Many entrepreneurs are independent by nature. They don’t think like everybody else, and they take great joy in building something from scratch, relying on their own efforts, and making their own decisions.
One of the more difficult and important decisions you will make as an entrepreneur is deciding whether or not to bring on a partner. I personally love partnerships because they allow me to focus on things that interest me and help compensate for my weaknesses.
The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.
We asked 11 members of the YEC what they felt every entrepreneur should know about failure. Here are their responses.
As an entrepreneur, your time is precious. When launching a startup, it’s tempting to chase perfection by investing in a full-scale website with all the bells and whistles. But if you don’t have a way to validate your idea, you could be wasting time and resources on a product nobody wants.
Instead, you should create a simple landing page to test your idea before you begin building a product. You can test out multiple ideas, collect early sign-ups, and build legitimacy for your company — all before ever writing a single line of code.
From 2012 to 2013, online sales during Cyber Monday increased by 18.2 percent, according to Custora Pulse. Following in the footsteps of Black Friday, the term Cyber Monday began in 2005 when it was put out in a press release by The National Retail Foundation on their Shop.org website.
According to the Washington Post, since its inception, online sales have more than tripled on the Monday following Thanksgiving.
The spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and well in the United States, with 27.9 million small businesses in total, according to the Small Business Administration.
One of the biggest challenges that a small business faces, especially in the first few years of its existence, is handling taxes.
Payroll Taxes
You might be able to make your way around your self-employed taxes, while still struggling with payroll taxes. The IRS has heavy penalties for businesses who aren't paying proper payroll taxes, so it's essential to get the right figure every time. Some services get payroll taxes done for you, such as Intuit Payroll. This online service has several tier levels, with services that range from figuring out your payroll taxes to handling the entire filing process.
