The Importance of Gaining Practical Experience Before Starting a Business

Starting a business is exciting, but it’s full of many challenges and responsibilities. In my own experience launching Ghorwa Shad, a catering service focused on delivering food to offices, hospitals, and events, I quickly learned the value of hands-on experience in preparing myself to navigate these challenges.

From delivering food myself to managing client relations and handling all digital marketing strategy, this was my date back in 2020. It was tough in those early days, but getting through that meant each task I did provided me with an underlying understanding of the business, the market, and the customer needs. Now I have much less need to worry about the daily grind because I understand what could go wrong and what to do.

If you don’t have practical knowledge, without knowing what you need, it's easy to be overdependent on your employees, to leave room for errors when they are not there, or to do something that you have never seen. Often, I find that aspiring entrepreneurs will put a hell of a lot of effort into their business, only to fold by the end of the year, despite the capital investment, because they do not adapt to or understand the market. I learnt from the early experience I had gained and so eventually built a resilient business model that adapts to market demands.

For any new entrepreneur, I highly recommend gaining real-life experience in your chosen industry before investing heavily. Working hands-on teaches you how to tackle issues and builds the skills to make confident decisions.