Meet one of our dearest members, Darren Overby. He is one of our beloved Treehouse Society members who found the Hostel Management. He founded HostelManagement.com in 2004 in the hopes to contribute management tools for potential hostel owners and workers internationally. His passion for sharing information, software, and technology to the hostel industry has developed into the #1 website for finding and sharing resources in the hostel industry. Read more about his intriguing and successful story!
What industry is your company in? Hostels and budget travel. Tell us about your background and how that led you to what you do today? I have always had a curious fascination for the world. I used to love road trip vacations with my parents but I always wanted to go further. I was told international travel was expensive and beyond the financial reach of most people. Still, I used to spin the globe, stop it with a finger, and wonder what it was like in far off lands. Was it day or night? What language was being spoken? What would be the talk of the town at the moment? As soon as I was able, I joined the Navy since it was the only way I knew how to travel internationally without being rich. While in the Navy we cruised to Townsville Australia. A friend Dave and I went scuba diving on Magnetic Island and met two beautiful and friendly Swedish women. At the end of our diving day, we missed the ferry to the mainland. It was then the Swedish women introduced us to the concept of a hostel. “A hospital?” we asked. “No, a hostel!” As it turned out, the place where we rented our scuba equipment was a hostel. Soon after that, as Dave and I settled in for a beer, I had my mind blown by the possibilities of travel. Backpackers began streaming to the hostel picnic tables with their round the world travel tales with little to no money. I was so excited. These backpackers were proof that I could travel the world on the extreme budget of a backpacker. Hostels would make my dreams of world travel possible. Over the next 8 months or so, I become enthralled by the freedom of adventure that these international backpackers exhibited and I began spending my free moments reading books such as "Europe Through the Back Door" by Rick Steves and "Work Your Way Around the World" by Susan Griffith. I had planned to sell all my things of value (tools, cameras, etc) to fund my trip, however, my car was broken into and I lost everything. After selling my car I only had $1600 to my name. Still, I was determined. I got a one-way air courier flight to London and just like that, I was off. At first, my financial situation in Europe was a little scary. It became apparent that if I wanted to stay in Europe I would need to find work and fast and frequently as possible. Hostels turned out to be great little employment agencies for me. I volunteered to clean or do odd jobs at every hostel. Sometimes work was available to me, and sometimes it wasn’t. However, hostel receptionists frequently thought of me when the odd job was available. Sometimes a job would last only for a few hours and sometimes it would be a week but it was always interesting and afforded me a sense of freedom to roam from place to place that was fantastic. If you have read this far, I should say there’s something I haven’t mentioned in the previous stories. I was painfully shy and always felt socially awkward and I knew it. It had always been a personal mission of mine to get over my inhibitions. Hostels helped me overcome this in two ways. First of all, people in hostels are for the most part VERY social and friendly. Hostels are the easiest place in the world to meet new friends. Second, the community in a hostel is constantly changing. As a shy person, I tended to be afraid of saying or doing something that I would be embarrassed by or chastised for. Since the community in a hostel is constantly changing I was able to “try myself on for size” and when I did I found people were not repulsed by my true nature, my true sense of humor. They were attracted to it! I highly recommend hostels for all shy people. Eventually, I met the owner of the Inverness Student Hotel who offered me a job at his other hostel in Edinburgh called High Street Hostel. At the time, Peter MacMillan was a young ambitious entrepreneur making his way in the hostel industry. He was also a talented carpenter. Peter was very only with me about his business and let me travel back and forth between Edinburgh and Inverness. I learned a lot from Peter. Scotland and Peter’s hostel became my base for further European adventures. I still worked along the way but I was learning new techniques for extending my travel budget. One strategy was researching for a travel guidebook. I found a book called Youth Accommodation Centres International on a hostel book exchange shelf. It was a self-published directory of hostels from Malta. I wrote to the publisher and asked if I could be a field researcher for his book. He sent me a letter attesting to this fact. Now I was able to call hostels in advance and tell them I was a “guidebook researcher”. This enabled me to stay for free at many hostels. Although, the book only listed hostel name, address and phone number I took notes about each hostel's facilities, amenities, and atmosphere. What I learned is a hostel's facilities and amenities were no indication of its atmosphere. Some hostels had a vibrant social atmosphere and others were devoid of “soul”. I studied what attributes (both operational and architectural) were correlated with a hostel’s community vibe. I would later apply this to my own hostel. In Europe, I experienced humanity in a way I had not experienced during my upbringing in the US. When I made the decision to come back to my home country I was bound and determined to either find or create a hostel community in the US. I wanted to experience the life I had in Europe and make a living doing it. My first stop was Manhattan. I was totally broke when I arrived in Europe and again needed a job. I decided the community and like-minded people I was looking for was most likely to exist in San Francisco. I asked my girlfriend, who I met in Scotland if she wanted to go to San Francisco with me to start a hostel. She had just graduated and said, “sure, I don’t have anything better to do!” Together we took somebody else’s car, by way of a Driveway, and drove to San Francisco. Within about a year, a proposal to many landlords and lots of trips to various city departments I managed to start our small hostel. Here I was able to test my various theories about creating a genuine and social community of international travelers. After 20 years, I’ve learned that what people say they want and what people REALLY want can be very different things. We operate from the premise that most people are inherently shy and need and appreciate a little help to be social with others. Our hostel is very unlike other hostels but it has an intensely social community that has a loyal and enthusiast following. Back in 1992, I was already involved in the internet. I was intrigued by the possibility of people of the world communicating with each other and sharing what they know. Because I knew and was passionate about hostels I decided to write Frequently Asked Questions about Hostelling which was hosted on rec-travel libraries by Brian Lucas on Gopher servers at the University of Manitoba. At the bottom of the FAQ was my email address and I encouraged people to write me if they had further questions. I found the questions I received were along the lines of “do you know any other hostels in __________?” I learned that while there were about 11 hosteling organizations in the world and each of these organizations published book directories of hostels - they only listed hostels belonging to THEIR organization. I felt this was a problem. I decided there needed to be a database of ALL hostels. So I used my knowledge of computers and created “Hostels.com - The Internet Guide to Hostelling”. After 27 years in business, I now operate HostelManagement.com (a website to help other people start hostels), HostelJobs.net (a website for people to find jobs in hostels) and OurHostels.com (a website for travelers to find and direct book hostels). We provide information and software to help their hostel be profitable. Who is your role model? Elon Musk - because he sees some important problem in the world and works hard to solve them What makes your company special? Rather than be just another online travel agency like booking.com or hostelworld.com (sites that end up costing travelers 15-25% more on every booking). We provide hostels with the tools and knowledge to control their destiny and receive more direct bookings. We also help travelers find and direct book hostels to save money. What are your biggest achievements and/or failures? Building several lifestyle businesses without the use of investors that give me the freedom to do whatever I want to do. How did you end up in Treehouse Society and why did you decide to stay longer? The coworking business I tried never worked as well as the Treehouse Society because it ended up catching on fire in the middle of the night, unfortunately. I wanted to find coworking space where it wasn’t too big like WeWork. Because then, everyone is just minding their own business but I liked the small friendly community that Treehouse has to offer. This is one of the reasons why I decided to stay longer with Treehouse. Another reason is that it’s a simple yet effective coworking place with a good community of people at a reasonable price and that is what I needed for my hostel. Any advice for the future hoteliers? Dream big - Start small - Work hard - Move fast (borrowed from Stride Travel)
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There a few myths about starting a business. Finding a co-founder is one of those myths. In order for a startup to succeed, finding the right team is important. A good founder is almost like a dream like a great marriage. It is a good concept of trust, loyalty, division of labor, and support, but not everyone can find a perfect partner to provide that. One can search for months, sometimes years to find the one. But, do you really need the one? Can you do it by yourself?
For the record, although many people try to push the myth of the importance of a co-founder, it might not be a happily ever after story just because you have a co-founder. Cofounder conflict is actually one of the leading reasons for early-stage companies failing. A cofounder relationship could be harder than marriage. It goes beyond just a business person finding a tech person like how marriage goes beyond just love. A proper cofounder relationship requires the co-founders to at least have common principles, share the same goal, understand boundaries, and not take everything too seriously. This all makes finding a co-founder a very hard task. The good news is: Maybe you don’t need a co-founder! A study by Crunchbase in 2016 shows that many startups had successful exits only had an average of 1.72 founders. This means that many startups were led by only one founder. This should be reassuring if you can’t find a co-founder or if your team recently left you. You can still do it! However, the road down solopreneurship might be difficult. You might be at events where people ask about your team. People might not have the confidence to fund your company as you are the only founder. It takes a lot of perseverance to get through and become a solopreneur, but there are people who have done it. For example, Jeff Bezos is one of those solo founders who founded Amazon. Of course, there are other companies that were founded without co-founders such as eBay, Ford, Tumblr, Umami Burger, and Wonderbra. Adam Fleischman of Umami Burger started his chain by himself and didn’t believe in having a co-founder. He hired labor off Craigslist for $10 an hour and did the rest himself. He hustled and the rest is history. His chain is one of the most successful chains in the burger industry. Being a solopreneur allows you to not compromise on your vision. It allows you to have the freedom to pursue whatever you want to do. Just because the world is telling you about getting a co-founder doesn’t mean it is necessary. You too can be a single, independent solopreneur. Of course, being a solopreneur could get lonely. Come in and connect with other founders at Treehouse Society! https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/26/co-founders-optional/ https://www.inc.com/matt-given/do-you-need-a-co-founder-this-surprising-new-study.html Mindshare capture is the amount of space a company occupies a customer’s mind. According to Investopedia, “Mindshare is a marketing term that describes the amount consumer awareness or popularity surrounding a particular product, idea, or company. Practically, it is the consumer perception of a particular brand or product compared to their rivals as measured by the amount of talk or mentions generated by the public or the media.” The more mindshare a company has, the more market share it will convert and the brighter their future will be. It is not easy to capture the minds of people in the modern days as an average person at the computer probably has more than 5 tabs open at a time, plenty of messages coming through, and social media newsfeed being as hyped as ever.
If your company can successfully gain mindshare of your customers, it will lead to more sales. Once your company had gained the mindshare of your customers, probably 3 out of 5 tabs opened on your customers’ web browser are at your company’s web page. And as humans are social animals, your customers might chat with their friends via social media, texts, or word of mouth which will make mindshare capture even stronger. Here are 4 ways to ensure success in gaining mindshare. 1. Have a unique and great product- If you have a great product, your customers will for sure come back for more. For example, Coca-Cola has had the same great recipe since the 1800s. Another example would be Amazon, which was a unique way to sell books on the internet. Both Amazon and Coca-Cola were great for their unique product. 2. Offer great customer service- People definitely remember if they were made to feel special and they would definitely tell their friends about it. 3. Have your product always be available- Make sure your product is always available. Not only would your customers be excited about it, but also, you could only make money when your product is available unless you are running a Kickstarter campaign. But, you are building a real company so make sure it is always available. 4. Make your customers feel something- Your customers should be excited, happy, fascinated, or whatever feeling they have while using your product. The more they feel while using your product the more your company will occupy their mind. Apple was a master of this. Their ads would make people feel something and Steve Job’s presentation would make users feel like they are different just by using Apple products. Get started on capturing the mindshare of your customers today! Every year, millions of “startups” are founded around the world. A handful of those will be lucky enough to take on funding, hire talented employees, and eventually go public or get acquired. While there are an infinite number of details that go into making this dream a reality, one critical detail is setting up your company’s cap table. Before you do, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with key terms around equity and basic cap table structure. A cap table is a company’s record of ownership percentages; the cap table changes over time as a result of different financing events and company growth. Historically, the cap table has been tracked in Excel. Today, there are software platforms (like Carta) that can automate the management and compliance checks associated with your cap table. Leveraging software will help ensure accuracy, cut down on maintenance time, minimize expensive legal fees, and ensure you have proper historical data as you grow. As a startup founder, these are 5 key milestones that will impact your cap table from founding to IPO: 1. Founder’s Stock - The initial names on a company’s cap table are it’s founders. At the outset, the value of founder’s stock is generally close to nothing, but if the value of the company increases quickly founders will need the proper documents in place to ensure tax compliance. If there are co-founders, important conversations on ownership percentages will need to occur to make sure that everyone is in agreement on equity stakes prior to raising capital or hiring employees. 2. Early Investors - Raising capital with early investors will give you the runway you need to start working towards a Series A. Many startups choose to do this via a SAFE Agreement or Convertible Note. Both of these options will eventually convert to stock when the company goes through an equity round. This stock conversion will be a painful process if the cap table is not set-up properly. 3. Employees - Options have become an expected and necessary perk of working for an early stage company. If you want to bring in top-tier talent, but can’t compete with the high salaries offered by more established companies, you can add options to your compensation plan. Once you’ve added employees to your cap table, there are a lot of details that need to be tracked: the number of shares allocated to an employee option pool, vesting schedules, and post-termination exercis e windows, to name several. 4. Compliance - Now that you have the founders, investors, and employees on your cap table, there are reporting requirements you’ll need to make sure you’re compliant with: a. 409a Valuation - This sets the fair market value (FMV) of your company. It’s required by the IRS annually if you’re issuing common shares. The 409a valuation has to be performed by a 3rd party valuation service, and ensures that your options are being issued at a fair value, saving employees from tax penalties. b. Expense Reporting (or Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 718) - ASC 718 is an accounting standard for expensing stock-based compensation issued to employees. These reports will become very important when going through due diligence for an M&A or IPO. c. 10% Shareholder - There are specific requirements around issuing equity to an employee who owns 10% or more of the total voting power across all classes of stock in a company. d. Rule 701 - This section of the Securities Act of 1933 allows private companies to issue options without complying with federal registration requirements. However, there are specific disclosures if the equity awards exceed $5M in a 12-month period. e. ISO/NSO Split - You cannot issue more than $100,000 in Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) to any one employee during a calendar year. If you do, the options that exceed the limit need to be issued as Nonstatutory Stock Options (NSOs). 5. M&A or IPO - If you’ve made it to the point where you’re considering an M&A transaction or an IPO, the last thing you want standing in your way is inaccurate or missing cap table information. There are strict due diligence processes, involving multiple parties, when preparing for these events. Having clear documentation of your capitalization history will allow you to quickly respond to questions, and ensure these events are seamless. While proper cap table management and compliance practices are crucial to the financing, hiring, and future of your company, cap table management should never distract you from focusing on your company’s vision. Make sure you have the proper legal, administrative processes, and platforms in place now to help navigate avoidable mistakes and potentially expensive accounting reconciliations in the future. {Disclaimer: I work for Carta, an ownership management company that automates cap table management and compliance. I am not a legal or financial advisor. I speak with hundreds of early stage companies every month about their equity structures, and how Carta can help maintain accuracy and compliance. This article is based on information I’ve gathered in my time at Carta, and in those conversations. If you’d like to know more, you can schedule a demo of Carta with me here.}
The world is changing at a rapid pace. This is filling up our world with competition and challenges as an entrepreneur. Launching a new venture means overcoming obstacles and challenges. It is a huge learning curve and hopefully, you can also grow as a person every step of the way.
At first, launching a new venture might seem daunting, and depending on the type of business you are establishing, you might face specific challenges for your business. However, some challenges around new businesses are universal such as laws, persistence, and some of the topics in this blog post. 1. Validate your idea If your startup aims to sell a widget that the world has never seen, make sure the world, in fact, needs your widget. Perhaps it doesn’t exist yet because no one actually needs it. If it is needed, then make sure the world is willing to pay for it or there is some way of monetizing. It is your job as an entrepreneur to figure out the market for your new venture. Don’t waste your time building something that no one wants. With the 21st century, it is easier than ever to figure out what your customers want. Market research doesn’t need to be expensive. You could start by asking your friends, but make sure they are friends who are brutally honest. Listening to feedbacks isn’t easy so prepare yourself. Another way to find people to validate your idea is to run some ads and provide some incentives for people to fill out your survey or answer your questions. Validating your idea is super important, so make sure to put down your ego in order to build a product that the world needs. 2. Go beyond the business plan Launching a new business plan is more than preparing a business plan. While writing a business plan is probably helpful, the real value is not having the most perfect plan to adapt to every situation, but to just research and think about your new venture in a systematic way. The act of planning helps to think things through thoroughly as well as study and research if you are not sure of the facts. There are some entrepreneurs out there who wrote their plan at least 19 times, and that is very unnecessary as it would only lead to overthinking instead of doing. 3. Know the market Ask questions, conduct research or gain experience to help you learn your new venture’s market inside and out. Stop being in your echo chamber and living inside your mind. Gain some perspectives so you know what your market needs. You need to understand the critical metrics of your market. 4. Choose the right business structure It is critical to select the appropriate structure for your new venture from the very beginning because it could have legal and tax implications. The structure you choose could also ensure the success of future decisions such as raising capital or exiting the business. 5. Build the right team Perhaps the most critical step in the evolution of your startup is assembling a team that works well together and can deliver what is necessary for your new venture. Your teammates need to share your vision and values as well as be productive together. Decision making is based on values and vision and whenever there is a disagreement, that should be ultimate way to make the right decision for the company. Launching a new venture is more than passion. It is important to build a minimal viable product, know your market, build the right team, and work hard in launching your new venture. Hopefully, it will be a worthwhile journey for you. Good luck! Are you feeling stuck with the year end to do list? You might be feeling like you need this holiday season to escape your tasks. Honestly, even if you escaped by going on a vacation, spa, binge watching the latest Netflix series, your to do list is still here.
Real talk here: spa, vacation, binge watching, and etc. are not what you need. You need a real self-care day where you take care of your to-do list because no amount of spa is going to wash your to-do list away. Taking care of your to-do list is the ultimate way of self-care. I have met founders who are still working on their 2016 tax returns, or have been avoiding that phone call to a customer for the past 3 months. You want to avoid that thing on your list because there is a mental barrier to it. Then you start procrastinating and start doing other things that might not be high on the priority list. Then you return home physically exhausted but still feel unfulfilled as your to-do list is still there. Now, you are mentally overwhelmed and physically exhausted and maybe it is time to go to a spa or go on a vacation to escape your task. STOP! Don’t do it! Again, escaping is not going to save you. It is not real self-care. Self-care is when you finish all your tasks so you can finally relax. It sucks to be on a beach somewhere thinking about your tax return from a year ago. Trust me, I have been there. So, a few months ago, I started a routine of having a to-do list to prioritize what needs to be done. So this is what goes down: I normally have a to-do list, and if there is an item on it that I have not crossed out in 3 days, I know I have a mental barrier to this task, and would try to eliminate the mental barrier by just easing myself out as I perform the task. Most of the time, it is emailing or calling someone. I know many people who are the same way. And maybe you are one of them who is currently overwhelmed by the thoughts of your tasks. These are the detailed steps for getting that mental barrier out of the way.
*You don’t have to be a founder to show up. You can be a consultant, freelancer, or anyone who just needs to come in for self-care day to get that task crossed off. Related: Entrepreneurship Ideas in Action Many start a business after being sick of working for others. Many start business without knowing some of the basic rules. It might be important for you to learn some of the ground rules. Sometimes, having a successful business is not just about doing things you love, it is also about obeying certain entrepreneurial rules.
1. Have a goal in mind One of the first and most important rules of starting a business is to have a goal. Setting up a business and just expect success to come might be a naive move. A successful entrepreneur always have a mission statement and a goal so s/he has something to work toward. When starting your business, try to define one for your business and make sure you know what you want to achieve in a year or so. Setting a deadline for your goal is just important as setting up the goal. 2. Your product or service must create value or solve a problem If your product does not produce value for your customers, rethink your business. 3. Your must know as much as you can about your target customers Start by Googling the demographic that you are targeting. Then set up a landing page to gather emails for your target customers and start surveying them. 4. You must have a sizeable market. While you are Googling about your target audience, find out the size of the demographic. You probably don't want to only sell to a couple hundred of people. 5. You must make your target market aware of the value you have created. Brand awareness is important. But more importantly, make sure your target audience knows what your company provides. 6. Delegate your tasks No one is Superman or Wonder Woman here. Even super heroes might get tired from their tasks. Learn to delegate. You do not want to spread yourself too thin and leave the money on the table. Try to get as many people as possible with your business within your budget. Do what you know best and leave the rest to others. If you want to be planning and marketing your business, don't waste time developing the products too. Think about the best use of your time and learn to rely on others. 7. Learn the laws of your industry Read more relevant information here. Besides laws, learn if there are current unions and activists in the industry that your business is disrupting that could cause trouble for you. Review these rules of starting a business, and do not fear them. Use them as tips to guide you through your journey! Related: Why Coworking Space is Vital for a Solopreneur Growth is a risky but necessary task for startups to survive. Growth may be assessed in the context of employees, customers, revenue, liquidity, profit, geographic locations, and a variety of other dimensions. Regardless of the growth type, hurdles always exist. An entrepreneur who understands the risks, and knowingly takes them, will have a chance to grow; whereas one who is not willing to take risks will not.
Growth helps startups to establish legitimacy, creating new options to grow. Larger companies are statistically less likely to fail given the amount of resources they have. This is why larger companies have more potential investors and customers. It is during and right after a period of growth that companies find it easiest to acquire investment capital. Companies which are perceived as having crossed their initial startup hurdles are seen as being stable. Normally, with size comes an increase in profitability and liquidity for the company. This gives it history, which partners and investors are more willing to trust. Assets and finances will thus become more attainable than they were before. With growth, the company forms new connections and is able to access new markets. This results in an increase in sales, profitability and influence. An entrepreneur is normally faced with different challenges and different needs at each phase of the business development process. Advisors, investors, or potential customers sometimes provide support throughout the entire business development cycle for growth. Depending on how fundraising is done, crowdfunding or traditionally investment, those are the type of support group that an entrepreneur could depend on as these people are invested in the company. Within a neoclassical economics framework where things are produced by combining inputs in a production function, the most straight forward way is to get technological change to produce it. Research and development can be undertaken by combining land, labor, and capital to produce technological change. The successes attributable to investment in research and development are indisputable, but research and development expenditures cannot be the whole story because once the research is done, the results need to be applied to make production cheaper or in some cases, to produce goods and services that have never been produced before. This is the role of entrepreneurship. Labor economists have highlighted that mid-level opportunities are being stripped out of today's organizations at a remarkable pace. This leaves a greater number of people with the prospect of working either in dream jobs or lousy jobs, which sit at the polar opposite of the job market. The impression here is that a lot of people are being pushed into self-employment partly because of a lack of decent job opportunities and partly because those jobs that do remain are becoming less attractive. Yet this is only one part of the story. Rather than forcing people into self employment, many of these organizational shifts should instead be seen as the 'trigger' that is pushing people toward their entrepreneurial ambitions. One of the major drivers of the microbusiness boom existing today is a sign of an aging society that needed to be improved upon. Technological progress is not the final but a crucial ingredient behind the boom in self-employment. While the broader impact of the internet age may be questioned by some, its transformative effects on the world of business are easy to see. At Treehouse Society, we really believe in growth of companies. This is why we have membership ranging from open desks to private offices. Take a tour today! Related: 5 Ways to Get Entrepreneurship Funding Most of the time, entrepreneurs set out to disrupt the existing market without looking at legality of their business. They normally try to get traction before any legal framework is established. It is essential to learn about the laws related to your business before you start as it will help you operate your business smoothly. A good place to start would be to Google your questions on legality as well as asking around for legal advice. It is a good idea to seek the expert guidance of an accountant and attorney to learn about the latest business laws that might affect your startup. Also, check into local activist groups who might want to pull your startup down for power play before you launch into a region. The more you learn about the bureaucracy and laws that govern the kind of business entity you are starting, the more confident you will be.
Entrepreneurs often think that if they have a creative new product or service idea, they will make millions. They imagine the best situation that could happen instead of thinking of the reality of laws. Sometimes, the entrepreneur could get lucky and the product or service is a success. But, all too often, legal and other factors can influence the outcome. Airbnb and Uber are great examples as they became the poster child of legal nightmares. They are some extreme cases of resilience as they faced years of lawsuits and policies specific to their companies. They were at a point of history where technology can solve many problems such as not having enough hotel rooms during conventions or not having enough taxis in an area. However, both of them end up becoming the poster child of violating local laws and faced years of legal battles. After the initial success of Airbnb and as hosting was getting more popular, cities across the United States Started regulating what a host could do. Many from the hotel industry started accusing hosts and called their listings illegal. Cities across the nation started regulating on Airbnb hosts. We could all say Airbnb started a new industry so it was hard for anyone to come up with a legal solution as it was a new product, so it is hard to predict if this could have been prevented. Since Uber was out in the market, many taxi drivers felt threatened by the competition by the new technology. They have stopped everything from airport pickup to banning Uber in cities altogether. As many headlines pointed out, these lawsuits could've been preventable if their legal team had applied for permits. But many entrepreneurs such as Uber's cofounders believe in asking for forgiveness, not for permission, and let their products launch before fully getting licensed. Not many could be as lucky as Uber and Airbnb to have enough capital and lawyers to face legal battles. For starter, here is a list of things to look out for when starting a business. Business license Zoning Permits Health Inspections Of course, there are examples of companies who have done business with the correct permitting and legality. One of our favorite transportation companies in San Francisco is Chariot. They are always up to date with permits and comply with the city of San Francisco right away whenever they have an issue. Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster. Indeed, the life of an entrepreneur is a series of setbacks that need to be worked through. It is rare to have a perfect set of circumstances that are necessary to make your business an overnight sensation, or successful at all for that matter. There will be forthcoming fears, doubts, and the self-defeating conditioning of your upbringing and past. Unwanted naysayers', copycats, and energy vampires will appear in the way of your business. But no matter what happens, your independent thinking, self-motivation, and self- accountability should drive you through the landmines.
The distractions of entrepreneurship contribute to 66% of new businesses failing. As an entrepreneur, your critical job is to stay focused and inspired to keep your ride from coming to a screeching halt. The one thing that will determine your business success is traction and sales. Make sure you wake up daily to be motivated. Ultimately, your ability to roll with the punches, keep up the energy, be relentless in your pursuit to deliver value, and have good instinctual business sense will help you become the entrepreneur you strive to be. Here are some tips for aspiring entrepreneurs: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone- Entrepreneurship is not for everyone and especially not for the faint of heart. Some people are born to be entrepreneurs while others will fall into it naturally. If you can't see yourself leaving the comfort of a substantial corporate salary and starting a new brand from scratch, then maybe the entrepreneurial lifestyle isn't the best for you. Expect Risks- Entrepreneurship takes a lot of time and sacrifice. You need to be ready to give up everything from job security, financial stability, and social life, and sometimes even friendships to dedicate however long it takes to build the business. Expect to work long hours for little pay, and always be on high alert for whatever you are faced with. Get Customers- It doesn't matter how socially conscious or environmentally friendly your project is. It doesn't matter how brilliant your cause sounds or how critical your mission or how awesome your culture is, if you don't have enough customers, you will be out of business fast. There are no bailouts for small businesses or entrepreneurs. There are no safety nets on this ride. Your only insurance is your ability to gain customers. Embrace Failures- It is very possible that despite your best efforts it may not work out, and you have to be ready and willing to accept failure. Failure is significant in the process, and with it comes invaluable lessons and experiences which will carry on throughout your time as an entrepreneur. Remember, you are probably going to fail, and the world doesn't care how many times it happens as long as it is one fewer than the number you get back up. The world of entrepreneurship is a wild ride. Make sure to make some friends who are in a similar ride. Come by Treehouse Society to meet other entrepreneurs who understand. Related: Entrepreneurial Work Environment |
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