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Entrepreneurship begins with an idea. At the inception, you are really focused on making it big, breaking even and establishing your presence in the market. Any young business that is looking to be a $20 to $30 million company probably has a deep vision in its eyes. But it is important to realize that there will be several tough steps and hurdles on the way that will make it a very difficult journey. The key here is to follow your passion no matter what happens and to believe in your idea, to believe in yourself and your product – this can be the difference between success and failure.

The entrepreneurial journey is riddled with ups and downs and there will be more cloudy days than clear blue skies. What keeps you going through the rough days is a strong belief in what you are doing, a passion for doing it right and the passion for serving customers well. This mixed together with persistence and perseverance is the perfect cure to this blue condition.

Conquering the Dynamic Market

One of the key proponents which drive entrepreneurs to do what they are doing is the constant fear of becoming irrelevant. The beauty of the marketplace is that it is so dynamic that if you take your eye off the ball, you could become irrelevant in a heartbeat. Therefore it is imperative for the Chairman of every company to think three to five years ahead of their current time. They have to think of the investments that can be made today so that it can be beneficial in the future. Companies have to plan about how to be relevant to their customers in the future and they have to anticipate change that cannot be controlled.

To be established in any market, it is pertinent for businesses to identify their customers. To be a successful business, the consumer needs to think about the business ever so often that it becomes an integral part of their lives. You as the entrepreneur have to be convinced about your product being extremely important, relevant and dear to customers. Once you identify that niche and you gain the confidence in your segment, you then have to relentlessly focus on it without worrying about what others are saying.

Making the Bet

Entrepreneurship is all about making an all in bet on yourself. It is key that an entrepreneur believes in his idea and what he is about to do because there will be very tough moments on the journey. You have to believe in your idea and push on especially when the going gets tough. An entrepreneur should engrave the words "Never Say Die" in their minds. Another key aspect of survival is finding a support group. The support group relieves you from your burden and can help you in key aspects of the process.

The Unbeatable Player

What happens when you overcome the obstacles and hurdles to achieve what you set out to do? Do you let your dreams die with you?

Take an analogy of football; imagine, you are this great quarterback and you know all the players and you know all the plays so you are just unbeatable and then one day you say, I just do not feel like playing football anymore. What happens next? So every founder should think of himself and herself as an unbelievable quarterback and once that is cleared out, then it gets easier to start planning on how to resolve issues. It is important for a founder to realize that his dream, his idea and his company are bigger than him. Succession is important for the long term growth of the enterprise. Entrepreneurs must accept that their organization could and must outlive them. That would be true success and that would make the company an unbeatable player.

An entrepreneur's life is not one for the faint hearted, there will be forks on the road and a wrong turn can mean the long walk back. There will be pot holes and broken roads that have to be trodden upon but at the end of the journey lay the prize of achieving what you had set out to do. The pleasure of being able to experience that is so fulfilling that the difficulties are forgotten in a moment. That is the life of an entrepreneur, a lifelong journey undertaken for the passion of achieving a glorious dream. It indeed is a fulfilling life.

(The article is based on the keynote speech delivered at TiEcon, 2013 hosted at Santa Clara.)