Ask any entrepreneur and they will tell you that setting up one’s own business is both satisfying and fulfilling. Today, we see many in our country embarking on their entrepreneurial journeys like never before, especially with the young taking the lead. However, Startups and entrepreneurship have certain critical points that founders need to bear in mind while launching a business venture. They are:

Discuss the idea with few and check their reaction carefully

It is always wise to discuss your business idea and the logic behind it with a few known and Successful Entrepreneurs in the community. Besides validating your business idea, it would also help you in getting the right feedback. Having a frank discussion about the pros and cons can help avoid discrepancies, suitably modifying the idea to suit the right audience needs and thereby sidestepping unnecessary heartburn and disappointment. Moreover, there is a real possibility that someone else has come up with the same idea. By discussing with your peers or veterans, it will provide you a fair idea of the competition as well as a wonderful insight into the buying behaviours of people for the right delivery.

Have access to sufficient financial resources

It is essential that the startup entrepreneurs should have access to sufficient funds at least during the first six months of its incubation. Even if he/she plans to be conservative in terms of expenditure, it is likely that funds will get depleted soon enough. It is important to line up back-up personal resources such as borrowing money from parents or friends, PF funds, jewellery etc., for the initial phase even before even exploring other internal accruals or angel funding. You can also request the people with whom you first discussed the ideas for financial support, or try out any of the new crowdfunding websites.

Important plan a right launch with the right message

Timing is everything when it comes to launching your start-up. Besides marketing and PR, timing –when and where the venture will be launched— is very critical for a successful take-off. Even if you have the perfect idea, team and enough funding to get the ball rolling, if your idea comes too early and your customers are not ready for it, they won’t readily adopt your business. Take, for example, the explosion of mobile wallets or e-wallets in India in the past couple of months. Though they had been around for a few years now, it is the push for demonetization that has prompted people to switch to digital wallets such as Paytm, Mobikwik and Freecharge. The digital wallets were packaged well with the right messaging. The companies spent a lot of money on marketing to advertise and connect with the audience, educating them on how to use the e-wallets.

Try and get the first customer before the launch

As mentioned earlier, the validation of the idea ideally should have been done with a potential customer. This is more relevant in the case of a B2B outfit, where the ticket value is high. Your idea should have been bought by the customer in the first place, which would have left you on a positive note. This will give you the much-needed confidence to focus on product delivery and operations rather than the initial sales target and money.

The article appeared on Bizztor