How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur

Daydreamers — This is a very important stage of entrepreneurship. This is when you only have the seed of your idea or product. At this phase, you are gathering resources, researching your market and laying the groundwork for a successful business.

Side Hustlers — The moment you begin your first business, it becomes a side hustle. This could be ordering your first business card, buying a domain or telling your first friend about your new venture. This is the level where you start to build your business.

Entrepreneurs — The final phase is when your identity begins to change. You begin to associate and identify with your business or product. You feel every success and every failure. It’s also when others in the community begin to ask about how business is going.

The very first thing entrepreneurs need is a robust, vibrant, active network. This means knowing how to cold approach new people, attend networking events and create new contacts from nothing.

In this guide, I will show you:

• Where to stand at a networking event
• The best opening line when meeting someone new
• How to carry on a fascinating conversation

Networking Guide

Master the art of building connections

Expectancy Effect

Stand out with your business cards

True leaders make an impact on everyone they meet. I share this principle in my TEDx London talk and invite you to use these same principles in growing your business.

Do you cold call? Do you do conference calls? Do people ever ask you to “hop on the phone?” Whether you love or hate phone chit chat, you’ll be using it frequently as an entrepreneur.

Conquer Phone Anxiety

Science-backed steps to come across poised and confident

Vocal Power

Improve how you sound on calls and in meetings

Being successful isn’t just about money or fame. It’s about personal fulfillment. Successful people know what makes them feel the most fulfilled and realize that success isn’t the finish line—it’s just a process.

Every entrepreneur receives the same piece of advice: say “yes” to everything. This means your schedule quickly becomes chock-full of trade shows, conferences and industry events.

But the big question is—are they worth the time and money? The answer can be yes if you take a systematic approach.

Entrepreneurs never know when they’re going to stumble upon their next big opportunity. This is why it’s essential to have a system for capitalizing on every interaction you have.

Whether you’re a team of one or already hiring, every entrepreneur needs to master the fundamental principles of leadership.

Leadership doesn’t just take one form. Being a CEO is only one way leaders take charge. We also can be leaders on social media by inspiring people with our posts. We can be leaders in our family by being role models. We can be thought leaders by sharing our ideas.

The first lesson you learn as an entrepreneur is you have to do a little bit (or a lot) of everything. From stuffing envelopes to answering phones and emails to juggling a long to-do list. So, entrepreneurs often risk burnout.

If you want to maximize your day and grow your business quickly, you need to learn how to schedule your time, master your to-do list and work at optimal levels.

14 Productivity Tips

Be more productive with less effort

Burnout Guide

Recognize and prevent entrepreneurial burnout

The Science of People lab analyzed all 495 pitches on Shark Tank, looking for patterns. We wanted to know if there was a difference between pitches from entrepreneurs who landed deals and those who didn’t.

Understanding and leveraging team dynamics is an incredibly advanced entrepreneurial skill. On a great team, members respect each other, can share ideas openly and get more done together.

It took me a long time to share my entrepreneurial journey. This is the most personal presentation I’ve ever given. In it I share an inside look into how Science of People got to where it is today, and why there really aren’t any shortcuts to business success.

Public speaking isn’t just about delivering an impactful TED Talk. Entrepreneurs are asked to give impromptu speeches all the time—from introducing yourself at a Meetup, to toasting an investor, to explaining your business on a conference call.

If you made it this far in our guide, you’re off to a great start! You can take your new skills to the next level with our advanced, science-backed soft skills course.