12 Lessons for Young Entrepreneurs in an Age of Business as UNusual

By The Innovator Trust on 03 Jul 23

For Youth Month, we caught up with some dynamic, successful, and inspiring young entrepreneurs who in many ways, have journeyed through entrepreneurship doing business unusually. Check out the 12 Lessons for Young Entrepreneurs which we’ve compiled from our out there from our latest Conversations to Innovate IG Live.

EDUCATION IS KEY: As a young person, if you’re looking for a gap in the market to become an entrepreneur, get yourself knowledgeable. Challenges are all around us in our daily experiences and every challenge may present an opportunity for you as an entrepreneur. Identify a challenge that means something to you and educate yourself on that.

STAY IN YOUR LANE: Whatever the problem, answer clearly, and focus on what you do best. Make sure the solution you are offering to your clients is excellent time and time again. Perfect that service to your clients before you decide to increase your offering.

LEARN TO LISTEN: Know that in the beginning, what you are selling may not be exactly what the client needs. Growth takes time and consistency. Learn to listen to what your clients’ needs and challenges are.

BUSINESS TAKES PLACE BETWEEN PEOPLE: Identify the right people to do business with. As a young entrepreneur, you have to build trust and credibility with your clients. This can be a tricky path to navigate as a young entrepreneur. Do your homework. Ensure that you are able to communicate the facts, the value of your solution and the return it will bring for your client.

SEEK TO DELIVER VALUE: Be the kind of entrepreneur who seeks to deliver value beyond the point of call. Doing more in the beginning, practicing resilience from the get-go will create an innate behaviour that will become second nature to you in the long-run.

FRAME YOUR FAILURES AS LEARNINGS: You may fail and make mistakes many times in your journey as an entrepreneur. Frame your failures as learnings. How do you know whether you’ve truly learnt the lesson? When you presented with the same predicament in future, you are able to take full advantage of that opportunity and are able to do better.

MAKE THE CIRCLE BIGGER: Be the kind of entrepreneur who takes others along with them as you grow. There are many hungry, passionate young people just like you in South Africa, if your small business is able to provide a job or teach someone else the skills you have acquired, use the opportunity to inspire and help even just one young life.

HUMILITY IS FOUND IN SERVICE: Take the approach of being in service of your clients. As a young entrepreneur, humility is key.

SACRIFICE AND HONESTY: The cost of being a young entrepreneur is sacrifice and honesty. Be honest with what you can provide and what you can’t deliver to your clients. It take small steps to reach the big goals.

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH: How best can you test your skills and learning as an entrepreneur? By practicing what you preach. If you are applying the knowledge and solutions you’re offering in your own environment, and its working, you have a real-life case study to share with confidence.

EMPOWER YOUR CLIENTS: Beyond just providing a solution, look for areas where you can empower your clients and their teams to uplift their operations and technical knowledge. When servicing your client, ensure they leave educated and in a better situation than what you found them in.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO THINK BIG: Thinking ahead and having big dreams as an entrepreneur cultivates a growth mindset. Know that with the right support, structures, systems and discipline, the possibilities as an entrepreneur are limitless.

We’d to extend a special Thank You to Katlego Malatji, CEO and founder of ProjectONE Engineering and Malusi Ramotshela, founder of Tsokotla Engineering for sharing these pearls of wisdom with us.

If you missed out on our latest Conversations to Innovate, Business as UNusual IG Live, visit our Instagram account @InnovatorTrust to watch it now!