‘We are a Start Up’ is perhaps the most inspirational status to have in the society. Never ever has the world ever looked upon a person who has courage for innovation more than what this generation is seeing today.

Today StartUps are a phenomenon! The idea of startup has attracted youth across the globe in the last one decade and has resulted in an avalanche of new ideas. Startups or Entrepreneurship is perhaps an excellent means for self-employment which has not just widened the envelope of the professional ecosystem but has also given widely established companies means to smartly collaborate with young and vibrant startups so as to intelligently control cost and management.

Now the big question is how to start a start up. Are there any dos and don’ts or is there any manual description for a success story. The answer is there aren’t any hard and fast rules truly but yes, there are a few pointers to ensure the right things are done before you begin an auspicious journey.

As the word of caution goes, the idea of Startups can sometimes be a mirage, and one can easily be entrapped in the big idea. Smartness lies in differentiating the mirage and reality. And so here goes the list of 5 check-ins before you start a startup

What’s the Vision for start up:

Most Startups begin with an idea and without a vision. It’s true. If one thought a vision statement of ‘being a world class company or a leading institution’ is a vision statement, then one has terribly got it wrong. Vision Statement is undoubtedly the larger picture but it is beyond.

It’s about having variable milestones. It has to be broken down into parts, like the 2-year vision. 5-year vision, 7-year vision, and the 10-year vision. And it’s important to write down the realistic number attached to each and one of those milestones. But remember to be realistic about the number which means one has to do sufficient background work in understanding if the business is scalable to that level or not. This can give you a reality check.

Who’s the Mentor:

Mentoring is one of the most important aspects which usually is undermined. The great author Napolean Hill speaks about the importance of Master Mind group, who are a group of individuals who can help you with your VISION statement. So get together a Master Mind Group, it can be someone with a technical expertise, someone from a Management experience, someone from an accounts background. Even if you have to pay them hourly for their consultancy, do it. Identify them and build a rapport and seek help.

What’s your Business Contributing to:

Now it’s essential to understand not just who will need your product or services but whose lives you change or influence or make a difference? We live in a very interdependent world; it doesn’t matter who you may be. So one needs to get together what VALUE one is adding with their products or services. The VALUE added can be at a business-level, emotional-level, basic-level or even luxury-level. Understanding of what use your product will be is of utmost importance.

What’s the Resource:

The resource is perhaps the last thing a startup looks at as most times a start up is on the hunt for prospective clients or opportunities which give them money or materialistic ends. A great opportunity without the right resource is like water surrounded on four sides without a drop to drink. There can be two kinds of resource – PEOPLE and TECHNOLOGY.

One has to ask oneself of who are the PEOPLE who are going to drive your business further and what’s the expertise level required.

Tip: Remember a committed and open-minded average skilled professional is any day a better asset than a lazy and arrogant talented professional.
Technology is solely dependent on the capital available and the investment.

Tip: Spend on the essentials and not on flamboyance.

What’s the Business Model:

Finally after evaluation of your vision statement, advice from mentors and what your business is contributing to, one arrives at the Business Model. Yes! Before you start, you need to put on paper what your Business Model is. In fact, you can even be somebody with a fantastic business acumen, you still need to put on paper what your business flow is.

Divide your Business Model into touch points. For example, a digital marketing company can have 6 touch points. Approach a client -> Get the Job -> Advance Collection -> Execute the Job -> Final Delivery -> Final Payment. And so one can write down n-number of touch points based on the nature of one’s business.

The aforementioned article is written to give you a sense of direction as it has been written with years of experience and experimentation. Neither the article nor the author enforces any of these views on you. It is most certainly to contribute to your success and prosperity.

Hearty Good Luck with your Start Up

Also Read: Step by step process how to start a startup

Shanky