Challenges You Face if You Are an Entrepreneur An entrepreneur has no choice to become resilient along the way, every misstep, every fumble however painful, does make us stronger

Entrepreneurship/workplaces, in general, is gender agnostic but the ugly truth is, that is it is not! This is a global phenomenon and not just India specific. Like all solutions, what it takes to survive and flourish is a combination of various actions and approaches.When the objective is to create a product that is easy to understand, intuitive, scalable and navigable with minimal instructions, these were my learnings

1] Don't wait for Perfection

We need to think and ask questions. What I had done till date was enough. If My product offering was strong, valid and it was fulfilling a dire need and it was conceived with a deep understanding of the market……was it perfect? No. Would it increase efficiencies? Yes. Would it crash turnaround times? Yes. Would it be aid critical decision making?YES!

This is relevant because more often than not we feel we are not ready/ perfect enough for that next promotion or opportunity and maybe we should wait whereas the truth is that one needs to be true to oneself and give it your best shot.

An internal report at Hewlett-Packard revealed that women only apply for open jobs if they think they meet 100 per cent of the criteria listed. Men apply if they think they meet 60 per cent of the requirements."

So start! Start with pain, start with fear, start with your toes trembling but start you must!

Because you may not be 100% ready today but you will learn and you will be more than ready along the journey!

2] Offer an Integrated Solution

The chances that the product service you offer is self-contained and does not require any other devices and or integrations to function is an urban legend.

When you are the drawing board conceptualizing the product, carve out and an entire integration road map with your client and or other primary data systems.

To seed usage, the product must be a part of an ecosystem

3] Micromize

Customize deeply, this is the truly the starting point if one wants the end user to have a superlative experience and continuous traction. For eg, if the need is the rural markets, ensure that the data capture experience is differentiated and catered to that market in terms of relevant language, templates etc.

4] Infinite Loop

Continuous product evolution is key, regularly solicit opinions from early beta users and prioritize, incorporate this feedback over the lifespan of the product.

The aim is to evolve faster to the needs of your underlying industry, so ensure that your infinite loop is ONMODE always!

5] Collaborate, Partner, co-Innovate

Seamless, Instantaneous and Customized have become customer baseline expectations and its only by partnering with the established players and lenders who embrace your solutions that you can cater to these expectations.

Flying solo has its limits, we touch the sky when we partner with the best of the breed.

6] Test Test and Test Some more

We all hope for a seamless and agile, ERROR-FREE fintech product, but let's be realistic, given the complex customer databases, legacy systems, security protocols.

Friction is but a given during deployment

Testing is one of the most critical activities that you personally and the team should spend time on. It should be done extensively and exhaustively across User Interface, Back End Algorithms, Intelligence, Cohort Analysis and across multiple datasets and all this before the SALE!

There can't be a more compelling argument to test and test some more.

7] Surround yourself with the Best of Class

It's important to surround yourself with people who believe in you and your abilities. This begins from home and extends to work. Ensure that your team compliments you beautifully. People who resonate with your passion and belief are the people you want on your ship!

There are countless examples of women who have and are successfully navigating through so-called through male-dominated bastions, and there's no reason why you can't be one of them!

Entrepreneurship/workplaces, in general, is gender agnostic but the ugly truth is, that is it is not! This is a global phenomenon and not just India specific. Like all solutions, what it takes to survive and flourish is a combination of various actions and approaches.When the objective is to create a product that is easy to understand, intuitive, scalable and navigable with minimal instructions, these were my learnings

1] Don't wait for Perfection

We need to think and ask questions. What I had done till date was enough. If My product offering was strong, valid and it was fulfilling a dire need and it was conceived with a deep understanding of the market……was it perfect? No. Would it increase efficiencies? Yes. Would it crash turnaround times? Yes. Would it be aid critical decision making?YES!

This is relevant because more often than not we feel we are not ready/ perfect enough for that next promotion or opportunity and maybe we should wait whereas the truth is that one needs to be true to oneself and give it your best shot.

An internal report at Hewlett-Packard revealed that women only apply for open jobs if they think they meet 100 per cent of the criteria listed. Men apply if they think they meet 60 per cent of the requirements."

So start! Start with pain, start with fear, start with your toes trembling but start you must!

Because you may not be 100% ready today but you will learn and you will be more than ready along the journey!

2] Offer an Integrated Solution

The chances that the product service you offer is self-contained and does not require any other devices and or integrations to function is an urban legend.

When you are the drawing board conceptualizing the product, carve out and an entire integration road map with your client and or other primary data systems.

To seed usage, the product must be a part of an ecosystem

3] Micromize

Customize deeply, this is the truly the starting point if one wants the end user to have a superlative experience and continuous traction. For eg, if the need is the rural markets, ensure that the data capture experience is differentiated and catered to that market in terms of relevant language, templates etc.

4] Infinite Loop

Continuous product evolution is key, regularly solicit opinions from early beta users and prioritize, incorporate this feedback over the lifespan of the product.

The aim is to evolve faster to the needs of your underlying industry, so ensure that your infinite loop is ONMODE always!

5] Collaborate, Partner, co-Innovate

Seamless, Instantaneous and Customized have become customer baseline expectations and its only by partnering with the established players and lenders who embrace your solutions that you can cater to these expectations.

Flying solo has its limits, we touch the sky when we partner with the best of the breed.

6] Test Test and Test Some more

We all hope for a seamless and agile, ERROR-FREE fintech product, but let's be realistic, given the complex customer databases, legacy systems, security protocols.

Friction is but a given during deployment

Testing is one of the most critical activities that you personally and the team should spend time on. It should be done extensively and exhaustively across User Interface, Back End Algorithms, Intelligence, Cohort Analysis and across multiple datasets and all this before the SALE!

There can't be a more compelling argument to test and test some more.

7] Surround yourself with the Best of Class

It's important to surround yourself with people who believe in you and your abilities. This begins from home and extends to work. Ensure that your team compliments you beautifully. People who resonate with your passion and belief are the people you want on your ship!

There are countless examples of women who have and are successfully navigating through so-called through male-dominated bastions, and there's no reason why you can't be one of them!