DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

“REAL ENTREPRENEURS DO NOT NEED DEGREES”

Mouthshut's Faisal Farooqui had a mouthful to say at the session today. The entrepreneur shared his personal opinions/insights on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Here are a few of them:

Burn all options:
My business idea was no rocket science. I came across it when I was taking classes abroad. There was a unique method of valuation wherein the marks were given based on your peers' opinion of your work, not teachers. I noticed that the quality of feedback was remarkably different. I applied the same to product and services. People were always discussing in the private domain but here I developed a platform where they can make it public. Now, the most important thing that an entrepreneur needs to keep in mind is that this is where you need to how to take the next step. Do not follow your ideas half heartedly. Do not fool yourself. Burn all your options and take the plunge.

Exploit your resources:
After you have decided to make your move. Look around you. In a country like India, you will find no support from anywhere other than home. Indian families are very protective and will go to a lot of extent in making sure you can take your business the way you want to. Your friends and family will have more connections than you can think of. Try expanding through them.

Anyone can do it:
You do not need degrees to make yourself a successful entrepreneur. Most of the entrepreneurs around the world are not as qualified as we think they are. If you study more, you become a professor, not an entrepreneur. All you need to do is spend enough time in your work to scrutinize your business model, I took almost 18 hours everyday working for mouthshut when it started. And it became a success. If I can do it. Anyone can do it.

Spend wisely:
When I started Mouthshut, 9/11 happened and I lost a lot of potential investors. I was expecting it. You should prepare yourself for contingencies like these. I did not spend much on marketing. In fact, I invested a lot of money in developing technology, hiring the righr programmers etc. which was crucial to my business.

Some of the questions that were answered:-

Q. What is the best way to get a reality check with your idea?
A. Float the idea among people you know. Among your friends and family. They are your well wishers and they will be the ones to critique it in the best possible manner. If you can convince them, then you can be sure your idea is fool proof.

Q. What if you have a great idea, but you lack like minded people to discuss it with? Do you search for people, do it yourself or drop it?
A. Here, you need to learn to share your ideas with people. Some people are too guarded about their ideas. Its not right.

Q. Do you go niche when you start off, or do you go broad?
A. Personally, I would prefer to go niche. That way you can fine tune your business model. Work your way around it and understand your audience.

Listen to Vipul Prakash tomorrow with the same login ID. Register at www.dare.co.in/eweek, if you haven't registered.

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