If there is disagreement, they discuss their perspectives thoughtfully until a resolution is reached. As part of their communication, they share their long-term mindset with their team, focusing on where the future needs are rather than just addressing current needs.

In my experience, companies are excellent at developing systems that prepare employees for higher roles, often training them to eventually take over positions above them. Business owners typically miss out on this kind of formal training, which makes it important for entrepreneurs to develop their own structures. Whether you're running a one-person operation or a large team, you’re setting the culture for your business. Write down your non-negotiables, values, and what kind of customer experience you want to provide. Creating and communicating a culture of openness and honesty is essential for long-term success.

3. Seek Learning and Feedback

The final key to entrepreneurship, brought up by several business owners throughout our interview series, is the importance of learning. Oftentimes, this means learning from experiences both successful and unsuccessful. By reading this blog, you are part of the way there in seeking knowledge and success! In our previous blog “How to Fail Forward,” we expressed the importance of learning from your mistakes and constantly seeking new ways to grow. Besides experience, you can learn from reading more books and reports in your industry to give you a knowledge advantage over your competitors. Speaking of your competitors, you can study what competitors are doing right and wrong and take lessons from their businesses. Another underappreciated way of learning is seeking feedback from your customers and employees. By receiving honest feedback, you will have a better gauge of your strengths and weaknesses, which will give you an idea of where to improve. Finally, when you want to learn more about your business and gather a new perspective, seeking a business consultation or business coach can be a great way to understand your goals and how to strategize to make your business more efficient. 

Here at Sugar Land ActionCOACH, we specialize in helping small businesses and entrepreneurs take the next steps in growing their ventures. Click here to get started today!

A special thank you to David Ronn and Vic Friday at Zecurity Tech for sharing their valuable insights on entrepreneurship as part of our interview series and for inspiring this blog.