A first time entrepreneur has to come to terms with the fact that in the field of business, there is no linear ‘career-graph’. You are bound to have your share of pitfalls before emerging to bask in the glory of success.
However, if you follow these 5 tips suggested by RS Goenka and RS Agarwal, the founders of Emami Limited, you may avoid initial hiccups in much organised manner.
1. Ideation
Write down an innovative idea as soon as it strikes in your head as good ideas are like light which arrive in a flash and vanish like magic. Encourage every staff member in every department to follow this discipline. Do not wait for a later date or time and once all the ideas are in, you can prepare a priority list to pick and implement regularly.
2. Activation
As you come up with the most practical, implementable ideas, you will need to draw up a plan in order to ‘activate’ the same. Ask the concerned department or team to go to the storyboard and draw up a step-by-step plan. For an idea to work, every department in your organisation has to be in sync with the rest with clockwork precision. Take all the pros and cons positive and negative into account before taking the plunge and remember that short-cuts will not lead you anywhere. You have to be thorough and you must ‘test’ your ideas before moving to the next stage.
3. Execution
This is the crucial step when you and your team will give final shape to the project and launch the idea. It will be tough and you will face a lot of challenges. Thus, it’s extremely essential to understand every aspect of the job at hand and work with people who have the require knowledge, including the technical knowhow, to execute the plan. Execution has to be flawless for an idea to take wing. Therefore, invest as much time as you need and don’t be in hurry.
4. Monitoring and research
Once the project has been executed, it is important to monitor its progress and also practice the system of ‘checks and balances’. Be on your guard at all times and ensure that neither you nor your team members become complacent. It will not be prudent on your part if you think that the project will run on well-oiled wheels without you or your vigilant and involved in your project at all times and give equal importance to research. You have to innovate constantly, especially in today’s competitive age where you have to periodically offer ‘something new’ to the consumers. You need research, development and innovation to not only build your brand but to re-invent it. If you do not, your company and the brand will lose its winning position.
5. Co-ordination
This quality and activity helps you maintain relations both within the organisation as well as outside. You have to know the pulse of your organisation and then draw up a flawless co-ordination plan. Starting from the staff members to the factory workers, the management team to the suppliers, the retailer to the consumers- good co-ordination between each holds it all together. Remember, without proper co-ordination, none of the above mentioned stages will work.
