My top 3 advice for entrepreneurs (and other professionals)

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Was asked on Twitter the other day about my best advice for entrepreneurs. Thought I should share it here as well. My top 3 advice for entrepreneurs – and all other professionals:

 

1. Love what you do
If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing – quit! Your passion will inspire your clients, your employees, your colleagues, your employer… Nothing makes you more attractive than being really passionate about your work!

 

2. Stay curious

Today, everything changes all the time. Clients and talents change preferences. Overnight existing markets are gone and new have emerged. To stay relevant you need to keep your mind open to all the opportunities around you.
Hint: Curiosity is also a really good tool to preserve passion. Just saying… 🙂 

 

3. Think beta

Change is fast. To keep up you need to act now. There is no time for extensive planning. In fact, I think we often use planning as an excuse for not taking action… Therefore – think progress, not perfection. Start before you’re ready. Launch yourself in beta version and improve as you go!

 

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Rock on! 🙂
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Nowhere or now here?

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Found this in my feed the other day:

 

“Opportunity is nowhere” can be reframed as “Opportunity is now here”.

 

What a difference a blank space make! Think about it, how often do we get stuck just because we cant find that space?

 

I have kept this “space” in mind for the last couple of days and it has helped me rewire my mindset from impossible to possible. If one single tap on the space bar can change the whole meaning of a sentence, what can our highly advanced brains do? Exactly – anything!

 

Let’s make an impact and change the world!

 

Do you see opportunities nowhere or as now here? What can you do to change your perspective?

 

 

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Time for exponential innovation

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No more time for linear innovation – now it needs to be exponential. To keep up we need to take small steps often, instead of big steps now and then.

 

Think: beta version, beta version, beta version. Think: reinvent, reinvent, reinvent. Your business. Your career. Your offer. Yourself. On a daily basis. Think: progress not perfection.

 

My firm belief is that people and companies that manage to stay in startup mode are the ones who will succeed, make an impact and change the world.

 

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Before making a business plan you need to do this

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Simon Sinek found out that really successful leaders and companies are the one that starts with why. They answer the question WHY they’re doing what they’re doing before describing HOW and WHAT they’re doing. Although, most companies still just tell us the what. And the same is true when we make our business plans. We answer what we deliver and we answer how our business models look. But do we consider why we’re in business? In my experience the answer is unfortunately most often ”no”.

 

Today it’s even more crucial to start with why, as markets and prerequisites are changing faster than ever. Let me explain:

We use Apple as an example as it’s familiar to most of us and also very easy to follow. If Apple had started with telling us what they do the answer would have been ”computers”. Adding the how ”user friendly and with stunning design”. In this case we wouldn’t have had the iPhone, Apple TV, Apple Watch and so on.

 

Fortunately Apple did start with why – ”we challenge status quo”. Following up with the how ”we make really user friendly and good looking products” and as a result the what can be everything from computers to smartphones to watches to who knows what comes next. Knowing their why means Apple can constantly develop and catch up with the market – even quite often disrupt the market…

 

Starting with why means freedom to explore, it means you can become the change maker you’d like to be. So before making that business plan, explore your WHY, find out what you’d like to take a stand for, what movement you’d like to start. Then go tell the world.

 

Knowing WHY is one of the essential ingredients to keep a constant startup mode and make a bigger impact in the world. And of course it’s a part of my Your Next Big Thing SystemTM. Learn more.

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My top 5 take aways from StartupDay 2015

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Yesterday, I attended StartupDay 2015 in Stockholm. A great and inspiring day! It also confirmed my ideas about Your Next Big Thing. Here are my five key takeaways.

1. Be passionate about what you’re doing

Reason 1: To become successful as an entrepreneur you need to be an expert of the problem you’re trying to solve. That means spend hours and hours on researching that topic. If you find it boring it’s very unlikely you’ll succeed…
Reason 2: There is no such thing as work/life balance today. Work is life and life is work. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing that’s not a problem, not even scary 😉

2. Dream big but start small

Keep your mind open and never forget WHY you are in business. But be careful about the steps your trying to take. If too big, chances are you will be totally overwhelmed and simply stay where you are. Instead take small steps frequently. Have fun, play and move forward one step at the time.

3. Beta, beta, beta

I wrote about why we should look at ourselves as an app last week. During StartupDay many speakers talked about the importance of experimenting and trying different tings to see what works. My take on that is that we need to think of ourselves and our business as Beta versions. We need to launch even though we think we aren’t ready and then make constant improvements as we move on. Remember – it’s about progress, not perfection

4. Competition doesn’t exist

There is no such thing as a zero-sum game. The future is collaboration. Because there’s only one YOU and no one will do the exact same thing as you do in the exact same way. We need to find our own nisch and get experts in our field. In the future everyone will be an entrepreneur. Freelancing will be the new nine to five. There will be lots and lots of exiting, awesome people out there to do business with. Be exceptional at ONE thing. Let others take care of the rest. Together we will create magic!

5. Alter the future

Entrepreneurship will be the way to actually change the world. It’s the new activism! Your business is your opportunity to create an alternative future and make an impact.

So, what are you waiting for? I say welcome to Your Next Big Thing. Ready…set…GO!

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Why you should think of yourself as an app

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The digital development has changed a lot, not to say everything. For example, it has changed our acceptance for constant progress. Take a look at yourself – does it bother you that you need to update your apps once in a while? Or does it even make you happy? Someone has been working on making that app even better and easier to use. Maybe based on your feedback!

 

In today’s expectations economy, where what’s next is what counts, we need to constantly reinvent ourselves and our businesses. And things change so fast that we need to launch even if we think we aren’t ready. We need to take that first tiny step although we don’t know exactly where we’re heading. And when we’ve taken that first step we need to take another one, because stagnation is today’s biggest danger.

 

This is where we can learn from app development! We need to constantly release Beta versions of ourselves. Don’t panic! You don’t need to become a robot or know any code 😉 In fact you’ve probably already started. Releasing Beta versions is about making small adjustments as we grow and develop, its about constantly improving based on our new learnings and insights.

 

All you need to do is to shift your mindset and have the guts to start even though you think you aren’t ready. And you know what – it much more fun to hang out with someone making progress than someone being perfect. At least in my opinion 🙂

 

Big up to Per Frykman who came up with the brilliant concept of the Beta version of you.

 

 

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Why so much focus on business plans when it’s something else that makes the difference?

When reading or speaking about entrepreneurship it’s a lot about business plans, budgets, business loans or how to attract investors. In my opinion we need to talk about one other thing that are (at least) equally important to succeed. I’m talking about YOU. Your drive, your motivation, you being passionate about what you’re doing, your dreams – in short Your Next Big Thing. Of course a business plan or a certain amount of money is good, but it doesn’t make the difference. YOU do.
As Steve Jobs said; “It’s the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world who actually do”. The world needs you entrepreneurial mind. Isn’t it time to release your inner entrepreneur and go for Your Next Big Thing? I think it is.
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How to future proof your business

My take on how to future proof your business or work life:

  1. Know why you do what you do – if you don’t, nothing really matters anyway
  2. Know where you’re heading – Your Next Big Thing. Tell people about it!
  3. Map out the strategy to get there
  4. Focus your energy on what really matters
  5. Grow your entrepreneurial mind and start taking action

 

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The future is the future, not the past

“Yes, of course. Stupid statement”, you might think. I ask you to think again. When applying for a new job, what do we focus on? Our past experience. When marketing our services, what do we talk about? Our past projects. What if I say it’s potential, not experience that decides whom will get hired, or chosen for the project? Research shows that’s the truth. It’s time you start lead with Your Next Big Thing. Because in the future, it is the future that counts. Not the past.

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Work = Play

Work is hard. Work is serious. Work is definitely not play. Or is it..? In today’s expectations economy where we constantly need to reinvent ourselves and our businesses, play might be the crucial factor we need. Play means creativity, imagination and new perspectives. Play means “try – see what works – try again”. Play means developing as we go. Play is an essential part to spark your entrepreneurial mind and unleash Your Next Big Thing. Don’t take work too serious – play more 🙂

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