What it takes to be a successful entrepreneur

A lot of entrepreneurs miss out on key details in the excitement of embarking on their career journey. Read on to find out if you're on the right track and what is it that you're doing wrong. 

Jack jumps out from his box and shouts out loud 'I don't want to live in here any more, I want to build my own Big Box'.

Jack thought he didn't want to be just another Jack who lived in someone else's box -- he wanted to be different.

He had the passion and he thought in his mind, "What more does one need to build his own big box, besides the passion to build one".

So, when he jumped out of the old box he felt free, he felt excited, he knew he could now build a box of any size he wanted. And to no one's surprise he chose BIG and set out to make the biggest box that anyone could think about.

But there was one problem, Jack had never built a box before -- he had only lived in it!

We see many start-ups making the same mistake as Jack -- to start making the biggest box even before understanding how to make a box.

There are certain key things that entrepreneurs miss out in the excitement of embarking in their journey.

I have come across some such typical problems after interacting with few start-ups and going through their business plans while running my start-up incubation and consultancy firm.

I thought would be useful if I shared them, for all the Jacks who are thinking about jumping out of their respective boxes.

The author Deep Malhotra is the founder and managing partner of Gemini New Media Ventures LLP and Gemideals.com. He can be reached at deep@imgemini.com.

Please click NEXT to continue reading...

I have come across many business plans that aim at making the next big thing by capturing the entire market within six months.

I think it is important to prove your concept microscopically before you grow.

Test it out by getting 10 customers from your area before you even think about expanding it to the city.

Big isn't always powerful -- small is sometimes more sensible. Hence, it is not always important to build the biggest box straight up, but something that grows and becomes big.

Many entrepreneurs usually miss out on this key question: What is the need gap the product or service is solving?

This I feel is the single most important answer that any business plan -- needs to answer.

Most start-ups give more importance to marketing their product than making their product more robust.

Maybe that's why we see marketing spends for user acquisition by start-ups over powering user acquisition through product excellence.

If you are at a stage where you just have a prototype ready or in the making, then investor money for building your box may not always be the right thing to do.

Investors aren't doing charity while investing in your dream -- they need exit.

It is important to answer: What is the ROI the investor can make after the business has achieved all that it had set out to?

Many entrepreneurs realise this sooner than later in their journey that maybe working in a job was better than doing your own thing.

Because building your own business takes a lot out of you. And that's when the burn out happens and founders sway away from their focus.

We see many Jacks every day jumping out of their old box, some make their own box while some are still trying.

But there is one thing in common between all these Jacks that they are all driven to make their dream into a reality.

With current market scenario getting more challenging for every new box on the block, I hope the above few thoughts will help all the budding entrepreneurs in moving towards their dreams in a more realistic way and that is what we are trying to do at our integrated module based programme for start-ups. Because nothing is more beautiful and successful than having something you have build on your own.