How to become an entrepreneur [Complete guide]

 

In a world where the job market is constantly changing, employment is increasingly seen as an overly rigid model that would prevent employees from reaching their full potential. It is in this context that entrepreneurship appears to be the path to emancipation, a path that, on the other hand, is not easy.

Definition of entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship refers to the act of carrying out an activity of which one is the initiator himself, as shown by its etymological meaning. The dictionary lists synonyms such as to begin, attempt, engage, or undertake.

 

Indeed, as a project initiator, it is thanks to the entrepreneur's action plan that the activity can start and progress. He is also the one who takes the most risks by starting an activity whose only guarantee is his creativity.

 

Entrepreneurship is also about getting involved, both with partners, by reassuring them that the current project is a good idea, and with employees, by convincing them that the sustainability of the company will bring them stability in their positions and provide them with career development.

 

Beyond all this, entrepreneurship is defined as the ability to create added value from limited resources, to exploit them in order to be able to meet a demand expressed by consumers.

 

Who can become an entrepreneur?

The idea of becoming an entrepreneur often sounds like a dream, and also an ultimate goal for some. What an attractive idea indeed to make a living from an activity that one has created oneself.

 

Many people are convinced every year and try the adventure thinking that they have found the right concept to create their startups. But entrepreneurship is a profession in its own right that requires well-defined professional qualities and skills such as:

 

 

Creativity:

The entrepreneur must be able to constantly innovate in order to promote the activity of his company and to remain competitive in the face of the competition.

 

Rigour:

He must also be rigorous in order to organize and manage his team.

 

Humility:

He must have the necessary perspective and be able to question himself.

 

Self-confidence:

As the guarantor of the company's image, he must show confidence and be the first to believe in the success of his company

 

Leadership:

He must be a good leader, have the power of persuasion and make those around him adhere to his ideas.

 

Dedication

This is what motivates the entrepreneur to work hard, 12 hours a day or more, even seven days a week, especially in the beginning, to launch the business. Planning and ideas must be accompanied by hard work to succeed. Dedication makes this possible.

 

Determination

It is the extremely strong desire to succeed. It includes persistence and the ability to bounce back from difficult times.

 

He persuades the contractor to make the 10th phone call, after nine have come to nothing. For the true entrepreneur, money is not motivation. Success is the motivating factor; Money is the reward.

 

Passion

This is what allows entrepreneurs to start and keep them there. It gives entrepreneurs the ability to convince others to believe in their vision.

 

It can't replace planning, but it will help them stay focused and get others to review their plans.

 

"Intelligent"

It is common sense coupled with knowledge or experience in a related company or business. The first gives a person good instincts, the second, expertise.

 

Many people have intelligences that they do not recognize. A person who manages to maintain a household on a limited budget has organizational and financial skills. Employment, education, and life experiences all contribute to intelligence

 

What is the direction to follow to become an entrepreneur?

As a general rule, business leaders agree that going to college is a great advantage and promotes the success of an entrepreneur. Many of them offer several training courses aimed at training future managers who can become the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

 

Coming from a university background, the managers who received these trainings were able to learn how to carry out market research, manage a budget, develop a business plan and learn how large companies work through internships or work-study training. Clearly, comprehensive training to prepare them to take on the role of business leader for later.

 

Some institutes are more reputable than others when it comes to these courses.

 

What are the different types of entrepreneurship?

 Social entrepreneurship

The main goal of social entrepreneurship is to improve society in some form. While some of these businesses exist to make money, there are also nonprofits and B Corps that balance social purpose with profit.

Warby Parker is an example of social entrepreneurship, with the company donating more than eight million pairs of glasses to underprivileged citizens who are visually impaired.

Innovative entrepreneurship

Innovation entrepreneurship is the transformation of an invention or idea into a business performance. This type of entrepreneurship seeks to change the way people live in a way that no other business has managed to do.

Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates are all examples of motivated and passionate people. entrepreneurs whose companies have redefined what was thought possible.

Small Business Entrepreneurship

Small business performance, entrepreneurship describes modest innovation, it tends to be the result of adding a new twist to an existing product or service. The profits from these innovations are used to meet the payroll or support basic living expenses. In other words, they are not reinvested to extend the performance of companies.

As the name suggests, small business performance entrepreneurship can be found in many family businesses such as hairdressers, butchers, grocery stores, florists, and consultants.

Hustler Entrepreneurship

Hustlers are those who believe in the power of hard work sustained over a long period of time. They have great visions to make the business something more substantial and are not afraid to take risks.

An example of scam entrepreneurship is Mary Kay Ash, founder of the beauty company Mary Kay Cosmetics. Ash used a combination of confidence, conscientiousness, extroversion, and superior networking skills to make his dream a reality.

Copycat entrepreneurship

In the same way that small business performance entrepreneurs, imitators look at what already works and then develop a product, service, or business model that is innovative or iterative. They can spot the mistakes made by others and improve them with confidence and conviction.

Many believe that copycat entrepreneurship is a mix of innovators and scammers. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is one example.

 

Entrepreneurship and researcher

Entrepreneurial researchers prioritize the practical aspect of innovation and will spend a lot of time analyzing data to reduce the chances of a business failure. Researchers possess exemplary critical thinking and problem-solving skills and have a strong desire for order. They make sure to understand all aspects of a business performance and a conduct by logic rather than emotion.

Larry Ellison, a businessman and co-founder of Oracle Corporation is a good example of research entrepreneurship.

 

Highlights of the different types of contractors:

• Entrepreneurial diversity: Entrepreneurs are motivated individuals with varied motivations, visions, and aspirations, which can be found across all industries and sectors.
• Social entrepreneurship: Social entrepreneurs aim to improve society, sometimes by balancing profit and social purpose. Examples include companies like Warby Parker, who donate glasses to those in need.
• Innovation Entrepreneurship: Innovation entrepreneurs turn ideas into business performance innovations that change people's lives. Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates are notable examples.
• Small Business Entrepreneurship: Small business performance entrepreneurs introduce modest innovations into existing products or services. Profits are often used to cover living expenses rather than the performance of the companies offers you to explore.
• Hustler Entrepreneurship: Hustlers believe in hard and sustained work, taking risks, and have a grand vision for growing their business. Mary Kay Ash is an example of a scam entrepreneur.
• Copycat Entrepreneurship: Copycats learn from existing successes and create products, services or business performance models. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, is an imitator entrepreneur.
• Entrepreneurship Researcher: Entrepreneurial researchers focus on the practical aspect of innovation. They meticulously analyze data to reduce the performance of companies risks, relying on logic rather than emotion. Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle Corporation, falls into this category.
• Diverse Approaches: Each type of entrepreneur brings a unique approach to business performance. Social entrepreneurs focus on impact, innovation entrepreneurs redefine industries, small business performance entrepreneurs respond to local needs, scammers emphasize hard work, imitators build on existing successes, and research entrepreneurs prioritize data-driven decision-making.
• Entrepreneurial Success: The success of different types of entrepreneurs stems from their distinctive qualities, whether it's innovative thinking, hard work, practicality, or a mix of these traits.

 

Creating from scratch:

Starting a business when nothing exists is not an easy situation, especially since you will have to face barriers to market entry and wait before you can successfully establish your product, acquire consumers, but also convince potential project partners (researchers, investors, collaborators).

 

As a result, the degree of innovation required is higher, as is the risk-taking. The business plan for this type of creation must also be concrete and be fleshed out with several predictive studies, particularly on the financial level, for the project to be viable.

 

Corporate takeover:

Taking control of a company or activity has a major difference from the creation of a company. The organization exists, it does not need to be created. If it exists, then it is possible to rely on data that describe it in its present, its history, its structure and its functioning.

 

Under these conditions, uncertainty is generally lower and risk levels are much lower. As with the creation of a company, the takeover can be carried out by an individual on his own account or by an existing company. At least two cases of corporate takeovers can be examined.

 

Resuming healthy or healthy activities:

Spotting a company for sale when its activity is in full swing would be like stumbling upon a gold mine, which is to say that it is a very rare, but likely, situation. This is the ideal scenario for an entrepreneur with the funds to take over such a business.

 

Moreover, it goes without saying that it is in the case of a creation from scratch or a takeover, it would be preferable to have already benefited from convincing experience in management.

 

It is also essential to master the sector of activity of the company to be taken over. It is advisable, in fact, not to waste too much time learning the business of an entrepreneur.

 

Takeover of a company or activity in difficulty:

In this case, it is essential to specify that when the company is placed in receivership, it is essential to know the legal framework for the takeover of the company to be taken over. It is also advisable to have relationships with key players in this environment.

 

The cost of buying companies in this situation is naturally much more affordable than those in difficulty, which may seem like an advantage, but keep in mind that they often require a very large financial recapitalization. Taking over a company in difficulty also requires a good knowledge of crisis situations.

 

Intrapreneurship:

The term intrapreneurship first appears in a writing of which Gifford Pinchot III and Elizabeth Pinchot are authors. This term refers to the creation or development of a new activity within the same company, a mission that is often the responsibility of the company's senior managers. Intrapreneurship can take the form of a branch, or often a relocation abroad.

 

Spin-offs or extrapreneurship:

Designating in its first sense, a phenomenon observed in a beehive, when a part of the bees leave the hive with a queen to form a new colony, the term swarming has been extended to global companies. The spin-off is used to refer to a company supporting its employees when they leave the workforce by helping them to create their own activities.

 

This is a phenomenon most often observed within companies in the new information technology mode. This form of business creation generates 10 times more spin-offs in job creation than a license granted to an existing company to launch a new product on the market.

 

 

Self-employment:

The self-employed status is a self-employed worker regime accessible to all, whether in the context of a main or secondary activity. The main advantage of this regime lies in the simplification of all the administrative procedures to be followed as an entrepreneur.

 

From a financial point of view, this scheme also makes it possible to reduce social security contributions, because instead of all social security contributions, a one-off payment proportional to turnover must be paid to the competent bodies.

 

Social entrepreneurship:

The basic principle here is to create companies whose economic activity has been designed in such a way as to create "social value", to implement innovative solutions to social problems in the fields of social creation. jobs, sustainable development, the environment, health or any activity that can benefit society.

 

Public Entrepreneurship:

Public enterprises and various government institutions at the national, provincial or local level, oriented towards the service of citizens, constitute the very essence of public entrepreneurship. They contribute to the creation of the collective resources necessary for economic development.

 

Why become an entrepreneur?

Whether it's becoming a freelancer, freelancer, inventor, franchise owner or even being the head of a multinational company; The fact is undeniable, there are great advantages to becoming an entrepreneur.

 

So, what could be the reasons for wanting to start your own business to become an entrepreneur?

 

Be free

Being your own boss allows you to manage your time, to decide without being accountable to anyone (most often), to choose the collaborators you want to work with and even sometimes to choose your clients.

 

Create Your Own Job

In a world of work that is constantly changing, starting your own business can be the best way to find a stable job, without fear of dismissal and without waiting to find the ideal offer that may never fully meet your expectations.

 

To become rich

The entrepreneur can choose his salary, pay himself a profit share and sell his company with a comfortable capital gain... provided that the undertaking is successful of course. The potential gain is proportional to the risk you take, and it is often higher than in most salaried positions.

 

Addressing the challenges

Starting a business allows you to innovate, solve problems, and change the rules of the game. Entrepreneurship is an ideal activity for those who hate monotony and seek, on the contrary, to be stimulated to surpass themselves on a daily basis. Because in the business world, there is no shortage of the unexpected and challenges.

 

To challenge ourselves

The entrepreneur is constantly looking to improve what he produces and what he sells. They need to optimise their organisation, refine their recruitment, find out about developments in their market and the expectations of their customers, etc. Curiosity and a desire to learn are crucial skills for an entrepreneur.

 

Expand your creativity

Entrepreneurship often requires finding new solutions to overcome obstacles, remove obstacles and improve your offer. The entrepreneur is always looking for original ideas and new concepts to think outside the box, leaving his comfort zone.

 

To be recognized

Everything an entrepreneur accomplishes is directly associated with it, even when the success of the project is the result of teamwork. The entrepreneur is an authority figure whose successes are much better recognized than if he were a simple employee.

 

Empower your employees

The entrepreneur knows that the most lasting successes are built together, and that it is very rewarding to engage your teams around a project you have created.

 

Give meaning to your life

Creating a company that meets your values and needs allows you to achieve your full potential by finding a good reason to get up every morning.

 

For fun

Carrying out your project and seeing it develop brings great satisfaction and pride. Creating a brand, being recognized and appreciated by its customers, creating jobs... Entrepreneurship is much more than a job: a constant source of excitement, gratification and surprises.

 

Do you, in turn, want to use your creativity, energy and ambition to acquire the fundamentals of management and create your future company?

 

How to become an entrepreneur

To become an entrepreneur, it is important to follow certain steps. Here are some of the key steps:

 

1. Prepare your project in advance;

2. Choose your legal status;

3. Draft the articles of association in accordance with the applicable legislation;

4. Find financing;

5. Open a bank account dedicated to the company;

6. Domiciling his company;

7. Take out professional insurance;

8. Register your business.

 

It's not enough to just do these steps. The creation of a company also involves a personal investment on the part of its creator, who will have to master not only the technical part of the work he intends to do, but also the legislation applicable to this work.

 

Finally, becoming an entrepreneur implies a certain ability to adapt to economic, regulatory and sectoral changes, to ensure the success of the project.

 

How to prepare your business project?

To ensure the success of the project and the support of investors, the first step is to prepare a viable and coherent business creation project. To do this, various tools are available to an entrepreneur, including:

 ·       The business plan;

·       Financial forecasts.

Let's take a look at the characteristics of these essentials for starting a business.

 

Develop a compelling business plan

Convincing potential investors to join your project requires a thorough study of the market and the risks involved. This is why it is advisable to take a serious interest in the methods of developing a business plan, which will guide you on the strategy to put in place to carry out your project, and to convince investors.

 

Present the business creation project and the founders

First of all, the business plan must present the context in which the business creation project is taking place. To do this, you must mention:

 

The problems that the company must face;

The solutions proposed to remedy it;

The objective(s) set by the company's founders;

Project details;

A presentation of the founding partners;

Long- or medium-term development prospects;

The means put in place to implement its objectives.

To determine these elements, it is therefore essential to conduct market research before the production of the business plan.

 

Do well-sourced and reasoned market research

To succeed in the world of entrepreneurship, it is important to analyze the market in which you establish yourself but also the competition. A sourced and reasoned market study is therefore essential.

 

To do this, several parameters must be studied:

 

The size of the market and its key players;

The law that governs it;

The balance of the relationship between supply and demand;

The competition in place;

the consumer's perception of the product, service or brand;

Technological and environmental issues;

Economic, social and legal constraints.

 

Promote the project with a coherent marketing strategy

In order to show your investment in the success of your project, you will also need to plan an effective marketing strategy and establish it in the business plan. To do this, start by identifying your target market and their needs. Based on these parameters, you can establish a marketing action plan, the advertising campaigns to be carried out as well as the budget to be allocated to carry them out.

 

Establish a complete financial forecast

Financial forecasts complement the business plan, providing investors with accurate accounting data.

 

The latter are interested in the company's ability to make a return on the funds invested, over an average of 3 to 5 years. To make a financial forecast, you will therefore have to calculate concrete accounting elements such as the break-even point or an intermediate management balance.

 

Other elements will need to be prepared, preferably with the help of an accountant in order to avoid mistakes.

 

Estimating the company's income and expenses;

Relevance Report;

Projected Statement of Operations;

Financial plan.

 

How to find financing as an entrepreneur?

When setting up a business, regardless of its legal form, it is important to raise funds. To do this, entrepreneurs have several solutions:

 

Make personal contributions;

Seek private funds.

Use government assistance for business creation;

 

Personal contributions

An entrepreneur's personal contributions are generally the main source of financing for a company. Indeed, it is important that the registered capital is sufficient for investors and banking institutions to support you in your project.

 

To determine the amount of the required personal contribution, the contractor must:

 

Accurately assess the real cash flow needs of your future business;

Define the minimum percentage of contribution to be allocated to optimize your chances of gaining the trust of banks and investors (to obtain a loan more easily, for example).

 

 

To this end, it is important to know that it is possible to make several types of contributions such as:

 

In cash:

This is a certain amount of money directly deposited into the company's bank account;

In kind

In other words, the contribution of movable or immovable property to the capital of a company;

In industry,

This means that some partners will make their know-how and skills available to a company.

 

Friends and family:

These people believe in the entrepreneur, and they are the second easiest source of financing to access. They usually don't require the documents that other lenders require.

 

Credit cards:

The entrepreneur's personal credit cards are an easily accessible source of funds, especially for the acquisition of business equipment such as photocopiers, personal computers and printers.

 

 

Private funding

Private organizations can also help you become an entrepreneur. Indeed, some private entities or mechanisms make it possible to collect the funds necessary for the development of an entrepreneurial activity. You can therefore use:

 

Banks:

Banks are very conservative lenders. As successful entrepreneur Phil Holland explains: "Many potential business owners are disappointed to learn that banks don't lend to start-ups unless there are outside assets to pledge against borrowing.

 

Many entrepreneurs simply don't have enough assets to get a secured loan from a lending institution.

 

However, if an entrepreneur has money in a bank savings account, they can usually borrow against that money. If an entrepreneur has good credit, it is also relatively easy to get a personal loan from a bank. These loans tend to be short-term and not as large as business loans.

 

 

Venture Capital Investors:

It is a major source of funding for start-ups that have high growth potential. However, venture capitalists insist on retaining ownership in new ventures they fund.

 

Formal institutional venture capital funds

These are usually limited partnerships in which passive limited partners, such as pension funds, provide most of the money. These funds have large sums of money to invest.

 

However, the process of obtaining venture capital is very slow.

 

Corporate Venture Capital Funds

These are large companies that have funds to invest in new companies. These often provide technical and management expertise in addition to significant monetary investments.

 

However, access to these funds is slow compared to other sources of funding. In addition, they often seek to take control of new companies.

 

Angels

They tend to be successful entrepreneurs who have capital that they are willing to risk. They often insist on being active advisors to the companies they support.

 

Angel funds are quicker to access than corporate venture capital funds, and they are more likely to be invested in an early-stage deal. But they can make smaller individual investments and have fewer contacts in the banking community.

 

At the benevolence of Business Angels, investors are looking for interesting opportunities to invest their money.

 

Government Programs:

Many national and regional governments offer programs to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises.

 

 

The legal status to choose for a company as an entrepreneur

 

In order to determine the type of business to create, the first question to ask yourself is whether you plan to start a business alone or with others. Depending on the case, the options will be limited, you will have to choose between the sole proprietorship or the corporate form.

 

  

Undertake alone

To start a business yourself, you will have to choose from the following legal forms:

 

sole proprietorship;

Sole proprietorship with limited liability;

Simplified joint-stock company for a single person;

Microenterprise.

Each of these statuses has its own specificities, so you should consult a specialist to help you determine what is best for you.

 

Doing business together

The exercise of a commercial activity is limited to certain legal forms. Among the following list, some forms of companies are also dedicated to certain types of activities, such as the SCI which is reserved for real estate. Here are the different types of businesses that can be set up in several ways:

 

Limited liability company;

Simplified joint-stock company;

Public limited company;

General partnership;

Partnership limited by shares;

Limited partnership;

Cooperative production company;

Civil societies: , etc.

 

Each of these statuses has its own specificities, so you should consult a specialist to help you determine what is best for you.

 

Which tax regime should you choose to become an entrepreneur?

 

Depending on the legal form chosen, 3 tax regimes may apply. Indeed, certain regimes, such as micro-taxation or income tax, are reserved for certain statuses, or even subject to conditions to be applicable.

 

The choice of tax regime must be made according to the following parameters:

 

The legal form chosen to become an entrepreneur;

The industry in which you operate;

Your needs and the specifics of your project.

The micro-fiscal system

This is a particularly advantageous system, to which micro-entrepreneurs and certain individual entrepreneurs can be subject.

 

 

The Income Tax System

Certain professions and categories of companies benefit from the computer regime, the personal income tax that applies to the income of a natural person. This is particularly the case for liberal professions, family SCIs or SARLs and SAS which can, under certain conditions, select RIs for a period of 5 years following the date of start of the activity.

 

Importance of Intellectual Property

 

Intellectual property is a valuable asset for an entrepreneur. These are certain intellectual creations of entrepreneurs or their staff that have commercial value and have been granted legal property rights.

 

Examples of such creations are a new product and its name, a new method, a new process, a new promotional scheme, and a new design.

 

A fence or lock cannot protect these intangible assets. Instead, patents, copyrights, and trademarks are used to prevent competitors from benefiting from an individual's or company's ideas.

 

The goal of intellectual property law is to encourage innovation by giving creators time to capitalize on their new ideas and recover development costs.

 

Intellectual property rights may be bought, sold, licensed, or freely assigned. Some companies have made millions of dollars by licensing or selling their patents or trademarks.

 

Every entrepreneur needs to know about intellectual property rights in order to protect these assets in a world of global markets. An intellectual property lawyer can provide information and advice.

 

The main forms of intellectual property rights are:

 

Patents:

A patent grants an inventor the right to prevent others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling an invention for a specified period of time – in most countries, for a period of up to 20 years. At the end of the period, the percentage enters the public domain and anyone can use it.

 

Copyright:

Copyright protects original creative works by authors, composers, and others. In general, a copyright does not protect the idea itself, but only the form in which it appears - from sound recordings to books, computer programs or architecture.

 

The owner of the copyrighted material has the exclusive right to reproduce the work, prepare derivative works, distribute copies of the work, or perform or display the work publicly.

 

Trade Secrets:

Trade secrets consist of knowledge that is kept secret in order to gain a business advantage.

 

"Customer lists, sources of supply of rare materials or sources of supply with faster delivery or lower prices can be trade secrets"

 

"Certainly, secret processes, formulas, techniques, manufacturing know-how, advertising schemes, marketing programs and business plans are all protectable."

 

Trade secrets are usually protected by contracts and non-disclosure agreements. There is no other legal form of protection. The most famous trade secret is the Coca-Cola formula, which is more than 100 years old.

 

Trademarks:

A trademark protects a symbol, word or design, used individually or in combination, to indicate the source of goods and to distinguish them from goods produced by others.

 

For example, Apple Computer uses an image of an apple with a bite and the symbol (®) which means trademark. A service mark also identifies the source of a service.

 

Trademarks and service marks give a company the right to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark.

 

In most countries, trademarks must be registered for enforceability and renewed to remain in effect. However, they can be renewed endlessly.

 

Consumers use brands to find products from a particular company that they consider particularly desirable — for example, Barbie dolls or Toyota automobiles. Unlike copyrights or patents, which expire, many companies' trademarks become more valuable over time.

 

The Entrepreneurial Start-Up Stage

Thank you for reading this article. We look forward to donating more resources for your career in entrepreneurship.