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HUMAN CAPITAL Career Trends
Start-Ups: Create YourRoadmap To Success
A good business roadmap should outline an entrepreneur's direction to achieve the business plan and successfully meet long-term strategic goals. It also assists established organizations of all sizes to scale and innovate. We interviewed a start-up mentor, Danilo Dias, to understand key points and takeaways. In his view, successful organizations, talented and successful entrepreneurs share some unique characteristics; for instance, he says they plan and seize opportunities uniquely. Their risk appetite and risk tolerance are naturally higher.
Mr. Dias shared a guide that offers, in his view, best practices to help entrepreneurs build their business roadmap, with universal elements that can be applied to any business.
The United States is consistently being remembered as the country of opportunity, and the reality reinforces it. The USA saw more than 31 million small businesses and entrepreneurship surge during the pandemic. The numbers remain higher than years before, almost two times compared to 2017, jumping from 250,000 to more than 400,000 new businesses per year. The latest data from the US Census Bureau shows that applications for tax identification numbers increased 4.1% from December to January 2022.
US entrepreneurship levels hovered at 550,000 in 2021.
There are three more entrepreneur immigrants than non-immigrant.
The top industries for new businesses included retail, professional services, construction, and logistics.
The first step on this path is the decision to become an entrepreneur. It is a standard path for young people, and it is why more than 300 colleges in the USA have degrees focused on entrepreneurship. We have topnotch universities starting for founders: Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, MIT, Pennsylvania, Michigan (#7), and New York (#21). Rice University hosts the largest start-up student competition in the USA. Past competitors have raised more than $3.57 billion in investment capital.
The top-ranked U.S. universities offer quality education that certainly has a lasting impact on one’s personal and professional life. But the U.S. also benefits from its continuous power of attracting scientific research and technological leadership.
Ongoing legislation is expected to make it easier for startups and Ph.D. holders to gain residency in the United States.
Immigration is a powerful source of innovation and competitive edge: more than 3.2 million immigrants developed their businesses in the USA in 2019. The ratio between non-immigration to immigrant entrepreneurship reached 3 to 1 recently.
On March 9th, 2022, Canada's province Saskatchewan, a Canadian province that borders the United States, Montana, and North Dakota, launched a new immigration program to attract technology professionals called the Tech Talent Pathway. The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) is Canada's latest effort to ease critical labor shortages in the technology sector.
This is just one example of a province and a country competing for high-skilled workers. Technology experts and high-skilled workers are examples of the fastest-growing entrepreneurs globally. Some of them are experts in social media, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, and are fully dedicated to growing clients' presence online on a job basis.
Starting the company in the right direction is crucial for long-term success.
– Mr. Danilo Dias, how should one start a business if this is the first entrepreneurial endeavor?
Prioritize what you love, but most importantly, what you are extraordinary at.
Building a business is a huge task that will require effective use of your time and energy in doing your best quality work with a high level of efficiency.
Knowing what you're good at is key to finding the best-fit business for you. When you've discovered your core strengths, it is easier to determine where your unique skills are needed and where you might thrive, especially in a foreign country.
The initial months are insane in workload, decisions, risk, to name a few. It is much easier to handle the pressure successfully inflicted themselves when it is something they love. Better if you hone your natural strengths or have a partner that can complement your strengths. Imagine working 10-12 hours a day, seven days a week Anyone who hasn't been a business owner may romanticize "being an entrepreneur." It's easy to picture glamorous CEOs who have it all together, a considerable team to assist you, and robust compensation packages. A business owner's start-up phase is all but simple, so prepare yourself mentally for that. Doing what you love will make this task more manageable.
Ask yourself:
How can I add value to potential clients?
What leverage can I bring to their business?
Maybe a reality check to be considered in your immigration path. You are bringing to the USA your competence, sometimes a life experience. You should be in one area where you feel comfortable and are knowledgeable. Changing language, country, industry all - at the same time - adds too much risk with no clear benefit.
– Mr. Danilo Dias, what is your advice for those who have been entrepreneurs in their home countries before?
Ask for expert guidance. Don't just trust your instincts.
My last and most crucial guidance is to ask for expert guidance! The number of immigrants and new entrepreneurs that complain about not having the proper direction in the beginning is enormous.
Google, WhatsApp, friends, It is easy to get suggestions, but not expert advice an entrepreneur needs to succeed. Even though you may have been successful in your home country before, remember that you are in a new country, a new culture that directly impacts the way we do business. On top of that, if you are in the United States, chances are you will be required to comply with different legislations, license requirements based on the estate you open your business. You need expert knowledge to avoid years of problems, thousands of dollars, and many bad nights.
It will help you to:
Start in the right direction,
Avoid pitfalls,
Reduce the implementation time and cost,
Find potential investors, partners, and clients, and
Expedite your growth.
DEFINE YOUR STRENGTHS
Reflect on your past accomplishments and feedback. Think about specific moments, influential conversations, people who praised your accomplishments, and even feedback your peers gave during conferences.
Review your past work Analyze your past projects. Step through the life-cycle of each one and identify which parts you looked forward to the most or what roles you assumed in a group dynamic. Those elements require skills that you likely already possess.
Take a professional assessment You may benefit from taking a personality assessment. These tailored assessments use methods of psychology to identify your personality type: a collection of traits that may help indicate your potential strengths and weaknesses. Employers often administer these assessments during the interview or onboarding process to better learn how you might fit into their organization. Tests such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Enneagram Type, the Winslow Personality Profile can give you a foundational idea of the soft skills you possess.
Danilo Dias
COO
Danilo Dias is a Global Chief Operating Officer at Hayman- Woodward and a Board member of some USA and Brazilian companies. He is a seasoned executive with more than 30 years in Consulting, Oil & Gas, Manufacture, Telecommunications, Retail, Technology, and green industries. He is MIT Sloan, author, and start-up mentor at Ross Business School, New York University, Michigan University, and Rice Business School.
Danilo Dias
