I've Interviewed Over 100 Entrepreneurs Who Started Businesses Worth $1 Million To $1 Billion Or More. Here's Some Of Their Best Advice.

What does it return to commencement and turn a business to $1 million? Or moreover $1 billion?

If you're among nan overmuch than six successful 10 (62%) of U.S. adults who want to beryllium their ain boss, you mightiness beryllium acquainted pinch nan basics of entrepreneurship. Still, nan imaginable of leaving a unafraid 9-5 occupation to spell all-in connected a broadside hustle aliases business tin beryllium daunting.

Hearing from founders who personification already traveled nan measurement to business occurrence — and learning from their mistakes made and wins achieved connected nan measurement — tin thief spread you for your ain entrepreneurial journey.

Related: I Wish I Received This Advice arsenic a Young Entrepreneur

Over nan past 4 years, I've interviewed overmuch than 100 successful entrepreneurs who started businesses worthy $1 cardinal to $1 cardinal aliases more.

I've sat down pinch business luminaries for illustration Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Martha Stewart (Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia), Alexis Ohanian (Reddit), John Mackey (Whole Foods Market) and Bobbi Brown (Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Jones Road Beauty), among truthful galore others.

No matter really well-known nan founders aliases their peculiar industries, they, for illustration each entrepreneurs, had to push done business ups and downs to scope occurrence connected nan different side.

Related: 7 Critical Pieces of Business Advice for Entrepreneurs Just Getting Started

Needless to say, their entrepreneurial careers personification taught them a lot, and moreover if you return conscionable 1 instruction from their experiences, you could beryllium 1 measurement personification to achieving your ain business goals.

Read connected to spot immoderate of their champion advice.

Be funny and open-minded

Martha Stewart - Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Stewart stresses nan worthy of curiosity — and explains really she uses it to turn her horizons each day.

"Curiosity is surely a characteristic trait that I deliberation is very important if you're trying to understand, 'Where is nan world going? What nan hellhole are we doing here? What are we going to do?'" Stewart says. "So I've ever been happy to beryllium curious. I publication a lot. I recreation a lot. And 1 of nan things I effort very difficult to do is ne'er thrust down nan aforesaid thoroughfare doubly if there's an replacement truthful that I mightiness spot point that I've ne'er seen before. And erstwhile I travel, I effort to do nan aforesaid thing. I effort to spot arsenic overmuch arsenic I tin successful a day."

Melissa Ben-Ishay - Baked By Melissa

Ben-Ishay isn't acrophobic to admit erstwhile she doesn't personification each nan answers.

"I emotion to beryllium wrong," Ben-Ishay says. "I don't deliberation I cognize everything. In fact, nan older I get and nan overmuch acquisition I personification nether my belt, nan small I know. And that is point I cognize pinch certainty. And I deliberation that is an incredibly important mindset for a leader and an entrepreneur."

Related: 3 Ways to Foster a Culture of Curiosity (and Why You Should)

Arsha Jones - Capital City Mambo Sauce

Jones didn't move up successful a family of entrepreneurs and says she was connected her ain erstwhile it came to figuring retired really to move her small, home-based business. Without extracurricular money to money her task aliases an extended web to pat into, she took a grassroots onslaught instead.

Jones scanned marketplace shelves for mini bottled brands, "like a conception barbecue sauce," and past sent their owners an email: "I would say, 'How did you do X? And really did you get connected nan shop shelf?'" Jones explains. "And they would conscionable beryllium down and reply immoderate benignant of questions that I had. And that was really really I jumped complete a less of those hurdles, astatine slightest successful nan beginning."

Image Credit: Courtesy of Capital City Mambo Sauce. Arsha Jones.

Get clear connected what you want and enactment existent to it

John Mackey - Whole Foods Market, Love.Life

Mackey suggests entrepreneurs first fig retired if they want to beryllium startup serial entrepreneurs aliases builder entrepreneurs. "If you're nan serial entrepreneur, past my connection is fig retired erstwhile is simply a bully clip to discarded truthful you tin spell connected to your adjacent thing," he says.

Mackey's connection for builder entrepreneurs concerns nan captious rumor of task capital. He says astir task capitalists and those successful backstage equity will automatically presume you're a serial entrepreneur, and "they'll beryllium looking to move you."

"If you are going to beryllium a builder, you should beryllium very clear pinch nan investors that you bring successful that you're not looking to waste nan business: You're looking to build it — you dream to move it for galore years, and nan exit for them will not beryllium a sale. It'll beryllium an IPO," Mackey says.

Tom Baker - Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur

Baker says it's important to spot your business's unsocial offering, moreover if it slows you down temporarily.

"[I wish we'd] spent a mini overmuch clip upfront reasoning astir really we were really going to enlistee drinkers into our brand," Baker explains. "What will we beryllium amended astatine than each different liquor company? How americium I going to get into [customers'] repertoire? I deliberation we astir apt could personification saved millions of dollars and a less years had I conscionable spent different 3 months reasoning astir that earlier we started Mr Black."

Related: How to Turn Vision Into Reality — A Step-by-Step Approach to Achieving Your Goals

Jackie Summers - Sorel Liqueur

Summers recommends taking breaks to get an meticulous accounting of your goals.

"Our civilization says you must support going astatine 100 miles an hr astatine each times," Summers says. "If you don't personification a chance to reflect, you don't get nan opportunity to spot what your strengths and weaknesses are and really you're going to compensate for both. It's important to cocoon connected a regular crushed — whether [that's] 20 minutes of meditation a clip aliases being tin to get distant erstwhile each less weeks and locomotion immoderate clip successful value and quiet your mind. Once you person clarity, each sorts of things tin move forward."

Irene Chen and Matthew Grenby - Parker Thatch

Parker Thatch makes handbags, but its "true mission" is astir giving customers a assurance boost, Chen says — a guiding norm that helps different aspects of nan business autumn into place.

Finding that "why" helped supercharge nan institution and serves arsenic a coagulated defense against inevitable manufacture challenges, for illustration competitors that nutrient knock-offs, Grenby says.

"That 'why' is not point that's not easy copyable," he explains. "If it's not authentic, group consciousness that, and they worthy authenticity."

Image Credit: Courtesy of Parker Thatch. Matthew Grenby and Irene Chen.

Don't clasp everlastingly to commencement — do return calculated risks

Jenny Just - PEAK6 Investments, Poker Power

Just emphasizes that strategical early risk-taking tin net disconnected successful spades.

"When we talk astir women taking risks, it's not astir taking bigger risks," Just explains. "It's conscionable taking overmuch risks sooner, and what poker allows you to do is return those risks successful a bite-sized way."

Johanna Hartzheim - Wildgrain

Hartzheim recommends jumping successful and learning arsenic you go.

"Just spell for it because it's point you study while doing," Hartzheim says. "It sounds benignant of cliche, but arsenic agelong arsenic you're motivated and passionate, you tin do anything. I knew point astir tracking, importing, each these things, but it's not rocket science. You tin study point aliases find nan correct group who do cognize these things."

Related: You Have to Take Risks to Succeed. Here Are 4 Risk-Taking Benefits successful Entrepreneurship

Kathrin Hamm - Bearaby

Hamm suggests mounting a definitive timeline to put your champion ft forward.

"Once you judge successful a product, conscionable return a chance and springiness yourself a year," Hamm says. "It's overmuch overmuch manageable if you [have] a sizeable clip model wherever it's like, Okay, successful that year, I'm giving everything I have, 100%. Because sometimes we 2nd conjecture ourselves. After [a few] months aliases six weeks, we don't spot nan success, [and] we commencement doubting ourselves. You opportunity [I have] 1 year, and I'm not asking if this is working. Just personification passageway imagination for 1 year, and past reevaluate aft those 365 days."

Image Credit: Courtesy of Bearaby. Kathrin Hamm.

Embrace nonaccomplishment and nan learning-filled journey

Payam Zamani - Autoweb, One Planet Group

Zamani notes that entrepreneurial fulfillment doesn't personification to dangle connected a business's success.

"The truth is nan overwhelming mostly of businesses don't survive," Zamani says. "So you want to make that recreation worthy experiencing, and not conscionable seeking an exit, seeking an IPO that whitethorn ne'er happen. Then you consciousness like, 'Ah, that was a failure.' But if you're making that recreation point that's worthy living, you will ever consciousness fulfilled whether aliases not that climax comes astir successful your business."

Bobbi Brown - Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Jones Road Beauty

Brown suggests giving entrepreneurship a changeable truthful you don't personification to wonderment "what if."

"If you don't try, you'll ne'er know," Brown says. "I don't judge successful nonaccomplishment because it's conscionable a relationship that if point didn't activity out, do it differently."

Related: 7 Ways Companies Can Harness Failure to Drive Success

Ellen Bennett - Hedley & Bennett

Bennett cautions against aiming for overnight occurrence because a slow and dependable onslaught brings immoderate of nan biggest gains.

"I'm a immense believer successful nan agelong game," Bennett says. "You tin commencement point retired of your location pinch nary money and personification a viable, profitable business that you are a mostly proprietor of galore years later. And that is awesome. There's point incorrect pinch taking longer to build point great. I cognize our afloat lives are oriented towards velocity and really quickly things move and [becoming] a unicorn, but you tin beryllium a long-game unicorn, too."

Missy Tannen - Boll & Branch

Missy Tannen emphasizes that aspiring entrepreneurs don't personification to personification it each figured retired from nan start.

"You don't personification to cognize everything clip one," she says. "You're going to study truthful overmuch connected nan way, and I deliberation if we'd realized each nan things we didn't know, we would personification ne'er started."

Image Credit: Courtesy of Boll & Branch. Missy and Scott Tannen.

Keep your priorities successful check

Alexis Ohanian - Reddit

Ohanian wants to reframe nan mobility of what it takes to execute work-life balance.

"I don't deliberation it's astir work-life balance," Ohanian explains. "I don't deliberation anyone tin really execute that. It's not astir balancing. If you're chasing balance, you're implying, for illustration Thanos, [that] you'd beryllium tin to create point perfectly balanced. And nan reality is work-life [is] ne'er 50/50. You'll ne'er execute anyplace adjacent to that — nor should you. There are times successful your life wherever you will petition to attraction connected nan career, nan work. There are times successful your life erstwhile you petition to attraction connected life. It's connected a spectrum that's ever-flowing backmost and forth."

Related: 5 Priorities for Young Entrepreneurs

Do bully and do well

Wemimo Abbey - Esusu

Abbey stresses that responsible entrepreneurship doesn't personification to beryllium a zero-sum game.

"We petition to find ways wherever we tin create a win-win-win conception crossed nan board," Abbey says. "We really judge successful this thought of justness capitalism: We tin do bully and do bully — and it's by nary intends mutually exclusive."

Cason Crane - Explorer Cold Brew

Crane acknowledges that not each customer will support Explorer Cold Brew because of its LGBTQ+ partnerships, but he's committed to moving a business that reflects his values.

"It surely helps support maine going each day," Crane says. "There are things that you do arsenic a business proprietor to position your business for financial success, and past location are nan things you do to support yourself excited to get retired of furnishings each morning. And I deliberation it's important arsenic a business proprietor to do both."

Related: How to Make Giving Back Part of Your Brand's DNA

Randy Goldberg and David Heath - Bombas

Goldberg and Heath opportunity founders must guarantee nan ngo is "fully integrated into nan business."

"Every squad astatine Bombas is responsible for nan ngo successful either a nonstop aliases an indirect way," Heath says. "And I deliberation having that truthful intertwined makes our labour consciousness bully astir our mission. But it too makes it truthful that nan ngo shows up successful everything that we do, from customer acquisition interactions, to nan website, to nan creative, to nan product. It's truthful overmuch a information of our DNA that you could ne'er abstracted nan mission. It's not an afterthought."

Image Credit: Courtesy of Bombas. David Heath and Randy Goldberg.

Lead pinch volition and beforehand creativity

Chris Kirby - Ithaca Hummus

Kirby explains what it takes to build a institution civilization that promotes ideation, risk-taking and learning.

"I've learned that existent activity is astir empathy, clear connection and creating an business wherever group consciousness weighted and empowered," Kirby says. "So I've worked difficult to build a civilization that's nan complete different of what I knowledgeable successful a batch of those kitchens. I want my squad to consciousness safe to banal ideas, return risks and study from mistakes without fearfulness of being punished."

Scott Tannen - Boll & Branch

Tannen says that a business leader is only arsenic bully arsenic nan group pinch whom they business themselves.

"I americium not nan astir talented personification successful this institution by miles," Tannen explains, "and I deliberation that's a group of a awesome institution erstwhile I tin opportunity that."

Related: What Makes a Good Leader? Here's What I've Learned After 20-Plus Years arsenic a CEO.

Jocelyn Gailliot - Tuckernuck

Gailliot says Tuckernuck leaders strive to study from their squad members, which intends listening to them.

"We perpetually inquire [them] questions," Gailliot says. "I've been successful industries earlier wherever it's very much: 'This is nan domiciled you play astatine these different hierarchical levels.' And for us, it's ever been: 'You're connected nan squad — you personification astonishing ideas to contribute, and we want to comprehend them.' And we really do."

Richard Branson - Virgin Group

Branson cites Virgin Unite's The Elders, a group of independent world leaders moving for bid and value authorities that has included leaders for illustration Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter, arsenic an illustration of beardown leadership.

"They're each awesome listeners," Branson explains. "They cognize what they're thinking. They don't petition to comprehend themselves saying it retired loud, and nan only measurement they tin study is by listening to different group talk."

Work difficult to execute nan results you want

Amir Loloi - Loloi Rugs

Loloi says that nan only personification opinionated successful nan measurement of your business occurrence is yourself.

"If you dream large and activity hard, nary 1 is location to extremity you," Loloi explains. "It's not astir nan colour of your skin. It's not astir your background. It's not astir your religion. It's not astir point isolated from astir you personally: What are you consenting to do? When you are fixed a task, really overmuch overmuch are you consenting to adhd to it to coming truthful overmuch more? If you want to beryllium personification successful life, measurement retired of nan boundaries."

Image Credit: Courtesy of Loloi. Amir Loloi and his sons.

Adriana Carrig - Little Words Project

Carrig suggests a three-pronged strategy to admit your biggest dreams.

"If you want it bad tin that you're consenting to activity for it and judge successful yourself, and each those things recreation together successful this cleanable trifecta, past there's point you can't achieve," Carrig says. "So spell for it."

Related: 7 Elements of a Strong Work Ethic

Fawn Weaver - Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey

According to Weaver, entrepreneurs petition to springiness nan business their each — aliases rethink it altogether.

"If you're not going to do it pinch excellence and pinch consistency, beforehand retired and get a job," Weaver says. "Period. If you are going to do it pinch excellence and pinch consistency complete time, don't fto anybody slow you down — nary one. Just support going aft it, because nan only group that neglect doing it pinch excellence and pinch consistency are those who springiness up earlier they succeed."