The Meaning . . .
- A business is stable when there is a regular flow of income into the business and without losses. Business stability indicates the health of the business. It is also the reflection of an entrepreneur’s own mental stability. Mental stability of the entrepreneur would eventually lead to business stability, growth & success. During business ideation stage itself, it is important to chart growth plans that lead to business stability.
- A mentor helps an entrepreneur to bring in structure and direction to the business idea by means of developing a business model, a business plan and pre-launch activities that lay the foundation for business stability.
- Through mentoring, the mentor aims to establish business stability by developing a holistic (360 degree) stable strategy, system, and ground operations.
Our Mentoring Envisages . . .
- The business model is the backbone and blueprint of the whole business. As a detailed sketch is drawn before the construction of a house; the business model details the activities and the methods to be employed to earn revenue from the business idea. It mirrors the economic feasibility of a business idea and is very critical for its success. An entrepreneur has to put aside his/ her excitement about the great business idea and try to do a realistic evaluation of the business idea. It involves the following activities.
- To detail activities related to the core aspects of the business
- Substantiate the purpose behind doing business
- Elaborate on the processes to be deployed to achieve the purpose
- Define market and target customers
- Enumerate on the fund’s flow options and
- Ways of income generation
- At this crucial stage, a mentor comes in as a powerful guiding force. Instead of re-inventing the wheel (means – doing something from scratch again), the mentor helps the entrepreneur to develop a viable business model through his vast experience and provides the best structuring needed for the business model.
- Based on the business model, a business plan is developed documenting the ways to achieve the goals set in the business model. It is basically a plan explaining an entrepreneur’s strategy to accomplish those goals. Business plans are fundamental tools for decision making.
- Preparing a business plan requires knowledge on a wide range of business disciplines. Mentor and the team members (please refer to the team members section) work in tandem to create a fundable business plan.
- With mentor and team guidance, an entrepreneur can sail through this phase easily aided by activities such as
- 360 Degree Analysis
- Market Research
- Marketing Plan
- Sales Plan
- Information Memorandum (IM) is a basic funding document which highlights the features of the business. This document is provided by an entrepreneur to the prospective investors in order to raise funds for the business. It is as good as a CV and should be impressive enough to make an impact on the investors at the first instance itself and motivate them to invest in the business. Hence, due diligence has to be paid while creating the document.
- A mentor enables an entrepreneur to create an IM by outlining the functional roles of each member of the team and provide details regarding finance, operations, risk etc. A well drafted IM should be able to buy in the confidence of the prospective investors. As part of IM creation, a mentor assists the entrepreneur to keep the IM to point of interest of the investor(s).
- Mentors based on the acumen of an entrepreneur helps to decide on outsourcing of Content Team or Self-development mode.
- Branding is creating a unique identity or image of the business. It includes all those activities by which an entrepreneur would indulge in to establish the image of his/her business in the eyes of its customers. Building a website, creating a logo for the business, designing ads to promote the business and social media activities – all form part of branding activities.
- Although pre-launch activities are an integral part of branding as they help the entrepreneur build the right premise for developing the identity of the business.
- A mentor guides the entrepreneur to identify what is unique to the business and in detailing all the pre-launch activities that enable to create a unique identity for the business.
- It is very important to note that an entrepreneur must be objective in the pre-launch and stick to the agenda and budget of pre-launch. Being emotional and ego-centric with one’s company usually lands the entrepreneur in the loss.
- Important aspects to be completed before launch
- Company Profile documentation
- Information Memorandum
- Primary Brochure Creation
- Website Content