Success Tips for Early Stage Entrepreneurs Because the customer is the king, you must lend an ear to the clients' needs and seek their feedback.

You have taken off and to reach the destination you move at a certain speed passing by all the weather bottlenecks. Sounds familiar? Yes, your venture has taken off and from paper form, it is now a realistic business in an operation aiming to target profits. Now is the time to take the first right moves- impress your clients, build a name, develop a market, establish a sustainable network and advertise keeping your budget constraints in mind. Any wrong move can be detrimental to the whole start-up. You want to play safe and with the following tips you do so without panicking:

• Market your product

Make the customer aware of the value proposition of the product. Make it a story which remains embedded in their memory; make it sentimental so that they relate to it. The marketing budget is a lion's share in the whole budget; it will bear proportionate returns only if it gets targeted in a right direction.

Tushar Puri, Director of Vertigo Impex says, "It is the right marketing strategies, aimed at the right customers, offering a clear value proposition which propels sales in the right direction. If not aimed at the suitable client segment, it is like blaring aimless horns."

• Build a sound network

You are a start-up. Each fall will be teaching you a lesson. But wouldn't it be nice if there are mentors, seniors in the field or the right network of people to guide you?

Everyone needs a fallback, try to build a sound network of people who are able to offer you the right kind of advice at the right time.

Tushar highlights the relevance of a bullet-proof network wherein you can seek financial advice and plan your marketing and other crucial strategies accordingly.

Rachit Bhandari, CEO of Bhandari and Associates suggests, "My father acted as a mentor is an established professional in the line. I could simply seek any suggestions and act accordingly. This saved a lot of time and money from going astray."

• Hardwork and consistent efforts

Sounds like a cliché, but hard work, meticulous planning, consistency and learning continuously are the keys to success. Rachit endorses this fact and states that nothing can replace hard work. One has to selflessly and relentlessly keep working towards the goal and work towards the smooth take-off of the venture.

• Long run analysis

Often you may get too caught up in the routine deadlines and commitments that you can easily drift away from the main goal. Stay away from this deadly blunder. You ought to spend a few hours each week in the beginning and later once a month to review and assess your efforts in the light of the main goals. Pravin Daryani, CEO of A & A Business Consulting recommends, "You should analyze your daily goals and plan to synchronize your efforts towards the main goal. You have to think big, think of the long run feasibility of your actions and strategize your next move considering a long run and not the current years' profit and loss statement."

• Overhauling process

Just as a machine needs oiling regularly, so do your employees and their skills. You need to conduct employee orientations regularly so that employee goals are aligned with the company goals and they stay motivated throughout. Pravin emphasizes periodic employee training programs and regular team meetings as they are mandatory for employees' growth, enthusiasm and motivation.

In addition to this, policies regarding cost cutting, financial costs, investments and marketing strategies have to be reviewed continually so as to update them in sync with the current regulations and market scenarios.

"If you find outsourcing cheaper and easier, do not hesitate to delegate jobs. You should do a comparative analysis of carrying a job internally vs. outsourcing it, and choose the option with minimum costs and efforts," says Lavish Mahajan, CEO of IGEN Solutions.

Last words: You know that customer is the king. Lend an ear to the clients' needs and seek their feedback. This is a transparent report card for your performance and it will also help in designing the future course of action. With the freelance revolution and digital marketing are the latest buzzwords, do not hesitate to market your product via social media. You can never go wrong if you work hard in the direction of your goal.