What kind of experience do I need to start my own business?
Should I have some business experience?
Do I need experience from the industry in which I am planning to run my business?
What kind of experience will help me to build successful business?

Here’s kind of experience that helped me to build 6 successful ventures over last 7 years:

Travel                                                                                                                                             Over years I have travelled (mostly by myself) over 40 countries on 5 continents. Being exposed to different environment,  culture and situations helped me broaden my understanding of the world. All travels I did were on a shoestring budget – backpacking which also adds to experience.

Books                                                                                                                                                 In last twelve years I have read or listened to app 500 business and self-development books. Plus countless articles and blogs. On average I read hour a day. Books always served me as great source of information and inspiration. I am big believer in books and feel like they are being overlooked today. (working on project to change that – coming soon).

Party                                                                                                                                               One of the most important things in business is relationships building. Whole social environment you will create inside and outside your company. Being kind of a “party animal” back in my mid and late twenties helped me to practice and improve my social skills that helped me greatly when starting from scratch in new cities, industries and cultures.

Living in foreign country                                                                                                       This is similar to travelling but more in-depth. You understand the country and its people much better and at the same time you must do more to succeed.  Being there without family, friends and whole social network and known environment is helping you grow.

Sport                                                                                                                                       Especially practicing for IronMan (20+ hours a week while running a company) was great exercise in discipline, goal setting and following through on my resolutions. Finishing the race was one of the most rewarding moments in my life and left me with lifelong feeling that I can do anything. 

Working for P&G                                                                                                                       Listing work for big corporation as great prep for running your own business seems to be contradictory. Procter & Gamble is great company which from the very first moment gave me full responsibility for job I do, let me learn a lot and sense of ownership I had there was hardly comparable to any other corporation out-there. Working there in F&A and Marketing gave me very solid foundation to build on when I started my own business.

It may be surprising I did not list university studies or some other kind of formal or informal education. Rightly so, they did not help me at all.