When you’re building a business to earn profit, it must stand the test of time. A business built to earn profit is called an “Enterprise Business.”
You can’t start a business today just on the ground of a random idea. Start a business today, and close it after one year will be a disaster. A scientific, business idea validation process can save you from that pitfall.
I’m coming to the fallout of such a disaster later. First let me describe the ecosystem of an enterprise business.
There are several definitions of an enterprise business or enterprise startup.
In short, that’s any operation involved in providing goods or services with the anticipated outcome of earning a profit.
The terms company, firm, and business enterprise are used interchangeably.
Building an enterprise startup is not something new. If you look at the history of each enterprise business behemoths of today, you’ll find that it started as an enterprise startup.
Progress of technology has made it easier for an aspiring entrepreneur to start an enterprise business than before.
Statistics reveal that more than 80% of startups fail within the first three years of launching. Where is the catch?
The caveat is, launching an enterprise business is a complex process. You can’t do it without well-thought planning and following an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) under expert guidance.
In this article, I will give you a sneak peek into a proven SOP that can help you understand the roadmap.
To begin your detailed training, you can book a Free 30-minute Consulting Call with me by CLICKING HERE.
Let’s drive into the modules
We can’t overemphasize the need for selecting the right sub-niche of the market.
First and foremost, you should have clarity on your product or service offer that your clients immediately need. Choosing too wide a niche will confuse the market.
If the slot is too narrow, you won’t have enough prospects to make your enterprise viable.
Well, I have been a follower of Simon Sinek for a long time. While I agree with some of his methods and no-so agree with some, I’ve found much of his bits of advice as gems. The “Why” factor is one of them.
Simply speaking, people don’t buy features (WHAT). They pay for benefits (WHY). For example, you may offer a great widget built on the latest AI-enabled technology after research of 30 years. Will, anybody care?
If you say, “Cut your car fuel consumption by 30% and increase the engine life by 20%,” will anybody care? You can guess.
Hence, the “What” factor is an inward-driven approach, which takes time to reach the inner core of “Why”, where the customers focus. Therefore, the “Why” factor appeals to the “core” first, drawing the customer’s attention instantly.
The super entrepreneurs are not especially gifted more than struggling average professionals.
The only difference is the mindset.
Successful entrepreneurs can visualize their current and future opportunities.
They have a clear vision. Others dream about owning a business someday, but they remain overwhelmed without having a clear and well-thought strategy.
By changing the mindset, most of us can build a profitable entrepreneurship business.
In one of my earlier blog posts, I’ve given an example of the entrepreneurial mindset.
You can read it Here >>
Now we’ll walk through the critical steps to transform your dream into reality.
It would help if you validated each of your business ideas against market realities.
Markets are dynamic, and the opportunity axes move with time.
Therefore, a practical approach with foresight is the call to undertake.
Will my product or service fit the market? Do I have the ability and resources to build an enterprise-level profitable business around it? Will it be sustainable?
Those are some factors you need to address.
For the first level validation, the above Venn diagram can help you discover the “sweet spot” to focus on.
When zeroing on the ‘Sweet Spot,’ don’t worry if you don’t have some skills or talent. If you can validate your business idea the way I’ll teach you, getting co-founders to fill in the gaps will solve this issue. So, you don’t have to worry about this limitation.
You can read more about Entrepreneurship Business Idea Validation Here.
To shortlist and stack the ideas up against the validation check process, the major points to consider for each idea would be:
The process will narrow down your options to very few. It will be easier for you to select the best one. Once done, you can consider registering your startup with the Government.
Many authorized agents are available who can help you pass through the process without hassles.
Entrepreneurship Drive has training programs to help you in this regard. Book a 30-minute Free Consulting Call with us to get the detail.
You will need capital to launch your startup. You can start on a budget that you can afford or make a joint venture with a friend or associate.
Sometimes, you may need a more significant sum of capital for incubation and going live. In any case, your business validation should be strong enough to convince yourself and your stakeholders about the profitability and scalability of your business.
Getting Co-Founders can make the job easier. You may be passionate about your niche. But you may not have all the skills needed to pull it all alone. A properly selected co-founder can complement those.
Fundraising with co-founders is a great option to procure seed funds for your startup.
Your co-founders can also invest in your joint venture. They are called your co-funding partners.
With their help, you can build a prototype, test the market, project revenue and profitability, incubation period, and future.
You can also collect market feedback data. All those can make your startup attractive enough for venture capitalists to invest generously in your business with win-win terms.
This episode of the Shark Tank channel on YouTube can give you a closer look at how startups present their cases to potential venture capitalists.
“MVP is a version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learnings about customers with the least effort.” – Eric Ries, author of “Lean Startup.”
To make a great finished product, testing it by developing an MVP shows the sure-shot way to the success of your enterprise startup.
In one of my earlier articles on LinkedIn, I wrote about how an excellent startup product is built. You can read it HERE.
You’ve to take care of four steps to build a successful MVP.
For more in-depth information and guidance, Book a 30-minute Free Consulting Call with us.
After building the MVP and modifying it with split testing, the next important step is Pricing. You have to find answers to questions like:
Giving a few such flexible options can boost your profit and allow you to add more products or service to your enterprise startup.
Remember to make it a limited release to ensure market acceptance and if any modifications are necessary. Tracking market feedback with the help of analytics and daily review of reports is a vital activity at the stage.
This step comes after you have crossed the break-even point and started earning profit after expenses and taxes.
Strategically, profit maximization comes above scaling up.
Wise entrepreneurs keep the top line and bottom line in a balance. The need to scale up in an enterprise business arises when it reaches some saturation point, and the growth curve shows diminishing returns.
Scaling up can be done by expanding your enterprise business horizontally or vertically, depending on market demand.
In any case, your enterprise startup may need additional funds besides bootstrapping, and the existing investors may not be ready to fund the expansion.
Bringing in additional investors is a viable option. Many corporates issue IPO as the next level alternative fundraising activity.
Now you’ve to fine-tuning your business enterprise. You should not only reduce waste but ratchet up the efficiency at each module of your business.
One critical issue most entrepreneur face is a lack of coordination among different sections. Right from the purchasing section through operations, finance, HR, marketing & sales, finance and logistics, all get their separate targets, creating conflicts of interest.
In a successful business, all the sections work towards a common goal. They should be sensitized to work in coordination and co-operation with each other.
Hope you have enjoyed the article and gained some valuable insights into the enterprise business.
We have various training programs to train and groom the established entrepreneurs and budding startups to reach their next level in a fail-proof way.
