What before taking the Entrepreneurial plunge?

Before starting this post,I would like to confess that three years back,I was not aware about what is Entrepreneurship and now I blog on it and have started working on my own idea as well So what does it take to think big and take a path which others don't think about?

Entrepreneurship is not a simple subject and being one is the most difficult as well as the exciting thing which one would experience in life.So,what transforms an ordinary person to think big and once he starts thinking big,what does he need to do?

I read that somewhere that in US,to get a company registered takes a few minutes whereas in India,it still takes months to do the same But times are changing in India as well and this post would give an insight as to what an Entrepreneur should do before taking the final plunge.

1. Have an idea:
This is the very first step towards thinking big.So,once you have an idea,discuss it with your close friends(or colleagues) and get their feedback.Try to test if your friend would be interested in funding your idea and if he/she says yes,than you have hit the bulls-eye because "If you can't sell an idea to a known person,how would you sell it to the unknown guys out there" This makes me remember what Guy Kawasaki told "Always discuss your business ideas with women since male have a genetic problem of destruction and they want to kill everything right from plants to companies Well,nothing to be offended here.

2. Build Contacts:
My first foray outside Bangalore was in BlogCamp,Chennai in September 2006 where I understood the power of Blogging.I met new people,some software consultants,some entrepreneurs,some engineers and the list goes on and on.So what was the change.I made lot of contacts and my network kept on growing.Remember,building contacts is not only exchanging business cards at conferences and than dumping them somewhere,you need to multiply your contacts through that one contact and on and on.You would require contacts before you start your company,when you are expanding your company or when you want to market your product etc.

3. Read about Entrepreneurship:
This is one of the basic steps that every person willing to be an Entrepreneur should do.There is no harm in thinking big and you should not try to repeat mistakes what other Entrepreneurs have made during their Entrepreneurial career.Every month,I always make a point to take one good book on Management or Entrepreneurship, so that I learn more about it and take precautions ,what successful entrepreneurs have recommended.I do agree that bookish knowledge is different from real experience but learning is the key and believe me , this has helped me a lot.What I do is carry a book to my office , so that it keeps me more motivated and also I can read it in my spare time.

4. Value your time:
Only people who are really passionate can do something big in life.Time is money and it is rightly said so.We do lot of things in our free time like watching TV, speak over the phone for hours or just sleep etc but one thing which we forget is we are spending Quality time fruitlessly Only people who value time can dedicate more effort for their idea and this is one thing which Entrepreneur would never forget since for him "Time wasted is a loss for him"

5. Do an industry analysis and and try to blog it:
You know what idea is in your mind but what about your competitors(if there are any).Learn more about the industry that your startup would fall into.Blog about your thoughts so that it is more visible to others.Learn about the Financial aspects of th business and this would be the toughest of them(if you come from a technology background).Get the industry information and have it on your own personal blog so that you can make more and more people aware about your interest.Remember,the more you blog,the more you read which means more the information that you have...So understand the power of Blogging.
This reminds me of what Wirkle founders have on their site..."We are a company of Bloggers"

6. Learn to Convince People:

When I was reading my latest read "Make the Move" , I just wondered that this is very much true.In the book,the authors Ishan Gupta and Rajat Khare have mentioned "During the Entrepreneurial days,the founders will have to play multiple roles from Founder-->CEO-->CTO-->CFO-->Officeboy and so on".This means that you should be able to play multiple roles and this will apply before taking the plunge.As I mentioned before "A good businessman is a person who can convince people and before you start,you need to see whether you can sell idea at least to few people since you would have to play multiple roles , at least for the first few initial years of your startup."

7. Join as many Networking sites as possible:
I have already spoken about "Building Contacts in point 2" , so what is special about Business Networking.Well,sites like LinkedIn and TechTribe helps you to be in touch with people you might never have met but the guidance you get from these sites is enormous.I had an article on TechTribe here , which is really informative.Who knows a someone from these site's might be your partner.

These are purely my thoughts..I would love to hear from the readers , if there are some points , which I might have missed and you can add those in the comments section