Checklist Before Starting up.

Newton’s first law of startup: A person at corporate job stays at the job with the same (low) energy and in the same career unless acted upon by an unbalanced desire to startup.

Earlier we wrote about the need of a beginners guide to startup. We talked about the strong urge to startup and the mistakes people make if no proper mentorship and guidance is available. We BeyondStartups are bunch of startup enthusiasts and want to make sure the knowledge transfers to the needy. Please read it and let us know if your thoughts echo the same.

If there’s one advice that every successful entrepreneur gives, it’s “To Startup”. This or that. Start what you believe in and work day and night to bring that one thing to reality.

Well, we suggest otherwise. As already mentioned that until either your frustration with job life or your desire to do start the venture overcomes your laziness, you’re really less to put your soul in start up. Not should you.

A lot of people out there write and talk about quitting your job and how amazing it is to do your own stuff and be your own boss. The dream!

We totally get it. The idea of traveling 20 countries and build a business at the same time is really amazing but what these stories usually leave out, are the times when it was rough. When you were down on your knees. When nothing seemed to work out. When you were about to quit.

We’d suggest you to tick off everything from the below checklist before quitting your job. These are prerequisites and don’t require you to leave the job. Some of these will definitely help you in getting in the right mindset for startup.

1. Don’t quit your job. Yet: Resignation is tempting and when it’s for your startup it’s all the more. Maybe the idea you want to work on has been tried the same way and it failed. Maybe the team is not the right. Maybe you can outsource the product. Wait until you know what you want and how to get it done.
2. Research: Take 5–6 ideas you want to work on. Do proper market research for 2 days on each of the ideas. Don’t feel attached to your idea and think practically.
3. Save some money: A penny saved is a penny earned. During my entrepreneurial journey there came times when I wished I had saved some extra money. Be it for a friend’s birthday or for a trip.
4. Create your network: Nothing beats an amazing network. When times are hard and the startup boat starts drifting side wise, having a mentor and few friends always helps. Look for people whom you can relate and talk. Pour your heart out and share dreams.
5. Get the founding team ready: Naval quotes “The ideal founding team is two individuals, with a history of working together, of similar age and financial standing, with mutual respect. One is good at building product and other is good at selling them”. Find your counterpart and discuss each bit of the idea. Remember trust is what brings amazing results.
6. Plan things ahead: Start working ahead of time. Make sure to get at least 3–4 versions of product ready for future. Ideal situation is a tree map depicting product plans depending on success or failure of the last product variations.
7. Outsource: Most important point. Read point #1. Don’t spend your precious time in developing the product. Get it developed while you’re still working at your corporate job and leave the job when product is ready to be shipped.

Be prepared for what comes next. Maybe not this year but next year you surely will startup. Have faith.

Hope this is useful. Drop us a message on Twitter to start a conversation. We will be talking about Market Research and analysis in the next section.