Entrepreneurship is on the rise in Bangladesh, especially among the youth. With names such as ‘Pathao’ (a mode of using transport in Bangladesh) creating a vision of hope for young minds, more and more youths are now turning towards entrepreneurship rather than the 9 to 5 or 10 to 6 office hours. With such strides, it is high time the youth hear about the real picture of what entrepreneurship is really like.
First and foremost, get ready to work. It may be kind of cliché how entrepreneurs talk about how much they work, but it is no joke. Expecting an easy going and glamourous lifestyle is the first biggest mistake that any young aspiring entrepreneur can make.
On the flipside of things, do not stay up till 4 am every morning to work. Though an entrepreneur’s life may be stressful and filled with a lot of work, it is always ideal to take care of oneself and ensure that one gets proper sleep every night. An entrepreneur must further spend time on personal development and relaxation.
The next biggest tip that a young entrepreneur can get is networking. Whether it is customers, vendors, potential investors, fellow entrepreneurs, future partners, or anyone else—all are introduced through networking. It is, therefore, essential to build networks and utilise it to gain as much as possible.
One of the key to success in entrepreneurship is bootstrapping. The idea is to utilise resources as much as possible and stretching every taka as far as it can go. It is hard to believe but plenty of businesses can go far with small personal investment and smart money management.
Lastly, it is important to outline that in entrepreneur’s lifetime there will be plenty of failures and one must learn to appreciate the journey of learning that come through the process.
The writer is the founder of Casper Foundation—a community development volunteering programme dedicated to the personal and career development of university students. He can be reached at taufiq.zaman@gmail.com