Entrepreneurship
Dare to take action
"A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them... the true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.”
-Darren Hardy, The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster: Why Now Is the Time to #Join the Ride
Purpose, Passion & Vision
Entrepreneurs need to have a clear purpose of why they do what they do and the passion to stay resilient in the face of challenges. Your purpose can't just be making money. It has to be bigger, bolder and more impactful.
A startup journey is erratic with extreme highs and lows like a roller coaster ride. You need to have the WHY figured out first.
What pain are you solving?
Every entrepreneur is in the business of solving problems and delivering some sort of progress to a customer. So aim to solve the most pressing and urgent problems.
Get in their shoes. Develop empathy. See the world the way they see it. Feel their pains, struggles, priorities and aspirations.
Customers buy what they think they need and desire, they don't buy what YOU THINK they need.
Who is your customer?
Everything you create needs to be useful to a customer. It is not about what the latest technology or gadget can do, or how great your idea is. It is about what benefit your invention brings to a customer.
'Customer satisfaction' is not enough, aim to delight the customer.
Washrooms will always tell if a company cares about its customers.
– Anonymous
Market and Competition
Your solution is going to be sold in particular market conditions and will definitely compete with other offerings on the market.
Netflix competes with sleep time. Restaurants compete with vending machines and home-packed lunchboxes.
NEVER assume there is no competition. There is always competition.
Ideation & Prototyping
Build a prototype and test before going all out to build the main thing. Iterate, optimize, change and be ready to abandon some or all of your plans. Keep the focus on value creation. Do not fall in love with your solution.
The only way to get honest feedback is to take your product and show it to people.
How will your business make money?
Your business model lets you monetize your idea and earn money. Focus on what your Unique Value Proposition is and then find ways to make a profit with it.
Consider your expenses and what it costs to actually deliver and support your solution. Always keep some margin to account for unexpected expenses.
The Team
You cannot do it all alone.
You need a good team of A-players. People who are trustworthy, credible and know how to get the job done. Don't waste your time and resources working with sub-par unproductive team mates.
The quality of your team will largely decide the trajectory of your business.
Collaboration
Hang out with smart ambitious creative optimists.
Networking is useful in gaining access to market insights, knowledge, resources, opportunities and mentorship. Collaborate with reputable companies, top-voices and influencers in the market to take your brand forward.
You get access to international customers, validation and invaluable feedback from your honest partners.
Funding
Do you know how much funding you need? How will you arrange the capital required for your idea to materialize?
As Muslims, we cannot take interest-based loans, so what are the other options in your community? Can you take an interest-free loan or partner with investors?
Resilience
Are you ready to fail 90% of the time? Entrepreneur's life is hard. You cannot have it all figured out at the start.
Be ready to take risks and fail. Failure is a part of the process.
Fail fast and learn fast.
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
~Japanese Proverb
Focus
Do not do innovation for the sake of innovating.
Have goals and work towards them.