Key challenges of becoming an entrepreneur

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Becoming an entrepreneur is not an easy feat as it comes with its own sets of challenges and setbacks. Many entrepreneurs agree that setting up one’s own business venture is a gamble as there is no guarantee that the business will take off or not. To establish a company or a brand an entrepreneur has to persevere and overcome numerous odds. Let’s take a look at some of the key challenges that are faced by most on their road to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

1. Securing Capital

One of the main challenges for entrepreneurs is securing funds. Raising capital and getting loans is not an easy task to achieve. For any entrepreneur even the one with experience, will face initial difficulties in procuring capital, because many investors are hesitant to invest money into new enterprises. However, this is an initial setback because if the idea of the business is creative, new and strong, convincing an investor for seed capital is not an enormous task. An entrepreneur should have a well-planned strategy and business model to showcase to investors and banks to convince them that they are investing their money in the right place.

2. Work and home life balance

An entrepreneur cannot afford the luxury of taking a break while starting out a new enterprise. Running an entire business comes with added pressure of achieving a well- balanced work and home life. Unfortunately, mostly female entrepreneurs face the brunt of this pressure compared to their male comrades. This is because women in India have this unsaid responsibility of looking after the household alongside their career. Though the times have changed for the better as today we seem many families encouraging the women of the house to venture out and pursue their entrepreneurial goals.

3. Building the Right Team

Nurturing and picking the right team is one of the most crucial tasks while starting your entreprenurial journey. A team is the lifeline of the company and can make or break an organization. An entrepreneur needs to put together a well-balanced core team to help them in realising and accomplishing the company’s goals. To build a team the right candidate needs to be selected keeping into considerations their skills, abilities, if they are a team player or not and how will they help the business to grow and reach new heights. Along with building a team an entrepreneur has to clearly define company’s vision and mission. A concrete and achievable strategy needs to be well planned out, which corresponds with the organizations objectives. Heading a company is not an easy task, because the responsibility of major decision making falls upon the entrepreneur and even at the time the decision which seems right it might just backfire.

4. Competition

There is competition in almost every sector, unless you start something which is unheard of. In my opinion some competition is healthy as it drives you to do better. For instance, in the field of marketing communications and PR there are already many established players in the industry. In light of such competition an entrepreneur has to think outside the box , be creative, and unique so that they can easily distinguished from the crowd of various market players.

5. Risk

Establishing any new venture is a big risk as there is always a fear of the unknown. The fear is more apparent as you are abandoning a well-established and secure career to become an entrepreneur. It is impossible to manage a job side by side with a new business venture since there are no in/out time when you are running an organization, in order to gain success for the business 100% commitment is essential. Leaving behind a well secured job is a risky and a scary situation, but if your instincts tell you that being an entrepreneur is the right fit for you then go for it. At the end of day do something that makes you happy and if becoming an entrepreneur is your dream then work hard to realise it.

These are some key challenges that every entrepreneur shall have to rightly go through. At first, your goals might seem difficult to accomplish, but work hard and face these obstacles head on as in the end it will be worth all the effort and pain.

-By Neha Bajaj

Founder and Director, Scroll Mantra Pvt Ltd.