Entrepreneurs of the Future

In June my company will be 13 years old. We have served customers across the globe, changed thousands of lives with innovative products and new ideas. But are innovative products/new ideas simply enough to still be successful in this rapidly evolving business environment? About 3 weeks ago I started my 3rd company based on something I read a while back, “If you want to become a millionaire find one product that can help a million people …” Wise words!

But what is the future of entrepreneurship? How are future start-ups going to start, fund and scale their new adventures?

So let me break these down into 3 topics that I feel will be essential for the future of current business and the focus of future entrepreneurs. I’m sure there are plenty more, so please share them in the Comments below.

1.      Future entrepreneurial vision

An idea is merely as good as its relevance; to succeed you need to have a purpose. If you don’t, you’re just another brick in the wall or product on a shelf. Future entrepreneurs’ visions will be so big that they will succeed (or fail) at an unprecedented rate. The borders of industry are becoming blurred - technology is not just IT, but it’s now integrated into food, entertainment and medicine. Therefore your vision needs to be much larger than you alone can imagine. If you want to know how big your vision needs to be, then just think of what you have now that didn’t exist last year, and will be obsolete next year.

2.      The collaborative business concept

Entrepreneurs need to include planning for constant interaction with various external stakeholders to enhance innovation, nurture opportunities and access to important resources. We are living and working in such a rapidly developing world, that more and more businesses are becoming open platforms and shared economy. Great new innovations are coming together as a result of many collaborators. Look at it this way: Collaboration isn’t just important, it is even more important than your idea itself. If you want to be a successful business, don’t think you can do it all or do it alone.

3.       Context and value is the future

This is an era of big data, surveys and data mining and all this is very clear on your social feeds. Search a product on Google and see how similar ads appear all across your browser and Facebook feeds. But there is still one fundamental problem: Customers want the best choices not 100 different choices and in the end the final decision still lies in the hands of the customer. You as an entrepreneur, a company, need to position yourself as a ‘best choice’ not merely as ‘one of’. The future of your entrepreneurial success depends on elevating what you can do well. Focus on developing your critical-thinking skills.

“We live in a day and age in which empowerment and individuality are embraced, and this mindset is only gaining momentum. The future without a doubt belongs to entrepreneurs and this is something to be really excited about.”

- Quote by Gabriela Taylor -

As a global innovator, adversity expert and multi award-winning entrepreneur, my concepts on business and disruptive forces of life have changed the views of many people around the world. I deliver inspirational business expanding, life-changing, interactive keynotes that inspire change. I will always challenge thinking and accelerate personal and professional growth. martin@martinbrown.co.za www.martinbrown.co.za