Entrepreneurship Lessons: Advice from Gary Ng, others on how to thrive

Every successful entrepreneur has had challenges. Many experienced crushing failures before eventually obtaining fortune. What sets successful entrepreneurs apart from the herd is the resolve to learn from mistakes, try again, and most critically, listen to business advice from other successful people.

Success is every entrepreneur’s goal; lessons in both life and business can help drive that success. The best way to obtain helpful advice is by looking at what three successful entrepreneurs say about it. It turns out, their advice is not just on business, but life in general.

Canadian executive Gary Ng had a lot to share about how to make the transition to an entrepreneur.  His first piece of advice, believe in yourself.

“Don’t let other people put you down, tell you that it’s a bad idea or that it’s impossible because nobody has ever done it. Most things at some point in history have never been done before.  It took somebody with guts, somebody with creativity and somebody as an entrepreneur to really open up a new market or create a new product or service.”

Fast Growth:

When starting out as an entrepreneur, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s CEO, offered this: “The best advice I ever received was from Eric Schmidt, when he was Google’s CEO and I was thinking about not taking the offer from Google. He told me that when picking a job, only one criterion mattered: fast growth. He said, ‘If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, you don’t ask what seat. You just get on.”

Make Mistakes:

We’ve all heard entrepreneurs say how important it is to make mistakes.  But it’s how they move on from those mistakes that matters most.

“I would suggest to emerging entrepreneurs that your job is to make mistakes as quickly and as cheaply as possible,” says Gary Ng.  “Most importantly, never do the same thing over and over again.  If it doesn’t work, then that’s the feedback.  Listen to it and be honest with yourself.  From there, either pivot or move on.  You don’t want to keep spinning your wheels on something that doesn’t work.”

Gary Ng recalls a quote by Thomas Edison: “When he was creating the lightbulb, a lot of people were critical and asked him “Why do you keep doing it the same way? It doesn’t work.”  Edison said, “That’s not true.  I’ve never failed.  I’ve just found a thousand ways that don’t work.” I really love this quote, also, because it speaks to life itself in so many ways.”

Seek Learning Opportunities:

Behavioral scientist and entrepreneur Vanessa Van Edwards said: “Every time you think to yourself, ‘I already know this’ or ‘This isn’t for me,’ try turning it around by asking, ‘How can I make this work for me?’ This instantly puts you into a learning mindset and helps you see opportunities everywhere. I learned this from Marie Forleo and it has fundamentally changed how I approach my business life.”

Gary Ng mirrors this same advice, especially to millennials.  “The very first thing I’d advise millennials to do is get educated.  There are so many outlets where millennials can learn about the stock market, the futures market, options and all the tools that are available out there for them.  They should utilize educational resources and have a real desire to learn.”

Whether you’re attempting a startup or trying to make an existing business thrive, knowledge is vital, even after success. Entrepreneurship is about more than just business savvy. It is about life and life lessons, and how it is okay to make mistakes. So make them.