For Dummies: Starting up is not only about raising funds

In the last two months, we have got phone calls from many entrepreneurs asking about starting their own business, and eight out of every 10 queries are regarding which type of business entity they should go for -- whether opt for Private Limited or a Limited liability Partnership.

When we asked them what their business plan is like, their answers included:

Our very next question to them was: “Are you looking for some funding?” and the answers we received are seriously shocking. Sample this:

“We do not know. But yes, somewhere after six months, we will go for fundraising”; “Yes, we want to execute this idea to raise funds only.”

By illustrating this, I do not want to sound critical of entrepreneurs instead my intension is to make them aware of the ground realities so that they can stop living in a dream world.

Most people don’t know what a startup is, what’s the difference between a common person who is doing a job and the person who is trying to become a business person/entrepreneur.

Going after a .com craze:

With this Internet age, everybody thinks of building a product for the Internet and wants to make money out of that. Also, with the success of the e-commerce companies in India, this .com craze is on top of everyone's head.

Raising funds easily:

We hear daily about funding news – that so-and-so company has raised $100M funding from investors. This makes startups think that raising funds is an easy task and by making a product and getting some traction they will raise money from investors like the other successful online ventures.

Do not think of competition:

Every startup has knowledge of the venture they are going to run but most of them underestimate their competition or do not think about their actual competitors. When we ask them about competition, they are ready with responses like:

Thinking of idea only, not of execution

Most startups think only of ideas and not of the actual execution. For every 100 good ideas which fail, there’s a bad idea which succeeds because of good execution. Before execution, many startups think of making millions without even knowing the feasibility of the idea in the market.

Fear of replication

In our experience, out of 10 startups normally four are afraid of the replication of their ideas. They are always in a dilemma whether to share their ideas with someone, what if he executes the idea before. Out of 10 startups that come up about four have an idea that has already been executed in the industry. They are not thinking of starting a business or doing something big. It looks that they just want to pitch to investors and raise money.

Conclusion

Starting a business should be a passion and not just a fancy. Most successful entrepreneurs keep saying that “If you want to do it, do it now. If you don’t, you’re going to regret it.” But what this means is -- do it if you are passionate about it, otherwise you are going to regret it.

About the Author

Agam Gupta is a practicing chartered accountant and the founder of a private limited company registration portal named Quickcompany.in. You can reach the author at [email protected] or at +91 9540618336

(featured image credit: Shutter Stock)

Here's an infographic by the super-talented bunch at Funders and Founders on "How much money companies were started with":

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)