There’s a lot to learn about entrepreneurship. It never stops really. At the start the focus is on ideas; how to tell if they are any good or not; the first steps one should take in starting something, etc etc.
When you cotton on to something decent, something that you think is an opportunity you can reach. Your attention turns to how you can make money/provide value/get a website built/find investors/cofounders/advisory boards and everything else.
After you’ve got the basics down, and confidence in your ability to execute on an idea, you’ll find always more things to knowabout the industry you’re in, were it might be in 5 years, were the threats will come from…
What we want to know then is what do YOU want to learn. What are the gaps in YOUR knowledge. Please respond via the comments below. Your answers will direct future events, speakers, and posts we make.
Hey Amir,
Here are a few things which I would love to see happen during the SE’s events:
1. Workshops on pitching your ideas to venture capitalists
2. Courses on how we can navigate government regulations pertaining to starting a new business (eg. when one wants to start a food or retail business)
3. A platform which can connect those with the ideas to those who can make those ideas happen (ie. like bringing together the business people with the programmers)
Thanks a lot! Cheers!
Hey Amir,
I agree with Dominic especially the people part. It’s all about getting the right people to work with. Having the problem myself, I agree that it’s difficult to get someone who’s good in IT and programming.
We could also get suggestions from everyone to pick one fast-growing company and do a case study about the company, to analyse how it’s founded, develops and grows, its marketing strategies etc. Could pick company from different industry every time.
Cheers,
Ashley
Hey Amir,
I think that Ashley has made a good point about doing some case studies on fast growing start-up companies. It would be beneficial to helping us understand what others have done to make their companies work.
The usual way start-ups are financed is through venture capital and other forms of borrowed money. However I often wonder how this step can be bypassed. It would be interesting to find out more about how to go about starting up and maintaining a debt-free company.
Cheers
Gabriel
The comments resonate with what a lot of young start up entrepreneurs experience. I particularly like the idea of exploring funding (reference Gabriel) for startups.
One adage I’ve been getting a lot is that “ideas don’t make good businesses, people do” – I find that there is a huge opportunity to explore here: the whole ‘people’ side: from partners, customers, suppliers, financiers & investors, last but not least the people around you now – getting support from family and friends for your ventures.
Maybe SE could look into deepening this support community; get a VC in to talk about how to pitch to VCs, experts in other fields etc.
I think working with the right people is important, especially programmers but also knowing what to expect of them since I have absolutely no knowledge of anything to do with programming. Maybe a crash course of what programmers do? becos I think it’s quite neccessary that everyone in the team should understand eachother’s work.
But anyway, I like the case study ideas; more down to earth and provide us a more realistic perspectives.
I also think that alot of smaller details should not be neglected. Although pitching, finding fundings are extremely important, the horizontal communication between partners, conflict management, steps in the development of ideas et al. should not be undermined too.
Amir,
I think conflict management is an important issue, specifically conflict
management with business partners. I’m also very interested in Gabriel’s idea of maintaining a debt free business.
Another issue that could be useful to learn about is how e-business can help a start-up. I’ve listened to many lecturers talk about how the internet revolutionized the world of business, but they always explain the concept using either eBay or Facebook, which are no doubt very successful ventures but very unique businesses. So can the internet only help with advertising if you are a generic business? It’s a question I’ve been thinking about for a while and I’m very interested in learning more.
I think that what stops us, or at least me from actually developing my idea into a viable business is the fact that I really don’t know where to start or what exactly should I do? It would be great to discuss a list of fundamentals and develop a step-by-step process to start a business. For example, establish a checklist of things that needs to be done to establish a business.
Also, I’m really interested in copywriting. I would like to learn about what words are most effective to use, and how to structure it, to really entice customers. I believe that with such knowledge, it’d enable us to better reach out to customers.
I also really like Gabriel’s idea of debt-free company funding, as well as Michelle’s idea of having a crash course of what programmers do. Especially if one intends to start their own business, it would be really good to have basic knowledge in each field of the business.
Execution is very important in entrepreneurship, “ideas are cheap” yes, but how do i actually turn these cheap ideas into a business. I would like to learn how to execute a lot better.
I think in regards to the foundations of Entrepreneurship, i want to learn about the first steps to take, so the ABN numbers, whether or not we are an Inc, How do we split the company if we are in a team and how do we gauge how much each team member does.
One good idea i think, is if we did a case study of how a company grew. So they thought of the idea then what were the next steps they took. i know this may be boring and taking the fun out of Entrepreneurship but i still think it is important to know different methods of execution.
I think the most crucial thing we need to create an entrepreneurial mindset so we understand what actions and decisions we should be making during critical points in time. This can be achieved through case studies of startups and by analysing founders and understanding why they make certain choices, or perform certain actions. I believe by breaking down the minds of successful people, we can superimpose their lessons and experiences onto our own mindsets so we can do things better by increasing efficiency, productivity et al, but most importantly, not make the same mistakes that others have made.
What i would like to see more of would probably be things similar to the meet the founder series by NICTA.
Hey Amir,
Everyone has posted really interesting topics that I’m excited to know more about. On top of what is already said, I’m also interested in acquiring some taxes and legal insights that would be relevant to startups and small business owners.
I’m also particularly fond of Angela’s enquiry on a step-by-step process to starting up a business. Personally, I’ve struggled quite a bit when attempting to start up something with my siblings, we had no idea where to start from; importantly, I do not want to miss out on anything crucial that would cause tremendous problems into the future.
Lastly, advices and tips on writing an effective business plan with links to useful business plan templates would be highly appreciated.
Warmest Regards
I agree that entrepreneurship and its learnings never stop because there is always something to learn and/or experience which only comes from experience. Also taking action on those decent ideas because many come up with decent ideas everyday, but do not put anything into action. Plus successful entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson state success comes from the people you have working with or for you because no one person can build a large organization.
Having confidence in yourself and your abilities is very helpful because it can drive you to do things in which many thought could not be done or just do not want to put the effort into making it happen.