Challenges, Experience, and GoalsKeys to Entrepreneurship

Challenges

•Young entrepreneurs encounter many challenges when starting a new venture.

•The greatest challenge facing young entrepreneurs is the lack of experience and knowledge they bring to a venture.

Challenges

•Young entrepreneurs are viewed with caution by more experienced businesspeople.

•Young entrepreneurs typically have no credit history, no collateral, and no track record of paying off debt.

Challenges

•Obtaining suitable financing often requires people to complete a great deal of administrative work, commonly called red tape.

•There are many business start-up programs available to help young entrepreneurs manoeuvre through the red tape. These programs are called Business Incubators.

Value of Experience

•Part time and summer work, volunteer opportunities, and school leadership positions offer young people opportunities to develop enterprising and entrepreneurial skills.

Value of Experience

•Working part time or full time in a related industry to your venture will give you the opportunity to:

Learn about the infrastructure Develop a positive reputation in the

industry Build a network of contacts Earn money you can save for the future Learn firsthand about the industry

Setting Goals

•A goal is the purpose of your work.

•You might think of these small steps as steppingstones and milestones.

•Steppingstones can be achieved in a relatively short time.

•Milestones are significant events. Usually, a series of steppingstones.

Setting Goals

•Goals should always follow the SMART principle:▫SIMPLE▫MEASURABLE▫ACHIEVABLE▫REALISTIC▫TIMELY

Setting Goals• Simple

▫ Goals should be stated simply and written down.▫ Your written list of goals serves as a reminder of where

you are headed.

• Measurable▫ If your goal is measurable, then it is easy to tell if you

have achieved it.

• Achievable and Realistic▫ Make sure you have the resources to achieve your

stated objective. Goals should be challenging enough to require effort, but not too challenging that they are impossible.

Setting Goals

•Timely▫Setting target dates for achieving your

goals will help you get started and progress steadily.

Setting Goals• In addition to being SMART, your goals must

also be worthwhile.

•You need to ask yourself: “Is this achievement important to me?”.

• If the answer is yes, pursue it wholeheartedly.

• If the answer is no, take some time to reflect on why you’re pursuing it.