5 Success Tips for an Aspiring Entrepreneur Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts- Winston Churchill
By Deepak Choudhary •
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Many employees going through the day-to-day grind of their unsatisfying work, dream of being entrepreneurs. But the question is how? The road to entrepreneurship is often a treacherous one filled with unexpected detours, roadblocks and dead ends. But, if you have faith in yourself, the journey will be a little easier.
Here are 5 tips for young and aspiring entrepreneurs to help get you started.
Market Research:
As an aspiring entrepreneur, it is important to identify the need gaps of a market. Possible questions to ponder upon while doing market research.
a. "Why would consumers buy my product?"
b. "Is there a need for this product?"
c. "How can I best serve consumers with the product?"
d. "Has this been done before?"
Primary Introspection should always be done by an entrepreneur willing to start a new business. For e.g. before starting a Bollywood Music Project, we found out that Bollywood doesn't have a music festival of its own. We immediately identified the gap and decided to create a festival exclusively for Bollywood music. Similarly, research helped us create India's first ever media and design festival, The Edutainment Show. These events have been a grand success with the help of market research.
Raising Investment:
Define your investment objective. Highlight the importance of accurately gauging how much capital you will require to turn a business dream into a reality. Once you have an accurate estimation of what your investment objective is, you'll be able to calculate how much you need to achieve this investment goal. It is vital to pitch the right amount to angel investors. This is a crucial balancing act, because underestimating your capital requirement could result in running out of money before the business has a chance to become profitable. Overestimating costs, on the other hand, could delay the process unnecessarily.
Passionate Learner:
A serial entrepreneur has unbridled passion for what he or she does, regardless of the final result. A passionate learner is not only open to new learning's but also flexible in his ways of handling business situations. A learner drives new insights to the business that acts as an important growth factor. An entrepreneur needs to remain relevant and that can only happen through learning's. Be aware of your surroundings, as it stirs new profitable ideas for my business. Be it reading or on my travel journeys, attending events helps to identify various interesting integrations that can be brought to your events.
Taking Risk:
It was said by Jim Rohn "If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary". Every business, big or small, faces risks that the entrepreneur usually has to go through. But remember that every risk will not lead to the desired goal, so think wisely while taking any decision. Regardless of how calculated you are in your strategies, nobody knows if the risk you took will pay off. However, this should not deter you from taking more risks necessary for your business growth. No matter what kind of trade you are in, risks will always be waiting for you.
Proper Business Plan:
A formal business plan is necessary to show all interested parties — employees, investors, partners and yourself that you are committed to building the business. These practical pointers will give your business purpose and medium to evaluate its operations.
To Establish Business Milestones: The business plan should clearly lay out the long-term milestones that are most important to the success of your business.
To Better Understand Your Competition: Creating the business plan forces you to analyze the competition. All companies have competition in the form of either direct or indirect competitors, and it is critical to understand your company's competitive advantages.
To Document Your Revenue Model: How exactly will your business make money? This is a critical question to answer in writing, for yourself and your investors. Documenting the revenue model helps to address challenges and assumptions associated with the model.
To Determine Your Financial Needs: Does your business need to raise capital? How much? The business creation process helps you determine exactly how much capital you need and its use. This process is essential for raising capital for business and for effectively employing the capital.
To Position Your Brand: Creating a business plan helps to define your company's role in the marketplace. This definition allows you to succinctly describe the business and position the brand to customers, investors, and partners.
