Tips for Young Entrepreneurs

Duke Ligon is the former strategic advisor for Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc., headquartered in Oklahoma City. Duke Ligon is also a previous executive director of Love’s Entrepreneurship Center at Oklahoma City University, a program that aims to provide entrepreneurial students with the tools they need to pursue their ambitions following graduation. 

Statistics indicate that 20 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34 have a business idea that they hope to pursue. Here are a few tips that may help.

1. Make sure there is demand for your product. A study conducted by Fortune indicated that the owners of 42 percent of start-ups that failed identified the lack of need for the products they sold as the major factor in their failure.

2. Find mentorship wherever you can. Many communities host networking events that allow young entrepreneurs to mingle with people who have experienced the trials and tribulations of business ownership. Learn as much as you can, and use it to inform your decisions.

3. Understand how much money you need before you apply for a bank loan. Most banks won’t offer anything if you don’t have a business plan that covers the financial aspects of your company and your projections for its growth. You should also be able to offer tax returns, bank statements, and credit reports for yourself and the company to demonstrate your current financial situation.

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