There is a lot of hype about and glamorisation of “entrepreneurship” in today’s world. Entrepreneurship is often used interchangeably with the words “start-ups” and “tech”, with many people thinking that to be an entrepreneur, you need to have a tech business.

Now that we have covered the essential marketing and branding aspects, we will explore creating a practical financial plan for your business. Even if you don’t need immediate financing and instead plan to bootstrap it, you should still compile a financial plan and forecast based on certain assumptions, to help you steer your business towards success.

Business pitching is a common method for proposing new ideas and gaining support for them. As an entrepreneur, knowing how to build and deliver a pitch to perfection can help you win customers, partners or investors.

Entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint-hearted. It doesn’t simply happen on its own without hard work, blood, sweat and tears! In fact, when you think about the saying, ‘it isn’t rocket science’, entrepreneurship could be said to be just that – rocket science! There is so much that goes into getting it right – some things are within your control but there are also many variables and unknowns.

Storytelling is an important element of being an entrepreneur and running a successful business. In business, you have to tell stories and effectively pitch, every other day. You need to convince people that what you’re doing and what you believe in serves a purpose and/or meets a need. This is a skill, and can be cultivated.

In this masterclass, we take you on a self-discovery journey, exploring in more detail what drives you. Now that you’ve had time to think about the different kinds of entrepreneurship, let’s think about what makes you, you? What are you passionate about? What is your purpose? Learn how people have built successful businesses around their passion. Passion and purpose are key to your journey.

Whether you are an employee or entrepreneur, cultivating a personal brand has become more important than ever. One reason is that these days, recruiters, influencers and potential investors and customers often use social media and other platforms to understand who you are.

One of the main reasons businesses fail is because there is no addressable market to begin with. In most cases, this is because businesses aren’t solving a deep enough problem. It is so basic, but time and time again budding entrepreneurs miss the mark here. Nobody will buy your product if there is no one who wants it. You must be solving a real problem or creating a solution that is a must-have, not a nice-to-have.

Now that you know more about yourself as an entrepreneur, what you are passionate about, and what problems you want to solve, you will start to build on your business idea. What will your business look like?

Understanding the landscape is an essential part of business ideation and planning. From understanding your competitors intimately, to being aware of industry and market forces, to knowing your customer preferences, canvassing and looking around is key. Further, it is vital to validate your business idea early so that you do not waste time and resources creating a product or service that doesn’t have a market or is a poor fit.

As famously said by Simon Sinek, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” What is the higher purpose of your business? Why does it exist? Why should anyone care? Why do you get out of bed every day? It all starts with the why.

Welcome to the YoungGems® program. Over the next few weeks, you will be mentored through our carefully crafted masterclasses that will provide you with an overview and comprehensive background to the world of Entrepreneurship.