“Entrepreneurship is risky, mainly because so few of the so-called entrepreneurs know what they are doing.” Peter Drucker

Here are some thoughts on various aspects of starting, building and sustaining a successful business.

Do you have a business architect? Do you trust your business architect? Do you have a leadership team?

Business architect is a person who initiates new business ventures or leads business innovation, designs a winning business model, and builds a sustainable business system for a lasting success.

The Mantra: The 16 Important Points 

Love what you do

Finding true passion

The only way to do great work is to love what you do

Be different

Better be a pirate than join the navy

Do your best

Success generates more success – be hungry for it

Have people with passion for excellence

SWOT

Yourself, your neighbor, your senior, your junior, your company

Be entrepreneurial

Always look for the next big thing

Always look for ideas – quickly and decisively act upon it

Jump through that window

Start small, think big

Begin with handful of simple things – don’t worry about too many things at the same time

Dream of a petrol pump worker was not to own a petrol station, but own a refinery – Dhirubhai Ambani

Sometimes the first step is the hardest one – just take it!

Be a leader

In your heart, at the work place, in the market place

Act like a leader – show leadership

Be the first, and make it a standard

Focus on the outcome

You and your company are judged based on performance

Create an environment of excellence and advertise it – be a yardstick of quality

Give importance to presentation and design – design is not what it looks like and feels like – it is how it WORKS

“I have put it my best, worked all night, worked on weekends – the issue still got late” does now work!

Feedback is critical

Ask feedback from people – your customers, suppliers, advertisers, friends (of diverse backgrounds – sometimes a panwala can change the masthead of your magazine)

Listen to your customers first

Innovate

Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower

“Do that heading differently, so what if others are doing it?”

Think radically different – innovation is a state of mind, not process

Say no to 10,500 things that are mundane before you accept the final outcome – it HAS to be one of a kind and radically different

BUT,  all innovation has to work in the market place – don’t be different for the heck of being different – look for purpose

“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” Steve Jobs

Learn from failures

Innovative companies make mistakes – admit them quickly and graciously – learn from them, and continuously improve

Accept mistakes and failures – this is one of the first qualities of a good leader

Be a student, remain a student

There is always that ‘one more thing’ to learn

Learn from customers, competitors, partners and peers

Criticise your competitors, but honestly

Find a need and fill it

Ross Perot, when he was working for IBM, saw that his customers who were buying IBM computers, needed help in processing their data. He went to IBM with this idea and they said they weren’t interested. So he started his own business. He eventually sold it out for $2.8 billion dollars. He found a need and he filled it.

Find a problem and solve  it

A secretary working for a small company began mixing flour with nail varnish in order to white out the mistakes she was making in her typing. Pretty soon, her friends in the same office asked if she could make some for them. So she began mixing it on her kitchen table. Then, people in other offices started asking for it, and she eventually quit her job and worked full time creating what is today called Liquid Paper. A few years ago, she sold her company to Gillette Corporation for 47.5 million dollars. Her name was Bette Nesmith Graham.

Focus on your customer

Become obsessed with your customer. Fixated on your customer. Think of the customer. Think of what the customer wants, what the customer needs. What the customer will pay for, what the customer’s problems are. Thomas J Watson, Founder of IBM

Most important: Source of most great fortunes: Sweat Equity

Remember this, most great fortunes were started with an idea and with personal efforts. Most great fortunes were started with the sale of personal services. This is called sweat equity. In other words, instead of cash equity, put in sweat equity. Put in the sweat of your brow to begin your business.

So why do so many start-ups fail?

The fear of failure, more than anything else, holds people back. It paralyzes action. And it makes failure inevitable.

Resolve that, no matter what happens, you will never, never give up until you are successful. Before you accomplish anything worthwhile, you will have to pass the persistence test. And the test will come far sooner than you imagine. Ron Kaufmann

• Inadequate planning of the business

• Inadequate planning of the business

• Inadequate planning of the business

• Lack of management ability

• Over dependence on a single individual or on a predicted specific event

• Insufficient initial capital for start-up period

The next in this series: Top ways to get funding for your business.