Top 102 Things I Learned As An Entrepreneur

This article is a collaboration between Carlos Raul and Eikel Inda .

1. It always looks more straightforward than it is.

2. Your customers are more creative than you think.

3. Once you gain traction, you convince yourself more every day, your conviction increases, bring more people in, and create something meaningful that many people care about without notice. Momentum is key.

4. You should not pursue happiness as an end goal. But instead, as a permanent state of mind that makes you feel content.?

5. It is challenging to have a good balance of life and work, at least in the early days.

6. As an entrepreneur, the ride will always be more important than the result. Optimize for the ride, and the results will come.?

7. Do not count the number of times you fail. Just focus on getting back on your feet one more time. And remember that sometimes you only need to be right once.?

8. Seeing how other entrepreneurs are successful and enjoy that is always gratifying.

9. Listening to customers with humility and comprehending them is a crucial talent for any entrepreneur.

10. Many people will always be enthusiastic to see you achieve your dreams; others wait for the announcement of your failure.

11. Goals without dates are just dreams.?

12. Dream big is significant, but spending all your time discussing your plans is not guaranteed to make your dream come true.

13. Your product is successful when it begins to be recommended by word of mouth.

14. A good combination of passion and money incentives is ideal when creating a business. You will probably need a good amount of both to make something meaningful and sustainable.?

15. It's a good idea to identify opportunities where you think you have a chance of doing something interesting and hopefully much more different/better than exciting alternatives.

16. Your family will always sacrifice a part of their life for your dream.

17. Compassion for others sometimes makes you lose something, but in the end, it makes you a great and better person.

18. At some point, entrepreneurs will present a physical or mental health issue caused by the number of hours they continuously work.

19. Explore different opportunities until you find something you like and can bring significant value to many people. Create, learn, grow, take risks, and enjoy the game; it's all about the game. That is right there...an entrepreneur.?

20. The lifestyle of entrepreneurs makes some people think they are very rich or poor.

21. Bureaucracy is a permanent enemy hidden behind good intentions.

22. Depending on the freedom at work interpretation, an entrepreneur may have more or less freedom.

23. Something extraordinary about being an entrepreneur is the possibility of creating new things.

24. As an entrepreneur, you have to learn to follow your instinct.

25. Building a community of enthusiasts around your creation is extremely important.

26. Without discipline, determination, and integrity, it is more complicated to be successful.

27. An entrepreneur can experience very high stress levels for a long time.

28. It is essential to understand that your employees do not have the same level of responsibility as you, so do not blame your employees; blame yourself.

29. If you have an excuse every time you fail, something is wrong with you.

30. Your failure risk will decrease after the first two years.

31. It is always helpful to get guidance from other entrepreneurs. No matter how prosperous they have been, you always learn something new.

32. Every entrepreneur should develop excellent skills in handling customer service operations.

33. The quality of a product or service and the attention to detail contribute to its success or failure.

34. Your friend, employed by a multi-million dollar company, will take many more vacations than you, at least in the early days, And usually, he will look at what you do and say: "I don't want that for myself."

35. Learning to be highly efficient is complicated but very necessary. We humans like to talk a lot, to communicate what we know. Learn to speak less and do more.

36. It will always be better if you do not depend on a single source of income. Learn how to manage money wisely.

37. Your business partners will never work the same hours as you; they will work less or more.

38. Always keep your ego in check so you can keep learning and helping others.

39. It is not necessarily required, but being employed in the past helps understand human resources better.

40. It is not easy to find the perfect recipe for priorities; sometimes, you have to execute multiple duties in parallel.

41. You will never forget your first clients; whatever happens, they will always be unique to you.

42. An entrepreneur must constantly conduct experiments in different areas of the business. By doing this, the effectiveness of the execution plans can be more accurately estimated.

43. Knowing when you are stuck and cannot continue growing the business by yourself is essential. You're going to wake up one day to the sound of a loud voice advising you, "It's time to ask for help."

44. Customer satisfaction will largely dictate the expansion of your company; You must have instruments to measure customer satisfaction levels.

45. You cannot be an entrepreneur while simultaneously being an employee of another company; part-time entrepreneurship is not a reality but an illusion.

46. As an entrepreneur, you will meet more people than you imagine.

47. Always keep in mind that your competitors are working hard all the time.

48. You won't always have flexible hours despite what people say about it.

49. Being an entrepreneur will help you learn a bit about accounting and taxes, that's for sure.

50. A good business partner will always understand your needs, pain, and happiness.

51. There are many challenges as an entrepreneur, but number one is how to generate revenue.

52. As an entrepreneur, you will become a provider for many people directly and indirectly; This gives a lot of fulfillment, but at the same time, it is a tremendous responsibility.

53. Resiliency and determination beat talent most times.

54. It's all right to be a contrarian as an entrepreneur. It's expected. It's vital to be contrarian and right sometimes.

55. Focusing on something you are passionate about is not only recommended. It's most times required. Most rational people would quit after some amount of failures.?

?56. I like a formula from Sam Altman (former President of Y Combinator) to define success as a tech founder. He said: Success = idea x team x execution x funding x luck; where luck is a number between 0 and 1,000,000. Do not underestimate the value of 'luck.'?

57. When you start as a founder, you normally do 5-10 jobs weekly. If you are lucky enough, you will reduce that number over time. But it never becomes 1; forget about 0.

?58. If you are a software engineer, designer, salesman, or have any other professional career, be prepared to become that, plus many more things. Most founders end up doing everything but what they used to do. And it's not fun for most founders.

59. If you overcome the last challenge, it's a strong indicator that you care about what you are building. That's not enough, but it is a must.

?60. Many people fall after the glamour of creating the next unicorn. And there is nothing wrong with that, but I challenge you to think if those founders who have created them ever thought about becoming one. The answer is no in most cases, especially for 1st-time founders like most entrepreneurs.

61. Going from Zero to one is the hardest part, even though it never gets easier.

62. Hiring people is complicated and expensive, but it is essential to growing.

63. Entrepreneurs must be sellers by nature. Either you always had the talent or needed to develop sales skills. You must constantly sell your vision and business to your customers, employees, investors, or family. And by selling, I mean that you need to convince/influence people to do certain things.

?64. It's ok not to have everything figured out. Showing flaws as a founder are not only an obvious thing; it's a good thing as it brings empathy to the people around you.?

65. Simultaneously, it's crucial to bring motivation and enthusiasm to the team. They see the business through your lens. Your mood will always impact them.

66. One crucial job you have as a leader is to inspire and motivate the employees around you.?

67. You can always add a little control to the equation. Employees who can't take instructions will ruin their careers eventually. Most great employees at any level of any organization have a great sense of responsibility and accountability.

68. Being accountable is a vital part of becoming a high achiever. It adds the discipline needed to accomplish big goals.

69. You know that you are more successful when you start helping more people.

70. What customers think of your business is very important; in most cases, they will not tell you; you have to ask.

71. No business execution exists out there that is identical to yours.

72. Data analysis is critical to creating execution plans.

73. Most people pursue the feeling of importance. If you become a leader, you might feel it constantly. Watch out for your ego, as it could become your worst enemy.

74. Humbleness will make you stay closer to your customers and employees: probably the two most important parts of your business.

?75. Make every day count. Set up a couple of ambitious yet tangible goals for your day and do the impossible to scratch them out of your checklist.

76. Do not forget to include small things on your daily checklist, such as making your bed. A combination of "important" and trivial things is key for a great to-do list.

77. It's a good idea to aim for at least ten items on your daily checklist. I find it to be an excellent sweet spot.?

78. There is no such thing as a work-life balance for an entrepreneur. Your work is a big part of your life, and you should embrace it.

79. It's important to understand that you are not like most people. Most people hate Mondays because they hate their jobs. For you, your job should be like a sport you love; you can't wait for the next chance to keep playing. If it's not like that, maybe you should find a job.?

80. It's ok to get tired, take breaks, and do resets. It's ok to disconnect; it's inevitable. You tend to come stronger after revitalizing stops.

81. Your family is more important than your business. Do not ever try to cross them. You should know better.?

82. Your health is also more important than your business, as you may understand one is needed to have the other. Do not forget to exercise and eat well as much as you can. Take it as the best medication you can have.

83. Creating a successful business is all about delayed gratification. However, that makes everything much harder. Finding a sweet balance between hard effort, results, and small short-term gratification is a good idea. I've found that strategies to help long-lasting effort and delayed gratification work better psychologically in most people.?

84. If you don't have a competitive advantage, do not compete.

85. Never make promises to customers that you cannot keep.

86. Talking about alternatives, painkillers are more likely to succeed than vitamins. Try to create something that solves a big problem for people, not just an improvement.

87. If you are doing something with many alternatives and competition, ensure it is much better.

88. Create businesses around things people want and need, do not create problems for solutions. The opposite is all we need.?

89. When creating a business, you have very low chances of success at the beginning. However, if you keep trying over a sustained period, with the proper focus, those chances increase considerably.?

90. As an entrepreneur, the learning rate is exponentially superior to most day jobs.

91. Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster full of emotions and experiences, and you will be punched in the face constantly. Get used to it.

92. Creating a business is not for everyone. It's a good idea to test and decide if you are into it.

93. Talking is much, much easier than doing.

94. Celebrate and be grateful for your achievements. The big things, the small ones, and everything in between.?

95. Make sure you take good care of your employees and fellow team members. They are your most valuable asset. There is no business without them; it's good to think you also work for them.?

96. Like sometimes happens with managers in sports. Wins are on the team, and losses are yours. If you create something meaningful, there will be a lot of responsibility on your shoulders.?

97. Make sure you hire people more intelligent than you in certain areas who can work almost as hard. Those are the kind of people that will help realize your vision.?

98. Having a co-founder is a great idea; the journey is so hard that it seems like a no-brainer to want to share all the sacrifices and pain with someone else. Also, 2-3 minds tend to think better than one primarily if they work better together.

99. Considering that the relationship with your co-founder(s) is like marriage without the fun part is important. You'll see each other daily, deal with tough decisions (many of them around money), and you'll be together for years to come. So you'd better pick the right(s) one(s).?

100. Patience is king. Hiring your next employee, closing your next client, hitting that significant milestone, fundraising, and everything else will take longer than you expect.??

101. Do not underestimate the power of numbers and the laws of probabilities. Remember how most outstanding entrepreneurs have always pushed the number of failures to unknown limits? Just to mention two, read stories about Walt Disney's or Colonel Sanders's journeys.?

102. The number 102 is something that I don't know yet but will learn today before the end of the day.

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