Last Thursday I spoke at the Chai and Share, a networking event in Houston organized by Ram Prasad.

Our topic was “The Journey of an Entrepreneur” which includes a lot of UPs and DOWNs. More of DOWNs, if to be precise. Say, like, 80% DOWNs. Some sunny days too but that is it 😂 The journey is built on 6Ps.

In order to go through this journey, you have got to fall in love with every step and truly enjoy every P.

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Here are those Ps:

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🔥 Passion

You have got to be so passionate about the field or specific vertical. Don’t just do a startup just because you had an idea. Passion fuels the process.

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⚠️ Problem

Many aspiring entrepreneurs make a mistake of coming up with an idea and then trying to find a solution to it. Wrong. Find the problem. Live it. Sleep on it. Then seek the solution. Problem needs to be personal, recurring and scaleable.

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🥸 Prospect

identifying the ideal customer profile will help you in the rest of your journey. Who is my typical buyer, who is my champion, who will be my early adopters, these types of questions will help you pace the road to later success.

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📦 Product

Now that you know your prospect, you can identify your product. Is it a mobile app, or an API as a service, is it a browser plugin or a website service, this can only be defined once you have clarity on all previous Ps.

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💰 Profit

If you have not thought how you will be making money either from day one or later down the road, you have gotten off a wrong foot. You have got to put your financials together including a clear business model (can change later, it is OK), pricing, financial modeling and expected revenue and potential growth.

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🎤 Pitch

Practice your elevator pitch to full scale presentation because you will be telling this story over and over again for many months to come. Better get your story together and start working on it.

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❤️ There is one P I have skipped on purpose. It is the People P.

The reason I skipped it is because we always think we can do many things alone. Not entrepreneurship. You will need great people around you. This is not a lone wolf game. It is a journey of a pack.Ram, thank you for having me over. See you soon!

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