When I was 12 years old, my school organised a funfair. My friends and I were beside ourselves with joy and we decided that we had to participate. The six of us pooled in a total of ₹500 and booked a stall at the funfair. One person got a crochet ring and the rest of us came bearing inexpensive home supplies: a soap, chocolates, a packet of chips. We ticketed the participants and let the games begin.1
At the end of the day, we had made a profit of ₹500 rupees, each. It was unbelievable. That day, I returned home, clutching the crisp ₹500 note, prouder than I had ever been.
When I look back, I realise it was my first business venture, an early lesson that pushed me towards securing an MBA degree and clinching a corporate job.
Time passed quickly as I grew up. I worked in retail management for five years for brands like Future Group and Reliance, and fought my way up the business hierarchy: department manager, store manager, area manager. I was good. But as time passed, the monotony increased. Doubts started to weigh me down. Was I really where I wanted to be? Was I sufficiently using my talents? I had given these five long years of my life. What was I doing? I allowed myself to be gripped with doubts and hoped that resolution would be imminent. Should I quit or should I stay? While I was oscillating between freedom and job security, the unlikeliest person made the decision very easy.
A Break in the Cloud
I have always been fortunate to work with people who believe in nurturing talent, not squashing it, so when an inefficient and unkind person joined the company as my boss, I thought enough was enough. Very soon I realised that I couldn’t fight with him anymore. One day, I lost my temper and I put in my papers. At that moment there was nothing I despised more, but now I am immensely thankful for that episode. If not for my horrible boss, I would have still been an employee.
Testing The Waters
I had six months of savings, a gainfully employed husband, and an optimistic predisposition. I decided I wouldn’t settle for a job. I would become an entrepreneur. In some ways, I was preparing for it since I was the 12-year-old girl who earned ₹500 in her first business venture. I was nursing the desire as I obsessively pored over self-help books like The Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Secret. I was dreaming that it was my chance, my golden ticket. But I also wanted to play safe, so I started with caution.
Know What You Do Best
I had worked in the retail industry and accumulated enough skills and connections. I was good at recruiting staff for my stores and decided that my first business would be a natural extension of my day job. I started a staff recruitment agency. I invested Rs 100,000 in hiring a designer to set up a website. But other than that, I invested nothing. The business went smoothly because I was in an industry I was deeply familiar with and from the get-go, I began to make money. I ran that business successfully for two years and began planning how it was time to lease office space. And then, my life changed completely.
I was pregnant.
So far, my life had taught me to:
- Listen to myself: There’s nothing more important than paying attention to your inner feelings and thoughts before they threaten to engulf you. It’s why I paid heed to my boredom and monotony with my cushy job and decided that I needed to get outside my comfort zone.
- Expect the unexpected: Even a horrible boss can be a comforting prospect if you keep trudging. At that moment, my boss was my fiercest grief, but with time, I realised that he was a blessing in disguise.
- Value Learning: No one can take away what you have worked hard to learn. Your insights and your knowledge will reward you until the end of your life. Use them wisely.
But now, big changes were afoot in my life and I knew I couldn’t go on as before. This is where I erred and scrambled to find my stronghold.
My staff recruiting business needed me to make and receive tens of calls a day but my newborn baby disrupted that. I decided to do something online. I would make websites for clients but I was so dependent on their whims and fancies that the challenges became forbidding. In this period, I was in a search mode—frantically looking for interesting opportunities, being lured by the shiniest one available, while not paying attention to what I really wanted to do.
The Serial Entrepreneur Bug
For a short while, I also flirted with a customised chocolate business idea where I tried to clinch corporate deals for such orders. In reality, I was enamoured by the idea of being a serial entrepreneur and was thinking that I, too, should have multiple income streams, when honestly, not even one business was giving me the revenue that I desired. I had forgotten that I could only excel in that business which resonated with me.
Around that time, two things happened:
- I was introduced to the idea of self-publishing on Amazon. Around the world, writers were making good profits publishing their books on Amazon and I immediately dove in. But there was a big problem: I couldn’t write so I invested all the money I had made in learning how to. Those days began and ended with online courses, webinars and dog-eared books.
- I met Mr CK Kumaravel, a senior entrepreneur. He asked me what I did and I made a list of the many businesses I was running. He paused. He furrowed his brows and sad, “If you chase two rabbits, you will catch none.” This sentence had an astounding effect on my life. As if all of a sudden, clouds of doubt cleared and I distinctly saw my path.
I realised that I don’t have the success I want because I am not committing myself to what I truly believe in. That’s when I shut down all my other businesses and directed my focus on self-publishing. After long and arduous learning, I wrote my first book, The Job Escape plan.
This phase of my life gave me valuable lessons in entrepreneurship. It taught me:
- You may have to pay the price of not waiting: While you shouldn’t wait for the perfect opportunity to resonate with you, you have to make up your mind for what you want to do. I didn’t wait for the right idea but that also means I was continuously wading through choppy seas. But I had decided that no matter what, I am not returning to my old employee life. There’s nothing wrong with being an employee, but entrepreneurship is a completely different way of life, and it throws plenty of challenges at you.
- As we grow, so should our businesses. Drop the rigidity that Plan A has to work. All that matters is that you constantly move, so that our minds or our ideas don’t stagnate. Evolve and let your businesses evolve.
- There’s no fun in being mediocre. Develop a mindset of excellence. If you don’t have the hands-on experience needed for a business, find ways to acquire it. There is an abundance of books and online courses for your assistance, but if you’re serious about your business, you will go the extra mile.
- No person’s an island: Nothing teaches this better than entrepreneurship. Serious entrepreneurs can demonstrate their inclination by seeking mentors who can teach them much more than any book would.
When I started my self-publishing businesses, I hired the services of one of the best (and most expensive) consultants out there. It was heavy on the pocket but liberating for the mind. I trusted him with his models and that’s what eventually helped my business grow tremendously. The lesson I learnt? Pay those whose work will pay you. And now, for the past four years, I have been helping tens of people publish books with Happy Self Publishing.
But entrepreneurship teaches you to aim higher and higher. Everytime you feel like you’ve pushed hard enough, there’s more you can do. After I started my self-publishing business, I realised that I was unable to help more than 10 people a month while there were hundreds out there with dreams of writing their own books. Most didn’t know where to start, how to seek coaching, whom to consult, and that inspired me to start the Author Success Academy. It had been my dream to have an academy where I serve 10,000+ people but I didn’t just absently rush into it. I proceeded with caution. Here, too, the role of mentors can’t be overstated. I joined Siddharth Rajshekhar’s coaching system, where I realised that there was no need to reinvent the wheel. All I had to do was follow what I was being taught and I would get where I hoped to reach. This is my most important lesson. Regardless of the field you choose, find a mentor and surrender to them and the learning.
Whatever you do, do it with good people around you
People are at the centre of everything. Entrepreneurship is a part of your life, it’s not your life. And it’s why you need to focus on people: both at work and off it.
Think carefully about who you want to work with. There are many good businesses which can become great but they’re being run with the wrong partners. Just because someone has an idea doesn’t make them a good business partner. Both of you need to have the right skills, the right values, and the right interest in the business or clashes are inevitable. As co-founders, both of you should also bring unique skill sets that would individually benefit the business.
As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to be a serial entrepreneur fast. But now I realise that I can’t work on other businesses till my existing business has reached where I want it to. And to do that, I am working hard to invest in people, in teams, and truly empowering them.
Drop the superhero mentality. Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking that they are superheroes. That only if they go to meetings will the meeting be successful. Or only if they talk to the client will the client be convinced. This is a problem. Entrepreneurs must experiment with a variety of business models: remote teams, in-office teams, freelancers, and focus on empowerment and automation. I have five core members in my team who have been with me for the last five years. Many important tasks are delegated to them, and in fact there are many tasks where they do a much better job than I would.
Personal Time and Family Is Key
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking that as a businessperson, their personal life should cease to exist. It’s a flawed way of thinking, and I realised this the hard way. A little after my second child was born, I was completely overwhelmed with work and responsibilities. One day as I stepped out, someone barely five years younger than me called me aunty. It was a wake-up call. I realised that I was not giving myself the time that I deserved. I decided that I must start focussing on myself. When I would go to pick and drop my daughter from dance classes, I noticed that the same building held Zumba for adults. I joined. Later I joined the gym and recently, inspired by my father who runs marathons, I have taken up running. I now lead a more balanced life and focus on my other passions like travel. In the past few years I’ve traveled to 15 countries. My goal is that by the time I’m 40, I should travel to 40. But it’s impossible to concentrate on yourself, if you don’t have the support of your family.
Women, listen up:
Like the entrepreneur superhero syndrome, many women suffer from the supermom syndrome. They think that they have to do everything themselves from cooking, cleaning to taking care of the baby. And I was no different. But eventually, I had to accept that my children would be fine and would still love me even if I didn’t do everything for them. As my business started to grow, I decided to move closer to my mother’s house so she could look after the kids while I was away. My husband and I would take turns babysitting and we also hired a babysitter to assist my mother. But in the beginning, I would let go with guilt, and true acceptance came gradually. My children now know the value of my work and they understand. My son will ask me what I am doing and if I say I am working, he will say, okay, work, but after that, we will play. He is only three.
I had both the supermom and super-entrepreneur syndrome, but after several years as an entrepreneur, I now know what you most need to avoid the pitfalls and become a better entrepreneur:
- Find your purpose: What is that that you will wake up at 5 am to pursue? If you can’t find the motivation, don’t force it. Maybe it’s not the right time or the right idea. Besides, there’s no harm in gaining skills while working in a company.
- Find your drive: I became a more serious entrepreneur after I had my kids because I wanted to be a fantastic example for them. It has been my biggest drive since then. Find your purpose and match that with your drive and see yourself soar as an entrepreneur.
- Reinforce it with rituals: From a vision board where you write down your goals and aspirations to an accountability partner— someone who will keep you motivated, find ways to keep distraction at bay. It’s very easy to fall down the rabbit hole of social media and Netflix today, but remember my biggest learning as an entrepreneur: If you chase two rabbits, you will catch none.
- Find your community and tribe: I have reinforced the need for mentors but it’s equally important to have a community of fellow entrepreneurs or mavericks who can make the journey less lonely.
A final note for women, for whom the struggle is most real
Full disclosure: I’ve been fortunate. I was a single child, raised by progressive parents who never thought I couldn’t do something. In fact, when I decided to run my own business, I got unconditional support from my family. I know I’m privileged, but I also know that many women struggle at home. To top this, there’s systemic discrimination in the entrepreneurial world. While more women are now holding jobs, not that many women are entrepreneurs. I believe the reasons are two-fold: one, many women still need the approval of their husbands and parents before doing anything, and another, because when it comes to choosing between security and freedom, women are trained to choose security. Women also tend to be the ones who chase balance and step back while their husband chases the dream.
Women make stellar entrepreneurs and it’s time they took the plunge. Start by speaking up about your professional interests with your family, tell them how important your career, your identity, is to you, and show them how confident you are—in navigating this seemingly challenging sphere of life. Show them you can be an entrepreneur.
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