Becoming an entrepreneur offers aspiring business owners’ financial freedom, personal satisfaction and the opportunity to become their own boss. As with most worthwhile things, however, there’s no one-size-fits-all path to achieving success.
With more than a decade of experience as an entrepreneur and business management professional, Jeff Ber has successfully navigated the business world, leveraging his skills and passions into successful, profitable ventures. For beginning entrepreneurs seeking to do the same, he’s outlined the following tips and guidelines.
Lean on Your Network
The phrase has escalated into something of a cliché, but it’s true what they say: it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. As an entrepreneur, your network is critical to your success. Not only will your relationships inevitably connect you to new opportunities, they’re also valuable investments in your personal self.
To put it simply, your network is an asset not only in a professional sense, but in a personal sense as well. Jeff Ber believes you are deeply impacted by the people you surround yourself with. They determine how you think about the world — and more importantly — how you think about yourself. That’s why he recommends surrounding yourself with opportunity-minded, uplifting individuals who are prepared to give you support and encouragement. When you interlace yourself in a community of empowered dreamers, you’ll find yourself thriving on both a personal and professional level.
Dedication is Key
Everyone has dreams of launching their own successful business and becoming their own boss. But without persistence, that’s all they will ever be — dreams. When it comes to starting a successful venture, dedication is the ingredient that sets the dreamers apart from the doers.
No matter how much you want success, it won’t happen unless you work for it. According to Jeff Ber, this means devoting every single day to making progress and achieving your goals. While many imagine entrepreneurship to be glamorous and effortless, its realities are often much grittier. Success doesn’t happen while you’re sleeping, it requires long hours, early mornings and work. True entrepreneurs aren’t just individuals who want to own and operate their own businesses, they’re people who stay dedicated and persistent even on the hardest days.
Focus on Self-Improvement
As an entrepreneur, the best thing you can do for yourself is to realize that you don’t know it all. In fact, Jeff Ber argues that the world’s best entrepreneurs are people who have learned how to lean into their own shortcomings in order to identify areas for improvement and thereby increase success.
Whether you’re an industry leader or just starting out, what you don’t understand about the business world will always outweigh what you do know. As soon as you accept that shortcoming and commit to a lifetime of learning, you’re well on your way to growing into the best possible person (and entrepreneur) you can possibly become.
Choose Learning Over Entertainment
Watching a movie or reading a comic book might be an excellent way to lose yourself for a few hours and escape from the world around you, but neither are likely to teach you anything meaningful about this life or how to succeed. While escapism and relaxation have their time and place (especially within a mental health context), Jeff Ber recommends indulging in them more mindfully.
Instead, seek out entertainment in the form of education or creation. Rather than scrolling on social media or flipping through channels, find positive, productive ways to engage during your free time — ways which add value and meaning to your life.
