The Three Questions Young Entrepreneurs Should Ask Themselves

Effective entrepreneurship cannot be constructed by creating a minimum viable product, raising capital, getting into an incubator, and just one day randomly becoming successful. These are all great ideas to help build strength along the way, but they do not constitute entrepreneurship. If they did, everyone who followed these steps would become successful entrepreneurs.

I think the focus should be placed on solving the problems of customers. This is the key to building a successful business and making money. While it is always a valuable experience to build a mobile app or product that you think is useful, if no one else is willing pay to have it, what’s the point to making it?

The key to being a successful entrepreneur is being able to figure out how you can improve the lives of consumers, and provide enough value with your product or service that consumers will be amenable to paying for it. This is the most important thing for young entrepreneurs to realize. Once you have achieved success by using this model, stick with it, master it, and make sure no one is able to add more value to his or her product than you are. I think if more entrepreneurs focused on these traits, the 80 percent first year failure rate of start-ups would be a lot lower.

Who is going to pay for my product or service?

Finding financial support for your venture may sound simple, but it is an issue I see a lot of entrepreneurs face. Finances, or lack of, can make or break your company. For the majority of young entrepreneurs, the model of building a product, hoping that people will actually use it, and figuring out a way to monetize it later is not a sound model to rely on. You are young and inexperienced. The best way to get people to listen to you is by showing them the numbers. Numbers do not lie, but you might.

Is my product or service the best?

Start-ups succeed because they are able to identify niches and develop better solutions than the ones that are currently available in the market. Young entrepreneurs need to find their niche in the market and master it. It is vital to figure out how to do something better than everyone else. If you can do this, you have written your own ticket to success.

Is my product or service easy to sell?

The easier your product or service is to sell will guarantee a much more likely chance of success. You will be able to sell faster and quicker than your competition, which will enable you to gain a higher percentage of market share. Being first to the market with a great idea also establishes you as the go to person in your market.

From my experience, referrals are the best type of advertising. If you can master selling a product or service in one area, chances are you won’t have too many hurdles when you try to expand into other markets. I guarantee that if you can deliver a great customer experience, you will have no trouble finding unique customers and referrals in new markets.

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