What you really need to be an Entrepreneur
Today the New Enterprise Development class welcomed Sarah Clayton-Lea, founder and head of content at Big 7 Travel, who joined via Zoom from Vietnam! Sarah was able to share her journey of becoming an entrepreneur and founding Big 7 Travel back in 2019 before she then discussed the core components of what you really need to be an entrepreneur.
As the students are currently working on their feasibility analysis of their own new enterprise concepts, Sarah’s points would have resonated well with the students. Sarah talked of the importance of ‘being proactive – not reactive’. Within this, she emphasised to students to think of planning for the future, not just living in the moment, in the context of business development. This is something the new enterprise development students are constantly trying to think about. Where are we now, but where do we want to be?
When discussing what it means to choose people who make up a successful team, Sarah indicated her admiration for the ‘Swiss army knife theory’. You need people in your team ‘who can do a little bit of everything’. Luckily for the new enterprise development students, they all have a wide array of business knowledge from taking modules across multiple disciplines, such as finance, marketing, business analytics, to name but a few.
One of the most important things Sarah highlighted as being an important part of being a successful entrepreneur is taking care of your mental wellbeing. While it is important to become versed in financial statements, learn to read the fine print, and always be planning when it comes to setting up your own business, it is equally as important to take some time for oneself, to recharge and go back into things with a fresh mindset. Hopefully the Christmas break will be one of rest and recharge for this year’s new enterprise development students, as they wrap up semester one teaching.
Author: Paul Anderson, Senior Teaching Assistant, DCU Business School
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