和許多創業者不同,山姆·歐文斯很早就知道朝九晚五并非自己應有的人生軌跡。他想要的不光是這些。因此,大學畢業后的第一份工作只持續了三個月,他就辭了職,然后在父母的車庫里建立了自己的第一家公司。 經過九個月的努力工作并投入了自己的全部資金后,歐文斯的第一家公司——一個求職者信息發布網站正式投入運營。但它很快就一敗涂地,歐文斯隨后創建的兩家公司也是如此。 每次失敗后歐文斯都不會放棄,也不會回到常規的辦公室生活中,相反,他把這些經歷變成了學習的機會。自己的絕佳創意為什么沒有得到消費者響應呢?自己做錯了什么呢?又有哪些做對了呢? 自我教育再加上學習和成長的意愿推動歐文斯再次嘗試創業——他辦起了自己的第四家公司:一家商業咨詢機構。 這次他的付出獲得了回報。26歲,也就是建立這家商業咨詢公司短短四年后,歐文斯的身家就已超過1,000萬美元。不用說,他也已經從父母的車庫里搬了出來。 最近我和歐文斯談了談,想聽聽他會給其他創業者提出什么樣的建議。以下是他提出的四大要點,也是他在為創業而進行嘗試和努力的過程中學到的最有價值的東西。 1. 快速樹立個人品牌。 樹立個人品牌對創業者來說有幾大好處。首先,獲得認可的個人品牌會有助于你的新公司提高可信度。 歐文斯說:“如果人們了解并且信任你的個人品牌,他們就更有可能相信你的新公司。” 其次,你自己的受眾范圍越廣,你隨時都能接觸到的潛在客戶就越多。 歐文斯建議通過做宣傳來樹立個人品牌——既是為了個人,也是為了公司。途徑是爭取演講機會,然后盡可能迅速地讓社交媒體積極跟進。 歐文斯說:“每一次在媒體上露面,每個演講機會或者每次在社交媒體上發帖都有可能給你帶來新客戶。個人品牌是企業成功的基本工具。” 2. 將交際圈變現。 歐文斯認為,對大多數正在或者打算創業的人來說,個人交際圈的價值都要超過他們創建第一家公司時意識到的水平。 他說:“第一次創業時別忘了朋友圈和親人。已經存在于個人交際圈的潛在客戶數量也許會讓你感到意外。” 朋友、家人和朋友的朋友都有需求,而且和接觸素不相識的人相比,去找那些對你的新公司有所耳聞的人幾乎總會更容易。 3. 永遠不要停止學習。 無論如何,創建新公司時都會有一個學習的過程。 不管你認為對自己選擇的行業有多了解,或者對成功創業的要素有多清楚,你總會遇到新的挑戰,總會碰上此前從未見過的行業變化或者其他障礙。 歐文斯說:“得益于如今的大量可用信息,任何創業者在任何問題上都能自行鉆研。我讀了幾百本書,自學了營銷、銷售、會計和策略,甚至是自我開發的方法。我知道,如果想讓自己的公司順利運轉,我就得把所有東西都弄清楚。” 4. 把拒絕拋在腦后 歐文斯說:“剛開始,面對拒絕對我來說非常可怕。” 歐文斯天生內向,給別人打電話以及接觸潛在客戶和他的舒適區相距甚遠。但他看到了讓自己走到這一步有多重要,也因此學會了如何面對拒絕。 他說:“強迫自己和陌生人談自己的公司,然后明白商業上的拒絕和個人無關——這可能是我在最終邁向成功的道路上最關鍵的一步。”(財富中文網) 譯者:Charlie |
This article originally appeared on Entrepreneur. Unlike many entrepreneurs, Sam Ovens figured out very early on that the nine-to-five wasn’t his destined path in life. He wanted more, so after just three months working his first post-college job, he quit and moved into his parent’s garage to start his first business. After nine months of hard work and spending all the money he had, Ovens' first business—a reverse job board—went live. It quickly failed miserably, as did the next two businesses he started. Rather than giving up and going back to the mundanity of office life after each failure, Ovens used the experiences as learning opportunities. Why didn't his great ideas fail to resonate with consumers? What did he do wrong? What did he do right? This self-evaluation and his willingness to learn and grow, led Sam to try his hand once more at entrepreneurship, starting his fourth company—a business consulting firm. This time his efforts paid off. By age 26—just four short years after opening his consulting business—Ovens had made more than $10 million. Needless to say, he has also moved out of his parent’s garage. I spoke to Sam recently to hear what advice he had to share with other entrepreneurs. What follows are his top four tips -the most valuable lessons he learned through his own process of entrepreneurial trial and error. 1. Build your personal brand fast. Building a personal brand has several key benefits for entrepreneurs. First, having a recognized personal brand can help give your new business credibility. “If people know and trust you and your personal brand, they’re more likely to trust your new business.” Ovens, said. Second, the wider your personal audience, the more prospective clients you can reach on any given day. Ovens suggests building your brand by seeking out publicity—both for yourself and for your company -- by booking speaking engagements and by developing a robust social media following as quickly as you can. “Each media hit, speaking opportunity or social media post has the potential to bring you a new customer. Personal branding is an essential tool for business success.” Ovens, said. 2. Monetize your networks. According to Ovens, most entrepreneurs and wannabe entrepreneurs already have a more valuable network of contacts than they realize when they get started with their first business. “When you’re first starting out, don’t forget about your personal network of friends and family.” Ovens, said. “You might be surprised how many potential clients already exist within your immediate sphere.” Friends, family and friends-of-friends are all people with needs, and it will almost always be easier to approach someone you already know about your new business than it will be to approach a total stranger. 3. Never stop learning. No matter what, when you start a new business, there will be a learning curve. Regardless of how well you think you might know your chosen industry, or what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, you’re always going to encounter new challenges, industry changes or other obstacles that haven’t crossed your path before. “Thanks to the huge availability of information these days, any entrepreneur can teach him or herself just about anything,” Ovens, said. “I read hundreds of books and taught myself all about marketing, sales, accounting, strategy—even personal development methods. I knew that I needed to understand all of this if I wanted my business to work.” 4. Get over rejection. “Facing rejection was a huge fear for me when I started out,” Ovens, said. As a natural introvert, calling people and reaching out to prospective clients was way outside of Ovens' comfort zone. But, he saw how important it was to put himself out there; and so, he learned how to face rejection. “Forcing myself to talk to strangers about my business—and then, understanding that business rejection isn’t personal—was probably the most critical step in my journey to ultimate success,” he said. |