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What to Expect From Your Entrepreneurial Journey? Entrepreneurship is not a play area and there is a lot to take care when one is planning to take upon this journey

By Dipanjan Purkayastha

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It is often believed that if one can find a problem among the masses and is lucky enough to devise a solution for the same, nothing and no one can beat one from gaining success. Although it remains true for most of the entrepreneurs, it is also true that it is often easier said than done. What worked for visionaries in the past may/may not work for one today and vice versa. Hence, it is very important to understand the highs and lows of an entrepreneurial journey.

To begin with, India, today, is a hub of billion-dollar firms and hot investments. The growth in technology and the increasing popularity of smartphones helped fuel the idea of technology startups. All of this accompanied with the central government's efforts have collaboratively increased the spirit of young India.

Here are some key points to consider while devising a "fool-proof' startup plan:

1. Find your "WHY' and stick to it!

Several start-ups emerge and most of them do not survive the first five years of their operations for one simple reason – there's no clarity of "WHY'. The reason to start is as important as the process and while planning to begin one's entrepreneurial journey, one must be very clear with their target audience, product/service in focus, and their means to control operations. While it requires a lot of hard work and sometimes the process even becomes tedious, the only thing that keeps one going is their reason to start.

Ideally, one must start with an apt solution to a problem faced by masses as it determines one's market share. As it is believed, "sell antibiotics, not vitamins' because people often spend money on buying solutions to their problems rather than preventive measures. Experts often suggest solving an existing problem than creating artificial problems as they are short-lived.

2. Believe in the power of "WE'!

No business can work without people, both customers and employees. Hence, "one man army' is a bygone approach to starting any business, big or small. It is imperative to have the best of minds working together in solving the problems faced by masses. Going solo is suicidal and so having people to share the responsibilities and successes alike is always a better plan.

Start with the people you trust the most, moving forward to the people you can train the best! Visionaries in the past have always built their core teams based on character and not skills as the latter can be acquired. Spending time with this lot helps in building a relationship as well as mindset.

3. Take care of the "HOW' too!

Just as how important is the reason for any business, the process is too! Planning plays a major role in establishing any startup and taking to the very end. By focusing more on the location, size, and infrastructure of an office than the idea itself leads to more failures than successes.

Often, in the beginning, time and money are scarce, so use wisely.

4. There's nothing TECHNOLOGY cannot beat!

Any idea minus the technological advancement is a sure failure because of the fact that technology has overpowered everything today. To have technologically updated people on board is important since it helps in making some of the biggest decisions. One must be open to all forms of technologies, contemporary or modern as there is no one fixed approach.

5. Keep your financial planning in place!

Most new companies fail in the first five years for an assortment of reasons, yet one is undeniably more rampant than others – running out of money. One has to know where each and every penny is originating from and where it is going. Monthly, annually, and five-yearly financial planning is the key to survival in this sector.

On the off chance that one doesn't ace the financial planning game, one puts one's business in an exceptionally unsafe position. It doesn't make a difference how great the thought may be the point where the money is a hindrance. Hence, build up a financial plan and stick to it carefully.

6. Always be prepared for the worst!

Keep a flow of income for both, individual and business in a crisis bank account. One can never be excessively arranged for awful circumstances. Unfortunately, they do occur, regularly when one wouldn't dare to hope anymore. As a business owner, one is in charge of one's retirement, so when one begins making money, consider things like a Roth IRA and small investments, even little ones. Anything is superior to nothing - think about miniaturized scale contributing chances or distributing assets on a month to month premise.

7. Sales and Marketing – two of the most important pillars!

There's not a viable replacement for careful attention towards one's site's content and cautious curation of one's business' online awareness. Paid promotions can be a viable instrument in a high-spending advertising procedure, yet in the event that the customer touches base at the site and doesn't discover what they're searching for, how is that system working for them? It's most certainly not. On the off chance that a supported tweet attracts them yet an inconsistency in want pursues them away, what's the advantage there? It's missing. Organic marketing is a long procedure, in any case, it will yield more valid customer acquisition and more exact SEO.

8. Circle of Life!

Regardless of whether you're a solopreneur or employ 25 employees, the business requirements are ever-present. To be fruitful in the two fields, a professional career and social life don't mean one has even presence at home and in the workplace, it implies that one has discovered a mood that satisfies the two sides. In the event that one separates life into discrete compartments, it's extremely difficult to mix them together and have an agreement. Rather, one should see the imperative bits of one's riddle as one unit, with a few sections. For instance, successful entrepreneurs dedicate their days for a family where their only focus is their kids and spouse. On the other hand, at work, their focus is their business associates and employees. Whenever (not if) the two sections collide, it makes it a lot less demanding to discover concordance.

Relationships can be the first to endure when troubles arise. In any case, remember that they're in reality the absolute most imperative things to keep up.

Entrepreneurship is not a play area and there is a lot to take care when one is planning to take upon this journey. Hence, if only one is ready with all the necessary skills and necessities, is ready for the start.

Dipanjan Purkayastha

CEO of hyperXchange

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