How I Built This

Sometimes, in the world of entrepreneurship, it seems like all it takes is hard work to get things off the ground. While you have to put in the effort, it’s not everything. If you don’t have a good idea, it’ll never take off.

But how do you find something worth investing your time and money into? Does it require a lightbulb moment or do you have to go out and find something? According to chef José Andrés, you have to start moving forward to get ideas to start coming.

And if you’re wondering whether it’s a good enough opportunity simply ask yourself if you believe it’s worth giving up everything you’re working on now to pursue.

And when you do take the leap, make sure you’ve got a parachute to keep you safe. For Daymond John, who founded FUBU, he had to be a waiter at Red Lobster for the first few years to get his dream going.

In the end, the unappealing job helped him keep afloat until he got a round of funding in the millions. But that was only after his mom put a classified ad in the New York Times. These humble decisions eventually let John fully commit to FUBU.

As you start your company you might get some money from your parents and a few friends. Maybe you even invest your life savings. But that still won’t be enough, unfortunately.

You don’t have enough cash to do this on your own, for one. And you probably also don’t have enough mentors, experience, or intelligence either. But don’t let that discourage you, all it takes is finding the right people and getting innovative.

It’ll be tough to get into whatever crowded marketplace you’ll be going for. But take a little bit of creative inspiration from Manoj Bharghava’s story of starting 5-hour Energy and you’ll be moving forward in no time.

When beginning his company, Bhargava ran into a brick wall trying to compete with Big Soda. He felt discouraged seeing their products all over the drink aisle.

Thinking creatively, though, Bhargava decided to make new two-ounce bottles of his energy drinks instead of the standard sizes everybody else was selling. It worked, and just half a year after launch he was selling 10,000 bottles each week.

Powerful connections are another way to get the word out about what you’re selling. Ultimately, though, as Mark Zuckerberg put it, “nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend.”

To get that priceless word-of-mouth marketing going, simply make a fantastic product that people can’t help but talk about.