Starting without knowing how
How to start a business from scratch with no experience
Gain experience before taking risks: work or intern in the field, take free courses, start with a small version and keep a mentor close.
bairogonzalez.com team, drawing on Bairo's story · Published
No one is born knowing how to run a business. But lack of experience weighs: in its "Business Survival" study, Sebrae found more owners with little prior experience in the field among the companies that closed. The good news is that experience can be built, and you can build much of it before putting your money at risk. This page is for those who still have some time to prepare; if you've lost your income and need to start right away, see Starting a business with no experience when you must.
The practical path
- Learn the field from the inside. If you can, work for a few months in a business similar to the one you want to open, even part-time. You'll see suppliers, customers, seasonality and problems up close that no course shows.
- Take the basic free courses. Sebrae offers free courses, in person and online, on business plans, finance, sales and formalization. Start with the basics of financial management: that's where beginners go wrong most.
- Talk to people who already do it. Owners of businesses in the same field in another city tend to speak more openly. Ask what they would do differently if they were starting today.
- Start with a small version. A service for a few customers, a market stall, a simple online shop, one order a week. Real experience comes from real selling.
- Have a mentor. A more experienced entrepreneur, a consultant, a professor. One conversation a month already prevents expensive mistakes. Mentoring programs from Sebrae, business associations and universities are options.
- Surround yourself with people who know what you don't. An accountant from day one. A lawyer when there's a partner or an important contract. A partner who complements your skills, with a written agreement.
- Write down your mistakes. A notebook of mistakes, and of what each one taught, becomes, over time, your own experience.
One special caution: be wary of expensive courses that promise to turn anyone into a successful businessperson in a few weeks. Experience can't be bought ready-made. A beginner's best teachers tend to be the customer, the accountant and the first well-analyzed mistake.
Lack of experience isn't a reason not to start a business. It's a reason to start smaller and learn faster.
How Bairo went through it
Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez built businesses in fields where he had no training. He says he came to Brazil in 2002 to work for an education company. Then he opened a salon, created a hair-treatment course, a cosmetics brand, events and digital printing businesses. Each one taught something the previous one didn't.
After going broke, he made a decision that sums up this page: instead of going back to familiar ground, he decided to do something he didn't know how to do. The first attempt on that new ground went wrong. Later, without knowing how to code, he spent six months learning and building in front of the computer. In his story, lack of experience was never a reason not to start; it was a reason to learn with more discipline.
The Method step
This is the page for step 6 of the Seventh Attempt Method: learn what you don't know. Make the three columns: what you need to know, what you'll learn on your own and what you'll ask a partner for, hire out or do with the help of AI. One thing from the second column, 30 days.
Discover the Seventh Attempt Method