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Being an Entrepreneur means learning and progressing by own trial and error method. You do not always have a godfather or mentor to guide, and there is no one to tell the right way of doing business. Entrepreneurs have an open world in front of them where they can succeed or succumb to failures. Some sail through the challenges with their hard work and tactics while others lag.
An entrepreneur should be aware of the fact that they can learn from the mistakes made by someone before them. To make it easier, discussed below are tactics to help them avoid making the same mistakes and emerge as a successful entrepreneur.
1. Do not be a Reckless Risk Taker
Often, we come across entrepreneurs whose ideas crash even before take off because of reckless executions and unwarranted risks they took. The first thing that should be considered is the feasibility of the idea. The idea might be a hit and dollar churner on paper but may not work that way when you implement it. Therefore, before transforming the idea into a business, it is very important to check the feasibility and expediency of the idea.
To know how good your idea is, you should start with a market research. Of course, a budding entrepreneur cannot afford to conduct market research on a massive level. At least knowing how people around you feel about your idea would be a good start.
2. Observe your competitors
Every business has a competitor, and a budding entrepreneur must understand how the competitor works. Hit those areas, where the competitor has not reached or ignored. One of the biggest mistakes that new entrepreneurs do is neglecting various important areas or factors thinking that the other companies are not tapping. The common idea is that if there was some potential, then the company in the business for many years would not have neglected it.
Remember, these neglected areas can be a game changer. For those who dread that it is difficult to stand up against an established company, should not forget how Facebook dethroned Orkut (a property of Google).
3. Well thought Marketing Plan
There are a few factors that should not be overlooked while designing a fail proof marketing plan. You should have a clear understanding of the target customers, who will be interested in the product. Businesses spend a lot of money and time in marketing their product, but still fail to garner sales, because of poor targeting.
Next, always define your business for yourself and the potential customers. For instance, if Starbucks did not describe itself as high-quality coffee, then half the potential customers would have been in oblivious about the product of the company. Convey the major and distinctive benefit that a customer gets after buying the product or taking your service.
Always remarket the products to the customers who are already aware and buy it. This might sound like a waste exercise to some, but they should take a cue from companies like Nestle. Nestle markets and remarkets its brand Maggi even when it has become the household name. The company does this to make sure that flood of new products does not fade the brand in the minds of the customers.
4. Be flexible to embrace changes
Biggest names like BlackBerry and Nokia fell like a house of cards as they kept on ignoring what customers wanted. Rather, these companies continued serving their own favorites to the customers. Never let go of the fact from your mind that customer is the king, and they are one to decide what they want.
A successful entrepreneur should be flexible enough to adapt the changes, preferences, technology and shift from the process if it is not what the customers want. To be successful, an entrepreneur should know when to ditch old practices, technology and retain the customers by offering them a new and relevant product or services.
For this, make sure to go through the feedback provided by the customers. It can help you in understanding their need, and transform the product or services accordingly.
5. No harm in taking inspiration from successful business ideas
Often, we hear that since the product or idea is already in the market, the very similar one would not work. However, it is not true as there are many companies in the identical businesses, and are highly successful. Of course, there are factors other than the product that determines the success of the business. For instance, there are dozens of online retailers offering apparels, but the buyer sticks to one that has variety, good after sale service and dedicated customer support.
The idea here is that even if there are products and services similar to what you want to bring, there are ample factors that decide the success of business. In a way, it is even better because you do not need to assess the demand for the product. Just make sure you include all those factors in your offering that customers have been asking for from other companies.
6. Do not get into price war too early
If you think that lowering the price will make a product popular then wait and give it a second thought. Make sure you charge what the product or service is worth. There have been massive failures where companies misjudged the price behavior of the customers. Do not enter into a price war (and definitely dont be the one to start it). So for Smart Money Spending make a Solid plan for pricing the product.
Take an example of BlackBerry, where the company started selling cheaper phones side by side the premium ones, to cater the masses. As a result, high-end customers were wiped off, and the mass went under the impression that the company has lowered the price because devices are not as good as their predecessors.
7. Do only what you are good at
One of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make is doing all by themselves. While starting the business on a small scale, you can afford to market, sell, make the account all by yourself. As the business expands, you need experts who can handle each department of the business. As the business grows, you need an accountant, an HR person, someone for administration, and more professionals depending on the need.
8. Dont let go your day job
You have a wonderful idea and ready to work on it with the capital that you have built after years of job. In order, to focus on the business, some young entrepreneurs quit their jobs. However, this is not a very intelligent idea because you will need cash for day to day business apart from a one-time capital. Therefore, it is better to keep your day job until you find investors or funds for your business.
9. Build a strong network
Last but not the least, a network is a defining factor in the success of any business. Without a proper network, you will not be able to succeed in any business as word of mouth has been an evergreen tactic to promote a business. Big names such as Uber rely on networking to promote their business more than anything else. Advertisement and aggressive spending on the marketing come only when the company grows big enough. Therefore, build a strong network and share the developments with them that your business is making.
Every famous and rich businessman, about who you read today, started their ventures after calculating the risk and reward thoroughly. For instance, Google was started as a side project by two Standford students. Against the common belief that Bill Gates is a Harvard dropout, the man actually took leave of absence and was depended on his parents for financial support while he was in the process of building Microsoft. Therefore, it would be only wise not to be overwhelmed by what you read in a magazine about how these successful businessmen started. Instead, take a practical approach, and never lose hope.
