Where does it go wrong for the Entrepreneur?

The journey of an Entrepreneur is never Easy. It starts with a dream, an idea, a passion to make a difference, be independent. When that first step is taken into the new world, the excitement and nerves can be over overwhelming.

It is soon realised that true success is not easy, the journey has many unforeseen hurdles and challenges. The dream starts to fade, passion turns to despair and the entrepreneurial spirit becomes just a dream again.

Dream to Reality to Dream

So over the past 10 Years, I have been comparing Entrepreneurs, looking for a common element of success against failure. Not saying that failure is the end, as a successful Entrepreneur, Generally, has more failures attributed to their success.

At the times of speaking to them, in the first opening line after asking them :

So, What do you do ?

I understand what the successful Entrepreneur does within 1 minute of the response. They are able to articulate their business in a single sentence, to which I understand and immediately try to find out more.

When an Entrepreneur has to explain the business model, or respond as a Serial Entrepreneur with multiple activities. Clients become confused and lost. The Entrepreneur has lost that golden moment, and has to work even harder to retain the client.

So what is the Solution ?

Some years back I sat in a conference with Known South African Entrepreneurial Speaker, and he simplified on how to respond when the question is asked.

1. Describe a problem that the client can relate to
2. Tell the client how your solution resolves the problem
3. End with a simple value add, that would entice the client to want to know more

These three points said within a minute, had such a close resemblance to the many successful Entrepreneurs that I have met over the years.

Know your business, understand your solutions, keep it simple and to the point.

I do not believe in a failure, with out failure how would we learn to grow!