Through an Entrepreneur's Lens: Reflections from A Technopreneurship Faculty
“Most successful entrepreneurs do not start with a great idea, but they began with a vision and their goal in mind. Knowing your goal from the very start is vital.”
The Innovation for Social Impact Partnership’s (ISIP) Visiting Professors Activity aims to support higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines by bringing in international professors and a global perspective on implementing technopreneurship activities in university-based incubators.
In the 2020 Visiting Professors activity at the Technological Institute of the Philippines, ISIP invited Ms. Paula Mills, Founder, and CEO of the Academy of Entrepreneurs. In one of her sessions with TIP faculty, Paula asked the participants to reflect and empathize with entrepreneurs by talking to them about their successes and struggles. This ensures that they, as business incubator managers and teachers of technopreneurship, understand what it is like to be an entrepreneur.
Engr. Jan Joevil A. Razon, Faculty Member, Electronics Engineering Department, and Community Lead, from T.I.P. NITRO, is one of the participants from the deployment that reached out to an online community of entrepreneurs and startup founders on Facebook and posted a list of questions. He garnered several comments from founders and entrepreneurs all over the Philippines. Check out the four key takeaways Engr. Razon has learned from his post.
Best Advice for All Budding Entrepreneurs
Last 23 October 2020, I posted a question on a Facebook group named Startup PH, where many founders, CEOs, business enthusiasts, mentors, etc. are joined. As of now, it has 36.9k members and still growing. This is an interactive group where people usually share opportunities, webinars, the launching of partnership, and the like.
As part of our Day 3 activity for the PhilDev-ISIP Visiting Professor Program with Ms. Paula Mills, CEO & Founder of Academy of Entrepreneurs Australia. Our task is to interview at least five entrepreneurs from different verticals and ask them the following questions,
What was your biggest mistake/mistakes when you started your journey as an entrepreneur?
What is/are your most significant recommendation/s for first-time entrepreneurs?
What are your current challenges?
I decided to post this question on this Facebook group since most of the members would relate and would love to advise future founders. Of course, at some point, they also had mentors whom they ask the same questions, so I believe there are a lot of them who want to share their journey.
As of writing, I was able to get 47 reacts, and 82 comments from these startup founders, and here are some of the best answers I got from them.
1. Your Mindset (Individually and as a team)
Most successful entrepreneurs do not start with a great idea, but they began with a vision and their goal in mind. Knowing your goal from the very start is vital. At times, founders focus more on themselves and not looking at what value they want to give and their vision.
Getting partners with the same goal is a must too! Partnerships and team commitment are critical in starting up. Having the same vision and passion makes a great company. Steve Jobs has Steve Wozniak; Bill Gates has Paul Allen; these successful CEOs/founders were able to reach their success with their team/partners’ help.
2. Know your Target Customers
This is a common mistake that most first-time entrepreneurs make. They are often more focused on the solution and building the company they dream of but forgets the first part of creating your venture, knowing who will pay for your product! Customers, customers, customers, you should always set aside your solution and understand their needs. Create something that people would want and address their pains. We don't want to create a product/services that no one would like. Look at these statements by startup founders themselves.
3. Consult an Expert and be Mentored
It's just not about you. Having someone who practically guides you and shares your worries with you will reassure you. Mentors are experienced individuals; they’ve been there, done that, and have seen it all. Every startup needs someone who can guide them along the way and honestly tell them if they are going well or not. If you want your business to stay longer, find a mentor, and be mentored.
4. Fail Fast
Founders don’t execute fast enough. They want to create the best product or over-think things rather than testing and measuring results. As most startup founders say, “Build, measure, and learn.” Many of us aspire to be a CEO/founder of our own company, but not everyone is willing to take and risk, mainly because we are afraid of failure. But that should not be the case; we should be open to failure because that is the best time to learn. We should accept that failure is part of being an entrepreneur; the more it happens, the more we can learn and grow as individuals and companies.
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The Visiting Professors is one of ISIP activities, a project co-implemented by UNDP Philippines and PhilDev Foundation, with generous support from the Australian Embassy in the Philippines.
The article ‘Best Advice for all Budding Entrepreneurs’ by Engr. Jan Joevil Razon of TIP NITRO is first published here