What is the one piece of advice that has made the most impact in your life as an entrepreneur? These reddit users shared the one piece of advice that was a complete game-changer for their small businesses. Hope you find them useful on your entrepreneurship journey.
1. Provide a ton of value.
I know that seems simplistic, but until you really internalize that and weave it into your business, you will never get very far. Every business can learn from this, even simple ones.
Find out what your customers need from you and find a way to do it well. Don’t try to get too cute, or offer too much just for the sake of making money. reddit user, bizbuyingcoach
2. A problem for a customer is a golden opportunity for you.
Treat the problem as a top priority, go above and beyond, and in the end the customer is often happier than they ever would have been if the problem had not happened in the first place.
This has proven itself true for me. I often get customers who say they were recommended to come to us because it is a good product and we will look after them if anything ever comes up. –completemystery
3. Find the right partners to work with.
Finding partners is like marriage because you will be spending a lot of time working with them. If you start doubting your partner, it maybe a sign that something bad might happen in the future.
This was one of the main lesson I learnt that I got from an experienced entrepreneur. It made me think very seriously about having partners in a business (or co-founder). I have seen a lot of startup with single founders and usually things doesn’t go as well for them.
I was once trying out a business as a single founder and it wasn’t easy. Things goes slowly because you have to switch context all the time.
More importantly, you lose motivation a lot of the time because of working alone. Having partners really forces yourself to work. Due to that piece of advice, I actually turned away from 2 startups to work with committed partners in a startup. – kusanagiblade331
4. Research your idea before investing money into it.
I learned this concept from the 4HWW and it has saved me so much time and money over the years! So many times I’ve had, what I thought, was a GREAT business idea, but then did some research and sat on the idea for a week or two.
Later finding out there was already a ton of competition or absolutely no one was interested in the product I wanted to offer. It really pays to do research!
I like to use the Google Keyword Planner to give me ideas for things people are searching for. I also ask friends and family. Then I research what my competition is doing and try to improve on their idea, or find another niche that they are not filling.
My friend’s business was selling Gluten Free Baking Mixes. There were some other businesses selling them already, so I decided to sell Organic Gluten Free AND Vegan Baking Mixes and they idea took off!
Best of luck to you all! – MompreneurAdvice
5. Find the sweet spot between what you love to do and what people will pay for.
It’s crucial in the long term. If you don’t really like what you do, in time, you’ll be drained, even if you’ll get a lot of financial compensation from your work. I’ve been there once and, eventually, I sold that business.
If you love your work too much, but nobody will pay for what you do, you will get obsessed, depressed and will end up, again, drained. It’s a process of trial and error to find this sweet spot, but, once found, you’ll feel fantastic there. Hope it helps. – dragosroua
6. “Under-promise. Over-deliver” — Guy Kawasaki.
This is kind of the Scotty principle. If the project is going to take 10 hours and $200 in materials to get done, tell the client it’ll take 12 hours and cost $300. That way, if you come in ahead of schedule and under budget, you’re a miracle worker, and if you run into a snag, then all that happens if you deliver exactly as you had promised. – nosecohn
