02 - Journey From Intent to Impact is a Process

Many people aspire to set up a business. As they grow up their Intent becomes stronger. Yet not everybody is confident about converting this intent into a reality. They have aspirations. They have the ambition. They are committed. Yet they are not able to progress. That is because the journey from intent to impact is a process. It is not a simple ON/OFF switch.

Just out of college, we often believe that our friends are the most suited for advocacy and supporting us in making decisions. In such a scenario, a friend contacts you with a business idea that looks appealing. All you have to do is to only invest. You evaluate logically. You already have a job that covers your financial needs. Thus, it is a ‘win-win’ proposal. Naturally, you go for it. But business bombs. You lose some money. Hopefully, you have learnt some valuable business lessons!

The business model, your friend explained, was simple and promising – trading of coal. The source of supply was close to the market to be serviced. Thus it offered logistics-driven additional margins. The supply chain was de-layered to eliminate multiple handling. With a compact supply chain, rotation of working capital was expected to be better, etc. etc. The numbers looked promising. Post-fiasco, you realize that whereas numbers are essential in business, those do not guarantee success; attention to detail and actions do! You and your friend did not factor in theft, muscle-flexing and ruthlessness of the competitors. Besides, you did not have a Plan B. As a result, when a crisis hit you, there was no room for any manoeuvre.

The bottom line is that the basics are very important – those are the foundation. Business is not complex. It is simple but mercilessly discriminates between core and frivolous factors and accordingly adopts a trajectory of growth.

In the journey from intent to impact the first and foremost step is to capture the essence of an idea from a business perspective. It is a must and not negotiable. Today’s world is so full of opportunities that for any keen observer there is no dearth of ideas, which can lead to wealth creation. Business is about making money and creating wealth. Hence, monetizing an idea into a business proposition is in-substitutable. Period.

The second step is to process the idea further. An idea is a good business idea only if it offers a product, service or technology that satisfies a need of its possible customers. However, the world was not created today. People have been there for ages with identical or similar needs. So there are more than many products already available, which satisfy the needs of the world-lings. It is important to underscore the need for innovation. To succeed, an aspiring or budding entrepreneur has to go beyond ideation. He/She has to innovate. It is basic and critical to make innovations happen. Yes, make innovations happen! The innovation could be in product, service or technology. The innovation could also be in the key sales enablers of the business – be it marketing or distribution initiatives. That is a mantra every entrepreneur must follow.

All the same, one wonders, with so much focus on creativity and teamwork, cannot business strategy and operations go out of hand and in utter chaos? The solution lies in building an appropriate Business Model. Building a business model is the foundation of a business entity. From this perspective, it is the most important step to be followed.

A business model is the skeleton of a business organisation – its spine, legs, hands, etc. It helps an aspiring or budding entrepreneur to ready himself/herself for actual business, operations and transactions. It brings cohesiveness to the actions and adds purpose to the efforts and enterprise. There are three essential components:

· Offerings

· Monetization, and

· Sustainability

Offerings help think through the attractiveness of the market and the uniqueness of the value proposition presented.

Monetization helps work out the profit model and sales performance model. This is the key link that connects and balances customers’ validation with the investors’ validation. No wonder, effective monetization leads to profitable sales.

Sustainability is what makes a business entity future-ready. The management scanner must continuously monitor ‘ongoing competitive advantage’. That helps in growth, margins and profitability. The innovation factor is important in assuring customers that they are using modern and latest products/services/technology. That promotes customer loyalty. Irrespective of the presence or absence of one’s business in markets or their specific segments, monitoring those helps in capturing the pre-symptoms. This obviously can help in pitfall avoidance, so important for crisis-free business growth. The last factor has to do with humility and pragmatism. At all times having a graceful exit strategy is an advantage.

A graceful exit is only a post-script in the scheme of things. It is always good to have a buddy around. If you need help, don’t hesitate to team up with a business buddy or business sherpa!

Business Lessons

1. The journey from intent to impact is a PROCESS. Therefore it calls for preparation before starting, execution and continuous monitoring as well as improvisation.

2. An idea should be necessarily scrutinized for its monetization potential.

3. The business begins beyond ideation. Innovation is the key.

4. A business Model is the blueprint of a business and hence a key requirement.

Personal Notes:

My top 3 business ideas