There is nothing quite like the first few days of a new school year. Kids walking down the street with their backpacks filled with pens, pencils and new notebooks--nothing seems impossible when you have a bag full of sharpened pencils and clean pieces of paper.
While you may not be donning a new backpack or a pair of slick new sneakers, there are some entrepreneurial lessons to be learned during this back-to-school season. Here are three pieces of advice for both students and entrepreneurs this school year:
Make New Friends
Even during that first day of kindergarten, we entered into our new, unexplored world looking for someone (or some people) to join us on the journey. We wanted to connect with those who were like us (professional associations), those who would inspire us (mentors) and those who wanted to blend our collective talents in order to create something fantastic (strategic partners). Perhaps we didn't truly understand what kind of village we were building back in kindergarten, but as an entrepreneur the company we keep is not only important for our personal development, but will help us develop a successful business.
Your Assignment: Look for gaps in your connections and add new "friends" to your network. Do you need to join more professional associations, cultivate strategic partners or become a mentor? Create a strong and diverse network of people whose collective wisdom and resources will benefit you throughout the year.
Do Your Homework
Ask any middle or high school student what they feel is the most annoying part of school and he or she will probably say "homework." Not everyone likes homework, but it is an essential part of academic success for it increases our level of knowledge and helps us do better on tests. When entrepreneurs make regular time for homework (researching our competition, analyzing our target market, contemplating new financial strategies), we are preparing ourselves for the "tests"--investor meetings, business plan developments, sales presentations. These small moments of planning and learning keep us prepared for the big moments of business growth.
Your Assignment: Reserve time each week for doing entrepreneurial homework. Don't just schedule the actual timeframe, but give yourself a specific task or assignment. For example, spend six weeks researching your competition--creating a full report that you can reference during your next SWOT analysis.
Seek out Extra Credit
According to Wikipedia, extra credit is the "opportunity to undertake optional work, additional to your compulsory school work, in order to gain additional credit that will boost your grade." While there seems to be a great debate about whether or not teachers should offer extra credit opportunities to their students, as an entrepreneur, you should always seek out extra credit moments in order to "boost your grade" with customers, staff and stakeholders. Go above and beyond with your customer service initiatives, create an internal environment that empowers employees and provide your stakeholders with information and insight before they even have to ask. By going the extra mile--seeking the extra credit--you will make great strides towards building a company that will last.
Your Assignment: Take just one area (customer service, human resources, product development, etc.) and create a new way to surprise and delight the end user. Maybe it's creating an app for customer service, a volunteer program for your employees or a new feature on an existing product. Whatever it is, take the time to do the "optional work" in order to "gain the additional credit."
While our focus is often on the students, the lessons we learn during this back-to-school season are for all of us--especially entrepreneurs. Pay attention to the words of wisdom you are sharing with your own children as they head back to the classroom and see how you can apply that wisdom to your own business.