Success Mantra for startup founders to be successful

Entrepreneurship is all about taking risks, solving problems and making some innovation happen. It's a kind of lifestyle that a founder or an entrepreneur picks up out of his/her interest or passion or aspiration. According to Deepak Menaria - Founder and CEO of Lemon Ideas - startup founders have to go through several ups and downs but the end fruit for those who overcome these challenges is very satisfying and full of joy.

Menaria, who has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and startups over the past decade shares some learnings & insights that founders can follow to make their startups a success. 

1. Intersection with your own self is one of the key elements for a successful and long-term entrepreneur journey. It is a journey where a founder has to look at his/her self-discovery in terms of inner attributes, likings, deep-rooted purpose, aspirations as well as skills and desires. A right intersection between self and entrepreneur path brings spiritual fulfillment and brings about the element of joy and long-term success.

2. Another key element for a founder is to identify the right spot or set the right goal post that he/she wants to chase in terms of solving the right problem or innovating the right opportunity or filling up a gap or solving or addressing a specific need.  This right match has to be in line with the entrepreneur's self and his interest and ability match as well.

3. The aspect of customer empathy plays a very important role in the success of entrepreneurs. When it comes to defining the right kind of solution, which eventually will get validated and would be commercialised, the pain of the customer, the feeling, and the empathetic view from a customer perspective is very important for an entrepreneur to understand. This is almost like living the life of a customer and imagining the right of a solution that becomes an acceptable solution.

4. The right validation for the startup offering is vital. The right solution given to the right set of customers as part of the proof of concept or a testing phase is also important. This is where a customer accepts the solution and is able and ready to pay for it.  So unless it is monetization in a real-life environment, the validation is incomplete.

5. The other personal characteristics of an entrepreneur like being mindful of his work and integrity in terms of core values and trust are also critical when it comes to building a team or winning your customers' confidence as well as having a vision for long which can create a brand for the society. The intention, genuinity and purity of the persona of an entrepreneur do matter.

6. Thinking of making a startup sustainable is also vital for long-term success where whatever product or service and entrepreneur is trying to create, it has to be a business model where it can be monetized,  it can be commercialised and it can also scale up to become a bigger solution where it can impact larger and larger customer base. Sustainability thought from both ecology and economy are important.