Entrepreneurship - The start up phase

Whether you are motivated by the thought of lesser accountability, working on your own time, making money or for the sheer thrill of being part of something extraordinary; then being an entrepreneur can be the thing for you. With wealth of information and resources at our fingertips, anything is possible for just about anyone. 

  

1.       Is entrepreneurship the thing for you? 

‘Success isn’t permanent, and failure isn’t fatal’ – (Mike Ditka)

Whatever the scale of the project, it is always a good idea to start your journey by looking inwards. We are what we think, so first we need to identify if we actually want to become an entrepreneur and whether we have the willpower and the passion to succeed. 

Answering these questions would help you to determine if entrepreneurship is the right thing for you. If you answered the majority of questions with a yes, then you’re ready to go. 

•  Are you a self-starter?
•  Do you enjoy working with other people?
• Can you work for a year with no income from the new business?
• Can you stick with a project until it is finished, or do you frequently abandon projects?
•  Do you enjoy traveling for business purposes?
• Can you work under pressure?
• Are you comfortable in selling situations?
• Are you comfortable asking for money or other resources?
• Do you have the time?
• Do you have the support of your family?

2.       The Idea 

 ‘Whether you love a certain profession or just love an idea, pick a business that you will love’ - (Microsoft)

A good idea should be compelling, realistic, and profitable, solve a pain in the market or should change the world for the better in some way. 

Your idea can be as simple as baking specialized cookies, opening a retail shop, salon business, consulting firm or creating your own product or selling it online. 

3.       Building up the team and networking

‘Never be the smartest person in the room- find people who are smarter. It’s called networking’ – (anonymous)

 It is very important to have a team that you could rely on and to have connections in the industry. Get in touch with industry leaders, find a mentor, get into discussion groups, see who is who in the industry you’re entering and get advice and input from your friends and family who have had experience or connections in the industry.

4.       Analyzing the market and feasibility analysis

‘We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails’ – (Bertha Calloway)

This is the most important step in opening a new venture and knowing how to do a feasibility analysis is one of the most important skills an entrepreneur can have. The success of this analysis has a great impact in determining whether your venture is going to be a success or a failure. 

Feasibility analysis is preparatory research. It lets us understand how much risk is involved. When we start the process of opening a new venture there are all kinds of uncertainty associated with it, but with the right kind of research we can always change this uncertainty into measurable risks. When risks are measurable and stated, we can devise strategies to minimize it. 

When doing a feasibility analysis try to answer the following questions;

•  Is there a customer or a market of sufficient size to make the concept viable?
• Do the capital requirements to start based on estimates of sales and expenses, make sense?
• Can an appropriate start-up or founding team be assembled to effectively execute the concept?

5.       The business plan

This is the point in which you gather all the ideas and experiences that you have gained in the previous steps into one actionable plan. Writing up a business plan would not be much hard work as you have already all the information that you need. 

A plan would serve two purposes. First of all, it would guide your way and be something that you could always refer back for guidance. Secondly, it is your pitch to potential investors.In the business plan, provide details on the legal structure of the business, the vision, mission, HR, Marketing and operational plans. 

6.       Acquiring start up finance

  

‘Finance is the art of passing currency from hand to hand until it finally disappears’ – (Robert Sarnoff)

You’re more likely to get investments if you have started your new venture in some form by the time the investor is approached. Having a running business, despite how small scale it is, is assurance that you’re capable and committed to running a business.

 For example, it might be just a simple website, selling cookies to your neighbors or providing consulting services for a friend for a discounted price. This gives assurance to the investors about market potential and your capabilities. 

There are different kinds of investors that you could approach. 

• Angel investors: whether we believe it or not, there are lot of people with heaps of money. They are looking forward to investing in a business they believe in. these people are people who have a great passion for the type of business you’re doing and want to genuinely help with small amount of return. Lot of music bands get this kind of investment from angel investors who love music and want to help aspiring artists. Building trust is the key in getting an angel investor to invest in your business. 
• Friends and family: be cautious when approaching this group and take necessary steps to avoid any kind of problem that might damage the relationship. 
• Government loan
•  Bank loan
• Own money

7.       The setup

‘People who start business from scratch, and survive, are the toughest people on the face of earth - (Sue Szymczak)

This involves many steps and hard work depending on the type of business you are starting. For example, if you are starting a service business this can take only one day. Time for you to set up a computer and get internet connection. But if you are for example doing retail, this would involve acquiring stock, designing the sales shop and getting sales people.

8.       Tell the world about it

 ‘More contact means more sharing of information, gossiping, exchanging, engaging – in short, more word of mouth’ – (Gary  Vaynerchuk)

With the advances in internet technology, this step has become easy and budget friendly. You can advertise about your new venture in Facebook, your website and through other social media.

Even the best businesses require a lot of marketing, especially in the start up phase. Tell your friends about it and spread the word. 

If you have any great ideas that you would like to share, please do so by commenting below. Good luck and happy entrepreneuring.