Five points every entrepreneur should think deeply about before starting a business:- www.deekpay.com

The PayUmoney blog is a platform that provides all businesses with the information they need to help them optimise and upgrade. Be it payments or marketing, we guide businesses to grow with a selection of trends, tips and advice. We love to see other experts endorsing our content and willing to share their experience and knowledge.Shrijay is one such expert who has excelled in the field of legal matters and entrepreneurship. As a guest author, he has written this blog aimed at guiding first-time entrepreneurs to go all out and be prepared for everything. Let's hear the insights from this guru!

From Shrijay's treasure trove of experience ......

Entrepreneurship is a journey in itself and like any other journey, it has its own set of rules. I too have been on this journey and started offering business professional services a few years ago. It was then that I realised that I would have benefited greatly from knowing these rules beforehand! But to make it easier for all the entrepreneurial souls reading this to start their entrepreneurial journey, here are five essential points that must be perfected from the very beginning.

1. Maintaining focus and dedication

Starting a business part-time in parallel with a full-time job is a bad idea. Starting a business requires ten times more attention, effort and persistence than a regular job. Eventually, I also had to quit my full-time job to focus on my business.

Make the tough but firm decision to pursue your dreams with all your heart and without compromise.

Focusing on entrepreneurship requires not only treating your work with laser-like precision, but also focusing on other aspects of entrepreneurship, such as:

Unique Value Proposition (UVP): potential customers have hundreds of other options. You need to work hard and smart to make your product or service stand out from the crowd of competitors.

Market/Product Match: Focus on the quality of your product/service and the size of your target market. These two points will help you easily judge the way forward.

Single success metric: How do you define success when you start a business? You need to sift through a few key metrics such as conversions, gross merchandise value (GMV), etc. and choose the one that is most valuable to you at that moment.

2. Focus on data trends

Keep a close eye on your data. To become an industry leader, you need to develop data maturity from the start.

If you're going to be an entrepreneur, you can't be afraid to fail. You must develop a tolerance for moderate risk. --Bernhard Niesner

The following steps worked wonders for me and you can try them too:

Enabling current data structures to provide comprehensive information sets

Use of tools to help with data assistance

Invest in customised data applications to fit my service and business model

I then use the data to determine if I can make business decisions based on the data. Next, I take a closer look at how competitors are using the data.

Sites like Etsy and Craig's List, and even local trade shows, are great places to test early product prototypes or services and learn from your mistakes. Failure is inevitable; it's all about how much you can learn from it and how quickly you can recover.

3. Seeking support: co-founders, staff and consultants

Because of the way startups are viewed today, entrepreneurs are often shy or reluctant to ask for advice. There are plenty of resources online: blogs, videos that you can draw inspiration from. But learning and consulting with your own team members, peers and predecessors makes a big difference. Starting a business with a co-founder simplifies the process of filling in the gaps. The right sense of ownership and companionship brings a wonderful twist to the traditional 1+1=2 equation!

Here's my tip: go out and be a learner and apply all those lessons to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

4. Legal formalities and protection of intellectual property

Newbies are often caught in a mystery as to whether they should incorporate a private company (Pvt.) or an LLP in case of co-founders.Legal formalities are not just about choosing the right form of company. Some companies have to give up after the first sweet taste of success because of legal enforcement. Here are five points I would like to share:

Choosing the right business structure

Understanding Licensing Requirements

Development of legal documents and policies

Compliance with Tax Compliance

Managing cash flow and accounts

Given that many new startups are technology-based, protecting intellectual property is not a luxury, but a necessity! In fact, many successful startups have achieved huge valuations precisely because of the intellectual property and proprietary algorithms they have been able to create.

It is estimated that on an average, more than 80% of a startup's value is based on their IP portfolio. (Shrijay's source)

Here are some thumb rules to follow:

Apply for a trade mark: Protect your brand - name, symbol, sound or aroma - and create memories of your brand!

Protect it with a patent: If your product or process truly passes the test of invention and creates better value and efficiency, consider protecting it with a patent!

Copyrighting works: If you create original content, whether it's a musical composition, photograph, article or sculpture, you must copyright such a work

Protecting intellectual property can lead to that:

Intellectual property-based startup valuation: Startups do not necessarily have a large inventory of goods or employees. As a result, the value of a start-up usually derives primarily from its intellectual property.

Not Overstretching Your Finances: It is important to note that unless your startup offers a product with zero production costs, there will be times when you will have to loosen the purse strings to make money. What most startups don't consider is the costs that can be incurred by not properly handling intellectual property.

Exert control over what you own: Sure, it's nice to have someone promote your services or goods for free. But what do you do when you find that the quality is not up to your standards? In many cases, if you don't handle your intellectual property properly, the answer is "nothing".

By taking care of all intellectual property and legal formalities properly, you will be able to limit unauthorised use of your own intellectual property, or licensing it for the commercial benefit of others. This will also help you relax and focus on what is necessary.

5. Balancing emotion and practicality

Becoming an entrepreneur is not a destination, but a journey of continuous improvement, development and perseverance. It's a roller coaster ride of emotional ups and downs.

It's been a long journey for me, too. But the most important thing is to make practical decisions from the emotional experience.

Remember, when you are in that command position, you assume by default the trust of all those involved in the journey. You must make decisions that benefit the company as a whole.

People who care about their employees and people who care about your business are the ultimate key to growth. There are no shortcuts to valuing talent. Compassionate entrepreneurs go a long way! Again, this involves understanding your customers. Don't chase customers, focus on serving a few in the best way possible and the rest will gradually follow like a snowball!

The above knowledge, tips and personal experience belongs to Shrijay Seth of LegalWiz.You can reach out to him for advice on this topic via LinkedIn (see author info below). If you would like to blog for PayUmoney as a guest author, please contact us at [email protected]

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