Among all the virtuous ideals that a man harbors in his heart, freedom is one of those which are the closest to it. This is as everyone wants to be free from bondage. Entrepreneurship, also, is one of those channels, that can prove to be of help in this regard. This is why millions of men and women dream of it, yet, only a few succeed.
Grab a Mirror!
Yes! You’ll need to pose yourself against that reflector to find faults in yourself before you go on pointing flaws in other more distant entities that are going to follow deeper below. Posing thus, ask yourself:
- Which abilities do I possess?
- Which is/are the thing(s) I am most passionate for?
- Does any of the above abilities translate into an (or more) expertise?
- What is the amount of my reserves in case I fail in my enterprise?
- How much capital will I need, overall?
- Which lifestyle do I want to live?
- Am I even ready to take the challenges of entrepreneurship?
Be ruthlessly honest with your responses! It’s better to carve out another road of your subsistence rather than to repent it later, in case you find this one unfavorable for realizing your dream.
Realize Your Idea – in Your Mind, Strictly for the Time Being
As you still are following the scheming up of the things, it’s more favorable to nurture and foster the spark(s) that take (and have also taken) birth within your cranium, from time to time. Follow these precautions:
- Ask “what’s next?” from yourself! What advancement or, technology is going to unfurl in the future, and how will it affect your business landscape? What are your plans to win over those unavoidable turns?
- Prepare a solution for the thing that perplexes you! It’s because the problem that you face may be equally disturbing for the rest of the mankind (or some people on some spots of the Earth), only if the solution to it hasn’t been discovered yet.
- Exercise your abilities to a completely new sphere! Many industries and businesses execute things through a particular methodology for that’s the approach they’ve been embracing always. In such cases, a different perspective may start all the new beginning.
- Use a faster, better, and more cost-effective approach! This is particularly more for the business concept that isn’t entirely new. Hence, think about the present solutions and emphasize on the ways you can develop something faster, better, and cheaper.
Research the Market
As finding the sources of consumption of your solution is equally important as the birth of an effective business idea, you need to prepare an estimation for it. Study the market for your product.
To realize this endeavor, apart from looking into the unmet spheres of customer-concerns, you may even need to research your prospective partners or rivals inside the market. Hence, for example, you can take interviews face to face or by telephone. You can also provide questionnaires or surveys requesting as “Kindly tell us about the factors you consider when purchasing this service or product,” to mention one of these.
Endeavor for Those Invaluable ‘Words of Wisdom’!
Let people see and verify your service or product to the content of their hearts. Furthermore, you must see what they think of them. A new fresh perspective can help recognize a problem with them, that you might have overlooked. Moreover, being your first brand advocates, these individuals will greatly help convey the success of your solution far and wide. Also, to facilitate your this endeavor, you must listen to their input and the reasons for their embracing of your solution.
Proclaim Your Advent, Particularly to the Government
Complete all legal formalities to start your dream-enterprise, that is to say. Hence, verify that you have grabbed the following objectives:
- Structure of your business/organization (a corporation, a partnership, or an LLC, to name a few)
- Name of your business
- Registration of your organization (particularly with startupindia.gov.in, if you are the desi entrepreneur)
- Made necessary documents available to the authorities for verification
- Have provided a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the option of availing tax benefits
- Satisfied the conditions (like, your organization is ‘post-5-year period’ registered in India, revenues to be below INR 25 Crores/year, providing an innovative solution, your business doesn’t result from an earlier split/reconstructed business)
- The Recognition Number
- Other miscellaneous entities (trademarks, patents, and/or design-registrations)
Endeavor for the Jugaad of Funding
There are a number of means to look for the upcoming of this RESPITE! Hence, sneak a peek below to avail them:
- Be the lone funder for realizing your dream
- Ask your friends and family
- Avail the ‘Startup India’ initiative
- Engage in an online crowdfunding campaign
- Look up to the local angel investors
- Mine for the opportunities with the venture capitalists
- Leverage a startup incubator/accelerator (the Government of India has held promotional measures like 80 “livelihood business incubators” and 20 tech business incubators)
- Bargain for an advance from a customer or a strategic partner
- Take stock of loan opportunities from banks
Locate Your ‘Location’
This entity also, finally, is a nag to deal with and thus requires a lot of preparation, on your part. For the ‘online’ businesspeople, this is exhaustingly nagging particularly when you plan to expand your venture. Consequently, bear the following considerations in mind:
- Mode of Operation: Ensure your location enhances your particular image and style.
- The Dilemma of Demography: Give proper thoughts to knowing your customers extremely well. Consider the question of their propinquity to your location.
- The Traffic: Need people to visit your store? Ensure that the store is easy to locate.
- Parking: Don’t encourage your customers for going somewhere else. Locating a spot to park their vehicles will discourage your growth-prospects!
- The Trade-War: Occasionally, founding alongside your competitors nearby can be a good thing. Other times, it can’t be that much profitable. However, having done the research, you know the best alternative for your business.
- Public Perception and History: Find the favourability of the locality for your business. For instance, having a children’s clothing shop near a childcare center or toy shop will help in boosting your sales. Similarly, find if other businesses have failed there. An ‘unfailing’ failure of past businesses can seriously prove to be a stumbling block.
- The Infrastructure of Your Building: Ensure the space can support your needs, particularly if you own an online firm. In case you’re serious about it, you may want to employ an engineer to get an objective evaluation, at least.
- Utilities and Rent: Finally, do count rent and utilities. Ensure whether they’re included in the lease or not.
Let’s Part with… Nags, Only!
So, these were the lessons I drew out from my encounters of entrepreneurial ventures. For the newer beginners like you, I would repeat that these views are suggestive in their character. Still, they are equally worth a try, at least. Hence, feel free to embrace these guidelines to get an insight on saving yourself from uninvited and unforeseen entrepreneurial troubles!