The Ultimate Guide
To Becoming an
Entrepreneur
Tips and tricks on finding, developing, and
launching an effective business idea to help
you become an entrepreneur.
Table of Contents
Benefits of Entrepreneurship
P3
Determining if Entrepreneurship
is Right for You
P4
Identifying Business Ideas
P7
Narrowing Down Your Ideas
P13
Summarizing Your Business Idea
P15
Developing a Business Plan
P16
Conclusion
P21
The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Benefits of
Entrepreneurship
You’ll get to work however
you want
A company can dictate whether you get to
work from home or in person. Entrepreneurs
get to determine the flexibility of their
schedule, whether that means sleeping
in and working late into the evening or
working from the comfort of their homes.
You’ll feel more aligned with
your values
When you work for someone else, you’re
aligning yourself with their values. As an
entrepreneur, however, you can create
a venture that aligns perfectly with your
values. Maybe you want to create a
company that wants to tackle poverty, or
maybe you want to bring sustainability to
an industry. Entrepreneurship enables you
to feel more aligned with your values.
You’ll keep 100% of your profits
As an employee, you work for a company.
In exchange, they give you a salary. Of
course, if you own the company as an
entrepreneur, you’ll retain 100% of the
money you bring in. With revenue, you can
determine where it goes—whether that
means boosting your own salary, hiring
other employees, or investing it back in
your business.
You’ll grow a larger network
Entrepreneurs tend to garner larger networks
than their non-entrepreneur counterparts.
After all, you’re meeting with industry partners,
investors, new team members, mentors, and
more. With a large network, you’re able to
validate business ideas, collaborate with
others, and find future employees or partners.
You’ll learn more
Entrepreneurs can’t afford to stay in their
comfort zone. Every day presents new
challenges and learning opportunities, while
regular workers tend to maintain consistent,
less challenging schedules. You’ll wear
many different hats, especially at the start,
meaning you’ll get to learn much more than
a non-entrepreneur.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Determining if
Entrepreneurship
is Right for You
Compared to a typical corporate job,
entrepreneurship is exciting. It’s taking an idea
of yours, transforming it into a full-fledged
business, and making money on your own. And
as we’ve discussed, entrepreneurship has many
benefits if you choose to pursue it.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the perfect role for you,
so before diving deep into entrepreneurship, first
assess what you like (and dislike) about work.
Consider the following questions as starting points:
Why am I interested in entrepreneurship?
Take stock of your entrepreneurial goals. Do you want to make money? Transform an industry?
Change the world? Before going into entrepreneurship, it’s important to recognize your desires,
no matter how lofty, and compare them to the realities of being an entrepreneur.
For example, if you want to make money, consider that only 65% of small businesses turn a
profit—most of which will go back into the business instead of the entrepreneur’s pockets.
What skills do I possess that could contribute to a
successful entrepreneurial venture?
Chances are, you already have some critical entrepreneurial skills. By recognizing what
skills you possess already, you can determine both your strengths and weaknesses before
becoming an entrepreneur.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Consider the following soft skills that are important to entrepreneurship:
Creativity:
Entrepreneurs are constantly innovating, whether that means finding solutions to
overcome unexpected obstacles or creating new venture ideas
Adaptability:
Market trends, customer needs, and changing circumstances necessitate an
adaptable entrepreneur
Leadership:
As entrepreneurs grow their businesses and team, the entrepreneur needs to become
a leader to keep them motivated and to create a compelling vision
Communication:
At every stage of a business, an entrepreneur needs to communicate effectively—
to investors, customers, colleagues, and more
Resilience:
The entrepreneur’s journey often features more setbacks than successes, making
resilience an absolute necessity
Of course, there are essential technical skills you can apply as an entrepreneur, including:
Finance
Writing
Data Analysis
Engineering
Graphic Design
Web Development
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
How comfortable am I with risk, uncertainty, and failure?
Not every entrepreneur winds up going public and making millions of dollars. In fact, 20%
of businesses go under in their first two years. In ten years, that number jumps to a failure
rate of 65%.
If these numbers frighten you, assess your comfort level with risk and failure—because
entrepreneurs often experience it. It might mean an initial advertising campaign
underperforms or, worse, a product launch falls totally short of expectations.
Do I have a clear understanding of the time, effort, and
resources required to build a business?
The life of an entrepreneur exists outside the typical 9-5 work schedule. At the start, when
you’re working as a “solopreneur” (a solo entrepreneur), you’re likely responsible for product
development, marketing, funding, and a bunch of other tasks. Entrepreneurs dedicate a huge
chunk of their lives to building a business; not everyone can afford that sacrifice.
Consider your relationships with your family and friends. Are you prepared to spend less time
with them if needed? Of course, you can balance being an entrepreneur with your relationships,
but you should still consider how entrepreneurship will affect them.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Identifying
Business Ideas
A business often starts as an idea. What if we
did X? How can we solve this problem? What if
we did this instead of that? You can look to the
start of successful businesses we know today
for guidance.
Examples of Successful Business Ideas
Airbnb
In 2007, Airbnb founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia
needed money to pay rent. To raise some funds, they first
identified a problem—no hotel had available space for a
large conference nearby—and created a solution: renting
out air mattresses in an empty room in their apartment,
then called “Air Bed and Breakfast.” Eventually, this idea
birthed out of rent money transformed into the Airbnb we
know today.
OfferUp
Founder Nick Huzar once had too much stuff.
And he needed to sell it. So he founded OfferUp,
a local marketplace alternative to eBay, an easyto-use interface that matched sellers with buyers.
He recognized, surrounded by all of his clutter,
that there needed to be an easier, better way to
sell stuff, and years later, the success of OfferUp
proved his thought correct.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Misfits Market
The aptly named Misfits Market, started by Abhi Ramesh,
aims to reduce waste by selling less visually appealing
produce at discounted prices. It all started when Ramesh
went apple-picking in 2018 and witnessed the amount
of produce waste based on minor imperfections. In
2021, just three years later, the online grocer reached a
valuation of $2b.
How To Brainstorm Ideas
Problem-Solution Fit
At its core, a business solves a problem by offering a solution. You can generate quick business
ideas by recognizing problems and offering a product or service as a solution. You could either
look to your friends, family, or even yourself for ideas. Consider the following as potential
problems someone might have:
“I struggle to wake up every morning.”
“My dishwasher sucks.”
“I spend too much time on my phone before going to bed.”
Then, identify solutions for these identified problems. Not every problem-solution pairing will
present a viable business idea, but it’s a solid starting point to generating ideas.
Five Whys
Sakichi Toyoda, founder of Toyota, created the Five Whys methodology to determine the root
cause of problems. To make use of it, start with a problem. Then, ask yourself why this problem
exists. Then, repeat this step four more times. By asking yourself the Five Whys, you’re able to dig
really deep into the origin of the problem.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
SCAMPER Technique
The SCAMPER technique is a framework to help teams brainstorm new product ideas. It
stands for the following:
Substitute:
What would happen if we switched X for Y?
Combine:
What would happen if we combined X and Y?
Adapt:
What changes would need to be made to adapt this product or service to a
different context?
Modify:
What could we modify to create more value?
Put to another use:
What other uses could this product or service have?
Eliminate:
What could we remove to simplify the product or service?
Reverse:
How could we rearrange this product or service to make it more effective?
What would happen if we reverse-engineered the product or service?
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Market & Trends Analysis
One way to find solid business ideas is to
analyze current market trends. Pick a few
industries of interest and write down trends
you notice. How are customer preferences
evolving? What kind of technology are
companies using? Is there a company
standing out from the rest?
To find this information, consider leveraging
the following:
Communities:
Interviews:
Search through Reddit, Facebook, Slack,
Discord, and so on
Chat with people working directly in
the industry
SEC (Securities and Exchange Committee) Filings:
Look through quarterly and annual reports for discussions on risks and competition
However, not all trends are created equal. The last thing you want to do is buy into a trend, invest
money, and find out it is only a fad. Instead, remember to vet your identified trends to see if there
are legitimate opportunities:
01
02
03
Demand: How many people have this problem or want this solution? Use research
reports, forums, and Ahrefs to identify current demand.
Growth: Is that number growing or shrinking? Use Google Trends or Pinterest Trends to
determine whether demand is increasing or decreasing.
Money: Does this demand turn into profit? In other words, are people spending money
to solve their problems? Use SEC filings, Crunchbase, and others to gauge current
spending habits.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
A trend is the beginning of an idea. Now, you need to turn your insight into a meaningful
business venture. You could look at geographical differences (i.e., what’s popular somewhere
else, and how would that translate in a different location?), customer reviews (i.e., what are users
complaining about?), recent funding (i.e., who’s receiving funding?), and niching down (i.e., can I
create a niche product based on a larger service?).
Want to dig deeper into
market research to create
the perfect business idea?
Download our free Market Research Kit
to help you get started.
Access Now
Competitive Analysis
At this point, you don’t have competitors. However, you can still identify certain industries and
their biggest players to glean business ideas. Study competitors:
Offerings:
Pricing Strategies:
What products or services do they offer?
What kind of packages do they have?
How do they price their products or
services? Do they bundle them?
Marketing:
Customer Feedback:
What’s their branding? Who are they
targeting? What’s their messaging?
What are customers complaining about in
reviews? What do they like or dislike?
Sometimes, a solid idea simply comes from improving or reinventing a current competitor’s idea.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Customer Listening
Chances are, your potential customers are posting solid business ideas all over the internet.
They complain about poor experiences with a business or product or ask why a company
hasn’t done XYZ yet. You can gather up ideas by listening to customers, and you can do this in
a number of ways, including:
Surveys:
Create questionnaires for potential customers to answer and give feedback
Interviews:
Ask customers, one-on-one, their thoughts on certain products or services
Social media:
Search through relevant hashtags and analyze conversations, customer reviews,
and discussions
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Narrowing Down
Your Ideas
You likely have a list of business ideas. Now
comes the hard part: narrowing it down to one.
You can’t pursue every one of your ideas and
certainly can’t create multiple ventures at once.
Instead, scrutinize every one of your ideas
using the following methods.
Feasibility and Profitability Assessment
The best ideas are both feasible and profitable. Sure, you might make millions off of a product
that eradicates insomnia—but feasibly, is that possible? You might consider the following when
it comes to analyzing an idea’s feasibility:
Skills:
Do you have the experience or skill set needed to create the product or service?
Resources:
Do you have the financial resources available to launch this venture? How much
investment will it require?
Risk:
Do other players exist in this space, or is it a totally new idea?
Consider categorizing your ideas based on your research.
Prioritize the profitable and feasible ideas. Anything in the other sections might require
additional research or be unworthy of pursuing.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Personal and Passion Interests
Even if an idea is feasible and profitable, you shouldn’t go for it until you feel personally
interested in or passionate about it. Assess each of your ideas based on your personal
interests. How does the idea align with your morals or values? Will this idea make you
feel fulfilled? Do you see yourself working on this idea in the long term?
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Summarizing Your
Business Idea
Ideally, you have an idea you feel strongly
about. Maybe it solves many people’s
legitimate problem, or you feel passionate
about the solution. Before you start building
out your selected idea, create a summary of
your chosen opportunity. You might include:
Idea Summary:
Unique Value Proposition:
a two-to-three-sentence description
of your idea
a statement that conveys the value
of your idea
Target Audience:
Industry:
your prospective customers (e.g.,
20-30-year-old marketing managers
in the tech industry)
your intended market (e.g., electronics,
health & wellness, etc.)
You will build this out as you move through developing a business plan. Consider this mini
executive summary a foundation for the details you’ll explore in the following sections.
Struggling to define
your target audience?
Try out HubSpot’s “Make My Persona” tool,
a free way to build your ideal customer.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Developing a
Business Plan
You’ve settled on the idea. You’ve written
down a high-level overview of your potential
business, including the problem, solution,
prospective customers, unique value
proposition, industry, and other details. Now
comes the part where you turn your idea into
an actual product or service.
Download our free Executive Summary
for your business idea and write down
all of your research
Access Now
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
When starting out, you want to focus on learning while reducing costs. That’s where Minimum
Viable Products (MVPs) come in. MVPs are new products allowing teams to capture the
maximum amount of customer data using the least effort. They feature the core features of a
product, primarily to test and validate your business idea.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
MVPs include prototypes and early models of products. But they also come in the form of videos,
landing pages, and even newsletters. Rather than spend thousands of dollars building out an
actual product or hiring staff, consider leveraging the following MVPs as a starting point:
Landing page MVP:
a landing page that promotes your
product’s expected features (e.g.,
a “coming soon” page that collects
emails from interested users, who can
provide feedback)
Marketing MVP:
social media efforts to find your
audience and engage with them (e.g.,
an Instagram account highlighting a
theoretical product and reaching out to
influencers with the idea)
Explainer video MVP:
a video that demonstrates the
benefits of your product (e.g., a
YouTube video that highlights what
you plan on creating or an early
prototype of your product)
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Single-feature MVP:
a product that contains only its core
functionality (e.g., a productivity app
that helps users manage their calendar,
which can later be expanded to include
other features)
“Wizard of Oz” MVP:
a landing page or website that
advertises an automated software
but is actually operated manually
(e.g., an app that promises to match
users to restaurants)
Crowdfunding MVP:
crowdfunding via pre-orders and
interested users (e.g., a GoFundMe
campaign for a productivity app)
Once you launch the MVP, try to get as many users to interact with it as possible. The more users
you have, the more data you collect, which can help you improve your idea and future MVPs. You
can feel more confident investing in your idea if you receive positive feedback. This might mean
moving from a simple landing page MVP to a prototype.
Of course, if you receive negative feedback, don’t toss the idea to the side. Instead, learn from
the experience, pay attention to the feedback, and see where you can improve.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Marketing & Branding
Before diving into promotions and branding, make sure you’ve narrowed down your ideal
customers. Marketing-wise, everything you do should cater to their wants, worries, and needs.
To build your brand, consider answering the following questions:
•
What is your brand’s voice (e.g., casual, quirky, serious)?
•
What differentiates your product or service from your competitors?
•
How does your business solve your ideal customer’s problem?
These insights will determine how you should approach marketing. For example, if you aim to
target younger customers, you might find more success on TikTok than, say, Facebook.
Ready to build
out a solid
marketing
plan for your
business?
Check out HubSpot’s free
Marketing Plan Template.
Access Now
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Funding & Financing
To truly develop your business, you will need access to funds. Thankfully, there are multiple
ways to raise funds for your business, such as:
Bootstrapping:
self-funding through resources you already have
Crowdfunding:
raising funds from potential customers on platforms such as Indiegogo,
Crowdfunder, or Kickstarter
Grants:
funds provided by federal, state, and nonprofit organizations (HubSpot gathered
up some of the best to help fund your startup in this article)
Loans:
money provided on loan by local banking institutions
Accelerators and contests:
competitive programs that provide money, funding, and networking opportunities
Friends and family:
funding through your personal connections
Angel investors:
investors that provide their own money
Venture capital:
venture capital firms that provide large sums of investor money
For more detailed information on how to find investors, check out our free guide to get
started. Bookmark the article for when you’re ready to raise funds.
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The Ultimate Guide To Becoming an Entrepreneur
Conclusion
Becoming an entrepreneur takes commitment.
But the journey to becoming one is a
rewarding, once-in-a-lifetime experience. If you
feel ready to dive into entrepreneurship, read
through this guide, take notes, and conduct
research, and you’ll come out with a strong
idea to help you achieve your goal.
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