The Management Guru Peter F. Druckersays "...Everyone who can face up to decision making can learn to be an entrepreneur...Entrepreneruship,then, is behavior rather than personality trait."

Entrepreneurship is one among the words that often misunderstood by people who don't have an indepth understanding of what management is all about. It is a popular beleif that an entrepreneur is one who plans or runs a small business. An entrepreneur is one who stuggles to establish a good business. The interpretations goes on...

As a matter of fact, there is an entrepreneurship activity in every BIG business, that makes the back bone of a big business. Say, an R&D activity is a typical example of entrepreneurship.

An entrepreneur, who plans a startup business, may think the question is very simple and obvious. But simple things are always difficult to understand; your success as an entrepreneur, starts from clearly defining what is your product.

I agree with you that you know what is your product that you are going to promote. Well. Let me tell you something, which is NOT obvious.

First thing, a Product need not always give the meaning to somebody, as you perceive yourself. Everybody has his or her own mental picture of a product or, of a service.

If you say "Mobile Phone", I may say, "Great thing that I can be stay in touch with people wherever I go". And: I may say "The thing that never allows me to talk to somebody standing beside me!" A Product proposed is, essentially, a utility proposed.

Being an entrepreneur, you must be able to clearly define, your product or the service you plan to offer in your business; in a clear, understandable way to a layman. For a novice entrepreneur, it is a difficult job. It is not difficult to define your product; it is difficult to define your product in 3 words. Can you do it?

Why in 3 words? That is going to give you the tough time. No way, you have to understand clearly what your are about. You may be in need of a venture capitalist or an angel investor, for your startup business. If so, you need to write a clear business proposal to present. It is a fact, not a surprise; most of the startup business which are supported by a venture capitalist, has rare chace to fail.

It is good idea to assume that you are going to present a business proposal to a venture capitalist, though you really don't need a venture capitalist. There is a fair amount of chance that you would be clear when you need present a proposal to somebody.

Entrepreneurship Is A Creative Activity

Entrepreneurs are the people, who invented ways to bring you whatever you enjoy in your life. Car, telephone, Television, even the Web and the list never ends. Entrepreneurs are the people who make things better for people around them. Entrepreneurs are the people who make the impossible to possible by their creativity and innovation. Be Proud To An Entrepreneur, for the reason that you have choosen to become one among the people who run the world.

You Need To Pay For The Pride You Enjoy

Start taking the pain right from defining your product.

Business is there because people are there

Being an entrepreneur, it is your responsibility, from its core definition, to define who would buy your product. Being an entrepreneur, you are going to make something better for people around you. What betterment they would get by buying your product? Benefits vs. Features of a Product

Often the entrepreneurs new to entrepreneurship, equates product features to product benefits. You cannot ever convince a prospect by listing the features of your product. You must convince them by listing the benefits your product would offer.

You write a word processor, which has thesaurus. You have two ways to talk about it.

Way 1: "My word processor has a thesaurus which would be help you in your writings"

Way 2: "My word processor will let you know the synonyms and antonyms of the words you use and make your writing better"

If you take the Way 2, then you speak about the benefits. List down the benefits of your products; polish them; make them striking to mind of your prospects. Do the reverse work, you will know who would buy your product.

There is no good product for everyone on earth.

As I said, entrepreneurs are people who make things better for people around them, it is obvious that they have a responsibility to make a buyer's life better, in a way, by providing a product or service.

Give a clear thought and ask yourself "What are all the benefits you can offer?" Try to make them better. The more they are good, the more the chances that you succeed in your business.

It is the set of benefits you are going to sell. Not the product features. A customer never bother how intelligent you are, what technology you have used, how wonderful your product is. He would just bother about what he or she has in your product.

Often entrepreneurs who are new to entrepreneurship expect the customer to appreciate the technologies used; the pain the entrepreneur had taken to bring the product; the smartness that contributed to the birth of the product. Often they miserably fail to understand why the customers don't respect these efforts. All efforts may be good on your part. Unfortunately, nobody is ready to pay you for your intelligence. Even though you are consultant, you can not sell your knowledge against the popular belief. You can only sell an advice.

It is you who knows how your shoes fit you

A Customer has his or her own expectations. Assume yourself that you are the customer. Though you have clearly defined your product, target customers and benefits of the product, don't forget the fact that it is all your own opinion. I agree with you if say you are reasonable and have followed some standard scientific methods to work them out, like prospects interview, sample survey, etc.,

Still, you have to imagine yourself as a customer for your own product and must be able to love it! It is not about how good your product is; It is about how best it is. Don't ever forget the fact that competition has become the way of life.

Know your competitors before you know your customers

Do you know how the ad industry works? Every commercial you see, speaks about a competitor. Off course indirectly. It is neither the product nor the customer who dictates the advertisement strategies. It is the competitor who dictates that.

Know your competitors better. Give insight. If you sell your products thru web or if your products are knowledge products, then you could know easily who your competitors are. If not, consider demography; list competitors.You need not know every business around the world, who sell similar product. I assume you are not already running an MNC!

In your competitors list, you would find inferiors and superiors. Understand the fact that you need not worry about your superiors. Let them face their own competition. Narrow down your list with people who are on par with you. They are your friends. Let us talk what our friends are into.

Know what your competitors do to succeed. Appreciate their strategies, knowledge and tactics. Know what is their strength. Be happy that you have competitors, from whom you are going to learn what you have to do to excel!

Take a paper. Write down the strength of your competitors. Research them. Collect details. Understand what is not obvious about them. Guess, brainstorm, write on paper; take a walk...know them well.

I suggest you to concentrate on their strength, not on weakness. You may be able to identify a weakness in their strength. You have to attack them by knowing a their weakness in their strength, not by knowing their weakness. Understand the difference.

An attack is just bringing something unique to your product.

How do plan an attack on your competitor? By understanding a weakness in their strength? Write about your product's uniqueness. That is what the key, using which you are going to ride your market.

What if don't find something unique about your product? No harm if your product is a new invention; a new concept; a new creation where there is no one already doing it. If so, Bravo! You are a good entrepreneur!

If not, I am sorry, you have to find out one. Go backwards from here thru above sections; refine them, come back with some uniqueness. I agree with you if you say "It is too hard!". Although it is too hard, actually it is not impossible.

No other go; you must come out with some uniqueness about your product. Just for the reason the uniqueness is going give a start for you as an entrepreneur.

This is an important question for an entrepreneur. A clear plan about the channel, about the methods, for selling your product or service. This is the place where many startups fail. Though you have a good product, though it has uniqueness, though you know who are your target customers, it does not make any sense if you are not clear about your channel of sales.

The question creates lot of discussion about the nature of your product, about the nature of your market, about the buying habits of your target customers and more importantly, about your customer's cultural habits that has an indirect influence in their buying decisions.

What are the geographical limits of your market? If your product is not something that could not be sold over Internet, this question is an important one. Do you need any assistance in selling? You may need a channel partner who has better resource to sell your product. How are you going to motivate your channel partner? A good entrepreneur is the one who stays with smart people.

So the channel of distribution, channel of promotion is a major area, in which a beginner is vulnerable to fail. If you fail in this, it does not matter how smart you are; you fail in your business.

Assume you buy some product. You want to know something about its utilities or you have some problems with it, what would you expect from the seller? A good care? Right. Being an entrepreneur, you have to be the one who give good care to your customers.

A customer always needs to be listened. I don't advocate the popular myth "The customer is always right". I know they need not be always right. But they need to be educated and convinced always.

Do your product needs a user manual? Even though if you don't think it needs, try to make a manual that teaches your customer how to make use of your product for maximum satisfaction.

Like the channels of selling, consider a team for customer care. Team size could be even two. It depends. "Business man who does not know the importance of the teamwrok die young". "One Man Army" often makes you unhealthy over a period of time, especially, if you plan a small business.

Do you have the patience for answering above questions?

Do you have the courage to face the reality and to work again and again in refining your business concept till you get them clear?

Take your plan to your neighbor and ask whether he or she understands. If your neighbor says "Yes", Congrats! Welcome to the wonder world of entrepreneurs.