At the advent of their careers, many people aspire to be
entrepreneurs. To be your own boss, to make your decisions and to be assured
that the profits earned from your hard work proceed to your own pocket is the
stuff of many young dreams. But a few years down their career, most people give
up this dream, a few give up after meeting failure and only a handful live
their dream. The main cause for this is the fact that most aspiring
businessmen have failed to prepare for it. Though ultimately rewarding, the
journey of entrepreneurship requires
a lot of preparation to ensure
success. Let us have a look at a few preparatory steps that an aspiring
entrepreneur can invest in.
Education:
A
lot of resources such as time, money and energy are invested in education.
Though all businessmen do not have education relevant to their business, most
admit that education helps to a great extent.Those who are lucky
enough to have realized their calling early in life should go for relevant
education and those who have passed that stage before deciding upon
entrepreneurship should consider the skill set they have been equipped with by
their education. Any significant gaps in learning and understanding should be
filled in by putting in extra hours of study. Nowadays many online and
part-time courses are available. Today knowledge is a crucial resource for
business.
Diverse work experience:
A person that starts a business will have to assume many roles right
from the Chief Executive Officer to a salesperson. Depending on the initial
capital investment, one may or may not be able to recruit trained managers for
various functions. Even if experienced managers are appointed for specific roles,
there will be a need to assess their performance outcomes. This kind of
evaluation has to be accurate for a new business to thrive and grow. An investor
will be able to assess performance in various functions in a timely manner only
if he has a basic understanding of various functions. For example, digital marketing, supply chain management,
recruitment, and operations are a few functions where actual on the floors
experience is inevitable. Before investing in your own startup try to gain
knowledge in diverse disciplines by making sure that you work with different
verticals over the years.
Working in a startup that has just started or is still
striving to gain a stable business gives one a feel this life. The long hours
of dedication, attention to every detail while multi-tasking and handling
stress is not for everyone. You will be able to mentally prepare yourselves for
the challenges to be faced in the future and also learn in advance the mistakes
to be avoided.
Savings:
Any
business proposition involves some amount of investment and working capital.
Though loans can be availed, interest rates are often high enough to make
business unviable. Also to be foreseen is the fact that some cash flow cycles
are longer than others depending on the business. Though profits will take time
to be generated, expenses will not wait and you will have to survive the
period. Due to these reasons, it is extremely important to save money while
working before starting your own venture.
Mentor team:
A startup makes many mistakes before arriving
at a workable business model and finding a stable business. There are also many
challenges to be met, problems to be solved and a lot of help and guidance is
needed. A person who has already gone through this period can prove to be
invaluable in guiding and offering mental support. It would be great if you can
find a mentor who understands your goals, needs, and limitations. Often it is very difficult to find a single person with so
many qualities. For this, a person should not have only one mentor but an
entire team of mentors. This will help to widen the range of input and
cross-check across diverse opinions.
Support system:
Make
sure you have good relations with the people in your life. They may be your
family, friends, neighbors, landlord, investor, employee or clients. There are
challenges coming up all the time in a businessman’s life and one needs
financial help, time and patience from all stakeholders and associates.
Maintaining good relations will help you sail through difficult times.
Networking:
Much
before you actually venture out, start networking with people in the business.
This will help you make important contacts to work through important deals,
finance, talent acquisition, finance, and new business-oriented services and
products. Many of the meetups for startups and business associations
have regulars talks aiming to help improve the skill set and strategy.
Interacting with others also gives an opportunity to sound your ideas on a
wider platform.
Business proposition:
A business is based on a core product or
service. To launch your own business you
need to check if you have a good idea or are willing to take advantage of the
existing market for existing products or services. Working out a new product or
service will require immense work on the business models. Franchise business is
an easier way to be a businessman with tried and tested business models that are
replicable and eventually lead to growth.
Research:
New
ideas are always exciting but remember that it is not always profitable to run
after a billion-dollar idea. Often it makes more sense to solve problems for
existing services and products. If it is a new idea make sure that you put in
every possible effort to research and refine the idea. Also, ensure that the
timing is right for a good idea. Strategic analysis of
a business from various points of view should be made using SWOT analysis,
PESTLE analysis, and BCG matrix. If you are honest to yourselves about all the
external factors, you will gain a more or less correct picture of the business
scenario. If necessary, one should also invest in taking guidance from a
management consultant.
Planning:
It is
no wonder if you have been told to stop planning and start executing but the
truth is that the more in detail you plan, the less the hitches to be solved
further on. Even a very good business concept can fail due to a lack of
planning. A good way to plan is to make a flow chart or organogram
linking all the stakeholders involved right from back end supply chain to after
sales customer care. Once you have an established clientele, the need to scale
up in time will present itself. Angel investors will
be interested and funding will flow but consider all terms and conditions
carefully. Investors are often driven by valuation. This behavior may drive you
off track and you may lose focus or control of intrinsic value in the race for
valuation. Plan well in advance the future course of your venture.
Marketing:
First of all, define your market by answering
questions such as:
Who is the customer?
What is your USP or
Unique Selling Proposition?
Where is the customer?
How are the products or businesses to be accessed by a
consumer?
The answers to these questions will help you to know your market
and in turn, be the guiding beacon for the marketing team.
Execution:
Once you
start execution, be brutally honest with yourselves when identifying problems
and bottlenecks. Do not let anything stop you from correcting a mistake no
matter it affects your ego or dealing with a parasitic business relationship.
If a strategy or partner is not working, do not stretch too much in the hope
that the course will smoothen out by itself. Have frank and honest conversations with all stakeholders
and work out alternatives before it is too late. Do not try to do everything
yourself all the time. Recruit personnel early enough to develop mutual
understanding and allow them a period to settle down. This will train you also
to work as a manager and get the job done.
There will be no end to prepare yourselves so design a
timeline for your project. Remember there will not be any boss to review your
progress so be your own boss and better be a strict one. Adhere strictly to the
timeline and trust minor things to work out without getting hyper. Make a
resolve to let nothing break your spirit and take the plunge.
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