Francis Lobo is a successful start-up story. Hailing from Gujarat, Lobo has done well for himself as an entrepreneur of a non-technology start-up. He started his way as an ordinary tea vendor and made a base of loyal customers who drove long way to have tea and gossips at his small place. Today, he owns 20 such small joints in and around the city. Over a cup of tea, he gushes about how he worked his way to success. I have talked to many such start-ups and here are the tips on why and how small beginning can be key to entrepreneurial success.

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Build a dream team: This one needs to be addressed before you even envisage what size of start-up would you want to become an entrepreneur of? Sure, build a team that dreams same as you or bigger.

Phanindra Sharma, founder of RedBus, mentioned that despite a big fat acquisition, nothing has changed for the company. It still works very hard on forming a long-term strategy. One strong suit is to have a team that believes in constant march ahead.

Differ or perish: How is it possible to be different in the pond where everyone is in the same marketplace? Mostly, similar services too? So, when the rideshare company Uber came into food delivery, Uber Eats, one existing start-up in same crowded space moved the advertising and branding game a notch above.

Zomato had the best creativity unleashed to make sure the customer knew whom to call when feeling hungry. The food-delivery app picked up each hurdle of delivery process and created funky headnotes.

Raising funds versus sustainability: In the past, funding has been easy for tech start-ups. Also, increased valuation has given way to many entrepreneurs selling their start-ups or getting them acquired. It may be easy to get funded against equity, but it is crucial to build a sustainable model of business.

Such detailed plan makes you work harder, solve multiple problems and lets you remain close to your goals. Slowly, the path evolves to fetch the right kind of team to excel with. Not to forget that it gives better buy-in if you are to stay with your start-up.

Socialise: One of the best travel-based social start-up Tripoto gave many aspiring travel bloggers a place to showcase the talent. It quickly became a community with a userbase of 25 million plus.

If you are able to link your entrepreneurial journey somewhere to a community or best, create one. Crowdfunding becomes easy and not to mention that popular and disruptive start-ups draw huge funding opportunity.

Usual dream to be “one’s own boss” is very enchanting. But not all the roads are paved with such roses and crowning glory. It demands challenging work, extreme discipline and to top it all, each step means a lot to go and a few to stick to.

The writer is strategic advisor and premium educator with Harvard business publishing