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Being an Entrepreneur
T
here are an estimated 6.5 billion people on
earth. Of these, a third live in India and
China. In the Indian subcontinent alone, there
are 450 million children below the age of 15 who
will join the workforce soon. Neither the
government nor large businesses can by
themselves create avenues for employment and
growth for these people. It can only be done by
new entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs create jobs. Jobs provide people with
livelihoods. Without a livelihood, every one of us is lost on this planet. Given
a good source of livelihood, we feel secure enough to raise families and are
able to provide emotional security to the people who depend on us, besides
exploring our own potential. Thus developing entrepreneurship should be a
matter of global priority.
In my life, I have been an entrepreneur twice. In my higher secondary school
days, when I joined hands with my friend and we together started a music
store. At the age of 38, Innovista Consulting happened and it continues to
happen. In between, I worked for other people and helped build some really
large and successful organizations. Even as a salaried employee in these
organizations, my style of functioning was entrepreneurial. In that sense,
even though Innovista Consulting is the only single platform of my life’s
experience in entrepreneurship, I have nurtured many of the experiences
right through.
Entrepreneurs drive innovation. Innovation seldom comes from very large
and established players. The reason is simple. Innovation disrupts the
established way of things. Large, profitable organizations frown at
disruptions. For innovative people, it is sometimes easier to start something
grounds-up.
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Entrepreneurship is a creative process and when done successfully, it can
give you the highest sense of accomplishment possible. That sense of
accomplishment is next only to having and raising your baby.
It is worthwhile to draw a checklist for preparedness to understand better if
you are ready to start as an entrepreneur. Here is a set of questions, whose
answers will decide if unlike the characters from my past, you are ready to
start.
• Am I ready to give up my house, car, official position and related
benefits?
• Would I be willing to take a serious income cut to make sure the
company is not saddled with a fat compensation structure – and
thereby can break even sooner?
• Would I be happy travelling by trains and low cost airlines as against
the business class travel I am so accustomed to as a director in a
multinational corporation?
• Will it be fine with me to stay in a modest hotel and not star hotels
and travel at times by buses and not taxis.
• Am I willing to work 70 hours a week for the next few years to make
sure the company stands on its own?
• Will I be comfortable in working out of a cheap business center or from
a downmarket address, with bad air conditioning, hired furniture, poor
lighting and no secretaries?
• Will I be able to set my own goals and work un-supervised?
Self confidence: It is the #1 attribute of an Entrepreneur:
The foremost attribute of people who become entrepreneurs is self-
confidence. I would even argue that there are no exceptions to this rule. You
cannot show me a person who does not believe in himself and yet is
successful entrepreneur. However small may be the size of his endeavour,
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self-confidence is the most critical ingredient of success. What is self-
confidence? It is difficult to define it, but most people will be able to judge
whether they have it by doing a little introspection.
Entrepreneur value their sense of freedom, but they are also very
disciplined:
All my life, both on the personal and the professional fronts, I have enjoyed
being free to set my goals and create and work towards my own work plan
and take my own decisions. I like taking instructions from more competent
people and my customers. But I don’t like someone telling me how to go
about doing my work. I work best when I am given what is called a ‘porous
boundary’. When I look back at all the jobs that I did well, I see a common
thread. Each one allowed me an enormous amount of freedom to do what I
wanted to do.
Many people mistake freedom with the absence of accountability. Freedom to
me is the ability to explore and settle options in the way I think is suitable
and the ability to work within porous boundaries.
Sometimes people think that freedom for a business person is about deciding
for yourself when to come and go, who to serve and not, how much to pay
yourself, how much to be able to spend on entertainment, choosing the hotel
you want to stay or accounting a personal trip as official.
None of these are about freedom. If you ask people who know, they will tell
you that such attributes are severely looked down upon by successful
entrepreneurs.
A good entrepreneur is a highly disciplined person:
Freedom to such an individual is an inner need for space in which the person
can create greater value without interference. That process of creating a
greater value often involves risks, of trying creative ideas to stay ahead. He
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does not enjoy someone pulling him from behind or asking for a progress
report by breathing down his neck every now and then.
This does not mean entrepreneurs are not accountable.
Entrepreneurship is about egolessness:
Many people start companies in the prime of their careers, often after
winning accolades as professional managers in large companies. That is
great, but when you start your own company, you must know that you leave
your past behind. That is easier said than done.
A person’s corporate success often comes from the power of the chair he sits
on. He often underestimates how much he is an extension of that artefact.
So, when that person steps out, the world repositions him without his
knowing.
Entrepreneurs love money:
If you do not love to make money, do not start a business. I meet a lot of
people who love technology, so they want to start a company. I meet a lot of
people who tell me that they have earned enough in their life and now want
to set up a company to ‘give something back’. None of these people will ever
make great entrepreneurs. Wealth is granted by Goddess Lakshmi. She is
extremely jealous and possessive. She does not come to those who treat her
as if she is incidental. Even if you manage to bring her in on some pretext,
mythology has it that she flees at the smallest act of neglect. So, if someone
says money is not my prime motivator, know that the goddess is listening.
Send in your comments to:
Dr. Sekhar Basak,
Managing Director,
Innovista Consulting,
Better known for “Innokit” and “Konzerve Plus”
Email: md@innovistaconsulting.com
HP: +91-9871203111
Skype: sekhar_basak
Homepage: www.innovistaconsulting.com
