The roads which individuals take to become Business owners and entrepreneurs are different. Contrary to what some smooth-talking YouTube presenters might say, there is no sure way to a successful business. The process of learning how to start a business oftentimes begins long before the business begins, and continues long after too. Although there is no method which guarantees success, there are some processes which offer a higher likelihood of success.

Educate yourself

Whilst your first instinct might be to jump right in and get started with a business, it might not be a sensible idea. Most businesses fail within the first three years due to similar mistakes made by their owners. A better approach is to make use of educational resources to learn from others. You can avoid committing common mistakes and learn to understand different techniques and rules of thumb, such as Pareto’s Principle.

There are several MBAs and full-blown degree courses provided by universities and educational institutions across the globe. The problem with such courses is that they take years to complete and are very expensive. In addition, most MBAs tend to focus on the administration of an established business, whereas you, as a start-up owner, want to learn how to start a business.

If you are based in Malta, you could, and probably should consider enrolling in a unique, Master Degree in Knowledge-Based Entrepreneurship (MEnt). Offering an entrepreneur-friendly timetable, the course is condensed to focus solely on useful and actionable lessons. However, if you’re not able to enrol, the providers of the course can offer the next best thing. You can access structured and informative presentations, full of valuable guidance, for free, directly from TAKEOFF.

An alternative way to educate yourself on how to start a business is through a dedicated online course.The An Entire MBA in 1 Course: Award Winning Business School Profcourse is available to aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners from across the world, and is available in several languages. Apart from helping you learn about different types of businesses, the course provides guidance on company valuation, financials, and communication. You can progress through the course at your own pace, revisiting previous lessons and completing chapter quizzes as whenever you wish.

Do the research

Education can only teach you so much. Once you acquire information on a process or technique you need to expand your knowledge by doing your own research. No educational course can provide you with all the answers. In fact, the best courses help you develop the questions and guide you on finding the answers for yourself. Research is a vital part of learning how to start a business. The more research you do, the better prepared you are likely to be.

By making your own research, you get to discover information about a topic which someone else might not have realised or truly cared about. This is just one of the reasons why you should always carry out the majority of industry and market research yourself. The good news is that the Internet provides an almost exhaustive amount of data, information, studies, and opinions. However, the bad news is, sort of the same thing; there is just so much information that sifting through it is time-consuming, and you’ll always have doubts about the validity of certain articles.

This is normally where many would expect to read that there is a solution to save you time and give you the answers you’ve been looking for. However, this would very much contradict what was said just two paragraphs earlier. The truth is, there is no short cut for research. You need to do the work, or else you are subcontracting the fate of your business to someone else. As for separating genuine articles from scams, these tips should help you.

Starting a business

Once you have educated yourself and done your own research, its time to get started on your business. Don’t wait until everything is perfect because it never will be. Sometimes after reviewing all the information, you have collected you just need to decide whether to go or stop. This is when you can appreciate the value of proper education, but ultimately, you must also trust your gut.

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