The Entrepreneurship Club at Florida A&M University kicked off its Business Speaker Series, “The Soul of Start-Up,” with an event titled “Solid Foundation, Strong Future – The Blueprint to Building your Entrepreneurial Future,” with featured guest speaker Rashada Houston-Turner, School of Business and Industry professor and entrepreneur.
The event was entrepreneurial insight that can only be gained through experience in the field of business. Turner has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and gave a breakdown on the common truths and misconceptions of entrepreneurship. She also provided a list of 10 key concepts that are essential for success as an entrepreneur.
The 10 Key Concepts:
Choice: The path of entrepreneurship ultimately starts with a choice. The choice to be a full time entrepreneur or be employed, maybe even both. Success and failure within a business is a result of the choices made by the entrepreneur.
Courage: Courage is truly having the drive and passion to start a business and keep it going through difficult times.
Commitment: “Be disciplined: you should eat, sleep, and breathe your business every day,” Turner said.
Concept: Focus on what your product or service will be. Your concept is how it will be different from others.
Capital: It takes money to make money. You will need a lot of capital to run and sustain a successful business.
Confidence: Be confident in what you are selling and know your business inside and out.
Credit/Credibility: Having good credit will allow you to do more things for your business. Make sure you have good credibility so you can attract customers and potential investors.
“Your social credibility or reputation can take you places money can’t,” Turner said.
Customers: Know your target market, because all your customers will not be the same.
Corporate Strategy: Make sure your business has strong values and is taking the proper actions to achieve customer satisfaction.
Contingency Plan: Know the risk that could come with your business. Plan ahead and plan smart.
Simone Harris, president of the Entrepreneurship Club of FAMU, shared the purpose of the event and what she hopes the audiences gained from it.
“The purpose of the event was to give the FAMU student body an opportunity to learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur and also just to know what entrepreneurship is,” Harris said.
Turner spoke on her own intention as a presenter with the task of informing young aspiring entrepreneurs.
“The goal was to help others who might be new or intimidated or frankly enthusiastic about running a business,” Turner said. “And helping them understand that is not hard, but it is hard as heck. And letting them know it’s for the hard workers but anyone can do it.”
The “The Soul of a Startup” business speaking series will continue with the following dates:
Oct.12 – ‘Properly Penetrating the Market’ featuring guest speaker, Troyia Monay
Oct 26 – ‘Balancing the Budget Tightrope’ featuring guest speaker, Katrina Tuggerson
Nov. 2 – ‘Developing a Fool-Proof Business Plan’ featuring guest speaker, Vincent Hunt