This article was first posted on DiscountPandit Blog
Inspiration is ok but please adapt
Some wise man once told me that the phrase “Original Idea” is oxymoronic. Ideas are always inspired from- you take something from here, something from there, add something to it and you then cull out something ‘new’. The person who does the best mix and match is the ‘successful entrepreneur’.
Karan Johar’s Agneepath Version 2.0 might just have had nostalgic origins. I have no issues with that but he was ultimately making the movie for today’s audience. How relevant is The ‘Angry Young Man’ for today’s youth who goes to the theatre for just chilling out.
Lesson for the entrepreneur: Taking inspiration is not bad but the idea should be modified to suit the interests of your target market. If an idea has worked earlier that does not qualify that it would work again.
Execution is crucial
Movies are supposed to have larger than life heroes…accepted, but is it justified to make others look extremely foolish to bring out that hero. The last sequence when our Robinhood-ish hero fights the bad man, the entire village (including his own family) is standing and waiting for him without lending him the minimum bit of support. Even before he is about to die, he literally has to crawl towards his own family. Melodrama at its best may be, but are characters in real life that stupid. NO!
Lesson for the entrepreneur: Your idea may be great but what comes out in the open decides the final fate of your product. Each feature of your product is important. If you have a feature, make sure it performs its necessary function, however small. Just do not make them look stupid.
Stay up to date with technology
We are in 2012. The world has moved on to smart phones, palm tops and God knows what! But our Cocaine-selling villain is still stuck with a landline phone. To add to it, our larger-than –life hero still uses the ancient coinwala telephone. Even Farhan Akhtar updated the ‘diary’ to a CD when he made Don Version 2. Have some mercy on your tech-savvy end user!
Lesson for the entrepreneur: Do I really need to explain?
Marketing helps but your product counts
‘Chikni Chameli’ is just a fringe element. It helps you to grab eyeballs and footfalls. But if you want people to actually buy your product and use it, then it should be worth it. There should be value. The product should provide a solution to an existing problem. Remember there is no retake in real life!
Author Bio : I am a business and startup blogger and I work for DiscountPandit. We are India’s most comprehensive deal search engine, helping users find the best deals in their neighborhood.