Let's start at the very beginning: admittedly a VERY good place to start.

Baby Steps to Entrepreneurship

So, now that we've decided to become entrepreneurs, how do we go about it? The approach I'm going to be looking at here (and I must say, one that I unknowingly followed on own my little start-up story-line) might seem simplistic, but is an excellent place to start when you haven't figured everything out just yet.

[Photo: https://pixabay.com/en/germ-seedling-oak-developing-germ-1525665/]

Each entrepreneur and each enterprise are different, because the way each of us approaches ideas, problems and goals differs. This is important.

This is important because an enterprise is usually defined by the person or team that shapes it in its very initial stages. All the pieces that make up an enterprise, such as the products or solutions that it deals with, the organisational structure, the internal culture that it has, the way it deals with customers, suppliers and collaborators, the size, the scope, the values, the goals, all of it usually springs from the ideas and vision of the core team, founder(s), and/or the main players (or key decision-makers). This is true for all organisations, big or small, from giants such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft or - closer to home - Infosys and Wipro, to local stores.

Thus, the first question that entrepreneurs-to-be should be asking themselves is probably: "What do I want to do?"

What are you passionate about? What is it that would keep you interested in something that is without doubt going to one of the most frustrating, heart-wrenching journeys you will embark on?

If that seems to be a tall order, what is it that will keep you disciplined enough to go into work every day?

It could be sports, it could be books, it could be money, TV shows, the environment, a social cause, coding, a game you've developed, cosmetics; it could be that you are good at and interested in helping others out with their financial problems, with their start-ups, with their health, their fitness, their office needs.

Step 1: FINDING YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA

Identify a few options for what you'd like your start-up to do. Write these down.

Done?

Now go through the list, and ask yourself, would you do this if you are pretty sure you would not get paid for doing it for 5 months. Or a year. Would you do it if there was a HUGE problem that you had to sort out for your idea to work?

And it would help if we were to be honest with ourselves at this stage of idea-sorting.

Let's say you find one or two ideas that seem to be things you really do want to take a whack at. On to step two.

[WARNING: I am not an expert in any area, and all views expressed in here are only my opinion, or my take on things based on my experiences, to be remembered if useful, and promptly forgotten if not. This article is NOT meant as a substitute for expert advice in respective domains as required.]