Rehan Huck, Vice President-Retail at ILC Group, shares with PEAKLIFE the do’s and don’ts for young entrepreneurs thinking of foraying in the world of entrepreneurship during the pandemic.

The journey of entrepreneurship is full of various challenges and one should be fully ready to embrace ambiguity before venturing into the entrepreneur’s role.

The coronavirus pandemic has ill-affected most businesses operating in various sectors across the globe. However, this has also opened up new opportunities for the young and budding entrepreneurs to start something on their own. One must keep several things in mind while thinking of foraying in the world of entrepreneurship during the pandemic:

1. Business Idea

The idea on which you are currently working needs to be robust and must be built with a solution-oriented approach. The idea must also have the capability to be translated commercially

2. Relevance of solution

One must be clear with the problem statement before actually starting to address it. What solutions are you bringing to the table, how many people value that solution, what market segment and size you will cater to – all these questions must have beforehand answers. This will not just help in building a great product but will also assist in pricing it correctly.

3. Agility

The entrepreneur must build an agile business model in wake of the situation that we are witnessing at the moment. The current pattern of distribution and consumption has drastically changed due to the pandemic where the non-flexible businesses hardly succeeded to survive.

4. Borrow with caution and reluctance

It’s very common for young entrepreneurs to think that the most difficult part of doing a start-up is fundraising. However, once you have an investor on board, the pressure of justifying and responsibly handling those funds is quite immense. The flexibility of taking decisions on your own is also sidelined in the case of institutional investors, which hampers the free flow of the organization.

5. Hiring with vigilance and spending with care

Generally, the first ten members of your company are said to lay the foundation. The ethics, values and culture of an organisation depend on the people working there. Simultaneously, if you don’t spend/invest with care on the right set of manpower and resources, the businesses have very few chances of growing in the future.

6. Corrected value system

The values of an organisation will determine how far the invested people within the company are likely to go. These core values have to be imbibed at the initial stage itself and must be followed from top to bottom of the management. Moreover, a good value system tends to play a crucial role in reaching the desired results.

7. Invest in improvement and growth

The entrepreneurs who have already started their ventures must be facing issues like slow order cycle, dry cash flow, delayed business deals, and decisions. So, at this point in time, one must invest in improving their products, services, systems, and standards. This is the time to actually chin up and strive for excellence and growth in every department of the organisation.

8. Developing and maintaining a champion product

The result of value engineering is that you must always have a product that is superior to others. Perfection is not a destination, it’s actually a journey. One must innovate, invest heavily in Research and Development (R&D), and try keeping your product at the top in the market.

9. Have an eye on the laws

Everyone must keep a check on the rules and regulations set up by the local and central governments. One must indulge in entrepreneurship within the governing laws and principles. The businessmen must keep themselves up-to-date with respect to the concerned laws regarding the product.

Lastly, keep your eyes wide open, watch the market trends, analyze your quarterly and annual results, and don’t rush things. Be patient, diligent, hard-working, and focused because that’s the only way to stand a chance in the journey of foraying into the world of entrepreneurship, especially in these unprecedented and tough times.

Disclaimer: The article is authored by Rehan Huck, Vice President-Retail, ILC Group. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not represent those of PEAKLIFE.