Entrepreneurs are just usual human beings. They also eat, sleep, read and live the same way others do. There is no such mould in which every entrepreneur fits in. The way every human is different, the same way every entrepreneur is also different.
Many people have a misconception that an entrepreneur must have a certain set of mandatory skills and intellect in them but that is not the case. It’s just the presence of hunger and ambition for their start-up which makes them different from others. Entrepreneurs are people who strive to establish a business through a considerable risk and initiative.
PHASES IN THE LIFE OF AN ENTREPRENEUR:
Life of an entrepreneur is divided into a few different phases. These phases come in their life one after another.
The primary phase of an entrepreneur’s life:
No one can and no one should jump from ground to the terrace in one single jump. It’s always smart to act step by step towards your aim. Though every entrepreneur is different from another and follows their way of doing things a few general steps can take a person to successful entrepreneurship:
- First of all, finding industry and market one wants to enter.
- Researching the market in every aspect.
- Educate yourself in the form of education and training.
There are some challenges that an entrepreneur will face in the initial stage of their career:
- Abandoning another career – a person cannot focus on two careers together. For focusing on the start-up, an entrepreneur needs to walk out from any other opportunity in hand.
- Financing – for a new entrepreneur, financing the business also become a big hurdle to overcome. A new business would need finance for everything from basic infrastructure to salary to a helper to production and whatnot.
- Team building – to pick up the right team for a start-up is difficult as well as stressful. It’s not enough to find the right people for certain roles but also one needs to look after the cost they will incur to the business.
- Creative thinking – thinking creative is not just a one-time exercise, but one needs new ideas continuously. Whenever a competitor will arrive, a response action needs to get ready. When a team member stuck somewhere, a way out needs to thought and so on.
Break-even phase of an entrepreneur’s life:
In simple words, breakeven is a point where there is no profit and no loss. It’s the phase in which an entrepreneur starts getting success but not too much. They are just selling as much quantity that will recover their costs.
At this point, an entrepreneur’s main focus is on surviving in the market and strengthens their brand. One wrong step in this phase can take an entrepreneur way back. It’s very important to come out of this phase because only after that, profit starts coming to the business which is highly important for further growth. After reaching breakeven, an entrepreneur applies strategies for cost-cutting production methods, effective team-building methods, new advertising methods etc.
Success phase of an entrepreneur’s life:
Once an entrepreneur has cleared the phase of survival and stability then success with money starts getting in their business. The product and entrepreneur both start attaining fame in the industry. This success is needed to be maintained.
For the growth of the business, an entrepreneur needs to take some more delicate decisions for the business:
- Firstly, an entrepreneur has to think about and decide the growth strategies need to be adopted.
- Decisions regarding new partnerships, product diversification, advanced advertising techniques etc. to be taken.
- For expanding the business, the team in the business also moulded and increased. Hiring smart and skilful people is necessary as per the requirement which again is not an easy task. It requires time, effort and additional cost.
- Decisions to grow the business in other geographical areas are also taken by the entrepreneur. This is one of the riskiest and crucial decisions for any business as to different regions may not respond in the same way.
Few tips from the life of an entrepreneur:
- An entrepreneur needs many tools, skills, and traits to maintain a business but one of the most important things they can do is to maintain the positivity.
- A good entrepreneur will be always focused on learning and growing, both from a personal as well professional perspective.
- The entrepreneur will often keep their personal and work finances separated.
- An entrepreneur always builds a strong network of support with their team members and business clients.
Conclusion:
Being an entrepreneur is not as easy as it seems to be, this path is not a carefree path as many believe it to be. It quite the opposite. It is one of the riskiest paths because everything is invested in your business – time, money, passion and creativity. It has its pros and cons. It’s stressful but flexible. It is a never-ending project but at the same time, it’s equally rewarding.
