Business Venture = Headaches

Setting up your own business is not an easy job and I’ve learned it 1^st hand in the last couple of months. Initially, the idea seems great and your mind become so involved with it, that u tend to forget things around you ( Like i forgot all about CAT amongst other things )
WORTH it ? Hell Fucking yes now i look back :).

It is always helpful to talk to people relevant in the areas that have had prior experience. Try to get as much information as possible. Try to ask open ended questions and basically to get them to talk. I know it sounds difficult but if you are really keen about the whole thing, asking helps. People are generally shy to go to someone and ask for advice which I feel is wrong. Even in work, you can seek out the best minds in the business and the industry if you have the opportunity to do so. Explain to them what you have in your mind but do not give away the idea completely. Convincing them that you are contemplating the idea and will look at it in the near future shows your interest in the topic and genuine advice need from the concerned person so that if you want to have a 2^nd interaction with the person , he / she would be approachable.

Market research is a great tool to be utilized after having talked to a lot of people.

Good research done enables one to identify areas where the business can have great opportunities to succeed and also where it may face most problems. A great research involves developing a right kind of question list with an area of adjustment to accommodate further questions with a single question. Getting information out is what is going to help you in the direction one needs to follow in the future steps .The biggest challenge is to acquire honest opinions from potential customers.

The main areas of focus are the product, customer, market, finances, legalities, time and effort to put as the most important.

The product is represented by its features, what a product does is described by its benefits.

This sentence ( which i heard somewhere very early) helps to develop the right kind of approach one needs before going ahead with any future actions. The customer is the key and you need to market yourself and the product benefits because it is that which the potential customer would be acquired. Finances could be quite the deciding factor starting up, lots of risk involved but no gains without risks n pains , needs immense planning before investing the first buck but always have room for adjustments cause unknown expenses will creep up , so always have room for maneuver here and there . Legalities another issue, best handled by professional people like CA. Time and effort , well what more can I say , more the better , but the important point being quality time ahead of quantity any day but quantity is quite large too , damm u 24 hours ;)

This is just to give a basic idea of things at start up no matter what business u start up with and things to keep at the back of the mind.

More on this later.