Antonia Stephenson II is one of the most prolific millennial entrepreneurs of his time and today he shared a few tips with us about being a business owner. Antonia is not just a business owner/investor but he’s a military veteran, where he served 8 years in the United States Navy. Joining the navy was the best move he said he could have made at the time but today he wants to give advice to the masses of those who usually go to college first or who jumps straight into business after high school.

We are now in new times where people aren’t as ambitious about going to college anymore, people are becoming innovators and charting their own paths. “We are definitely in a new era but I still think that college could be beneficial if you change your perspective on why you are there” he says. “I mean think about it, you are on campus with people who are going to school to be an accountant, lawyer, doctor, and the list goes on. You can legit build the team of people you need right there on campus just by networking”, he continues. A story that everyone may be familiar with is the story of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. In the movie, The Social Network, him and his college roommate started their business in their dorm rooms.

During our interview, Antonia gave us three skills that every entrepreneur must have in order to be successful.

1. Learn how to sell

2. Learn how to ask questions

3. Learn how to be a problem solver

“With those 3 tips I can promise you that you can build a business. Why? Because if you don’t learn how to sell your product or service to a customer you will never make money. Also, if you don’t learn how to be a problem solver, you’ll never know what product or service is in demand. Everybody in the world wants their life to be easier in some fashion, it’s your job to know how to solve that problem. Lastly, the answers you want are in the questions you ask, every business owner must get extremely good at asking the right questions, if you don’t know how to ask the right questions, you’ll always be chasing your tail and never have a clear picture of what direction you should be taking your company” he explains.

A few books he would recommend all new business owners to get is Profit First by Mike Michalowicz, Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters and lastly, the 12 Week Year by Brain P. Moran and Michael Lennington.

For more information about Antonia be sure to connect with him on Instagram @TonyStephensonii