How To Be An Entrepreneur In 2021

7 min readFeb 25, 2021

Going back in time, there were days when people used to fear the word and meaning of entrepreneurship. Just the name got people so anxious and scared that it was very rare to see people actually take it up.

But, on the contrary, the current scenario motivates you to follow your dreams and do what your heart tells you to. The following article would help you calm down some of your doubts regarding the question continuously ticking in your head, that is, how to start a business.

Steps of Becoming An Entrepreneur

1. Find The Right Business For Yourself

Entrepreneurship is a vast concept and you can be an entrepreneur in almost any field. From the long list of different sectors and industries, you have to choose a sector to work in and to start a company. Find a company that is not only going to be successful but is something you are passionate about.

Making or selling a product or service you know about and enjoy is always the best choice.

If you are looking for a short-term business, hit somewhere just for the sake of reaping your financial gain, it is okay to get all in, make your money and get out! But if you wish to start a long-term business, take up a business that fits your temperament, your talents and the lifestyle you like.

2. Discovery

An entrepreneurial process starts with the development of ideas, in which the entrepreneur discovers and examines the possibilities for business. It is a challenging job to recognize and analyze opportunities.

The entrepreneur seeks input from all individuals, including workers, customers, channel partners, technical personnel etc. in order to achieve an optimal market opportunity.

The next move is to test and evaluate it, once everything is agreeable and acceptable.

An entrepreneur can determine the feasibility of an opportunity by continually asking himself a set of questions, such as whether the opportunity is worth investing in, or it is sufficiently desirable, or the solutions suggested are feasible or not, the competitive advantage that comes along and the risk factors associated with it.

Above all, an entrepreneur must assess his personal abilities and skills, whether or not they are compatible with the entrepreneurial goals.

3. Determine If You Need Any Specific Education

To be an entrepreneur, you do not have to have any kind of formal schooling. But this particular does not mean you can totally ignore the importance of education.

For example, experience in business activities, computer programming and marketing could all be useful if you want to start a tech company.

Some businesses may also probably need some particular kind of schooling and education. For instance, if you wish to start your own accounting firm or a law firm, you would need the required qualifications, skills and education.

Certain businesses require certain degrees without which you will not be able to function well in the competitive market. As a matter of fact, entrepreneurship has been introduced as a subject in education systems that lays emphasis on learning the different aspects of entrepreneurship.

4. Develop A Business Plan

Before you start a journey, you definitely look for the road map. Similarly, entrepreneurship is like a journey for which the business plan qualifies as a road map. You need to have a business plan before you begin your business.

A business plan outlines any goals you might have and the strategies for achieving them. Just as the map guides along the journey, the business plan guides along the journey of entrepreneurship.

The business plan serves as a benchmark and the assessment criteria to check if the company is progressing towards its desired and defined goals or not.

Any entrepreneur should devote sufficient time in the making and the development of a business plan.

The purpose and vision statement of the company, the different goals and priorities, capital requirements and a summary of goods and services are some of the key components of a business plan.

5. Find And Understand Your Target Audience

It is believed that your company or business is what your customers make of it. And, not every industry appeals to everyone.

Due to the same, it becomes crucial for any entrepreneur to understand the kind of audience that would be appropriate and like your business. You need to figure out which sector of the audience would be your target audience.

Your target group’s age, gender, income, race and culture will play a major role in deciding where you open up an outlet or whether you even need to have a physical business address.

Research which audience better suits your business model and then equip everything to attract the demographic. There are a number of questions that you can ask yourself to understand the appropriate pool of target audience for your business.

6. Build Your Network

While networking in all fields is important, it may be the most important for entrepreneurs. Networking is how you meet other people in your organization who might have the expertise you can use. Via networking, you will also find potential investors to help get your business model off the ground.

Once you open, your network will also support your company and will help send fresh customers your way. Out of the many advantages offered by networks, there are three major advantages offered by networks.

These are the provision of private knowledge, access to diverse skill sets and unlimited strength. These advantages would help any entrepreneur grow the organization and business and would take it to new heights.

7. Concentrate On Your Marketing

Before, during and after you start your company, you should focus all your energies on marketing.

You may have the best ice cream joint in town, serving the most amazing, unique flavors, but if people do not know about it, they will not visit it. Marketing is one of the most tricky activities, but it is also one of the most important activities.

Marketing is difficult but if you can concentrate your marketing efforts on your target audience, you should be able to track it. With the correct marketing efforts, you can reach more crowds and increase your pool of target audience.

Another essential factor that comes into play while thinking of marketing is that, that the marketing efforts should be in accordance with your target audience. For instance, on social media, millennials may be more likely to see an ad than on a billboard downtown.

8. Resourcing

Another step into the process of how to become an entrepreneur is resourcing. In the simplest of words, resourcing can be understood as a way of deciding on different sources to find and look out for various resources.

There are various resources required during the process of entrepreneurship. From capital resources to human resources to others, it becomes essential for the entrepreneur to find various sources to obtain these resources.

This process may seem easy but it requires a lot of research. You need to check and reach up to an acceptable rate for these resources and find appropriate sources for the same.

9. Be Aware Of Your Risk Profile

Your tolerance towards a new adventure is another factor that matters a lot before you take up an entrepreneurial decision.

If you develop a genuinely innovative idea, the company’s benefit may be immense, but with the potential success, the risk involved often increases.

In replicating a business concept that is already in the marketplace, there are typically fewer variables and uncertainties involved and only require a little tweaking for differentiation.

When you buy a franchise, the risk-return situation is perfectly illustrated. This is one of the lowest risk methods for sewing the corporate oats, but can also have a small potential reward.

Well, this is exactly where the differentiation between entrepreneurship and franchise-ship comes up. In the case of entrepreneurship, you and your companies are one and the same.

10. Make A Lifestyle Choice

If you love the kind of things that your organization would call for you to do, but as far as you can see the future, it would take 24/7 dedication from now, you might want to think about it again.

You should not allow a business plan to be put on hold because of a life plan. In such a case, the business of your dreams could easily turn into a nightmare.

At the same time, make sure that you choose an organization that suits the kind of life that you lead or want to lead. Select something that helps you to work at home if you love being lonely. A retail operation of some kind might be for you if you enjoy group gatherings and communicate with strangers.

Conclusion

It is time to look inward and into the future whether you are still striving to be an entrepreneur or on the verge of giving it up.

All these entrepreneurial characteristics listed above would help you understand the process of entrepreneurship better. Then, take action on the stuff that you think you suck at because only you can do it in order to get yourself there.

Ayush Jain

Ayush is the CEO of Mindbowser Global Inc, a top-notch agency providing software development services to renowned companies like Dell, Pepsi as well as to a lot of growing startups. Ayush is also the director of the StartupGrind community and editor of The IoT Magazine and Chatbots Journal. Ayush serves on the board of several startups and is a seed investor. Click here to read more blogs.