The following answers are provided by The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC recently published #FixYoungAmerica: How to Rebuild Our Economy and Put Young Americans Back to Work (for Good), a book of 30+ proven solutions to help end youth unemployment.
1. Ask Experienced Businesspeople
Although there are countless pieces of valuable advice that can be found both online and in books, nothing beats getting insight from people in your network. Consulting individuals that have long and diverse careers in the businesses world enables you to get personalized and customized advice from a demographic that has both talked the talk and walked the walk.
- John Berkowitz, Yodle
2. Read the Best Books
Blogs and social media are awesome, but there’s something really special that happens when you read a book that essentially condenses twenty years of experience from an author. You get to learn from their mistakes, and it also teaches you to apply their ideas in our modern world so you can hone your creative thinking skills too.
– Nathalie Lussier, Nathalie Lussier Media
3. Ask Your Customers
Business advice is a dime a dozen. The easiest way to know what the right thing to do is to listen to what your customers want and help them achieve their goals.
– Wade Foster, Zapier
4. Pool From Fellow Entrepreneurs
Reading a ton of books can only get you so far when you’re trying to build a business from scratch. The great thing about entrepreneurship is that most are willing to share their tips with you. Listen to them, because they have been in your shoes and don’t want you to make the same mistake. Take your ego and pride out of it and listen to them. They may point out something you never thought about.
– Ashley Bodi, Business Beware
5. Learn From Trial and Error
The business I’ve built isn’t exactly like anyone else’s. That means that one of the best options I have is to actually try everything I can. I’ll try out something I read on a blog, a tip from an older entrepreneur — anything that comes along.
– Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting
6. Go for Google
Practically anything and everything you would ever want to find today, you can find on Google. It never ceases to amaze me when I have questions on anything and type it into Google, I always find an answer. And many times, there will be a video that will come up and explain something to me or I can listen in to a guru talk about something.
– Louis Lautman, Young Entrepreneur Society
7. Take to Twitter
I’ve found the ability to follow some of the absolute best minds in business, technology, and leadership on Twitter unlocks a wealth of advice and knowledge — though, now the only problem is giving the best tweets the attention they deserve. We’re lucky to live in a time when we can connect directly with people we’ve never been able to access before.
– Derek Flanzraich, Greatist
8. Make Use of Mentors
I always try to find a mentor in a specific, key area in which I am trying to gain advice for. My father always taught me from an early age: “Life is a minefield — why walk through it yourself when you can seek out and follow the footsteps from someone who has already navigated the minefield successfully?” I’ve used this technique many times.
– Warren Jolly, Affiliate Marketing
9. Don’t Fear Failure
Almost every piece of practical advice I’ve learned have come from various failures. When you know what you did wrong, it shows you how to improve and succeed the next time.
– Ben Lang, EpicLaunch
10. Read Up on Inc.
Currently I’m addicted to Inc.com. I think there are great tips and advice articles from everyday entrepreneurs, as well as great videos. It’s very practical information for everyday use.
– Pablo Palatnik, ShadesDaddy.com
11. Consult Mixergy for Advice
The interviews by Andrew Warner of Mixergy are some of the most inspiring and informative videos on the web. Andrew has a knack of getting to the core of a founder’s thought process and extracting valuable nuggets of wisdom from them. I definitely recommend that everyone subscribe to Mixergy or watch the videos for free in the week that they are released.
– Lawrence Watkins, Great Black Speakers
12. This Week In Startups
Twice a week, I tune into This Week In Startups, hosted by Jason Calacanis. His show is full of direct, honest and real entrepreneurial business advice from not only himself, but his amazing co-hosts and guests. The best part: the show is extremely entertaining, as Jason doesn’t hold back when it comes to his criticisms, industry insight or questions for his guests.
– Derek Johnson, Tatango
13. Read Peter Drucker for Leadership
Being a leader is tough, and every entrepreneur has to find her or his own path. But there’s is no excuse for not working on being a great manager. Learn how to set goals with your team; stay on top of tasks; and execute on a daily basis. Read Peter Drucker and learn from the best.
– Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches
Leave a Reply