What is an Entrepreneur? And How to Become One in Simple Steps

Many people aspire to be an entrepreneur. However, building a successful business can be challenging and tricky to get off the ground. But becoming an entrepreneur has the potential to be the most rewarding thing you do.

And here at Namecorp, we want to help aspiring entrepreneurs get an easier start. Here are our tips for starting a successful startup.

To get the definitions out of the way, first, let’s understand, “what is an entrepreneur?”

What is an Entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is self-employed, has founded a startup, or is running a small business.

Entrepreneurs have very sharp business sense and seize a potential opportunity to create a new business venture. The term entrepreneur can often refer to anyone who has brought fantastic innovation to any industry.

While an entrepreneur does reap the success and rewards should the venture make it, it’s not without its challenges. An entrepreneur also has to bear the full brunt of risks and failures.

Entrepreneurs typically lead the strategy for the business through a business plan. They are responsible for hiring labour, acquiring resources, managing finances, and providing leadership and management for the business.

Entrepreneurship accelerates economic growth and is one of the resources economists categorise as integral to production (the other three being land/natural resources, labour, and capital).

So if you’re already running your own business or planning to embark on entrepreneurship – congratulations on taking the brave step, and well done for bringing growth to the economy.

Tips and Tricks to Become an Entrepreneur

A lot of hard work is involved in becoming an entrepreneur and launching a successful startup. But if you have a viable option, you can expect a rewarding experience – being your boss, following your passion and building a lucrative income.

Let’s learn how to be an entrepreneur in a few simple steps.

Think of a Feasible Idea

When you get a business idea, please do not take it at face value but research thoroughly on it. Check the competition and research the commercial viability. You will succeed only if the product is a solution to a problem, creates new demand, or adds value to an existing one.

Is it an Idea You Love?

You should also care about it deeply enough to be willing to make sacrifices in your lifestyle to make it work if necessary, for example, working on the business alongside another job while you start. And bear in mind that you’ll be working on this business for the next few years, so you must be sure you’ll still enjoy doing it in a few years.

Create a Strategy

A strategy or a business plan is inherent to the success of a startup. It is a hard copy of how to make the idea work, starting from the competitor analysis, workflow, finances, projected turnover, and profit and loss. A business plan shows where you will be after a couple of years. By designing a business plan, you can know whether your startup is on the right track after a few months and make course corrections if necessary.

Consider How You Want to Operate Your Business

Do you plan to be a sole trader, partnership or company? To understand the definitions of each, check out our glossary of business terms.

In a nutshell, a sole trader or partnership is a bit simpler. However, it has limitations. You are legally responsible for financial obligations personally, whereas the liability falls against the company with a company.

Even though the startup is your baby, you cannot always be a one-person army. You may have to hire talent who will fill your knowledge gap, so you are never short of expert advice. You might want to enlist the help of accountants and lawyers to help you with tax and legal issues. Consider how you might do this. Will you have employees or use contractors? If you want to have employees, you must set up a company.

Suppose you choose to set up a company. In that case, you will require an Australian Business Number (ABN) from the ATO and register for an Australian Company Number (ACN) and a business name from the Australian Securities Investments Commission (ASIC). Namecorp can help you get these registered with a simple process.

How much do you forecast you will make? If you make over $75,000 annually, your business must register for GST.

Launching Your Business

You’ll need to register for an Australian Business Number (ABN) to get set up. This is required for all businesses and is provided by the ATO and linked to your tax obligations. If you want to trade with a business name, this will need to be registered with ASIC, and you’ll also need an ACN if you choose to run as a company.

Namecorp are registered agents with ATO and ASIC and can help you set up all legalities and register for a domain name with a simple registration.

Most businesses need an online presence in the form of a website, so you’ll need to secure a website domain name that matches your business name. You’ll also need to think about how you might promote your business – you’ll likely need to create a logo, create marketing materials, and perhaps run online advertising like Google advertising or social media advertising.

Scale Your Business Slowly

It is natural for people to want to move fast but curb your instincts and scale your business at the right pace. Grow your startup too quickly, and you could run into financial and organisational problems; too slowly, you will miss out on opportunities. The safest way to go at the right pace is to develop your business plan and stick to it as best you can.

How Namecorp Can Help

Now that you know what an entrepreneur is and what it entails, we hope you’re thinking of embarking on this exciting journey to being a business owner.

If you need help with any aspect of setting up your business, such as registering with government bodies and ensuring your business is compliant, Namecorp can help. Additionally, when you register through Namecorp, you get access to our business support services, including:

• Free professional website design with one of our hosting plans
• Free membership to Business Australia (incl. Access free tools, templates, and support call centre to help guide, manage and grow your business for success.
• 24/7 customer support via your Personal Business Concierge with direct mobile phone access
• Standard legal document templates for most aspects of your business
• Business Planning toolkit so you can plan your business for success which you can access at www.my.servepoint.com.au
• $100 free credit for a serviced office at any WOTSO location nationally
• Automated business name renewal notifications via SMS and email
• $150 credit to spend on Google advertising
• Free access to in-house legal counsel for any trademark registration enquiries
• MyOffice 365 membership at www.my.servepoint.com.au which includes discounted logo design, stationery design, brochure design, social media designs, insurance, bookkeeping, video production, plus many other business growth tools

Disclaimer: All information provided on this webpage is general information about our business in Australia, and products and services. Nothing on this webpage is intended to be professional advice and should not be relied on as such. You should obtain specific financial, legal, or other professional advice before relying on the content of this webpage. By not seeking such advice, you accept the risk that the information on this webpage may not meet the specific needs of your business. Our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law in accordance with our website terms and conditions.