Entrepreneurship Advice

7 Essential Tips From Elon Musk For Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Learn entrepreneurship lessons from one of the most iconic business people globally.

Do you want to set up a startup but don’t have the motivation?

Get inspiration from the owner of Tesla and SpaceX. The person who dreams of making it possible for humans to live on another planet someday.

Yes, I am talking about Elon Musk — co-founder of OpenAI and chairman of SolarCity.

We all have business ideas, but we are afraid of implementing them. Even if we implement them, we don’t do it properly. We are always in need of inspiration and guidance from those who have already climbed the success ladder of entrepreneurship.

According to Forbes, Musk has built a huge business empire that stands on the solid foundation of a net worth of $229.4 billion.

One wonders how Musk made it possible to do all these things and never get tired of engaging in new businesses. Recently Musk tweeted about buying Twitter.

If you want success in your entrepreneurship journey, why not apply Musk’s essential tips for aspiring entrepreneurs, which he has used for decades.

1. Always Seek Critical Feedback

Getting success in any business is the product of trial and error. But the process of trial and error must be accompanied by learning and asking for feedback and advice from people ahead of you.

Elon Musk emphasized getting critical feedback during the speech he delivered in August 2013 at the Google Hangout event arranged by Google for Entrepreneurs. Musk said,

“Take as much feedback from as many people as you can about whatever idea you have. Seek critical feedback. Ask them what’s wrong. You often have to draw it out in a nuanced way to figure out what’s wrong.”

2. Don’t Sit in the Corner

Being a CEO of any company doesn’t mean you will sit in a corner and watch your employees run things. If you want success, get your hands dirty.

You have to do multiple tasks, even if you a CEO, to get your business rolling towards sustainable success. You have to attend to phone calls, cook in the kitchen, or clean if need be.

Elon Musk explained this very notion during Google Handout and said,

“You’ve got to do all sorts of jobs and tasks that you might not wish to do, that are not intrinsically interesting to you. You’ve got to be prepared to do whatever it takes, work whatever hours. No task is too menial. I think that’s the right attitude for the CEO of a startup.”

3. Hire an Employee that Fit Your Company’s Culture

Don’t just hire new employees that don’t blend well in your company’s culture because a discordant string can ruin the whole symphony.

Success in any startup is teamwork and striving to attain shared goals. Musk has advised new entrepreneurs to take care of hiring new employees. He said,

“I think it’s important that everyone understands exactly what the mission is, what the goal is, and that when they join the company, they’re bought into that overall goal. As long as that goal is clearly defined and understood and people are saying ‘yes,’ they agree with that goal when they join the company. So, they are not just joining for a salary or something like that, but they believe in what the company is doing.”

4. Be Prepared to Let Go of An Employee

Although Musk emphasized teamwork and getting aligned on attaining the company’s goals, however, there may be some employees who get misaligned from the vision you share.

It is natural to have team members who don’t agree with you on some points or overall vision, but it doesn’t mean kicking such employees out of the company.

Musk emphasized talking through differences and reaching a possible solution. But, if the person tends to be shifting away instead of coming back to the circle and refusing to work towards the goal you envisioned for your company, be prepared to let go of such an employee.

If you don’t let go of such employees, they may mislead your other team members and become a potential threat to your startup. They may also create hurdles in attaining your desired success. So, it’s best to part ways with such employees.

5. Prove You Critics and Naysayers Wrong

Upon making a place on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world in 2013, Musk was praised by another business tycoon and a billionaire, Richar Branson.

Branson praised Musk’s quality of proving his critics and naysayers wrong all the time. Branson wrote on his profile,

“Whatever skeptics have said can’t be done; Elon has gone out and made real.”

So, you will also encounter skeptics and naysayers who will try to drag you down. But all you have to do is to believe in your vision and stay strong.

You can stay strong only with commitment and hard work. So, please don’t fall prey to naysayers and critics; rise above their expectations.

6. Build a Clear Vision of What You Do

Successful leaders and business people are not successful because luck favors them. They are successful because they have a clear vision of what they do.

They know how to do it and when to do it.

Elon Musk keeps a clear vision of what he does. Whether he is making way for leaving our planet in the hopes of another safer planet or working hard to improve the planet Earth, he always has a clear vision of how and when to do it.

Branson wrote about him in such words,

“It’s a paradox that Elon is working to improve our planet at the same time he’s building spacecraft to help us leave it. But true vision is binocular — and Elon Musk is clearly a man who can see many things at once.”

So, as a budding entrepreneur, you must have a clear vision of how things go ahead.

7. Ask Tough Interview Questions from the Aspiring Employees

You will need a team to realize your entrepreneurial success, and for that to happen, you have to hire professionals.

While interviewing employees, we often ask traditional questions that are irrelevant or don’t aptly assess the employees’ true potential.

Musk says that interviewers must ask tough questions that may show the truest personality of the candidate. He suggests such questions for knowing your new employee’s seriousness and aptitude.

“Tell me the story of your life and the decisions that you made along the way and why you made them. And also, tell me about some of the problems you worked on and how you solved them. People that really solved the problem, they know exactly how they solved it — they know the little details.”

So, Musk suggested this technique to help you get the best person for your company and not just a fake person who doesn’t really know what to do.

Final Words

Elon Musk is undoubtedly a highly successful business leader who inspires many out there in the world.

His sayings and actions are considered the best advice for achieving success at any startup or big company.

If you want to get the envisioned success from your company or a new startup, here is the recap of Elon Musk’s advice discussed in the article above:

• When you start a business, seek informed and critical feedback. Ask successful people who know how and what to do.
• Engage in your company’s process actively. Don’t think that others will run your company while you sit in the corner and watch them.
• You should hire those employees that suit your company’s culture to avoid discordant elements for smooth organizational processes.
• An employee may contradict your company’s vision. Convince them through dialogues. If they remain indifferent, show them the door for the betterment of your company.
• You will find naysayers and skeptics in everything you do. Prove them wrong with dedication and commitment to your work.
• You must have a clear vision to lead your team towards success. Avoid ambiguities of all sorts, for they will curtail your success.
• When hiring new employees, ask them tough questions that help better understand their personalities, skills, and experiences.