It's not easy to become entrepreneur..Before you start fighting and possibly winning the world..you need to fight yourself and win too.That is definately important! When an aspiring business owner decides to move ahead and starts a new venture, conventional wisdom says that the first thing he needs to do is sketch a business plan. But i decided to differ, not because i deny the "conventional wisdom"..it's just that i cannot afford to or say i am unable to draft a formal business plan. Starting a lifestyle photography venture came as a small idea. I was afraid to share it with my folks and friends. I thought people would laugh at me.But after walking two years in the corporate bandwagen and finding logics into illogical things has turned out enough for me. I decided to pull it all by myself. I am very slow these days..trust me!! very..very slow.Iam full of contradictions and debates right now, which are getting solved at snail's speed. But i like that- This way iam making sure that i will survive with that venture.I always thought that apart from money what are the other factors which will keep me grounded. Well you got to find a different thing- passion,peace ,love..can be anything which can keep you rooted in tough times.
Anyways, back to venture, the first few things which the mind asks- Is it Viable? Is there enough market?? Will i be able to charge the market to get some profit?? Can i personally pull it off?Do i have experience,knowledge or resources to make it?? Phew...score is 5-0.
From my personal experience, the first thing should be a quick and "dirty" assessment of the concept. Don't have to be detailed but , you know, some bits to make something meaningful and sustainable.Once you are fixed on the concept, other things starts rotating- I need a camera..Cannot afford a high end DSLR and its lenses but can definately save some money and go for Bridge cameras, which would be fine for the job. I figured that ventures are a strange thing- It's like a dream- First you see that one wheel is rotating-then you see two wheels are rotating..then three..four..five and so on.After i decided on the Lifestyle Photography venture i saw two wheels moving- One is arranging the resources and secondly handling PR..ya!! don't laugh..I know that word is used for large MNC and conglomerates but can be implemented well into small personal businesses as well. Improvisation is the key.
Now i don't have much finances so obviously cannot hire a PR and design team to market my services. But who the hell needs marketing agencies?? The business is still tiny and when will facebook,orkut,hotmail,Blogger and live space will come into picture? I have always known the power of e-media,from the summer days of 2001 when i was coding HTML for Computer Pride in a small flat in Diamond Park, a southern suburb of Calcutta. The progress is real slow.and so are the responses but again Lifestyle Phtography is not a household term in india.
Iam also clear about some things now, like,
1)It's not always neccessary to have a formal, drafted business plan but to have a sound plan is really important.
2) Apart from money there should be another driving factor.
I will keep on fighting till the time i can and i wish XpressoStill will not die before or with me but will Outlive me!!!
Iam putting up a new section in my blog - THE VENTURIST MIND. I would be posting ideas, questions, answers about entrepreneurship in general and experineces from my own venture. Ideas about marketing,sales, PR, Using social Media are always welcome and would be really entertaining.
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