3 Takeaways from a Tech Entrepreneur
These insights from an award-winning entrepreneur could save you a lot of time.
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For some, during the last 18 months, there has been what one might describe as an experience of ‘winter’. There has been sacrifice, consolidation, and re-focus. People have had to let go. It’s been tough and I’m sure, painful.
However, sometimes for those very same people, it has also been paradoxically a season of growth. Lockdown has acted as a kind of greenhouse where little shoots of growth have begun to emerge.
In part, people have had chance to reflect on those ideas and projects that were buried in the busyness of life prior to lockdown. Others have launched out into new things because circumstances have forced their hand. I’m reminded of John 15 and the abiding/pruning metaphor.
I was reading how 835,494 businesses were registered in 2020, a 41% increase compared to 2019. There has been a phenomenal amount of work going on during some challenging circumstances and that’s why I wanted to ask Simon Hay, founder of FireFly Learning, an EdTech company some questions about starting a new businesses.
Three things stood our to me which might be useful if you are starting or about to start something new up:
I thought this was very helpful, so simple, but often overlooked. Simon talked about the strength that comes from starting up a new business when it overlaps with a particular strength, skill or something uniquely places you in the market. He said:
‘What is it that makes me uniquely able to do this better than anybody else can, because everyone will have an unfair advantage at something … like what different set of experiences and perspectives and skills…’
He then went onto say:
‘….focus on the things where actually, we've got an unfair advantage that's going to compound over time, you know, if we really double down there, and we're already kind of ahead of the curve, then then we can you get this kind of compounding effect. And that means you're in a much stronger position..’
2.Seek mentors to encourage you on
Something I’ve benefitted from over the years is having mentors, people who are further down the line than me that can help pray for me but also be another voice of wise counsel in my life. This is what Simon recommends too:
‘….And so, you know, it's definitely helpful to talk to people who've been this way before you and learn from their mistakes, rather than making them all yourself…’
Is there someone you can try and connect with right now that might help encourage you on at this point in the journey? Maybe Stronger Network can help link you up…
3.Learn to say no
Very often we can try and do too many things at the same time and end up not doing anything very well. Where do you need to say ‘no’. This is what Simon talked about here:
‘And I think it's very easy to spread yourself too thin, and to do a mediocre job of a bunch of different things, rather than really being well beating at anything. Whether that's kind of building too big and complicated a product, or trying to go after too many different markets at once. I think one of the really good bits of advice that I got was sort of trying to really focus and do something really well, even if that's a small thing in a small market, you know, finding a niche that you can then expand from…’
Next steps
Do any of these resonate with you today? Why not comment below to add your own thoughts to this.
Also please do let us know if you’ve started up a new business or venture during the last 18 months. We’d love to pray for you.
You can find the full conversation here:
