#8 Things to Keep in Mind while Becoming an Entrepreneur Leaving the comfort zone and starting a new journey is a huge challenge and you need to continuously fight with yourself and your fears to stay focused
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"Many people dream about being an entrepreneur, starting their own business, working for themselves, and living the good life. Very few, however, actually take the plunge and put everything they've got into being their own boss."- Fabrizio Moreira
Well, those who take the plunge know that ideating and executing something unique that you always believe in is a great pleasure. It goes without saying that living your dream and doing what you really love can boost your self-satisfaction unconditionally.
However, the question is how many of us want to take that plunge or how many of us get an opportunity to do what we really love? Most of the times, we fear the unknown and take the routine path i.e., looking for a good job after passing out from college and then accepting that whatever we are doing is our destiny, thus, ending up in a comfort zone and hiding ourselves in a cocoon.
Undoubtedly, leaving the comfort zone and starting a new journey is a huge challenge and you need to continuously fight with yourself and your fears to stay focused. Here, your determination, passion and inner self will become the deciding factor.
In words of Peter Drucker, "Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice." So, while embarking on the journey of becoming an entrepreneur, there are no set rules, there are certain points that should be kept in mind…
- Careful Observation is the Key: Only those who have an eye for detail and can identify improvement areas or solutions to existing problems can be successful entrepreneurs. It is not at all necessary to build new things always. All you have to do is observe things carefully and look at the problems from a different glass to develop that Billion Dollar idea. Do you know? It was Blackberry, which introduced chat on mobile, but this facility was restricted to Blackberry users only. Later, Brain Acton and Jan Koum identified the scope of this feature and went on to develop WhatsApp, which is a huge success now.
- Identify Your Strength and Create Business Around it: Your strength is your USP. Make it a point to think big and capitalize on your strength to achieve your dream. Elon Musk always dreamt of going to Mars as a child. He started building his business around that dream and formed SpaceX. Today, SpaceX's latest pitch is to connect cities by suborbital rocket, which can travel around the earth in 60 minutes.
- Understand that Same Idea May Not Work in Different Countries: While copying other's ideas is a sin, copying your own idea in different countries or regions can also be disastrous as people and their thinking may differ drastically. Hence, for your business model, you need to understand preference of the targeted region and build the solution accordingly. Take the case of Rocket Internet, which made many successful ventures all over the world, however, its model, did not work in India.
- Choose your Team Members Wisely: In the beginning, as a founder, you will play multiple roles and this will enable you to understand importance of all aspects of business. This will further help you in identifying the right candidate for any role. Always handpick your initial team members and ensure that they share the same passion for the business like you.
- If you are Likely to Fail, Fail Quickly and Don't Stretch: While building upon your core idea, you will develop many new sub-ideas. Put to test those new ideas and conclude early as to whether they will work or not. You need to be very quick in observing and choosing the right options. Don't stretch things unnecessarily as it will only dry up your resources.
- Don't Build Something to Sell: Investors always look for experience, business model, number of years that you put in the business and how much money you have invested. First, start the journey with passion and then focus on generating revenue. If you are able to generate revenue, angel investors will definitely consider you.
- Always Stay Grounded: Always remember that your ambitious business plan should be a workable one. You will get investments on the basis of scalability of your business and future growth prospects. So, always stay grounded.
- Use Money Wisely: During the initial phase of business, it is a given that you use money very prudently, however, when the funds start flowing in, you may adopt a relaxed approach. But, always remember that you are answerable to the investors and should spend the money wisely.
In a nutshell, firm faith in your BIG IDEA and your inner-confidence will help you sail successfully. Once you have come up with a workable solution, you need to scale it up. Investor will help you in scaling up but would need commitment from you. So, always take responsibility of your action and be thankful to your well wishers.
