5 tips to survive the first year of the business
One of the toughest tasks an entrepreneur has to clear is to survive the first year of the business. Most startups fail during this time, and there are various reasons associated with it. One of them is the lack of planning and the right approach.
Thus, to help the budding entrepreneur survive their first year of business; I would like to share my two cents on the experience of starting a business with an initial investment of ₹200k and transforming it into a company with ₹50 million turnover and 50 employees.
So here are five tips that a budding entrepreneur must read:
1. Market analysis is the first step toward a successful business
Before starting any business, the key task most people overlook is market analysis. An entrepreneur has to be sure if there is a demand for his product or does the product can create demand in the future. Also, most entrepreneurs make the mistake of starting their business, without a concrete business strategy based on the market analysis. Thus, they work hard, but it yields no result, and the startup fails.
2. Success in business demands patience
An entrepreneur must have complete faith and loads of patience in the work and the business he is running. He or she has to realize and understand that he is there to achieve something big, and success is not achieved overnight.
He or she has to learn from his struggles and failures and needs to spend time finding solutions to his problems rather than giving up. Every budding entrepreneur should know that it will take more than one year to build a successful business, and patience is the key to getting there.
3. Follow the ‘V-M-T’ to seize the opportunity in the market
You must follow these steps to make a dent in the market:
1. Vision: You must have a clear vision behind your company, and you must be able to answer the question, ‘Why does your company exist?‘.
2. Market Analysis: Just like doing a market analysis before starting a company is important; it’s necessary to analyse and research the demographics and psychographics of your potential customer base, and understand their buying habits on a regular interval basis once your product hits the market.
3. The positioning of your product: You must target the right customer segment as per the ability of your product and the results of your market analysis.
4. Master the art of delegation
Common mistake entrepreneurs do is to become possessive about their business. They take every responsibility, which leads to a waste of time. An entrepreneur must learn to trust the employees and allow them to make some decisions so that he can work on Innovation, growth and expansion. Also, never hesitate to hire good talent even if you pay more.
5. Avoid these three sins of entrepreneurship
The thing which has made me a better businessman and human is that I try to avoid three things: Ignorance, arrogance, and laziness. All I do is, hustle 24X7 with loads of passion, values, discipline, and being steadfast in my beliefs, and this is what I urge my fellow entrepreneurs to implement in their lives and businesses.
At last, make sure to do one thing, enjoy your work, because your happiness will make your business successful.
Which tips will you like to implement? Share your thoughts below.
As the founder of Versatyl, Saneen is bringing a positive change in the apparel industry; as he has created the World Lightest Jacket and become a top seller on various e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart etc.
