Tired of the 9-to-5 routine? Here’s some Entrepreneurship 101 to get you started

by Harrish Sairaman

Are you sitting at your desk with a million-dollar idea but no means to fulfill it?

Welcome aboard to the world of entrepreneurship, where the possibilities and opportunities are both endless.

Being an Entrepreneur means you will not be limited to a single task. You have to be your own CEO, manager, critic, financial advisor, clerk, marketing consultant, and everything your startup requires from you to function successfully and sustainably. It seems overwhelming sometimes to sustain and maintain the magnitude of your idea without losing its substance and authenticity.

Here are some lessons which will help you get started, and maintain the equilibrium of your service and brand.

Love what you do

The sole reason you’re an entrepreneur is that you love your unparalleled and distinctive idea. Your love will take you to places, make you forget the difference between ‘working hours’ and ‘non-working hours’, and will push you to aim for the sky. Be authentic and true to your vision, and the rest will follow. When you love what you do, time flies, and the body refuses to get tired! This is amazing, because you will then have the energy and time to balance other areas of your life.

Develop an appetite for taking calculated risks

The risk-taking appetite for an entrepreneur must be high. It’s lack stops people from blazing their own paths. Yes, it needs to be calculated! You must always have a strategy. At any given point of time, asses and evaluate if you are taking a risk and competing for higher stakes than before. This is not just for aspiring entrepreneurs but the ones who are already in the game.

Prioritise and take small steps to achieve your goals

We all know some form of this story. Once a woman asked a small boy to take as many chocolates as he wanted from a jar. The jarhead was small. The boy put his hand inside and grabbed almost a dozen of it, but failed to let it out of the tiny head of the jar. Disappointed after trying many times, he gave up. The woman smiled and told him to take out one chocolate at a time and repeat as many times as he wanted. The boy happily obliged and took more than a dozen of the chocolates home. Start prioritising the small, yet important and achievable goals, and work on getting them out of the jar.

Don’t compare yourself with others

You’ll always find someone ahead of you whether you have 10 years experience or 40. On road or in the queue, people lay a path in front of you to follow. However, it totally depends on you whether you want to walk along on the same trail or create your own. You can never beat them with what they already know but you can lead the way with your unique capabilities and decision-making. The only comparison you must make is with your own past! Focus on being better than your previous selves and you will do wonders.

Learn and Unlearn

You’re doing well in your business today by harnessing the latest trends of your industry. But, will it be the same in 2025? Stay hungry with your dreams. Being complacent won’t bring you permanent success. You’ll have to learn about the current market and its behaviours, and in a few years, you may have to unlearn them. Push yourself out of your comfort zone because that is where your you will discover your strengths.

The journey might be exhausting. It may even rob you of your ideas, but you will find a way to feed your imagination, and fuel your vision. The satisfaction of having achieved a milestone or that unmatched exhilaration after kick-starting your startup is your reward.