Page 12 - MERGED FILES MARCH APRIL 2021 EDITION 67_Neat

Page 12
What is required to be successful in starting a business?
have started my first
(serious) business venture
Iwhile studying in University,
I had:
·Zero experience
·Zero knowledge with 2.
online sales
·Zero cash
As a 25-year young
entrepreneur I made tons of
mistakes, they became bigger
and bigger as the business
grew, yet I was able to
overcome the many obstacles
to build a successful online
business and then founded an
eCommerce startup (CrazyLister ) 3.
and raised VC-funding.
I attribute my (relative)
success to 4 elements:
1. Grit - develop the
ability to keep going
when things get hard,
really hard, extremely
damn hard. Your
passion for a particular
long-term goal or end 4.
state, coupled with a
powerful motivation
www.diltonconsultghana.com
www.diltonconsultghana.com
will help you get there.
I love this illustration
about the road to
success:
Execution - ideas are
worth nothing, it's all about
execution. Your idea is no
good if you can't transform it
from a thought in your mind
to action.
The best way to execute is to
set due dates for every action
item and make sure you
complete the tasks on time.
Vision - always have the
long term plan in the back of
your mind, you will be
bogged down by the ongoing
tasks but remember your
north star and aim towards it.
Investors must see and
understand the vision, and
then they have to believe that
you know how to get there.
Friends/partners -
building a business is very
very hard, it's not
Mar - April, 2021
recommended to go it it alone.
I know that there are things I
don't do that well and I'm lucky
to have a co-founder who is
strong at those things. I
wouldn't be able to do that
without him.
To me those are the four things
that come to mind as most
important, note that I didn't say
anything about the product, the
type of business, the target
audience…it doesn't matter as
much as the above.
Good luck :)
Maxim Godin
Continued from pg 11
How can kids
learn entrepre-
-neurship skills?
business and working for me or for
the neighbors?” “I'm going to save
time!”
“Good! Now you have a new
problem… You need to invest some
money on your vegetable garden!
How much money will you invest?
We went to Home Depot to buy
stuff. He had his cash savings in his
pocket.
”Dad, look! If we install this
automatic water system I will be
making money even while we're on
Continue on pg 15