Do You Actually Need the Experience to Start a Business and Become Successful

Mika

VIP Contributor
A lot of people believe that you need the experience to start a business and become successful. However, I do not buy this theory.

Jeff Bezos is one of the most successful businessmen the world has seen. His business, Amazon Inc. made Mr. Bezos the richest man on earth. Did Jeff Bezos have any experience, training, or expertise with an online business? Jeff Bezos started a business with experience yet he became successful.

Did Mark Zuckerberg have any experience with running a company like Facebook Inc. How did he become successful without prior experience?

Richard Branson did not have any experience with any kind of business, he even did not have training or an academic degree, yet he is one of the most successful businessmen.

These are just a few examples, you can see a lot of people becoming successful in business without prior experience.
 

Chibson

VIP Contributor
Who told you those people do not have experience in business period there is no one that can ever run a successful business without having experience or employing people who have experience of running a business. The reason they became successful is not by mistake, no business man or let me see a successful business man became successful by mistake. You need to have knowledge of how business works or employ people who have experience.
 

sincerem

VIP Contributor
Laughs, they have vision towards their business. If they don't have vision, they wouldn't have come this far. I believe experience is there, without experience they wouldn't manage the business well to go smoothly up to this day. In fact they got everything needed to manage a business successfully long time. Without expertise, skills, adequate experience they wouldn't have come up their successful business today.
 

arunima25

Verified member
I don't think there is a correct answer to it. Well, experience is always a boon and it definitely helps. However the most important thing in business is vision, planning and execution. One can get experience while running the business. And if one fails, it would be another experience to learn from the mistakes.
 

btaliat

VIP Contributor
Your post made me laugh. Can you board a plane with a pilot without experience? Experience is gotten directly and indirectly and it depends on the chill of thought that you belong to. While the empiricist like John Locke will tell you that this world is ruled by experience, Plato will tell you it is idea. But in business, experience is the first thing to consider but not necessary direct experience.
 

Alexandoy

VIP Contributor
Business owners, successful or not, have their own unique story to tell. The richest man here was Henry who failed 3 times in his shoe selling business. But he pushed with passion and luck smiled at him. When he was able to rent a store in a good location that was the start of his good fortune in business. Maybe his 3 failures was due to lack of knowledge in the business.
 

Augusta

VIP Contributor
Well, you can’t tell until they tell you. But for me having a business and succeeding with it needs good experience. It might not necessary be from another person it can still be from you. You gain the experience from your years of running the business. you can tell the risk they overcame with the business
 

Jasmine

VIP Contributor
Experience might help you, but experience is absolutely not necessary. It might help if you have experience but more than experience you need skills and knowledge. As long as you have skills and knowledge, you can do any kind of business. Building a business also means you setting up a good team.
 

Good luck

Verified member
Experience is the best teacher they say.so,for every business one wants to engage in,you need to have a very good idea about it and also gather all necessary information combined with the experience you have in such a business so as not to have issues along the line..to be successful in any related trading you need to have better understanding of it.
 

btaliat

VIP Contributor
In life, it is either we are taught by experience or we are taught by failure. No one can do a business without being taught by either of the two. Like I said before, experience may not be direct, it may be through observation on how the business is being run.
 

arunima25

Verified member
Experience teaches a lot and it can come from any sphere of life. It can be an added advantage but not absolute need to become a successful business person. In fact many people are hesitant to start a business because they lack experience in doing so. Their hesitancy and fear to start something without prior experience can be a big block in their journey. One needs to think out of box, go unconventional and have some risk appetite to start something new without prior experience. One will fail, learn and get better with time. And slowly have the experience.
 
D

Deleted member 13140

Guest
Experience is all that matters, without Experience no one is going no where, why why you think people need mentors, or why we purchase courses, its all because those who sell the courses just brought their Experience down into a course and sold it,

Even if you decide not to buy course but you watch YouTube videos, you're just watching other peoples Experience, then when you start building your business, you're acquiring Experience, which is learning from your mistakes.
 

Jasmine

VIP Contributor
That's not true. Did Zuckerberg had experience with running a social network prior to launch of facebook? Did Bezos had experience with operating an online store before the launch of Amazon? There are numerous examples. Experience is not needed, knowledge and skill are more important to become successful with business.
 

Skysaint

Verified member
That's actually the power of creativity. One don't actually need experience if you are developing a whole new idea but if you want to go into an already developed idea then you need to first learn how the whole system works; I will make my point less vague. There was a time that Facebook wasn't in existence but someone sat down and thought of ways to make communication more better and efficient with lots of interesting features, I am sure Mark Zuckerberg didn't succeed the first time he tried it out, he must have failed a couple of times before he finally ended up with the Facebook version. In this case experience is not necessary, same goes with those who developed the idea of cryptocurrency, forex trading and the rest.
But right know if you want to go into forex trading which was someone's idea, then you need to pass through a learning process to gain experience on how things are done before you can start trading in the platform unless you should get ready for a massive and consistent failure while trading in it.
 

Mandy96

Valued Contributor
Yes, I strongly believe that experience plays a very important role in starting a business, if you have to do it, make sure you know about it, for example, someone that has already worked for years as a teacher in a particular school later decided to start up having his or her own school. You know such person wouldn’t be facing much challenges in the business, and even when the rough times surface, it will be less complicated for the person to be able to manage such period without having to give up or letting the situating break him or her
 

Mika

VIP Contributor
Experience might help you but you have experience does not mean you are guaranteed to become successful. If I have to choose between experience and knowledge and skills, I will choose knowledge and skills over experience. A lot of big business that we see today were built over knowledge and skills and not because they were already experienced.
 

Rachael

Verified member
Ultimately, yes! In order to succeed in a particular business, the potential business owner needs to have some level of experience either directly or indirectly. Experience they say is the best teacher and learning is also part of learning experiences. There is no magic in succeeding when the needed experience is absent. You cannot hit the road with a car or a train if you do not have the needed experience or guidance except you are on a suicide mission. Business is a not a child's play unless you do not hope to operate on a long-term basis. You need to even register for business school if you can afford the costs or you employ the services of professionals in the field while also conducting your personal research and the market research as well.

There is no successful entrepreneur today who did not undergo some level or degree of training where he obtained and learnt the needed experience that would trigger in operating a successful business. You do not need to be irrational to think that you can run a business smoothly even if on a small scale without first gaining experiences. Any business that is devoid or built on no level of knowledge and experience will soon hit the rocks!
 

Kendy

Verified member
Experience is very much needed to start a business. Now, this experience might not be directly from you but it could be beneficial. You cannot have all the experience instantly because learning is a continuous process and different challenges will keep arising. It would be an unwise decision to start a business without the needed experience, market survey and professional consultation. It might be easy when you see an individual operating a business not until you join and ascertain the challenges that comes with it. It is normal for entrepreneurs to wear a smiling face even in the midst of challenges, this is because they do not want to scarce or transfer the aggression to their customers. Every business demands an experience either in a small or large scale. In my setting, it is very likely for people to rush into operating a POS outlet, not minding the challenges and that a slight mistake can make you loose all the capital and profits you have tirelessly worked for, it is therefore pertinent that you ascertain all of these and look for a way to have the versatile and proficient knowledge. There is no experience that is not essential for business because it would be needed as a case study in the future.
 

Stena

Member
Experience is an important necessity for a Business. This does not mean that one without experience cannot run a business successfully.
Many who are successful business persons today have their own stories to tell. Some of them had to be under the tutelage of mentors in the same business line and learnt the nitty gritties of the business. Others had learnt skills through which they are earning from currently.
When it comes to business, I do not think it is possible for one without knowledge of the business to just start running it, such a business may record failure.
An expert hairdresser must have learnt the art under someone, that's experience. An affiliate marketer must have learnt the art, that is experience.
A graphic designer must have learnt the art before becoming an expert at it, that's experience.

You know, it is actually experience that teaches one best. Without it, you can not boldly say you have done something and you are good at it. Experience gives you the opportunity to practice and get well versed at your skills or what you have learnt.

So, yes, it would be okay to say that one needs to get a level of experience in order to be successful at a business.
 

moneyteam

Member
The simple answer is no, you don't need experience to start a business and become successful. However, that's not to say that experience isn't important. It can be helpful in many ways and can give you a leg up on the competition.
There are a few things to keep in mind if you're starting a business without experience. First, it's important to have a clear vision for your business. What are your goals? What are your targets? What can you realistically achieve? Once you have a good understanding of what you want to accomplish, it will be easier to put together a plan of action. Second, don't be afraid to ask for help. Talk to experienced entrepreneurs or business professionals who can offer key tips.
 
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