Sarah Prevette: Tips from a Serial Entrepreneur

The culture, uncertainty and hectic pace of a new business is not for everyone—try it on first and see how it fits before committing your life to it.

Internship can be an incredible foot in the door and beneficial to both parties—the student and the start-up. Resources are hard to come by in the early days of a company and a willing (unpaid) worker is happily accepted in most places. The intern benefits from hands on experience and the entrepreneur through having an extra set of hands to help.

Many people (especially students) want to run a business but are unable to come up with the start up funds needed. What advice do you have for students in this position?

A number of programs, loans and grants exist that are meant to facilitate new business creation – they just tend to lack effective visibility. I’m continually amazed at the plethora of initiatives geared specifically at students. I would strongly recommend researching opportunities and speaking with not-for-profit organizations like the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF.CA)

What lessons have you learned from running your own business/what advice can you give now?

Start-ups are ongoing evolutions: constant iterations, tiny refinements and adjustments to pre-laid plans. Aim to fail early. Establish what your minimal viable product is and push to bring it to market as fast as possible. Get feedback before you even establish a prototype—build your product around true, established needs. Embrace failure as a process of progression, i.e. strive to fail early, fail often and commit to constant evaluation. Establish your key metrics, build a dashboard and hold yourself accountable for the numbers.

What, in your opinion, are the advantages (or disadvantages) of aspiring entrepreneurs starting up a business during a recessionary economic climate?

A recessionary global economy means tighter budgets, longer sales cycles and a climate of fearful uncertainty. But, like with most issues, there lies opportunity for a resourceful individual offering a timely solution. Products positioned to save money for example, might particularly prosper in a recessionary environment.

It’s worth noting that at the same that the economy has taken a hit, technology becomes cheaper and the cost of starting your own business has lessens. It is an unprecedented time in history to start your own company—leverage free online tools, tap into online networks of support and actively engage with your market.

The advice that Sarah shared with us was definitely invaluable and aspiring entrepreneurs should play close attention to what she is saying, as good advice on starting your own business is hard to come by these days.

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