Identify a need and fill it is the business mantra today. It calls for a certain ability to understand requirements and match the standards of produce for the customer. The measure product requirement in the market, people orientation must be properly scaled and a study of inclination to buy the product at reasonable costs must be made. Research on its utility, acceptance, weaknesses, and competition must be identified and practically addressed.

Two kinds of people cohabit the world of business. The normal business psyche markedly differs from the employee mindset. Employees are concerned with career, position, increment, and a good take home salary; and they do not go beyond. Ambitions are limited and have boundary lines.

The business oriented people have a pattern of interests and the manifold vision and mission seem to be superior in the thought process and functioning style. One with the orientation of business not only thinks of money, but his thoughts extend beyond personal growth. The strategy is to live with good employees, build higher infrastructure, produce a superior product line, win competition, and finally be the backbone of the country’s sustained economics.

Entrepreneurship invariably has a sense of independence culminating into a desire; a desire to achieve in spite of obstacles and constraints, constantly desiring to be successful. With this comes a state of mind, which becomes strong with every passing day. This desire will sustain all hardships.

The first generation entrepreneurs are those who will have crossroads of anxieties, personal dilemmas, and conflicting ideas of birth and death of business models. They have the real spirit of adventure and a diehard attitude. Some succeed and continue to win, while some meet with an untimely end.

The success and failure in business although is very transient, the qualities and personal markings that an entrepreneur must cultivate are imminent, and let us examine them.

Attributes: Doing business does not mean that one has to be equipped with high qualifications. Qualities of aggressiveness, social exposure, networking, street smartness, ability to grasp things quickly, being good at mental mathematics, and the ability to think laterally and find solutions are the most important hallmarks of intelligence that are required to become successful in business. Above all, a person must have marketing abilities.

Attitudes: Patience and perseverance are essential attributes in doing business, the ability to compromise when things are down and striving for betterment in future are qualities of merit. Scaling down or scaling up are strategic decisions and are not stagnant processes confined to boundaries of management.

Business Ethics: Business ethics and value systems need to be in place, without which the foundations will become weak over a period of time. An organization with staunch value systems and practices would certainly consolidate its brand image and brand equity. Companies gain reputation by virtue of aggrandizing customer faith and public interests, nurturing and cultivating best business practices.

Human Value Systems: A strong HRM is a deciding platform, or the root, of any organization; it has to have fair practices, be six sigma principle driven, and keep up ethical values. Traditional companies have been very successful in consolidating human resources as opposed to non-traditional companies, which, in the name of innovation and rational approach invite more trouble.

Crisis and Risk Management: Minimizing threats, maximizing benefits, and the ability to handle crisis in organizations are other great attributes. Defining the problem or issue, looking for alternatives, methodology to resolve crisis, freezing best alternatives, and implementing orders conceived by these efforts are basic requirements. Risk management should be value driven, an integral part of organizational process, should lead to focused elimination of uncertainties, and decisions need to be taken on the basis of factual information and be tailored.

Franchise Business Opportunities

The modern business opens up innumerable opportunities for the discerning entrepreneur; one such opportunity could be the franchise model. A successful business with established brand equity may offer franchise in selected areas and in your location. Here, the business model built is preconceived and meditated to generate business from day one of operations. All that one has to do is to strictly follow the defined disciplines and comply with internal and external mechanisms. There will be a detailed franchise orientation and product or service trainings, and one must learn it from the roots.

Defined clientele and expected ROI, from familiar boundary lines are the advantages in this model. Leveraging brand capitalization business edge, with no need for extra intelligence, the principal franchisor will have everything in place and one has to learn everything with patience and perseverance.

The market survey, competitor activities, and tests and trials are all being taken care of by the franchisor. It’s with this franchise model that good companies garnish further growth and capitalize markets. Name any FMCG brand today; they will have surely taken the franchise business model for their marketing strategy.

In this scope and venue, young capitalists can take maximum opportunity to start a business, with the assurance of guaranteed and measured business outlay and strategies.

MNC brands, who are onto the franchise business model, will have very defined structures in conducting their business, advertising strategies, marketing techniques, promotional campaigns, and events. Customer services will be clearly defined and practiced. Their training camps for appointed franchisees comprise of all the facets of business management. In short, franchise business being a time-tested and proven model can assuredly generate business, with the least amount of efforts and low turnaround time. Quality assurance and supervision will be slated at every stage of the product and best quality of product is guaranteed. Consumers will have assorted international brand choice and satisfaction.

Sir M.Vishweshwaraiah once said ‘Industrialize or perish’. He saw such great need for India to become self sufficient, and encouraged total industrial revolution. Entrepreneurship does not rest at the doorsteps of businessmen but extends its benefits to a larger public welfare and society. It eases unemployment in the country and creates new frontiers of employment opportunities.

Jawaharlal Nehru contended once saying: As long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work is not over. He advised us to sacrifice, focus our efforts, and to strive hard in removing poverty and hunger.

India today is Asia’s fast growing developed economy, advancing faster on the global scenario to become a super power. India's per capita income (an indicator of collective prosperity) is $1,124, ranked 139th in the world, while its per capita (PPP) of $3,176 is ranked at 128th place. Previously a closed economy, India's trade has grown fast in the past two decades. India currently accounts for 1.5 percent of world trade according to the WTO. After taking inflation into account, the per capita income is estimated to grow by 5.4 percent to Rs. 33,540 this fiscal against Rs. 31,821 during 2008-09. Last fiscal, it grew by 5 percent.

The future of India lies with its young, strong-willed entrepreneurs and the spirit with which this community takes off decides the future standing of this great nation. For the young and agile entrepreneurs multi-skilled and tailored entrepreneurship development courses, distance learning, and e-learning methodologies are now open.

The author is Associate Vice President, Educampus