Starting your own business takes a lot of effort. It can be very thrilling yet intimidating experience to start a business, knowing there’s no guarantee it’ll work out. Humans have been gifted with the ability to think and create a world of their own. A successful aspirer is one who creates realistic goals and aspirations.

According to the, Planning Commission report titled, ‘Creating a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in India’ states that India needs to create 1-1.5 crore jobs per year for the next decade to provide gainful employment for its young population. It also says that neither the public sector nor the private sector in India has generated significant employment in the past few decades. There is a need for balanced scale of entrepreneurship and employment.

A Not for profit organization – ‘deAsra Foundation’ would like to come ahead and help bridge this gap. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy; despite of all the advantages small businesses continue to face immense challenges. Such as, limited funds, high interest rate on loans, lack of support, and other technical and non-technical problems. Although a number of government schemes are made available to support such small business, but in reality they remain only on paper.

‘Small Businesses’ are important for the growth of a country’s economy, particularly for a large and populous country like India. Underestimating the difficulty of starting a business is one of the biggest obstacles entrepreneurs face.Starting a small business is always risky, and the chance of success is slim. However,success can be yours if you are patient, willing to work hard, and take all the necessary steps at the right time. After all, the big question for a small business still remains the same, how to avoid failure and common mistakes?

Read on to find out some interesting tips for a successful business mantra;

Start Early, Establish a Relationship

As an aspirer and especially as a small business entrepreneur, you must be adaptable and developing networking skills. Networking and developing personal relationship can help you to make further gains in business development. You need to get your self noticed and leave a positive impression. For any entrepreneur, it is important to know you and trust you before they do business with you or refer you to their contacts.

Moving further, start your loan process even before asking for a loan and cultivate a relationship with the bank lenders – remember, people do business with those they like and trust.

Do your homework, calculate the loan amount and support it with realistic financial estimates.

Realistic goals/expectations are the backbone for any business and are the most important part of your annual business plan

Have a Proper Marketing Plan

The marketing plan is an essential marketing tool for every business. Mapping all the necessary information you’ll need – marketing strategies, target market (audience), competitive analysis, UPS, marketing budgets, pricing strategies, promotional plans, action plan, short term goals, etc.

Have Realistic Expectations
Do your search >> Stick to what you know >> Set realistic goals. Realistic goals/expectations are the backbone for any business and are the most important part of your annual business plan. Failing to set realistic goals by being too ambitious can have fateful results on your business.

Target the Right Audience Using the Right channels
Understand, when it comes to marketing, you can’t afford to target everyone. Especially, when you don’t have a clue as to who’s your target audience. Once you have lockdown your target audience, the next step is identifying the right channel to reach them. Your marketing plan should connect with your targeted audience – this will ultimately help you take a step ahead towards your set goal.

Be Present Online

The Internet has transformed the role small businesses they can now compete with larger businesses through an effective online presence. Creating online presence includes your website, social media management, and mobile marketing (Mobile App). Your online presence can be further used for accessibility, brand building, reputation management, reaching greater audiences, easier selling & marketing, and reviews & feedbacks.

Book-keeping Helps You Evaluate Business Performance Against Defined Goals

Book-keeping also helps you understand if your revenues cover your expenses and helps you evaluate the soundness of various business decisions. Banks always ask small businesses for a statement of accounts – this includes the balance sheet and profit and loss statement, both of which can be drafted only if your books are in top shape. In fact, most entrepreneurs fall short of this requirement, which is why they get turned down by banks. Further assisting you to improvise and resolve bad decision and steer your business into more profitable channels.
Business owners have to prepare and submit tax returns to various tax authorities, including the income tax, sales tax and VAT officials, as well as to different banks and financial institutions. When this day comes by, you’ll be utterly thankful that you spent those few minutes every day maintaining your books.

Willingness to Take Responsibility

A business owner is 100 percent responsible for his or her mistakes. There's always a risk of a business failure or less-than-expected financial return. If that should happen to you, you can't blame it on someone else. If you would like to start a small business, you must thoroughly and objectively analyse the feasibility of your idea. Failure to do so can have a tremendous personal cost on finances, relationships and family ties.

Being an entrepreneur can be tough, but the rewards are tremendous. These success mantras can help turn a challenge job into an adventurous journey towards success. The rewards can extend way beyond a fat bank account and the sheer joy of creating a masterpiece.