Passion. 

Making the entrepreneurial leap to run a business of your own is never easy. You cannot just ride on talent or brilliance, but determination to achieve your well-defined goal, constantly fuel the passion, and not let enthusiasm blind you.

The aptitude to overcome the culture shock of being uprooted from the set corporate structure, and planted into a different environment – which we call the “start-up mentality”, shows the resilience to change, and the readiness to enter the “start-up community”.

Commitment.

In this age of cut-throat competition, you live on the edge. So, be audacious enough to risk your time, money and effort. This is where you need to ensure that you are ready to take it on. Don’t shy away from taking chances. Being a founder, you should adapt to the atmosphere and start building the blocks on your own. Before commanding the cavalry, you need to get across the trenches. Face the challenges; know the snags and how to fix them, to reach where you are headed.

Business sense.

In spite of having an inimitable business model, many businesses collapse as the entrepreneur enters an uncharted territory without having a long-term strategy in place. Ideas are fleeting, and you cannot lock it from criticism and collaboration. Expose, discuss and analyse them to be able to execute/ incubate to something concrete. Knowing ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the business, guides and allows you to sketch a plan much ahead for contingencies. What differentiates your product or solution in the market is innovation driven by demand, preference, and ambition. Choosing the right technology for designing the product/ solution will affect the production cadence.

Network.

Start-up gurus swear by networking. A crucial aspect when venturing into entrepreneurship, networking gives you an access to ideas, practices, insights, funding, client leads, resources, and potential alliances.

People matter.

Your customers and employees are your priorities. Having a clear and intimate understanding of the needs of your customers, accepting their feedback and viewpoint will win trust and brand value. Remember to honour your employees. In the end, they will propel you to the top and expand the business at a faster pace.

Vision. Teamwork. Success.

A clear vision built on a solid foundation, and a tough commitment keeps you motivated and helps sustain the momentum of your venture; and for the vision to permeate all through the enterprise there should be solidarity among the employees regardless of pedigree, experience, or designation. You work as a team to transform the vision into a flourishing business, where everyone should pitch in to meet the mark and get the job done.