Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Amelia Earhart

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Perhaps the world’s most famous female adventurer, Amelia Earhart was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Much can be learned from her passion, determination and perseverance but one of the greatest things that entrepreneurs can take from Earhart is her attitude toward risk and failure.

“Please know I am quite aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it,” Earhart wrote in a letter to her husband ahead of her 1937 attempt to circumnavigate the globe. “Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”

Despite the fact that Earhart’s attempt ended in her disappearance, her attitude to failure is one that many entrepreneurs should adopt – seeing it as a challenge, rather than the end of the road.

Here are five lessons entrepreneurs can learn from this enterprising woman.

1. You May Not Have Any Help

Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take off! But if you don’t have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.

Some entrepreneurs are born with more advantages than others, and some are born in better entrepreneurial locations. You may not be in Silicon Valley or a network filled with venture capitalists, but that doesn’t mean you won’t succeed, it simply means you have to work harder to achieve that success. Don’t blame the world for giving you fewer advantages; instead, put those efforts into working twice as hard.

2. Don’t Saturate the Market

Never do things others can do and will do if there are things others cannot do or will not do.

Thinking about a new ride-sharing app or a food delivery startup for the US market? Unless you have an extremely unique spin on those products, don’t go down that road. Instead, create something unique that solves a problem that’s yet to be solved. There are still plenty of opportunities for new products, especially if you think globally. Don’t just try to redo something that already exists. Without true innovation and a fresh take, you’ll end up wasting time and resources.

Instead, look at what has not yet been done. While it may seem like every idea has been taken, especially in the US market, there are still plenty of pain points of specific demographics that technology has yet to solve. Remember that a good idea with a strong team behind it can go a really long way.

3. Don’t Rush a Launch

Preparation, I have often said, is rightly two-thirds of any venture.

If the product is not ready, don’t push it to market. While there is something to be said about beating the competition to market, a bug-filled product will alienate potential customers and fans. Even a well-planned launch encounters problems, so don’t try to launch without proper preparation.

Look at companies in similar industries whose product launched too soon and learn from their mistakes. What could they have done differently? More importantly, what didn’t customers like? Take all of that information and organize a launch plan as best you can. Of course, things will happen along the way, but it will help to look back at the original plan when everything seems like it’s falling apart during launch.

4. Entrepreneurship is Difficult but Rewarding

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life, and the procedure, the process is its own reward.

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Investing time and resources in products and services that may fail is hard work and often filled with anxiety-ridden days. However, it’s incredibly rewarding, and the hard work is part of the thrill.

Entrepreneurs know that they are not really suited for other types of work, which is why they push so hard to make their ideas become companies. And entrepreneurs are extremely tenacious, a quality that not everyone possesses.

5. If it’s Worth it, Keep Going

Decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying.

Is the idea worth the fight? If it’s not, then abandon ship. If it is, then move forward 100% willing to make it work. All entrepreneurs experience failure, but failure shouldn’t come because you didn’t take a risk. If the final goal of the company is valuable to a market, then keep going. You might have to get a side job or hustle for funding, but don’t give up.

Amelia Earhart was a remarkable woman, and female founders especially can look to her sage wisdom when battling in the world of entrepreneurialism. While she was a woman’s rights advocate, Amelia Earhart‘s tenacity and determination serve as an inspiration for all those in the entrepreneurial community.

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