Spoke at Oxford University to a group of entrepreneurs about building an entrepreneurial career. Here are 5 main takeaways from the talk 👇 👉 Everyone who started a business didn’t know what they were doing initially. So if you’re uncertain about the next step, this is normal. Lean into it. 👉 Don’t compare someone’s Day 10 to your Day 1. Don’t be disheartened seeing someone do well whilst you’re at the beginning. You’re not behind, you’re just early. 👉 Don’t subscribe to the VC hype you see online. People will tell you you need investors to start your business. Build a business the old-fashioned way...with customer money!! 👉 What you work on is more important than how hard you work. If your aim is to get rich in business, make sure you’re picking a rapidly growing market where you can surf the wave. I've seen relatively average people (me) do very well because they chose the right market. 👉 Enjoy the journey ( I know this sounds so corny!!) When my company hit £10k a month, all I wanted was to hit £100k. When my company hit £100k a month, all I wanted was to hit £500k. When my company hit £500k a month, all I wanted was to hit £1m. When my company hit £1m a month, all I wanted was to hit £2m. And it just goes on and on and on. The goalposts always move so you have to enjoy the journey rather than the destination. Many thanks to University of Oxford for having me and helping spread the word of predictable entrepreneurship.
Don't buy the VC hype. Instead, build a sustainable 1-person or 2-person business.
“Everyone who started a business didn’t know what they were doing initially.” Great advice! Too many people don’t start because they’re scared they won’t know what to do. Just start!!
Fantastic insights! Especially love the part about enjoying the journey—reminds me of trying to find the end of a rainbow.
Such valuable insights, thank you for sharing! 🌟 Each takeaway resonates deeply, especially the reminder to enjoy the journey. It's refreshing to hear about building a business with customer money—solid advice that grounds entrepreneurial aspirations in practicality and sustainability. Your journey from £10k to £2m monthly is truly inspiring, showcasing the continuous evolution and determination in entrepreneurship. Keep making waves in the entrepreneurial world! 🚀
Oh the constantly moving goal posts! It’s so important to take a moment and celebrate the wins otherwise the journey is agonising.
'If you don't enjoy the journey, you won't fully appreciate the destination'. The older I get the more I realise those corny quotes are just the truth 😅
If you actually retrospect, you will find that you have achieved more or less everything that you had wanted few years back. However, at this point, you might still feel this need to achieve more and that's just our nature. The bottom line is don't forget to cherish the small moments in between!
I've seen this time and time again with entrepreneurs that have successfully exited. The initial high of having freedom and money dissolves pretty quickly - all they want after that is to feel like they're chasing/building something again. Ironically, when you're building something, the journey is the reward. Timothy Armoo
So many nuggets in there: "Build a business the old-fashioned way...with customer money!!". It's unreal the number of times this is so overlooked. Proof of concept > learn > pivot > experiment > learn > pivot until people start paying. But the goalposts are too real, we forget to celebrate the small wins before running to the next goal post. I'm glad you kept it real! Timothy Armoo
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1moWhat type of business ideas would you suggest that new entrepreneurs should look into? Timothy Armoo