Where to start your entrepreneurial career?

Becoming an entrepreneur takes planning and a leap of faith, but it’s entirely possible to make something big out of your personal projects. Find out what it takes.

How entrepreneurship is blooming throughout the pandemic: 

It may be hard to believe, but the fact is there is always room for innovation in any industry – and budding entrepreneurs all over the world keep demonstrating this. During the pandemic, many workers have found themselves turning what started as their side project into a career.

With Covid-19 possibly changing the way we work indefinitely and an alarming number of people being let go from their jobs due to pandemic-imposed restrictions and the resulting economic slump, many of us are finally finding the courage to commit to our personal projects. Some have even turned it into their new career. 

Although the worldwide crisis added disillusionment to the usual risks and difficulties associated with entrepreneurship, many have recognised that it is still achievable.

The realities of entrepreneurship

Stepping into a founder’s role requires a lot of zeal, diligence, and work that typically goes unrewarded during the early stages of a business’ creation. Trial and error, assembling a team, facing budgeting hurdles, finding investors, building a client base… starting a business from scratch is many things, but it isn’t easy.

However, it certainly can’t hurt to keep in mind your long-term vision for your business and what you’re hoping to achieve in your community, in the industry, or even on the global level if you’re ambitious. Turning a personal project into a source of income requires you to keep your priorities in view, as you will be responsible for the bigger-picture and everyday operations.

In what will likely be a one person enterprise at first, you will have to be able to multitask.

Depending on the type of work you’re going into, the estimated size of your business, the reach of your project, and how ahead you are in the planning stage, starting can mean very different things. One thing is for certain: it pays to take the challenges of entrepreneurship and turn them into opportunities to learn new skills, and even develop new areas of competence altogether.

New technology moves quickly as new strategies are created, implemented, and improved. As a new business owner, you are expected to adapt to these changes and structure your services accordingly, as the satisfaction of your prospects and clients will be at the forefront of your priorities. 

A very real possibility

Through the concerns of failing and not doing things perfectly from the first try, remember that a lot of industry giants started as a one-person project in a world of uncertainty. The blank canvas of entrepreneurship may be what best exemplifies a double-edged sword. That’s what’s particularly exciting and motivating about turning your personal project into your career: the thought that the possibilities are near-endless.

In the face of discouragement, get inspired by those who came before you, and believe in what you have to bring to the table. There are people out there who will realise they want what you’re offering, but only once they know it’s an option.  

One way to achieve that is to work on your online visibility. Creating a new brand is an opportunity to market it right from the very start. By creating social media profiles and a good website for your business, you already go a long way in kickstarting the visibility of your brand name and you give yourself a platform on which you can highlight what makes you stand out from the competition.

Think of questions such as:

• What makes your product distinctive and unique?
• What’s your biggest attribute – your service, your prices, the quality of your product, the story behind your business?

All of these are marketable attributes, and knowing how to showcase them properly is a big asset.

As you move along in your business and gain some traction, you will be able to learn more about advanced digital strategies, web design, and marketing tools. You might even eventually work with a team of specialists or hire an agency that will help you in the development of your brand.

It remains that before all of that, the most crucial thing is to start; and if you cover all your bases and don’t hold back, you can still go places in the most competitive of industries.