From employee to an entrepreneur

 There comes a time in every hustlers life whether to start something of their own or continue with their regular job. Unless adverse circumstances forces you into self employment, it’s a decision that needs to be handled with utmost care. I encountered a similar situation back in January 2016 when iDigitize was born and I have never looked back since then. Based on my experience as a first generation entrepreneur, below mentioned are the questions that I had asked myself and steps that I have been following till date:

Survival instinct and smart financial planning:
Not all start-ups flourish quickly and also not all start-ups require a heavy financial boost. Do you have the will and courage to stay for a few months without a fixed monthly salary? Are you a smart investor to make money work for you that will not only take care of your daily needs but also help in establishing a start up with your own hard earned money? Evaluate yourself how strong you are, mentally and financially and take the right decision.

Change of mindset:
Start thinking that allows you to see opportunities where others may not as opposed to waiting & hoping for nature to create one for you! If you are stuck in an employee mindset you will only be focused on accomplishing tasks being thrown at you but if you can shift your thinking you will start seeing possibilities, new opportunities and ways to create value out of what you do.

Be confident and crazy about what you want to do:
Merely being fed up with your job should not be the reason for making the transition, your decision should have the right purpose and the purpose should be more than blindly chasing your passion. Think about your skills and abilities which when put to use can solve someone’s pain point. Consider what you can see yourself doing confidently for hours each day, for weeks and years. In my case, I was confident with the digital marketing and web designing skills I possess, will surely solve the problem faced by businesses in transitioning to the digital space, and I did well.

Will others pay for what you sell?
Business is an intersection between what you like to do and what others will pay for. If you love doing something, without a proper plan and market validation you will be disappointed to find out no one is willing to buy what you plan to sell and that surely it’s not a viable business idea. Fuel your passion with a reality check, and make the necessary changes to make your passion sellable. As a founder and partner at iDigitize Infotech LLP, I am constantly on the bridge watch for adopting new methods & trends that add value to our client’s online marketing goals making our services sellable.

Build a strong foundation:
Time for some ground work for your new venture! This step involves creating a robust plan based on the skills you have and pain-points you are set to relieve. Creating a short, mid and long term business goals are crucial for mapping your vision and strategies. This will serve as a blueprint to navigate you through various stages of your entrepreneurial journey. In your plan it is imperative to outline your target market, analyse your competitors, derive marketing & sales strategies, mode of operations and financial projections.

Here is an outline of how my initial business projection looked like:

• Short term goals as a freelancer: to capitalise on website development & Search engine optimisation
  Purpose: If you develop a website, it will be meaningless if you are not found in search results for products or services you sell. This made website development and SEO a need of the hour for businesses and sellable. As a free lancer these two services were easily managed easily by me consistently for a year and a half
• Mid term goals while raising a team: Add social media marketing as a line of service + Search engine marketing and hire a few team members.
  Purpose: Once a basic online identity is in place, social media marketing and advertisements play a vital role due to its massive reach that can lead to businesses become successful in the online world. Since managing multiple services all by myself would be a challenge, I started raising a team to work alongside ensuring deliverables are on time that continued for a year more.
• Long term goals while growing business & team: Developing advance websites(e commerce), mobile applications, cloud based softwares – becoming an end to end IT + Digital marketing company. This is where we are as of today with a team of 24 in a span of few years.
  This steady growth was achievable because the business plans & goals were patiently followed, and they still continue to be followed till date..

There are no miracles or luck that can determine the success of your entrepreneurial journey except patience and a clear business plan.

Building a sustainable team for a sustainable business:
Innovation, customer retention and referrals pave a way towards business sustainability. To achieve the same, foster a good work culture, encourage your team to take leadership and project their ideas for improvising solutions, this will keep your customers coming back to you for more and also at times refer you to businesses in their network. At work, people want fair treatment & flexibility and potential to grow financially. If your team enjoys the way they work, they will not only stay for long but also take on additional work (if available) bringing the best version of themselves and constantly elevate their performance.

Developing leadership & communication skills:
Mastering leadership and communication skills are essential to succeed as an entrepreneur. Leadership does not mean being a typical Boss! It’s about inspiring and guiding others, making informed decisions & solving problems in a pressurized situation calmly.

Strong communication skills will help you to put forth your ideas, negotiate deals and connect with more people. Communication skills are more than just selling yourself for the heck of it! The success of growing a business lies in identifying the problem areas & communicating an appropriate solution that leads to a viable sale.

Dealing with failures:
Failures are inevitable! Embracing failure without finding a quick fix to escape from it is essential for an entrepreneur as you then know “what not to do.” It is natural to feel discouraged and demotivated but as an entrepreneur you can not let this feeling force you to give up as your team’s career is dependant on you! Failures are never fun, nor it is the end of the world. Use it as a motivation to keep pushing harder. Once you have encountered a failure it’s necessary to analyse its root cause so that chances of repetition are less.

Risk VS Reward:
Needless to say, being an entrepreneur requires one to be willing to take risks. It is essential to evaluate the risks you take to ensure they are worth taking rather than taking risks based on your instinct/feeling. Knowing when to take risk and when to hold back is extremely essential. As an entrepreneur you must weigh risks against its projected rewards and then decide if it’s worth your time and money.

Finally, always maintain a positive attitude even in the face of failure. If you firmly believe in yourself, your abilities and your team, the sky is the limit!