6 Pieces of Compelling Advice that Many Entrepreneurs Ignore Next time good advice is offered, will you be listening?
By AJ Agrawal Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Entrepreneurs tend to get so busy that they may not heed impactful pieces of advice. And this oversight can negatively impact their success (or lack thereof) in their business ventures.
Related: Advice From 14 Successful Entrepreneurs for Everyone Beginning the Journey
The fact that entrepreneurs spend a lot of time at serial entrepreneurship -- having their hands in too many pots and losing focus on their primary business goals -- also impedes the influence good advice might otherwise have had.
So, when good advice comes along, what about you? Do you pay attention? Have you learned to distinguish what "good advice" looks like? And how, exactly, do you do that?
For starters, consider these pieces of "good" advice.
1. Don't chase the competition.
If you're an entrepreneur, do you spend time worrying about your competition is doing? Not only are you wasting your time but taking time away from strengthening your own brand.
Getting involved in the latest tech startup or investing in a booming trend can only lead to trouble. Entrepreneurs often ignore advice to focus their efforts on building their own product and strengthen their own business practices.
The fact of the matter is, by focusing on your main product and main goal, you are not missing out on anything. You are taking the time to perfect what you started with and build upon it.
2. Don't let your ego control you.
Ego is the thing that most commonly draws entrepreneurs away from good advice. Of course, you have to have some kind of self-confidence to become an entrepreneur. At the same time, you also need to learn to know when to let your ego fall to the wayside and be vulnerable.
Without vulnerability, an entrepreneur cannot examine, and reverse, his or her weaknesses. The ability to show vulnerability can also help develop stronger connections with consumers and industry leaders alike.
3. Don't take negative reviews to heart.
Since entrepreneurs put so much weight on a single product or service, they spend such exorbitant amounts of money developing these products that a negative review can knock them down. Instead, entrepreneurs need to learn not to take all negative reviews to heart.
It is impossible to please every consumer 100 percent of the time. In addition, if the review comes from a routinely unhappy customer, the review should not hold much weight.
From failure comes success, so it is important to understand that you will have some failures. Learning what went wrong and how to improve on it, and coming up with an innovative solution to a problem, is the path to success. Having a few failures along the way builds motivation, determination and the creativity needed to improve a product or service -- key elements for regaining a positive reputation.
Related: 7 Ways to Excel at Asking for Advice From Experts
4. Do pick the right mentor.
Ignoring the advice to choose a mentor can be a big mistake. You need someone to look up to and learn from. While you may have a mentor in mind, is he or she the right one for your needs? A mentor with common core values, industry understanding and common goals is ideal. A mentor with similar business ethics is also valuable to you.
A mentor can help you strengthen your business strategies and your abilities as an entrepreneur by uncovering your weaknesses. So, help him (or her) to help you.
5. Do utilize artificial intelligence services
Physical personal assistants aren't relevant for every entrepreneur, despite what some experts say. But artificial intelligence services, especially for sales tasks, can help you reply to emails, schedule appointments and deliver schedules for you.
Some services offer multiple personas to select from, to create the best customer experience possible. These services are vital for keeping entrepreneurs on track, on schedule and on task, benefits that can save you time and stress.
Artificial intelligence is advanced technology that continues to evolve. You can use these services to follow up with clients regarding meetings, proposals or inquiries when you yourself don't have time to physically drop in or call. This time advantage can be invaluable, as it will help grow your business and boost sales.
6. Do build a social media presence.
Some entrepreneurs prefer to live a private life and stay out of the social media limelight. About 41.5 percent of brands said on a survey that social media had not impacted their brand.
What they fail to realize, however, is that a social media presence is a must. The reason is that most of society accesses brand information from social media. If you don't have time to manage your own social media profiles, hire someone to maintain them for you.
Give these contractors individual guidelines and connect them with a reputation management professional to help maintain and/or build your company a necessary positive online image.
Bottom line
Entrepreneurs do not have to follow every piece of advice they receive, of course. It is, however, a good idea to physically listen to what is said and take a creative approach in determining how that advice could apply to your specific business venture.
Related: Before Giving Advice, Consider This First
Innovative approaches to new concepts come from applying advice to the practical problems you encounter in your business. So, next time good advice is offered, will you be listening?
