Wealth Entrepreneurship : if and how to study & learn it for old economy businesses

[lux7]

As I quit my job to travel and keep perfecting social skills I'm thinking of "starting something".

You're probably thinking that "start something" sounds like a recipe for failure.
And you're right.
That's why the topic .

HOW TO LEARN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Short of "start and learn as you go", what are some ways you can prepare yourself and study on how to run a business?

I remember Chase talking about some good and great courses out there, but he didn't mention anything in particular.

Do you have any experience on studying entrepreneurship?

FIELDS TO LAUNCH IN : OLD ECONOMY ?

I have start up experience but I can't use my expertise to launch "in my field": working in marketing/data and financials start ups in a major European incubator I know these markets are all capital and product intensive.

Long story short, it's not feasible that I, as of now, would be able to launch a successful venture which could compete in these "product intensive" businesses.

That's why I am thinking of doing something with someone with more "real world knowledgeable", such as in something like renting infrastructure for fairs, brick and mortar shops, restaurant and/or hostel (plus restaurant/bar).

What do you think about it?


IS IT WORTH IT TO LEARN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

This last question springs to mind: is entrepreneurship even useful to pick up before you start and/or something you can study?
And given the "old economy" bias I'm having, is it useful in things like a shop, a restaurant or a hostel?

Having worked incubators, I link entrepreneurship with the "sexier" start ups of these days in tech / big data / Internet which need to develop a software/product, raise equity capital (and debt capital if in fintech), hire smart graduates etc.

Is there any important overlap with things like a restaurant, a hostel, a shop etc.?
And is there anything else one can do to prepare himself to start such "old economy" ventures?

 

[Chase]

Lux-

It's normal to fail a lot when you're starting a new business(es). Here's a great essay by Paul Graham on what to expect:

What Startups are Really Like

If you're considering job vs. entrepreneurship, there's an interesting lifetime salary comparison here, though it's aimed at coders:

Big Company vs. Startup Work and Pay

His findings are, on average, it's better to be an employee of a big company than a founder of a startup or, worse still, an employee of a startup, at least in terms of how much you'll get paid over the course of your life.

However, there are other perks to running your own show, like being in a sink-or-swim environment in a way working for a company can't come close to, and being forced to learn a huge number of different skills in a fairly short amount of time.

For specific courses on business, Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula is probably the most newbie-friendly one, although it's more geared toward information products than anything else. That's the format we followed when we launched Colt's Tinder program a year ago. There's a neat little article in Forbes about him here:

Why Jeff Walker Is The $400 Million Man

There are other courses tailored to brick-and-mortar or physical product businesses, which seems to be what you're more interested in, but I'm not as familiar with these. One of my priorities is "location independence", and brick-and-mortar nixes that.

One note:

I have start up experience but I can't use my expertise to launch "in my field": working in marketing/data and financials start ups in a major European incubator I know these markets are all capital and product intensive.

I'd strongly suggest finding a way to start something in a field you're familiar with, if possible. You can learn on the job, but if you're learning the industry at the same time you're learning how to build and run a company, it's tough. At least when you already know the industry, you know the ins and outs. Jumping into a completely new industry often looks straightforward and you may go, "Ah, how hard can it be to run a hotel?" or whatnot, but once you're in it you're holding your head going, "Oh, Jesus, I had NO idea what I was getting into..."

There's lots of opportunity if you know marketing and financials. I don't know the specifics of your industry, but you may be able to do information products showing new entrants the ropes, teaching hopefuls how to find work in your industry and climb the ladder, etc. You can build a service basically doing recruiting, linking hopefuls with companies you know are looking for folks - this is where your already-built network comes in handy. You can provide some kind of side service that the established companies need but is in short supply or isn't being supplied well by the present suppliers. Look for holes: find something everyone was constantly frustrated about in your industry, and figure out a creative way to solve it. Then slap a price tag on it and start selling it.

If you can find a way to sell what you know, do that. Otherwise, your challenge is not just "learn how to sell it", but "learn IT, itself" too, which makes your mission doubly challenging, at least as a first business. Once you have capital and you know how to launch companies and manage staff it's easier to go into completely new fields, though even still there are plenty of guys who try this and get clobbered. It's tough. And when you're not knowledgeable, you'll frequently underestimate the competition.

Chase

 

[lux7]

Thank you Chase, the opinion/advice of a guy who's done is gold. Even more so when the guy is very good at analyzing things.

Lux-

One of my priorities is "location independence", and brick-and-mortar nixes that.

Damn, you're right, come to think of it, that's important for me as well.
Unless you can get good holidays, or you can get good enough you can get people working for you.
Before that, though, which is very close to best case scenario anyway, not much location independence I suppose...

I'd strongly suggest finding a way to start something in a field you're familiar with, if possible. You can learn on the job, but if you're learning the industry at the same time you're learning how to build and run a company, it's tough. At least when you already know the industry, you know the ins and outs. Jumping into a completely new industry often looks straightforward and you may go, "Ah, how hard can it be to run a hotel?" or whatnot, but once you're in it you're holding your head going, "Oh, Jesus, I had NO idea what I was getting into..."

If you can find a way to sell what you know, do that. Otherwise, your challenge is not just "learn how to sell it", but "learn IT, itself" too, which makes your mission doubly challenging, at least as a first business. Once you have capital and you know how to launch companies and manage staff it's easier to go into completely new fields, though even still there are plenty of guys who try this and get clobbered. It's tough. And when you're not knowledgeable, you'll frequently underestimate the competition.

Chase

Yes, I have read market knowledge is critical and it makes sense indeed -come to think of it, I might have read it from you -.

I have been jumping into companies acquiring customers in the early stages, not enough deep market knowledge to be acquired there I'm afraid.
The only thing I can think of people were frustrated with were the socially inept MDs whom never earned the respect of their employees and have been instrumental in the failures of a couple companies I've seen.

I was duping myself a bit I suppose telling myself market knowledge as a strong condition to success was a "limiting mindset".

Yet, there have to be ways around it.
Like, if you're a project manager, you don't need the knowledge. You get it from your team.
So if you launch with someone else, a way around it could be to make sure the other guy(s) do have knowledge in the field.
Makes sense?

 

[lux7]

An interesting example of people starting a billion dollar unicorn with zero previous experience in the field -BUT with entrepreneurial experience- : https://youtu.be/BHlFdPzqwKM?t=1861

Funny they go as far as to say they were successful because they had no experience in that field as that allowed to bring new mindsets.
It's an interesting point of view, though it might be the exception.

Also interesting they moved into something they were passionate about and adamant in giving value, which probably helped make up for experience.