Wisdom from the Titans: Insights from 15 Successful Entrepreneurs

There is no formula for success in becoming a successful entrepreneur. If that were the case, everyone would be able to learn it, and everyone would become successful in business. Some entrepreneurs are dropouts, and others have high education. What does exist is tips and advice that many successful entrepreneurs agree on. Advice that will help to reach the top, or to survive the first years of entrepreneurship.

Below are the top 15 tips from successful entrepreneurs:

Successful entrepreneurial tips about productivity and efficiency

Successful entrepreneurs care a lot about productivity and efficiency. The more focus and the more you get done in one day, the better.

Tip 1: Focus on “The Big Three”

The focus on “The Big Three”, which became known by Steve Jobs, means that you only want to have three big things on your agenda to be a successful entrepreneur. Three projects, three subjects to choose from, or three things to do on the same day.

Everything else is a minor issue, according to Steve, and by limiting yourself to the top three, you can give it all the focus it deserves. Only when these three things are done there can be time for other things.

Tip 2: Always make a planning

Successful people plan their day and their week. Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, is very much in favor of evaluating the week before on Sunday. He then draws up a plan for the following week, and on Monday morning he starts working on it.

He makes sure that the whole week consists of a to-do list that contributes to the strategy that has been mapped out. He also uses Sunday to evaluate or adjust that strategy.

Tip 3: Live healthily

Richard Branson gets up every day at 5:45 am to do a workout. According to him, a small workout in the morning gives 4 hours of extra energy.

Few successful entrepreneurs smoke, consume alcohol, or eat poorly. A healthy body is crucial for a healthy mind.

Tip 4: Don’t waste time on things that don’t matter

Many successful entrepreneurs always wear the same clothes. That saves time. If you have to make decisions all day long, you don’t want to stand in front of your wardrobe in the morning to make a decision. Do I wear red or green today? If that choice has already been made, you can spend the energy on other things. They are also excellent at time management.

No Television Mark Zuckerberg has no TV at all. Watching TV takes time and is relatively ineffective.

Successful entrepreneurial tips about your mindset

The brain of a successful entrepreneur works overtime. Many decisions need to be made at high speed. Sometimes these decisions do not turn out well, and new solutions are required.

Tip 5: Be obsessively passionate

The path taken by entrepreneurs often goes through deep valleys. The climb up can then be challenging and can take a long time to be successful. Besides, you will meet many people on the road who disapprove of your idea or your entire company or who want to undermine it. If you’re not emotionally passionate, the fun is quickly gone.

To keep the journey fun is essential and that fun is achieved best when you are obsessively passionate about what you do.

Tip 6: Dare to dream and have guts

Your only limit to what you can achieve is your imagination. Elon Musk – Tesla – wants to go to Mars. By setting the goal so high, his performance can meet it.

As a successful entrepreneur, you need boundless optimism to achieve goals that seem unfeasible to others.

Tip 7: Meditating against stress

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, meditates every day. It broadens his mind, works well against stress, and research shows that it increases your resistance.

Tip 8: Do now with longer-term goals in mind

Don’t do anything without a long-term goal in mind. Jeff Bezos once decided to sell his e-books at below-cost price. He was convinced that the price was going to drop. (At that time, e-books were as expensive as printed books). His decision was extremely unpopular because every purchase led to a loss until it turned out that he was right.

Tip 9: Dare to fail

If you are no longer afraid, you are not sufficiently investigating the limits of what is possible. Successful entrepreneurs push back boundaries and make many mistakes. It’s not about what mistake you make. It’s about how quickly you can correct the mistake.

Tip 10: Maintaining your relationships

Maintaining your private and business relationships not only gives you a direct business advantage, but it also shows that you understand what’s really important in life. It’s also your safety net when something seriously goes wrong.

Tip 11: Don’t spend more than necessary

Of course, you can and may enjoy what you earn from hard work. Successful entrepreneurs look at every ‘little’ money they earn to see how they can make more money out of it. They resist the temptation of temporary pleasure.

Not only for reasons of the economy but also because it is healthier, more and more successful entrepreneurs are cycling to go to work!

Successful entrepreneurial tips about creativity and learning

Successful entrepreneurship is about creativity. Finding solutions to problems that do not yet exist. Or to come up with better solutions to the problems we face every day.

Tip 12: Learn and keep learning

The investment icon Warren Buffet, but also Bill Gates says that they can spend 80% of their time reading and thinking. Reading all about creativity increases your ability to look at problems from different angles.

Tip 13: Find a mentor or a coach

All big names and successful entrepreneurs have a mentor or a coach. Some even have more than one mentor in different fields. Steve Jobs was Mark Zuckerberg’s mentor, but an entrepreneurship mentor or coach does not have to be another successful entrepreneur.

Mentors – or coaches – give you insights that you are unable to come up with. The life lessons or reflections of a mentor or coach are indispensable for growth.

Tip 14: Always wonder why and how it can be better

Successful entrepreneurs are extremely curious. Not only do they want to know everything, but they also want to know how things can be improved. They don’t take the status quo into account.

Successful entrepreneurial tips about making money

The last tip is about how to ensure a continuous flow of income. Successful entrepreneurs not only have a nose for income generation, but they can also repeat what they do in other fields.

Tip 15: Provide multiple sources of income

Successful entrepreneurs ensure that there are multiple sources of income. While keeping their focus on what their core business is, they always know how to develop other companies or activities so that they are not dependent on one source of income.

You can also read this great article about 2 comma club members who were asked 2 questions:

1. How long did it take you from your first $1 online to your first $1,000,000 (cumulated, not annual)?
2. What 1 piece of advice do you have for people who want to start a million-dollar online business?