Before starting my company I read lot of books on Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management, etc, I also took part and read results of many surveys done over entrepreneurs, well my reason for doing all this – definitely wanted to be foolproof.

Though there were a couple of people in my family those who were in business but still somehow we never connected and hence I didn’t get to have any entrepreneurial/business experience, and so I always asked a question to myself – am I going the right direction. Because you see the major problem with being an entrepreneur is there is no one to tell you what to do next, all your life there was someone who told you “what to do”, “what you are being held accountable for”, but now suddenly there is no one, no matter how much effort you put in the result might come zero, simply because, the direction was wrong.

Almost all the entrepreneurs (including me) face hundreds of such challenges and difficulties which makes up the extremely adventures journey known as Entrepreneurship. Here I am jotting down 5 things about which every entrepreneur should be clear before going to the market.

Well defined offering (product/service): The offering is the crux of a company, therefore no one would want obscurity. A Product is your reason to be in the market, often VCs chase after innovative ideas, still in a country where billion+ people live if at all they all come with innovation, then my friend that figure will outshine the total number of innovations ever happened in the history of mankind (since the discovery of fire).

Leave innovation but try to find the gap, meet your industry people and understand from them what are the customer pain points, put in as much as possible to come up with a well thought out and defined product.

Try to imitate only when it’s a best practice, otherwise generate your own ideas, and believe me, this can also be the answer for Entry Barrier question of a VC.

Revenue Model: There are two ways to monetize a product, either you make a product which makes a user go wow, and then think about monetizing it (The Google way) or else have a clear revenue model, product pricing, and positioning in mind so that when a customer asks that how much is it going to cost me, you have something to say.

Also, if you are not clear about the revenue model, then don’t try to meet an Investor, because just like you an Investor is also into a business, business of purchasing and selling companies and he makes profit only if your numbers are going in green, so just think, how about if you tell him that I still don’t know how to make money from my business/product.

Bring a Mentor on Board: “Having a conversation across with an intelligent man is like reading a book back to back”, discussing your project with someone whom you look up to and trust can bring great value to your idea. People often fear that other’s might steal their plan, but all I can say is that they can steal your plan but not your passion, your energy, your belief and trust me if they are taking your plan that means they believe in your idea thoroughly which is something actually good.

I still remember in the early days of HumInt, I was always frustrated due to filtering of sales calls by receptionists/secretaries until I sought advice from one of my mentors, and he shared with me his tips to bypass secretaries which worked like wonder, and I can safely say that single meeting earned me millions.

Marketing Principals that applies to your product: Marketing is the most exciting part of being an Entrepreneur (at least to me it is). Marketing comes in all shapes and sizes, a kirana shop owner putting his label on the carry bag is also marketing and roping in multi-million dollar Sachin or Shahrukh is also marketing only. But you have to strike a balance between efficiency and your capability. Try to be in front of a customer through all the touch points, for example for Matris I used News Paper Inserts, SMSing, Email Campaigns, etc, but for HumInt Home Automation Product we are using Hoardings, celebrity endorsements, PR Campaigns, YouTube Channels and such things.

Different kinds of marketing applies to different products, Try to think about all the efficient ways of marketing for your product.

Take it to a VC: Before starting a business it is good to make a plan, a business plan is nothing fancy, rather it’s just a plan to understand whether you have given everything deserving a consideration or not. It also gives you a concrete idea about how much money will it require to have a smooth operation.
After you are done with these exercises, how about getting a free analysis of your business plan? Well that is where a VC comes into picture.

No matter whether you require funding or not, still I always evangelize the idea of taking it to a VC, because the kind of value feedback and loopholes a VC can come up with no one can, as they don’t have any emotional connection with the project, yet.

Entrepreneurship is a great path, and a well compensated one both financially and emotionally, I hope this article helps you, Happy Enterpreneurship!