Get All Access for $5/mo

My Most Valuable Productivity Hack For 'Wantrepreneurs' College dropouts, you might have dreams of becoming an entrepreneur but with no plan, you're heading towards making a lot of mistakes

By Rahul Agarwal

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Shutterstock.com

Don't Read This! It's only the most valuable productivity hack you can learn to go from a wantrepreneur to an entrepreneur.

As a dropout from college, who wanted to chase his dreams of becoming an entrepreneur but having no plan, I was really heading towards making a lot of mistakes. Needless to say, I struggled a lot and fought through. And throughout the time I struggled constantly with one problem, which is a derivative of the shiny object syndrome. (And I am sure most future entrepreneurs can relate to this). I didn't have a plan, so I tended to chase every single opportunity that was shinier than the one in hand, starting multiple ventures but not really reaching anywhere with any of my ventures.

One day I read an answer by on Quora about the the best-kept secrets of successful business people by Brian Scudamore, Founder and CEO of O2E Brands

And reflecting I realised what I was doing was much more procrastination than any real important and productive work.

Soon as I realised what was wrong and I started working on it, reading and implementing all I could about prioritization and productive. Which includes this awesome article "The Number 1 Rule to Get Things Done" Daniel DiPiazza. Prioritization the one skill that I was lacking.

I wouldn't say I have been extremely successful, but today my blog has an average organic search traffic of 25,877/month. I have met, networked and now know many pros in the content industry, I am not working on any far fetched ventured. And I just launched my first product on crowd-funding platform two weeks ago.

Here's what I can suggest from what I have learned, mostly from my failed ventures.

  1. Don't let money (funding) cloud your judgment

  2. Things that are most important and urgent may not be the things that you like to do the most

  3. Build your first real business before starting multiple ventures in desire to become a serial entrepreneur

  4. Short term survival and long term vision, are the only two important things for an entrepreneur who is just starting out

  5. Mistakes, failure or going broke is not the end of the world but it's important to learn from mistakes so that you don't move towards being a serial failure.

  6. No idea is bad, so don't stop till you find out and fix what's wrong, but stay focused.

What I learnt about prioritisation from my own journey helped me create my first product - The Bhasad Day Planner, which is basically a day planner to help people to prioritize their to do lists, into Stephen R Covey's 4 quadrants. But since planning a to do list is generally perceived as boring I used local slang and made the cover with customizable. And the kind of response it has gotten has taken me by storm.

Rahul Agarwal

Co-founder and CTO, ButterlyYours.com

A true Indian misfit, He is a blogger, SEO consultant, content lover, Co-founder and CTO at ButterlyYours.com which creates customized merchandise that provide simple (yet funny) solution to 'Little Problems.'

Business News

Y Combinator Helped Launch Reddit, Airbnb and Dropbox. Here's What I Learned From Its Free Startup School.

The famed startup accelerator offers a free course on building a business — and answers five pressing questions for founders.

Science & Technology

Why We Shouldn't Fear AI in Education (and How to Use It Effectively)

Facing resistance to new technologies in the educational process is nothing new, and AI is no exception. Yet, this powerful tool is set to overcome these challenges and revolutionize education, preparing students and professionals for a future of unparalleled efficiency and personalized learning.

Green Entrepreneur®

6 Ways to Profitably Integrate Eco-Friendly Practices into Your Business

Sustainability efforts can improve operational efficiency, increase customer demand and boost profitability. Here, we highlight six easy ways entrepreneurs and small businesses can capture the financial benefits of sustainability.

Business News

A Former Corporate Lawyer Now Makes Six Figures on YouTube — Here's How She Does It

Here are the secrets to starting and growing a successful YouTube channel, according to a YouTuber with millions of subscribers.

Business Culture

You'll Always Have Anxious Employees if You Don't Follow These 4 Leadership Tactics

Creating a thriving workplace environment hinges on the commitment of company leaders to nurture and inspire their teams.