The life of an entrepreneur is one of constant peril. It's an uphill battle, to be sure, almost by its very design. Though there are certainly going to be days where success seems like an impossibility, there is one key thing to remember:
Every single person that you admire, every top business leader that you look up to, every successful entrepreneur that you aspire to be, was once in your position.
Not only that, but many of them have the advice to prove it. In fact, when looking over the list of the invaluable advice that America's top business leaders have given to the next generation of entrepreneurs, you'll quickly see that you have a lot more in common with these people than you probably thought you did.
Business Advice Worth Listening To
If you had to make a list of some of the most powerful business leaders, not only in the United States, but in the world, Sir Richard Branson would undoubtedly be right at the top.
He's one of the most famous billionaires who has ever lived, but as the founder of Virgin Group, he's also a lot more than that. He's the leader of more than 400 different companies, including airlines, publishing houses, record stores — you name it. When you succeed wildly beyond your expectations over 400 times, you'd better believe that he's seen some struggles along the way. He has, but he didn't let that stop him.
When asked to give advice to the next generation of people who want to start their own business, Branson had this to say:
“The best businesses come from people’s bad personal experiences. If you just keep your eyes open, you’re going to find something that frustrates you, and then you think, ‘well I could maybe do it better than it’s being done,’ and there you have a business.”
If necessity truly is the mother of invention, Richard Branson essentially just proved it.
Indeed, it is that very idea — that success somehow eliminates the possibility of failure — that causes so many entrepreneurs to start off on the wrong foot. It's also a running theme in a lot of the advice offered by top business leaders, as was the case with Ilise Benun.
Benun is a business leader and marketing mentor who, in her own words, "teaches creative professionals how to get better clients with bigger budgets." She's equal parts mentor, coach and marketing professional, and her biggest advice was this:
“Most people start out with completely unrealistic expectations of what level of effort is required and how long it takes to get a business off the ground. They are easily discouraged and give up way too soon. I blame it on wishful thinking."
It truly seems like so many of today's most successful business leaders got to their current position not because they ran away from a challenge or learned to avoid it, but because they ran into it head on. The dark events — the ones that scared other people away — became their most valuable assets. If practice is how we get better, practice in the face of adversity is how we become great.
Such was the case with Sean Rad. You may not know his name, but you undoubtedly know the fruits of his labor: Tinder, which has essentially become synonymous with online dating in the mobile era.
When asked what his biggest piece of advice was to the next generation of entrepreneurs, Rad has this to say:
“When you are building a startup, it’s difficult. Particularly, a startup that is expanding at the rate of Tinder. You have to give 100 percent, and you have to be committed. Solving the problem has to be personal or else you’re going to disintegrate.”
Yes, the constant struggles and problems are irritating. Yes, they're going to happen more often than you'd like. But if you don't take each one as a personal challenge from destiny itself, you're only going to let them get in your way.
Summing all of this up may be best by using another quote from a successful U.S. leader, though to be fair, this one is decidedly different in nature:
“This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — ‘No, YOU move.’”
That quote, by the way, didn't actually come from a top business leader — or even someone who actually exists. It's a quote from Captain America, and regardless of what it is you're talking about, most entrepreneurs would agree that it's pretty good advice to follow.
In the End
Perhaps the most important piece of advice for you to take away from all this is the following: no matter how difficult things may seem and no matter how dark things might get, just remember: You are not alone.
There are 28.8 million small businesses in the United States, according to one recent study conducted by the Small Business Administration. Collectively, they employ more than 56 million people. They make up 99.7 percent of all businesses in this country, and that is one fact that isn't going away any time soon.
The journey that you're trying to take is a constant challenge, yes — but it's also one that has been successfully completed 28.8 million times. When you put things within that context, especially once you've read all of the advice from America's top business leaders, things should become overwhelmingly clear.
You're going to stumble. You're going to fall. But, you're going to get back up again. You're going to keep going. They did it, and you can, too.
Because you just can't help yourself. After all, that's why you're an entrepreneur in the first place.
Tim Murphy, CPA writes for CountingWorks, an accounting news and advice website. Reach his office at [email protected].
About Tim Murphy
Tim Murphy formed Murphy & Murphy, CPA, LLC in 1978 and is the managing member. In addition to being a Certified Public Accountant, he is also a Certified Financial Planner and a Certified Valuation Analyst. The firm specializes in tax planning and preparation, auditing services, accounting & bookkeeping, as well as estate, financial and retirement planning. They have offices in both La Plata and Clinton, MD.
