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WHAT COMES BEFORE ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
It is difficult to realise your
entrepreneurial dreams as a ‘new graduate’. A little work experience always
helps, a few employee-turned entrepreneurs
As kids in school, we were always asked, ‘who would
you like to be when you grow up?’ and the answers would vary - from being a
doctor, to pilot. Today, the answer might veritably be ‘entrepreneur’.
India, once a country that shunned the risks and uncertainties that go
along with entrepreneurship, has today become a nation of astute
businessmen and women. However, one cannot discount the importance of a
formal job experience before assuming the reins of a company.
One doesn’t gain an indepth understanding of the
client’s needs from day one. “I worked as a sub-broker for a large
financial firm for three years. During this time, I interacted with clients
at length and learnt to see things from their perspective. Also, I saw that
people at the top don’t really understand how it works at the bottom. For
instance in the trading world, big firms often focus more on investors when
it is actually the traders who generate volumes at the bottom,” reveals
Nithin Kamath, founder and managing director, Zerodha.
A diverse working experience also helps one zero in
on an industry where there are gaps to be filled in. “During my first job
at a professional service firm, I got an idea about financials and
operations of several companies as I analysed their businesses. This also
helped me in managing the budgets of my own business later. While working
at a financial services company where I sold mutual funds, I learnt the
sales and marketing aspect of a business and also the art of building
relationships. At a cosmetic company, I gained an insight into the
processes involved in a manufacturing set-up and the marketing procedures
of a product,” illustrates Ishween Anand, founder and owner, Nyassa.
Aspiring entrepreneurs try to gain an overall
understanding of the business rather than sticking to their limited job
roles. Santosh Patil, CEO and founder, www.vegwala.com lists a few lessons from his
salaried employee days that other hopeful entrepreneurs may identify with:
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Follow your heart. The rest will fall in place with the right effort;
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Keep your eyes and ears open on how the organisation handles its business;
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Be a jack of all trades rather than master of one. This helps you align
yourself based on the business context;
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Partners and stakeholders are very important for your career and later,
your business. Learn to work with them and know their strengths and
weaknesses;
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Everything starts and stops with people and every person is wired
differently. One should know how to handle resources well.
Sanjay Kamlani, cofounder, 1991 Ventures worked
with other companies for six years before launching his own venture. Yet,
many of today’s business graduates operate to a different thought-process
altogether, wanting to plunge into entrepreneurship from the day they
graduate. “Launching a start-up straight out of a business school without
any work experience is a risky proposition. The chances of failure for the
start-up are much higher as compared to one with a team that has learned
from the challenges and failures at another organisation,” opines Kamlani.
On the flipside, a very long tenure with another company may dim the fire
in your belly. “Working for someone gives you the requisite experience and
skillset to drive your own business. However, the advantage of starting
your own venture fresh out of a Bschool is that your passion to work on
your vision is at its peak, which might fade off if you work for someone
else. However, one big challenge may be a limited access to required
funding,” says Sunil Bhatia, chief executive officer and managing director,
Blue Star Infotech Ltd.
At the end of the day, what makes or breaks an
entrepreneur is the strength and quality of his/her team. “Good entrepreneurs
are those who have the clarity and conviction of the vision they are
pursuing. The ability to find the right team to then execute on that vision
is what separates good entrepreneurs from the great ones,” agrees Neetu
Bhatia, co-founder and CEO, KyaZoonga.com.
One may thus conclude that the ideal strategy would
be to work under someone else for a little while and then branch out on
one’s own when one feels ready to take on the challenges that come with
being an entrepreneur.
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