Our entrepreneur-in-residence, Rafi Dikranian spills the beans on some guiding principles that kept him and his co-founder sane as they launched their startup. Sippy is a subscription-based mobile application offering prepaid coffee plans with partnering local and independent coffee shops in the UAE.
Keep Moving Forward
Entrepreneurship is about survival; about hitting the next milestone – in order to get there you have to get things done, lots of things. Be diligent and persistent about executing on time; pester people when things are pending. Make sure those tasks, emails, conversations are done efficiently and on time. It’s like swimming, you have to keep moving forward, otherwise you’ll sink.
Keep Solving Problems
You can’t be an entrepreneur if you don’t have problems to solve. And trust me, you will have many problems to solve. However, don’t throw money at things you can do yourself, even if they are difficult. Learn, and do it yourself, become an expert; daunting tasks will soon become a quick fix.
Test, Test, Test
The truth is most assumptions you make are going to be wrong. So you must test your ideas, hacks, initiatives, programs, products to see what works. The failures from these tests are priceless and eventually lead you the right answer.
Don’t be Afraid to Fail
A lot of the time we blame ourselves for failing. But seldom do we ask ourselves why that ‘thing’ failed; would it have failed if I changed certain parameters? Was the failure a matter of the right timing? These questions are the learnings you get from failures; they help you improve and move towards success.
Get Help
You cannot do everything yourself and certain things are better learnt from others who have stood where you stand. It’s OK to ask for help, everyone needs it because no one knows everything. The good news is entrepreneurs like to help one another; so make friends, talk to a lot of people, and most importantly give back.