360 Realtors is a renowned name in real estate advisory services which believes in the principle of making every real estate experience a simple and successful execution from dream to reality.

I always wanted to become an entrepreneur. Probably it was a part of my DNA as my father, who is also my role model, was a successful entrepreneur himself. So when I was enrolled in engineering, against the wishes of my family I left it in the first year itself & plunged into entrepreneurship. I joined a venture of one of my cousins which was into buying & selling. Thanks to the initial stint, I had a lot of opportunities to travel around the world, learn hands-on about what it takes to build a successful business & nurture the right spirit to be a successful entrepreneur. After that, there was no looking back.

Although the journey has not been without hiccups, over the past one and a half decades, we have been successful in building a few profitable ventures in the Real Estate Advisory, Lifestyle Retail, Interior decoration, buying & selling space etc.

So brewing my experience into running individual businesses in parallel, I would like to share my experiences with the readers about some of the fundamental points that are essential in becoming a serial entrepreneur.

Middle to Long-Term Market Potential
One of the mistakes that many entrepreneurs do is that they always look into the immediate future without understanding how the market will unravel in the middle to long term. Rather we would suggest looking at a horizon of 5-10 years before making an investment. It is essential to do a rough yet incisive estimation of the market growth, demand pat-terns & the overall business ecosystem.

For instance, if you are setting up a retail brand then your business objective should not just be limited

to the current target audience, existing market sizes & the projected revenues in a year or two. In order to run a successful sustainable business, you need to understand how your target audiences will grow & how their preferences will evolve over a course of 5-7 years. Likewise you have to closely monitor the future of your distribution channels (web/ brick & mortar/ hybrid), marketing models (conventional/digital/ direct/ discounting), policy landscape (FDI policies/ taxation) etc.

A Keen Eye on Futuristic Innovations
In today's world which is marked by unprecedented digitization- technology & innovations are a force multiplier. Probably, these are the things that separate a normal business from the idea of entrepreneurship. While the former is all about profit making, the latter is about real value creation. If as entrepreneurs our motive is to bring some ground-breaking disruptions in the industry & touch the lives of every stake-holder involved, we have to closely look into the technology aspect. Investing in technologies can go a long way towards tapping new markets, widening the geographical reach & bring in efficiency in overall operations. We firmly believe that a sizable part of our budget should be invested in developing state-of-art futuristic innovations, even if it sounds counter-intuitive at the moment.

Eye Ancillary & Related Services
Once you thoroughly understand your business, you can scout for other complimentary opportunities across the value chain by successfully running backward & forward integration. In any ecosystem, there are multiple gaps across which successful entrepreneurial ventures can be ideated & deployed. Hence once you have built a sustainable business, try to under-stand the supply side & figure if you can build a model across it by sourcing the right product. Similarly monitor the distribution channels & route to market & see how you can add more value to it.

Get the Right Human Capital On Board
It is widely believed that your work-force is your most important asset. The significance of the workforce further increases in a serial entrepreneurial setup as one has to manage multiple units in parallel. It is essential to get the right talent, fine-tune them in accordance with the business requirements & delegate them the tasks. A serial entrepreneur should always create the next rung of leadership that can effectively take care of their respective responsibilities. Successful ventures are not built by lone warriors. They are produced when a bunch of determined people works in synergy & synchronization.

Never Undermine Ethics
Though thoughtful growth estimation, strategic acumen & technologies are indispensable to take entrepreneurial ventures through the roof, equally important are the fundamental values & integrity associated with a venture. Even in the modern world business, these old-school principals have not lost their appeal.

It is essential that your organization fulfills what it promises. It should be noted that customers have evolved a lot in recent years. A brand is no more a tag, but perception in the minds of the consumers. Hence, you have to carefully manage your most important asset-consumers. They should be serviced properly, as it can go a long way in creating brand value.