Experienced Entrepreneurs Offer Advice For Young Entrepreneurs

We asked seasoned entrepreneurs what advice they would offer to budding young entrepreneurs. And, they came back with some amazing answers. Every one of them offered words of encouragement and inspiration. A few even offered some action steps to help these young business owners move forward in their journey to business ownership.

Here are their thoughts:

Adalia John

As a young entrepreneur, it’s important to start your journey believing in yourself and what you can accomplish. I hope you learn early that you don’t have to know it all or do it all. Yes, when you start your entrepreneurial journey, you may (due to limited resources) have to wear several hats. However, for your entrepreneurial success, you must build a team.

Action Step:

1. Find a mentor or coach. You’ll grow your business more quickly and avoid some pitfalls of your business that are in your blind spot.
2. Build a team (even if you must outsource or start with just one person) based on their skill set.

I hope you learn early that you don’t have to wait until you feel comfortable or confident to do something. Too many of us defer our dream because we’re waiting to feel comfortable before we take the necessary action to live that dream. Time passes—weeks become months, months become years, and your discomfort, instead of leaving, intensifies with each passing year. The result is that you sadly give up on that dream, using the excuse that you are now too old to make it happen. Confidence isn’t built by inaction. You must do the thing that makes you uncomfortable, that challenges you. This is how you’ll build your confidence.

Action Step:

1. Focus on your goals instead of yourself to build your self-confidence.
2. Be an adventurer. Even if you aren’t sure of the outcome, relax with the uncertainty, give it your all, and develop the mindset that whatever the outcome, you’ll learn from it and keep moving forward.
3. Know your personal and business core values. They will be your default for making decisions personally and for your business. This will insulate you from those who put you on a pedestal and then pull you down, and the need for external validation.

Adalia John C.Ht is a confidence coach and mindset mastery mentor.  And the CEO & Founder at Adalia John, Mindset Coach. Find her online at Adalia Confidence And Success Blog

Linda Brown

You are at such an exciting time in your life.
You have the opportunity to create your journey and change the lives of many!
I wish you happiness and success as you embark on your future.

Here are a few words of advice I wish I had been told . . .

• Anything and everything is possible!
• If you can dream it, you can find a way to create it!
• Approach everything as a challenge that you KNOW will be overcome.
• Do not be too hard on yourself and treat everything as a learning opportunity.

Talk to and about yourself positively

From: I can’t
To: How can I

From: I don’t know how
To: Who can assist/guide me

From: I should have
To: Next time I will

• Find a mentor early. They will guide you around the obstacles you will discover on your journey.
• Join a mastermind or group of like-minded individuals for support and to grow together.
• “The buck stops with you” is more than just a phrase. As a business owner, it becomes a reality. Every dollar earned, every decision made, and every penny spent will be on your shoulders.
• Understand and track your money, so you do not have to rely on others. It will help you to make sound financial decisions for you and your business.
• Take the time to make educated decisions, and avoid the shiny object syndrome.

And finally, I have saved the most important for last.

Plan your time out and keep to the schedule.

• When you’re working, put your nose to the grindstone and get the job done.
• When you’re done, spend time with family, friends, and have fun.

Wishing the best for a beautiful life filled with wonder and joy.

Linda Brown is a Money Mentor and Profit First Coach for female entrepreneurs. Many are overwhelmed by finances and feel dissatisfied with the income they’re bringing home. Linda empowers them with easy to understand ways to make, manage, and keep more of their money.

Candice L Davis

On your entrepreneurial journey, some people will look at you and say you’re too young. They’ll say you’re too fat or too skinny, too loud or too shy. They’ll say you don’t know enough or you know the wrong things. One day, far in the future, they’ll say you’re too old.

They’ll try to make you fade into the background because they don’t like what they  see when they look at a selfie. They’re afraid to shine as their true selves, so they don’t want you to shine either. They don’t want you to have the courage to be your own fabulous self for all the world to see.

Those people—the haters, the naysayers, backstabbers, and shade-throwers—may be the most vocal, but no
matter how it looks on social media, at your office, or in school, they’re the minority. Most people want to see the real you. Your differences make us want to know more about you. Even when you don’t recognize them yet, we marvel at your gifts and talents.

When you take the stage, publish a book, or premiere your short film, we’re cheering for you. When you release your first product, offer your first service, or post that video you’re a little afraid of sharing, we’re rooting for you. We want you to succeed—and we want you to do it as the one and only you.

So don’t waste time trying to imitate the influencers or craft your public image. Don’t worry about the haters. Block them and move on. Do you. Keep creating, posting, launching, and serving. We’ll be there to offer advice when you want it and encouragement when you need.

We, the entrepreneurs, artists, and big dreamers of the world, have your back.

Candice L Davis helps entrepreneurs write business-building books. She believes everyone has a story worth telling and knowledge someone else is waiting to discover in a book. Candice is also the host of “Nothing but the Words,” the podcast that gives you everything you need to know to write a phenomenal book. Find out more about Candice at Candice L Davis.

Lane Therrell

The freedom and independence that comes with being an entrepreneur is a gift to be treasured for all time. The opportunities you’ll have in this program to soak up the wisdom of entrepreneurs who achieved their success by riding the first waves of the digital age is not to be missed. Technology will continue to grow and evolve during your lifetime, so equip yourself now to grow with it by taking this course.

Learning about digital technology from people who “grew up before the Internet” gives you a unique advantage in any marketplace. These wise and wonderful mentors who have put this course together for you have a unique perspective on the foundational business skills that formed the basis for why the digital tools you’ll be learning about exist in the first place.

You may not realize you need to understand more about relationships and community building, but understanding how the technology supports basic principles of human behavior will point your success trajectory to new heights. The insights and context available to you here will help you leverage your use of any digital tool moving forward.

No matter how wonderful your website is, or how many tech upgrades you build into your business systems, you won’t get far as an entrepreneur without mastering the classic must-have skills that support the desires of your potential customers. Communicate from the heart, offer something of value, and use tech to reach as many people as possible.

Learn all you can from these wise and wonderful mentors, and watch your entrepreneurial endeavors succeed from day one.

I’ll add that in some ways, I wish I could be a teenager again and take this course with you because I hid from social media and digital technology in its early days, and now I’m playing catch-up to learn what I need to know to make my business grow.

Lane Therrell inspires and empowers others to heal. In her health coaching practice, she integrates her wide-ranging experience as a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner, educator, and energy healer. When she’s not helping patients, clients, or students, she’s enjoying the great outdoors. You can find her online at Daily Inspired Health.

Pam Hamilton

Well, if you’re a young person looking to start your own business, these writers have given you some great advice. I’d like to just add one more thing. Sugar Ray Robinson, a great lightweight boxer, said in order to be a champion you have to believe in yourself, even when no one else does.

That’s true in business too. Every would be business owner starts out just like you are about to. Eager to achieve a dream. And few folks, if any, to believe in their ability to achieve it.

That means don’t share it with the naysayers and haters in your life. And, don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t do it. Just mind your own business, and try to  find a group of likeminded people to surround yourself with. And most of all, keep doing the things it takes to build the success you dream of.

Right now, I’m actually serving as a mentor in a great program launched by Kelly McCausey. The program is called Upcoming Creators. The kids, okay, well mostly young adults in this program, are learning how to use WordPress and other tools to build their own website from scratch. And, then how to blog and create other content for it. I have been continually amazed at the awesome ideas, design skills and creativity of the kids in the program. I wish a program like this existed when I was a kid. Or, even when my son was a kid.

The program is going to help launch some really cool brands. And, I can’t wait to see where they take this! If you’re a young entrepreneur looking to create an online presence the Upcoming Creators program offered by Mom Webs Hosting is a great resource you could benefit from.

Whatever you do, always remember; keep your vision in front of you. Nurture it. Protect it. You can create the business you dream of.

Wishing you success and happiness.

Pam Hamilton is an attorney and business coach. She’s passionate about helping entrepreneurs get out of their own way. So they can build a thriving business they love. She’s online at Building Visibility.