If You're a Start-up Founder Here are the Skills you Need to Have "Every industry goes into the cycle of undervaluation or overvaluation, and businesses should be insured in terms of managing those crises or uncertain situations."
By Komal Nathani •
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Sitting on a founder's chair is a daunting task. With too many responsibilities to handle, one step in the wrong direction can take an entrepreneur miles away from his/her goal. Though the success of a company depends on many factors like a good team, proper strategy, good business idea but a founder's decisions always matter the most as he not only steers his firm's boat but also the lives of his employees.
Contrary to popular perception, founders from non-business background also do exceptionally well. Wonder how? By learning the skills required in the business.
Entrepreneur India spoke to various business leaders about the skills that every founder must have in today's competitive world.
Raise Funds
At one of India's biggest entrepreneurship shows, 7th Annual Convention of Entrepreneur India Summit, IT veteran and Founder of Happiest Minds Ashok Soota elucidated on how a founder should be skilled in raising funds and make maximum value out of it.
"Every industry goes into the cycle of undervaluation or overvaluation, and businesses should be insured in terms of managing those crises or uncertain situations," he said.
"It is extremely important to maintain profit margins for a start-up. Businesses should raise funds as it is important to grow in the market, but an entrepreneur should know how to make the optimum use of it in the organization," stressed Soota.
Multitask
In an exclusive interview with Entrepreneur India, Aditya Gupta, founder of one of India's biggest carpet exporter The Rug Republic, highlighted three skills that all founders should master. Gupta said an entrepreneur must learn to operate under pressure and at times start multi-tasking.
He stressed on the point versatility is very important for a founder as he/she may need to do the job of an office executive and at the same time do strategic thinking like a CEO.
"The job of an entrepreneur can't be defined in concrete terms as the role is vast encompassing. New things happen all the time, surprises spring up on a daily basis from unexpected directions," he added.
Be a Design thinker and Enable the Change
At 7th Annual Convention Summit of Entrepreneur India, Founder of Kalyani Studio Viraj Kalyani spoke on how being a design-thinker differentiates an individual from others. While speaking in a session on how creativity can be infused into business, he said the main aspect of being a design thinker is to solve problems with creativity. Citing the example of Kalyani Studio, next-gen entrepreneur of Kalyani Forge Viraj also talked about how the ability of effecting a change has helped him become what he is today and what other aspiring entrepreneurs can also learn.
Problem-solving Capability
Mentor-cum- investor Pankaj Maloo, Founder of India's first integrated incubator Venture Catalysts, stressed that the first and foremost thing about entrepreneurship is about having an ability to solve problems. It helps them in the long run and their ability to solve problems will build their existence and increase their value in the market.
