It was Albert Einstein who stated that 'imagination is more important than knowledge'. Now if he had been addressing a room full of entrepreneurs, I hazard a guess that he might also have extended this quotation by saying that 'action is more important than knowledge too!'

Make no mistake, if you want to make your mark on this world as an entrepreneur you have to consistently take ACTION! Not only that, you will also need to have the ability to inspire other people into ACTION as well.

Learn by taking ACTION!

In our modern society we gravely underestimate the value and importance of experiential learning. We have become conditioned to mistake qualifications for competence.

As an entrepreneur, most of your learning will come from experience generated through taking ACTION. There is no text book, no seminar and no guru that can replace the value of you having an idea and taking ACTION on it.

Don't let a lack of knowledge stop you from taking ACTION!

Often what holds us back from even trying is our perceived lack of knowledge. Word's to the effect of 'I can't set up a business because I didn't finished high school' or 'I can't start a business until I've got my MBA'.

If you have spent any time at all studying entrepreneurs you will find a lot of them don't actually have university degrees. Often it is this simple fact that motivates them into pursuing the entrepreneurial path!

Continually Self Correct!

When you take the experiential approach to learning and developing your business, you need to be highly attuned to the feedback you receive from your operating environment. Be highly sensitive to feedback from your customers and clients. Establish mechanisms to monitor the results that you are achieving. Once these are in place, continually put pressure on yourself and your organisation to continually lift your standards of performance.

When you operate in this way you will not fear making mistakes as there are no mistakes only feedback.

Know what you don't know!

I heard a very successful (and to the point!) Australian trucking magnate asked the question "What kind of knowledge does it take to be successful in business?". He responded by saying that "If you know that you don't know, you'll be OK. But if you don't know, that you don't know, you're stuffed!"

As an entrepreneur, if you know you don't know something you can always ask someone who does. Remember that you do not have to know everything! Build up an awareness of the things that you don't know. Then surround yourself with people that can answer all questions you can't answer yourself.

What is the most important thing to know before you start a business?

The most important thing you need to know before you start a business is clear understanding of the special gifts that have to offer this world.

Once you have this awareness, ask yourself 'how can I share my gifts in a way that not only creates a better world for others but also enables me to live an extraordinary abundance filled life?'

Once you have that simply awareness. you've guessed it you're ready to get out there and start taking ACTION!

If you are then prepared to stand up every time you fall down you will magically begin to see your ideas manifest in the world.

Copyright Damien Senn 2005. All rights reserved.