Here are 7 Tips for Early Entrepreneurs to Give a Push to Their Venture Get a grip on the 7 most important learnings to help you save the two most important resources in the initial stages – time and capital
By Yash Malik
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Every entrepreneur's journey is exciting and unique. It is your passion and conviction in your idea that keeps you going. The fact that being an entrepreneur allows your decisions to have real world impact and face real time consequences for your actions – whether positive or negative – is what challenged and motivated me. Another upside is tremendous room for self-growth during the course of your journey, from time management and interpersonal communication skills, self-confidence and most importantly – fulfillment.
Here are the 7 most important learnings that would help entrepreneurs save the two most important resources, especially in the initial stages – time and capital.
1) Do not Solely Focus on Market Size – Do not solely focus on starting a venture just because it lies within large markets or industries. The most important determining factor is what genuine problem does your idea or model solve, even if it lies within smaller markets. If your idea is a viable solution to a paining problem faced by others -then it is worth pursuing. You will end up being more successful by obtaining a larger market share in niche industries than being one among the several undifferentiated players in bigger markets.
Related: 10 Things You Must Do Before Becoming an Entrepreneur
2) Differentiate Yourself – Ideally you should be doing something different. If your complete business model is different or disruptive – great. Even if you are in a competitive space, you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors as much as possible. You can try and obtain a competitive advantage in specific and important areas depending on the nature of business. You could focus on being known for outstanding customer service, product features, marketing strategies, extensive variety, affordable pricing, high quality and so on.
Related: 3 Lessons From 3 Years As an Entrepreneur
3) Have the Right Team and Advisors – You can have the best business model but the wrong team, and the venture will not reach the heights it could have if you only had the right people all along. Time is money and you do not want to be falling behind in the market due to mismanagement and different mindsets within your company. Even getting the right advice at the right time can save you crucial mistakes and capital – especially in the initial stages.
4) Focus on the Bigger Picture – Yes, micromanagement and everyday operations is important to be involved in as a founding member. But focus on hiring the right people and automating the daily operations as much as possible so you can focus on the bigger picture and the more crucial aspects that you will make or break your venture. Even great startup models with a lot of potential can die out if they do not focus on getting the business and marketing strategy right, or if they do not get the funding to scale quickly at the right time. You want to be involved in and devote as much time in top line decision-making as possible.
Related: 3 Fundamental Ideas on How to Succeed as an Entrepreneur
5) Word Hard, Work Smarter – While working hard is very important, you can work much harder than your competitors, but they could be working much more efficiently than you and visa-versa. The mix of both is crucial. In addition to hard work, there may be better methods and strategies that will save you critical time and capital.
6) Run the Numbers – This is something my friends who often advise me emphasize on - and rightly so. You want to be very well planned before putting your hard-earned money into anything. Never underestimate the power of due diligence and thorough research before making an important decision. You want to have an idea of your market size, revenue model, projections, expenses and so on.
7) Ambition and Drive – Through your journey in life – inside and outside the entrepreneur world – your ambition and drive is what will keep you going no matter the setbacks. Keep at it and the positive results will you drive you from there.
