Over the weekend I got an opportunity to speak with a group of entrepreneurs here in Atlanta. I was invited by a nice young lady name Helena Kelleese, executive ambassador for The Brand Helena K. She hosted an intimate lunch-n-learn for individuals who want to learn more about entrepreneurship.

Yusef Muhammad, coordinator for the city’s annual Sweet Auburn Music Fest, was asked to speak as well. He’s overseen the festival for the past 5 years. It’s one of Atlanta’s biggest community-based events, with thousands of attendees each year. After getting to know him, mutually, I think our goal was to make sure the group left with a few key things that inspires them to want to succeed. Also, to give them a few business pointers. Overall, I believe we accomplished that.

As it approached my time to get up and speak, I realized that I wasn’t equipped with a written speech. I wish I would have had one. For some reason, I thought it was going to be like a Q&A type event. Luckily, speaking off the top of my head comes naturally to me. However, with it being a group of impressionable minds, the fear of talking all over the place made me a little nervous. It would be awful if no one left without learning something new! LOL

As long as one or two things about entrepreneurship is learned, I’m okay. Speaking from real experience, one thing I was sure of was that my words were coming from woman who has gone through many ups and downs (and continues to as her business flourishes).  In that space, I felt secure with my words.

It was important for me to touch on business-related things that often get overlooked or mishandled. Entrepreneurs, especially new business owners, all face the same challenges. The key is to be prepared to handle those mishaps when they happen. So, with that being said, here are some of the areas I touched on at the event:

5 Things New Entrepreneurs Need To Take Seriously

Business Partners  – All of us have friends and family that come up with the greatest ideas. One day, you may even decide to take them up on their idea and go into business. You do because you feel like you can trust this person since they are family. You have a long history with this person, so you believe it’ll be easy to work with them. But, to your surprise…BOOM! The light switch comes on and you realize that partnering with them was the worst idea ever!

When deciding to go into business with someone, please make sure you are on the same page. Ask questions to find out to what extent are they willing to sacrifice for the benefit of the business. If they are afraid to spend money and invest in the business, let that be a red flag. If you see yourself putting in more hours, networking, doing research, etc….let that be a red flag. As the quote says “once a person show you who they are the first time, believe them.” Save yourself the headache and be extremely picky when choosing a business partner.

Start-up Money – Most people don’t realize how much money it takes to go into business. Depending on the industry you are getting in, start-up costs can be thousands of dollars. Where people fail early on, is not investing enough initial funds into their company. The best way to do that is save up first. Don’t try to start a business with the paychecks you receive every two weeks. Most of that money is accounted for through household bills, groceries, and such. What you should do is open an account and begin saving for your business there. Once you reach the amount of capital you need, then get the entrepreneurial ball rolling. Don’t ever put you and your family in a financial bind by using all the money up to finance your dream.

Continued Education – Just because you are a business owner does not mean you know it all. New technologies, marketing concepts, customer retention strategies, etc are derived quite often. There’s always going to be a competitor five steps ahead because they keep their eyes on the next best thing. So, it is imperative to study your craft. Study up on your industry. Take a few classes on skill sets you’d like to learn or improve. Even if you do not become an expert, at least you’ll know stay up-to-date on what’s going on in your industry.

Presentation & Paperwork – Too may times we see our homies start a record label, for instance, but insists on verbal agreements because he/she do not have the proper contracts in place. Or we hear that John Doe had a meeting with some potential investors, but he didn’t seal the deal because he didn’t have a formal presentation (i.e. Power Point) prepared for the group nor did he wear a suit. Step your game up! When you approach big corporations looking to secure sponsorship money, for example, be on your A game. Look your best and have your business plan, presentations, and so forth ready.

Distractions – If you want to succeed, you have to avoid people or things that distract you. Outside of everyday life, social media is a huge distraction. The more you are on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, the more opportunities there are for memes, videos, promo advertising, etc to distract you from your business. Before you know it, you’re so busy looking at what another company is doing, that you will start stealing ideas instead of creating things to make your brand unique. Start practicing tunnel vision. Pay attention to your own stuff and then see how far your company will grow.

 

Being able to share these few minor things brought on a good feeling. Even though I’m just a few years in as an entrepreneur, everyday still feels as if I am brand new to this. So to be asked to come speak was humbling. I’m not a guru at anything. Only a woman who decided to become her own boss and go after a dream no one else could see but her.

If my little 5-10 minute speech taught anyone something, I’m forever grateful. My point was to welcome others with open arms and open knowledge. Reach out to my brothers and sisters so that we all can succeed.