Five things I learnt as a serial entrepreneur

As opposed to salaried jobs which provide security from the get-go, setting up a business is a whole other task. Building a business is no mean feat, let alone navigating your way into setting up multiple businesses, but as a serial entrepreneur that’s exactly what one will be dealing with.

Taking risks, ideating and coming up with fresh concepts is part and parcel of a serial entrepreneur’s life which only adds to the excitement that comes along with every new business venture.

 

 

 

Before investing in a new venture it is important to do substantial research in the field. It is important to understand the needs of the customers we will be catering to. If a business operates with a backing of research and understanding of what is required in the market, it has that much more potential to reach the target consumers quickly and successfully. The research process should not stop once the business has been set-up.

Let me share an example. One of my businesses is in the learning and development sector and as a platform offering educational services, it is vital to keep track of what users are seeking out on educational portals so that my business can help cater to the demand out there. Ongoing research is vital for the enhancement of your business processes and maintenance of product/ service quality.

Entrepreneurship has a lot to do with people, people, and more people. Finding the ideal team to implement and carry out businesses is extremely crucial for any entrepreneur, especially for serial entrepreneurs, as we have multiple ventures to look into.

As a serial entrepreneur, I may be brimming with new and exciting ideas but I would also need to connect with the right set of people to execute these ideas. Do recognise your own limits in terms of domain expertise and time availability. Bring in experts in the field and use their expertise to give shape to your vision.

Any business involves taking some amount of risk. Accept that not everything will go as per plan. This could be in terms of execution of the idea itself, limited budgets, or monetary profits among other things. Whether it is an economic crisis in the market or fundraising issues for your start-up, learn to expect challenges to crop up. However, do not lose sight of the overall goal and development of your brand. Be prepared to rework or rethink ideas if required. Don’t get daunted by the fact that an idea did not take off as planned. Be prepared to make changes as required.

Being a serial entrepreneur would mean having to oversee multiple ventures and so an organised system or structure to each business is very important to ensure that the vision of the enterprise is not lost. As a serial entrepreneur, the delegation of duties plays a key role. There may be an initial adjustment period where it takes time for others to understand your vision and your expectations. But unless we outsource and delegate, we cannot have that system in place. It becomes a lot easier to handle multiple enterprises when there is a well-thought-out workflow in place. This also empowers other employees in the business to work independently and with clarity about what is expected from them.

We may do all the right things at the right time, yet our attempts may sometimes fail. The reasons could be varied. Failure is a very natural process in any given business. Learn to expect it, but be prepared to overcome it. How we treat failure is what makes the difference. Acceptance of failure is the starting step towards rebuilding our ideas and starting on a fresh path, and trying out new things and trying them differently. Persistent effort in times of crisis or failure is a very essential characteristic required in a serial entrepreneur. The courage to face such failures is what makes us take new risks in the first place.