How to be successful at Entrepreneurship?

 

Years ago, when I was graduating with a degree in Commerce, I wondered how and when will I land a job of my dreams. The definition of a job of my dreams was that I should be everything but not a mundane Job.

I soon landed a Job in one of the biggest BPO’s in Mumbai and began my corporate journey. I grew personally and professionally in that job. I learnt many tactics about smart work as I was someone who dedicated my time and effort towards hard work.

I eventually landed a leadership role and my knack for communicating and interacting with people helped too. I conducted training, one on one sessions, performance appraisals and did everything that wasn’t listed in my scope of work.

However, I soon began to realize that I was losing the creative aspect of my life. I have always been a little impulsive and been a risk taker. This job restricted me from taking risks, from exploring beyond boundaries etc.

Thankfully the Mr. in my life ventured towards the path of entrepreneurship carrying with him hell loads of work experience from all walks of the corporate world.

He casually asked me if I wanted to join the bandwagon and my answer was obviously a big “YES”.

Now, entrepreneurship may sound very fancy and dreamy. After all, who doesn’t like being their own boss!! However, with being your own boss come a zillion challenges too that you should be willing to overcome.

Through this blog post I am going to share what worked for me while I decided to tread on the path of entrepreneurship. You are more than welcome to pick a tip and apply it to your own life.

Decide that you want to be an entrepreneur.

Wanting to be own on your own and actually being are completely different things. Take the first step by deciding and moving towards entrepreneurship.

Choose your field of work.

Often people who choose to be an entrepreneur have a vast experience in their respective jobs. They are so caught up with giving their best to their job that they seldom forget the qualities they have for being an entrepreneur. Pick the field you want to carve your niche in.

There are plenty of options available for being an entrepreneur, some of them are;

• Turn your hobby into a business. (Market your hobby)
• Your own consultancy (you will obviously have to use your contact and build network)
• Writing (If you have a knack for writing, then this field has a multiple opportunities)
• Social Media Consultants (with ever increasing lack of time, businesses want freelance consultants for every field)
• Food (This is one field that can be explored widely as it’s never going to go out of fashion)
• Air BnB (If you have a spare room in your house then you can definitely join the list of AIR BnB homes)
• Teacher (If you love studying as much as I did when I was younger, then you can venture into tutoring and even start a study center)

The list of options that you can turn into a career are many. You should be precise and confident in choosing one sector and work on building it.

Plan your Business  

Once you have chosen your niche, you need to plan around it. Plan what your services will be, who your audience is? Etc. Basically you need to have your initial and end goals streamlined.

 

Plan your finances

OK, so jumping into a new field of work without financial planning is definitely not the smartest thing to do. You need to have a certain amount of capital kept aside to be able to invest in your venture. There are a few finance schemes too available by the government. I have one advice though, it’s better to use your own assets rather than taking on additional liabilities when you are starting out.

Know your audience

This is of extreme importance. You may have a business idea however knowing who you are targeting and how you will serve them will help you grow. You need to also keep in mind how you will make your customer’s stay with you. You have to keep in mind tips, techniques to build a long-term customer relation.

Build a Network

Thanks to the social media and constant innovation of technology it’s primary that you build your network. This is where your social media skills come into consideration. Pick on every opportunity available and see how you can capitalize on it. Use various social media platforms to promote your skills and services. From small organisations to bigger companies all rely on their social media marketing.

Attend open mic forums, attend events relevant to networking. Use social media tools to build and grow network. Spread the word as much as you can.

Give continued service.

Providing a service is not your end goal. Your end goal is to provide continuous service and boosting your services time and again. You need to add value to your consumers. Innovate and create continuously.

One important addition to this is that you need to devote time daily to all this. Have a schedule, work through a space that is not to noisy either. A routine and structure will help you streamline things.

These small steps will help you in your journey of being your own boss. Don’t be shy to approach for help or call out to other entrepreneurs. Always remember to continue believing in your self and let the learning never stop!!

Watch this video that describes the journey of an entrepreneur in the best way!!

Life of an Entrepreneur

 

Don’t worry about being successful but work toward being significant and the success will naturally follow.”  – Oprah Winfrey