Daily Times

From a collective point of view, resolving regulatory issues faced by local and foreign investors is the key; and the government grants for investment in early-stage startups are vital for reducing chances of failure.  Ongoing measures – including tax reforms, improving legislation for local fund registration and licensing, catering payment issues as well as flow of money from and to Pakistan – should be accelerated too.

From an entrepreneur’s point of view and based upon my experience as an entrepreneur, who purchased a technology firm, the QSS Group, in 1994 for $45,000 and started from one employee – me – to sales of over $300 million and 3,000 employees when I sold it to Perot Systems in 2007, I would recommend incremental innovation.

As Vivek Wadhwa, a noted Indian American IT researcher, academic, writer and entrepreneur, advised in a Washington Post article to Indian entrepreneurs that instead of trying new things, they should copy and steal all the ideas they can from China, Silicon Valley and the rest of the world.

Believe in yourself and your business. Pursue your end goal with drive, determination, and passion to succeed. Chart your own path. Create a mission, vison, and set of values that are unique to your enterprise

He observes that tech giants such as Facebook and Apple borrow and build on the ideas of others.

“Not all innovation is radical or breakthrough…Innovation can also be incremental, yet small materially significant changes to the current operating model or products or services,” a KPMG/CII report also suggests.

I stress the incremental entrepreneurial innovation should be improving all areas known as 7 P’s of services marketing: Product, Pricing, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence.

I would offer the following advice as critical success factors for a start-up business entrepreneur:

Developing a distinctive core competency

Establishing a laser beam customer focus

Creating a niche differentiation

Ensuring perfection in performance

Believe in yourself and your business

Surround yourself with talented people

Have no fear of failure

Let me address and amplify upon each of these areas in turn:

Core Competencies.   When I started my business, IT firms in Washington, DC were a dime a dozen.  I decided that my firm would stand alone through an integrated blend of engineering, science and information technology skills. The IT skills were the basic requirements, the science and engineering skills separated us from the pack.

Laser Beam Customer Focus. The QSS Group got its first contract because of my scientific background.  We treated that client extremely well, exceeded their expectations, and as a result got significant add-on business.

Niche Differentiation.  We used our track record with our first client as the basis for expansion.  We expanded outward from our core client business to those customers with similar characteristics and needs.

Perfection in Performance.  Past performance and excellent references are critical in getting new business.  I knew that many IT firms in the Washington DC area were late on deliverables and sometimes did shoddy project management and technical work.  To stand apart from those firms, we established “Performance as Promised” as the QSS Group’s corporate motto.  It was more than a motto.  It was the way we did business and a springboard for getting more business.

Believe in yourself and your business. Pursue your end goal with drive, determination, and passion to succeed. Chart your own path. Create a mission, vison, and set of values that are unique to your enterprise.

Surround yourself with talented people. Pay them well. Listen to them. Learn from them. And, work closely with them. Remember, success in business is a team sport and not an individual one.

Have no fear of failure: Fear can be crippling. Put your faith in your plan and yourself and carry on

While the strategies and tactics will differ given the nature of the business, I believe that adhering to these management principles along with the need for ongoing innovation are cross-cutting and can be used by an entrepreneur to be successful in any start-up line of business.

In closing, let me add one other thought that personal belief and tenacity are essential and central to being able to apply the secrets outlined here in order to grow the small, start-up business of today into the big business of tomorrow.

The writer is an entrepreneur, thought leader, and civic leader based in Washington DC