Entrepreneurs are self-motivated, don’t rely on outside motivation

Instead of looking at risk-mitigation from this prism, it’s better to be sure of your project idea and you ensure to give your 100 per cent efforts to build a right team, to design an executable business plan, and to implement your business strategy to survive and thrive, that way you don’t need to worry about spreading your risk but increment your profitability

Q. In India, own family members also don’t encourage people to turn entrepreneurs. In this context, how I can motivate myself to set up my own startup? Please advise me. - Shailesh, Hyderabad

A. It is not just in India, all over the world families would wish for income security for their children. It is not unusual to aspire for it. One has to also understand that enterprising is not everybody's cup of tea. One needs a very different orientation to build and run a business. Entrepreneurs are usually self-motivated and do not overtly rely on outside motivation. If you intend to start an enterprise, have clear objectives to accomplish and ensure you have a result oriented plan to execute.

Q. Venture capitalists have tightened their purse strings and therefore, it’s a big challenge for startups to raise funds. What startups should do to raise funds during such an uncertain environment? - Sandeep Kumar, Bengaluru

A. Economic swings are natural in macro-economic environment. This impacts almost all sectors and ecosystems, startups are no exception. There are strong headwinds to large economies of the world and everyone is trying to fight the recessive trends globally. It’s natural that venture capitalists (VCs) go slow on their outflows, at least until the end of this trend.

Startups must understand that highly promising and viable ventures only will have the chance of getting funded in this funding winter. Early stage startups will have to struggle to get their startups funded, as VCs are looking forward for less turnaround time for their returns and also a sure shot path to profitability.

Q. Is it possible to spread risk if a startup has more founders? What is the experience of startups in this aspect? -Jeevan Reddy, Hyderabad

A. Enterprising is risk taking. One can’t spread the risk by having more partners, if loss is what you are talking about, more partners can also mean more capital and eventually if your venture fails, more losses.

Instead of looking at risk-mitigation from this prism, it’s better to be sure of your project idea and you ensure to give your 100 per cent efforts to build a right team, to design an executable business plan, and to implement your business strategy to survive and thrive, that way you don’t need to worry about spreading your risk but increment your profitability.