What comes to mind when the term entrepreneur is mentioned to many people is the word ‘boss’. To those people, the allure of being in charge of one’s own destiny is enough to inspire them to want to be an entrepreneur. But what many do not even realise or take seriously is planning. Planning represents one of the most important aspects of entrepreneurship and if not taken seriously could, lead to demise of a business. Whether you are setting up a new business venture or undertaking a new project in an already established one, planning is not something young can take lightly. Consider these ten qualities of the ideal entrepreneur and apply them to make you a better one.

1. Survey a new a business venture first
Even though it is a universally acknowledged fact that the best entrepreneurs have the best ‘hunches’, the truth is, they don’t just act on hunches alone. A real entrepreneur does not start a business venture without taking a survey. A business idea is first validated with a feasibility study before commencing. While the survey may not ultimately guarantee the success of the business, it does give a clear overview of what one is likely to encounter in the course of operation. A survey helps the entrepreneur to know the likely competitions, projected profitability of a business venture.

2. Take into account the demography of your target customers
Taking into account the demography of prospective customers is very important in the planning process. Imagine designing the whole product around people of age 40-60 and ultimately realising after launch that people of age 18-35 adopted it more, bad for business right? Taking a survey prior to designing the minimum viable product helps in curtailing the rejection of an unwanted product. An insight into the demography of target customer will also help the entrepreneur in designing the method of reaching the prospective customers.

3. Establish a contingency account
Before you start a business, you will need to have an estimate of the amount required to get the project to certain stage. The start-up cost is necessary to see the business through the stage before eventually reaching profitability. When you have concluded how much money you will need, it is advisable that you add a ‘contingency’ budget to the total amount. The contingency account is 5% to 10% of the established start-up costs. For example, if you have concluded that you will need $10,000 to start your business, make sure that you start your business with at least $11,000 in capital.

4. Establish budget for initial months’ expenses
Start-ups realities can be really frustrating at times because most don’t make income during the first few months of operation. This is why there is need to budget for the first few months of no income so as cover some expenses such as salary, utilities, rent etc.

5. Decide on modes of receiving payment
How should your customers pay you? When choosing a mode of payment, you have to make sure that your payment choice is available and accessible to your target customers. What works for start-ups in Nigeria may not be feasible for start-ups in some other countries. Majority of Nigerian consumer will rather prefer to cash to online payment as this is not a totally trusted mode of payment yet. We hope the story changes with the introduction of paystack though. In which case, you may need to offer multiple payment methods.

6. Study law
By study law, I don’t mean literally become a lawyer, but know the laws of any country or state you plan to launch a product. I first got a glimpse of who Strive Masiyiwa was when the truth of how Econet wireless was chased abruptly out of Nigeria surfaced. But I later found out what a great inspiration he is in the development of entrepreneurship. One of the hallmark of his entrepreneurial sojourn is that is that he studies the law that governs business operations in every country or region that he has plans to set up a venture. Perhaps that was why he was able to defeat his foes after many years of dragging the case that led to his dismissal at the helm of econet Nigeria. When you know, you are cognisant of how business is run in a particular domain. For those selling products in different countries, knowing the law also helps in preparing what to offer as some products may be considered illegal in some countries.

7. Plan an effective entry into the market
After designing the final product, the most crucial aspect lies with reaching and retaining the customers who will pay for your product or services. How do you get the desired coverage for your product? You have to become a friend of the media, how do you become a friend of the media? You have to know what the journalist loves to write on. Not every media personalities may be inclined to write about your product just for the single reason of disruptiveness. When you enter the market, make sure that you are noticed. Unless you are noticed, your business may not get customers. How do you do this? In an online setting, online merchants usually use the following methods: Press Release submissions, Social Media advertisement, sponsored advertisement, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), email marketing, popups, and others.

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