What does it take to build a business from scratch?

This is a straightforward question but the answer has various versions depending on who is answering and where they are currently.

At this point in my life, I am sharing briefly a few pointers that I feel will give you one of the many versions.

1) Tremendous self-belief that is strong enough to fight all those days when you are surrounded by self-doubt.

2) A product or service that you feel has value but has also been accepted by a few people or your beta users. (Can be something you have done for free but have been appreciated).

3) Deep understanding of all the verticals that will need effort. I mean let's say you have identified the right product-market fit but how good you are with numbers, planning, content, and customer support. You will be good at only a few things, you should have at least a basic way of handling the rest so that the delivery is not compromised.

4) Do you understand the importance of retention, repeat orders or long-term association (client relationship)? What are the metrics associated with your product or service that could be placed as a measurement of success metrics in this regard?

5) The network - your immediate and next-to-immediate network has to be rock solid. If not, you should have someone very dear who can help you with this.

There are 100 more pointers. But starting with Pilot points for you. More to follow in the series.

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Thank you :)