• Using a screener website, filter the stocks based on the following criteria:
• Avoid loss-making companies.
• Avoid companies with high debt (ideally go for companies with no debt)
• Avoid companies with low capitalization (Less than INR 100 crore or USD 500 million).
• Avoid companies entering into emerging new sectors like web3 and blockchain.

• Find an industry that has good growth potential. Then, find the leader and the challenger company in that industry. For example, in the tech industry, it will be Apple & Alphabet.
• Consider a company in an industry that is slowly changing. For example, P&G (an FMCG company) will release new washing detergents even after five years. The chances of them going down are very less.

• Look for companies that take calculated risks. For example, Apple first introduced its iPhone then after 2 years introduced the iPad, and after 2 years introduced the Apple Watch. This shows that Apple didn't introduce all products at once and gambled on a low-risk strategy.
• Always make sure to calculate a company's fair value. Don't buy at a high price. Wait for a correction in the price before investing. Set an alert: every time the stock falls by 5%, you will invest X amount.
• Find a company that has a strong competitive advantage (it can be a patent, certain technology, networks, etc).

If you want optimum returns on your portfolio, you need to have a maximum of 3-4 stocks (with the ratio 40:30:30) but it will have a higher risk.

If you want good returns with little risk then you need to have 6-8 stocks.

But if you want to take a minimum risk and be satisfied with +2% higher than the index return then go for 10-15 stocks.