You’re going to go out on a hunch to start a business idea. You’ll use up your savings. Your family and friends will mostly tell you you’re chasing a fantasy and shouldn’t have left your secure job. Your ex-colleagues will look at you whimsically, expecting you to come back to reality soon. Your peers will say, “Well, I could have done it too, but you know, I’m too busy being successful.” So with this giant dollop of imposter syndrome and doubt and really just wanting to hide until you magically wake up to the much-talked-about success, you enter the brave world of starting up.
It’s not like entrepreneurship was ever easy, whether it was selling auto parts, mechanics, or other wares. But at least that was tangible. Starting up is where you sell an idea. It’s probably not been done before, and if it has, you have to do it better. You have to convince investors, customers, and the larger community that there’s even a need for your product.
Many people have great ideas, and not everyone fails because they didn’t try hard enough. Sometimes it’s a mix of factors, unforeseen and unanticipated, that just didn’t stack up. And it’s a big risk you take with your career path, your time, your promise to others. A founder’s doubt is real.
Founders are expected to always be confident, sure of their vision, and have the gumption to see it through. And we do or we wouldn’t take the risk. We wake up every single day wondering what to do next to get closer to our goal. How do I make my product or service viable, build a credible, trusted brand, and scale with impact? And while in India it’s taking less time now to grow to unicorn status than before, building a solid foundation for a business still takes time and is really a labour of love. Everything from systems, processes, records to policies and tech, what you do at ground zero is what’s going to make the difference as you scale. Because, as we’ve seen, it doesn’t get easier. The questions get bigger and the stakes get higher. And you’ll still have doubts and questions no one can truly answer because no one’s done your version before! They can share learnings, but you’ll have to take your idea to the finish line yourself.
A friend of mine called me recently. She works at a big MNC and said she had some savings and wants to launch a startup. She asked, “What could it possibly take? It’s just an idea and a website, and I should be good to go, right?” I told her, Yes, you should but make sure you have a lot of heart, staying power, and be ready to work harder than ever but this time, you’ll be doing it for yourself. You’ll be building something that’s not just a business. You’re starting up to make a difference, to change mindsets, shape consumer behaviour, and create real impact in the ecosystem.