The 10 Rules of Successful Entrepreneurship (Part 3 of 3 part series)

Continued from the previous post…

8.  Learn to sell – this is a must-have skillset, whether you have someone in charge of sales or not…  The good news, even if you’re not born with the gift of gap, you can become better by continually getting in front of prospects and practicing your pitch.  While I do not believe in entrepreneurs pitching vaporware but if you don’t believe in your products and services, it’s impossible to convince others to believe in them (you can read between the lines)…

9.  Redefine failure – when you have your own business, often the highs are so high and the lows are so low.  But even on their gloomiest days, successful entrepreneurs feel a compulsion to make sure that failure isn’t the end of their story.  It’s OK to fall down nine times, just make sure that you get back up the 10^th time.

10.  Don’t be in it just for the money – a tricky statement¸ since most entrepreneurs I know are red-blooded capitalists like me.  But as an old saying goes, money is a great motivator, not an end-all be-all.  Successful entrepreneurs are driven by desire to accomplish meaningful things while embracing it as a way of life.  Jobs once asked Sculley (back then a senior exec at Pepsi) when trying to convince him to join Apple, “do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water or change the world?”  Sculley came on board as the CEO of Apple (only to get fired later but that’s for another post).

While writing this 3-part post, I found myself reflecting on my own current endeavors.  Am I following the rules myself and doing everything I can to ensure their success?  What’s your answer?