Lessons to be learned from the world's great entrepreneurs

There are no two ways about it: starting a business is a daunting affair. However, there is comfort, inspiration and value to be found in the stories of the entrepreneurial greats.  Through understanding the lessons that these trailblazers have learnt along the way, the challenges they have faced and the words that they live by, the next generation of entrepreneurs can get the best possible start. 

Steve Jobs: Follow your passion, even if it doesn't make sense.

Back in 2005, the late Steve Jobs gave the commencement address at Stanford University's graduation ceremony. Jobs is well known as the inspiring mind that co-founded Apple, and was later fired from the same company before reinventing his success. In his speech at Stanford, he discusses the importance of joining the dots, and the fact that these dots can often only be drawn in hindsight. 

After dropping out of college, Jobs had the freedom to attend classes that he was interested in rather than having to attend those required for the degree he had been pursuing. It was this opportunity that led him to take a calligraphy class and fall in love with the craft. While this seemed like a pointless subject at the time, Jobs pursued it anyway because he was passionate about it. Later, it was Jobs' knowledge of calligraphy that led to the beautiful typefaces that were available on the earliest Apple Macs. Once the dots connected in hindsight, Jobs knew that he had been right to follow his passion. 

Mark Zuckerberg: Don't try to do it all.

Mark Zuckerberg, the fifth wealthiest man in the world, is well known as the co-founder, CEO and chairman of Facebook. According to CBNC, an eighth grader once asked Zuckerberg how he managed to do it all, from creating hype to finding investors. His reply was that no one can do anything, but that with the right team, the impossible becomes possible. While the journey is long, it does not have to be lonely, and as a wise entrepreneur, Zuckerberg surrounded himself with people who had what it took to contribute to the creation and maintenance of Facebook's empire.

As a side note, the words "Done is better than perfect" are emblazoned onto a wall at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California. This is a powerful reminder of Zuckerberg's belief in getting things done instead of chasing unrealistic standards.

Elon Musk: Own your mistakes and learn from them.

The South African-born Elon Musk is a businessman and entrepreneur extraordinaire. He is a co-founder of PayPal, founder of SpaceX and one of the early investors in the electric car company, Tesla. While negative feedback is an inevitable part of life for any business owner, Musk demonstrates how it can be turned into a positive thing. During a Tesla Cybertruck demonstration in 2019, a steel ball was expected to bounce off the toughened glass of a passenger window. Instead, in front of a live audience, the glass shattered. Musk, who was visibly surprised at the time, later took to Twitter and explained what had happened, detailing that the base of the glass had been compromised in an earlier part of the demonstration involving a sledgehammer. He not only owned the mistake, but made light of it and had T-shirts printed depicting the shattered window. Every entrepreneur will make mistakes. The key differential lies in how these mistakes are managed.

Raymond Ackerman: One needs 90% guts and 10% capital.

Raymond Ackerman is one of South Africa's most celebrated entrepreneurs. After being fired from a company called Greatermans, Ackerman was weighing up his options as to what to do next. It was while he was at this crossroads that someone told him that in the business world, one needs 90% guts and 10% capital. This conversation was a turning point for Ackerman, who was passionate about his "consumer sovereignty" principle. It had been his belief in this principle that led to him being fired for being "too difficult". It was this same belief - coupled with all the guts that Ackerman could muster - that led him to purchase the Pick n Pay supermarket group. The rest, as South Africans know, is history.

While many of the world's great businesses begin in garages or spare bedrooms, the need for appropriate premises becomes prevalent sooner rather than later. 3Cube Property Solutions has an array of commercial and industrial properties for sale and to rent in Gauteng. Contact us today for assistance in finding the perfect premises.