Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Jack Dorsey are some of the most successful entrepreneurs of our age. Aside from working in technology, these three are all bonded by the fact that they’ve been successful despite not finishing their college degree. Not everyone has to have a bachelors, and a missing piece of paper won’t stop you from being successful in your own right.
Today, Brybe takes a look at a few ways that the self-educated among us can carve out our own path.
It starts with organization.
No two businesses are alike, but all successful businesses have one thing in common: their owner/management team is organized. Even if you found it difficult to keep up with homework in school, you have plenty of tools these days that can help you create, manage, download, and share financial and other documents, especially PDFs, which are the easiest file to open on any platform. Using an online PDF tool, it’s easy to hold even large documents on the web. And, if you’re trying to split pages to send to different parties, you can find a PDF splitting tool online that can make your messages manageable.
Market your brand, not your products.
Brands sell products, products don’t sell brands. Learn how to market yourself and the end result of what you do. The quickest path for this is to provide content that showcases your capabilities. This helps build brand awareness, trust, and credibility, which can lead to more product or service sales. Online resources, such as Cornerstone Content, can help you stay up to date on current digital marketing practices. You can also partner with influencers to spread brand awareness.
Get a mentor.
A business mentor is someone who has been in your shoes, and most medium and large cities have vast networks of local mentors willing to share their knowledge. The US Chamber explains that you might visit your Small Business Development Center, your local SCORE chapter, or simply attend meetups and networking events.
Write and refine your business plan.
A business plan is a roadmap that you’ll use throughout the process of starting up and maintaining a successful business. Your business plan should include information about your products and services, your brand, business structure, and management chart. Importantly, although you want to adhere to your business plan as closely as possible, don’t be shy about making changes to ensure your business adapts to the market.
Don’t give up.
The harsh reality is that the vast majority of startup businesses fail, whether the founder has a degree or not. But if entrepreneurship is in your blood, then don’t give up. This doesn’t mean that you can’t fail, only that you pick yourself up and pursue what you love once again. Starting a business is a risky endeavor, but one that offers more rewards than signing in and out of someone else’s business systems each day. Something to keep in mind here is that you can always work on your business part-time while you continue to earn an income for your family if financial security is a concern.
Use free resources.
There are plenty of resources online that you can use to help you build your business and make better decisions. In addition to mentors and insight on how to create great content, you’ll also find online classes that can walk you through everything from accounting to inventory management.
You don’t have to have a degree to be successful. What you need is the drive, determination, and ability to adapt. Whether you’re learning how to use PDFs for the first time, writing content that showcases your personality, or meeting and greeting your future mentors, all of your activities will culminate into the best education and experience that you could possibly bring into your business.
By Elena Stewart from Elenestewart.com