Always wanted to have your own business but don’t know where to start? Or perhaps you are already an entrepreneur and want to brainstorm with fellow business owners? Konnektid is the place to be!

There are many Konnektid members who share valuable skills and knowledge you’ll need in order to start your own business. For instance, entrepreneurship and business start ups are among the many professional skills offered on Konnektid. Just take a look to find people in your neighbourhood that can help you. To give you a taste of what’s on offer, we introduce you to two of our members. Next to that you’ll find five tips on starting your own business!

Entrepreneurs sharing their tips

Meet Anke and Myrthe, two young Dutch entrepreneurs who share their skills on Konnektid.

Anke: “Two years ago I started as what I call a ‘notification-philosopher‘. Entrepreneuring might seem daunting as you need to master a lot of skills yourself in order to become successful. Examples of important skills in relation to entrepreneurship are carrying out research, conceptualising your idea and acquisition and marketing. My advice would be to start a business doing something that you are already really good at!”

Myrthe: “During my studies I’ve done a lot of research on sustainable entrepreneurship. During my research I found that startups can have an incredible impact and ta-da! In the summer of 2014 I started We Love BEEing, together with Steffi Harries. Currently, our products are being sold in the Netherlands and Germany.”

Five tips to start your own business:

  1. “Explain your idea to as many people with a different background as possible and listen carefully to their feedback. This way you’ll develop a strong concept that better suits your customers.” (Myrthe Roelofsen, We Love BEEing)
  2. “Say no to 1.000 things.” As an example: in 1997 Steve Jobs returned to Apple and took over a company with 350 products which he reduced to 10 products in a two-year period. In this way he could put the “A-Team” on each product. (Steve Jobs, Apple)
  3. “Think about a new name for your profession, this will give you something unique to set you apart from the competition.” (Anke Hans, Notification-philosopher)
  4. “Only have enough cash on hand to barely survive; never so much that you are comfortable. It’s important to stay scared in the beginning. While I prefer to describe that feeling as staying hungry rather than scared.” (Sara Rotman, MODCo)
  5. “Don’t spend too much time thinking about your product or service. Start as soon as you know what you want. But: start small with a clear goal in mind. Test your assumptions with people in your network: are you really offering something people would like to buy or do? In this way you can adapt quickly and you can built upon what has already been proven.” (Michel Visser, Konnektid).

And then there is the overall good practice of earning respect from your customers, investors and other important relations. Entrepreneur John Rampton wrote this great article on how you earn respect from those who can make your new business a succes.

We hope these tips will help you on your journey through the wonderful land of entrepreneurship. Don’t forget to ask your neighbours for help developing the skills you need in order to make your business successful, what about requesting help in Marketing, Building a Website or Writing a Business Plan? Good luck!