Recently I came across an entrepreneur who is looking for investment and had a very good idea. I was interested in investing in his idea and would have loved to fund him. I had done my research about the business and had found it interesting, only to realize that the person in question is very arrogant and would not listen. I could have helped him by opening the right doors, but he is not willing to listen.
So what would the outcome be in such a case? I will not invest in this company. It is said to be a successful entrepreneur you need to have a good idea, money and luck. For me, though, it is much more than that. I think Indian entrepreneurs will do well to work hard with passion and the correct attitude.
Interact
Learn to interact with people more easily and with interest. It is easy to find information from books and now from the Internet but you may have a lot to learn from a person whom the world considers illiterate. When you find the right people, it is important to ask the right questions and you should be humble enough to say “I don’t know this. I need help.” This is where I find a lot of Indian entrepreneurs fall and fumble.
No shortcuts
Entrepreneurs need to know what their core skills are and how big and scalable the business is. If you are making Rs.1 lakh at your job and think you can easily make Rs.2 lakh a month if you do it on your own, I would say that is not being an entrepreneur because you are not thinking big enough. To start a business there are many personal sacrifices and a thumb rule is that for the first three years your quality of life will fall. You business stabilizes by the fifth year and to get rich or get rewards it takes about 10 years. People do not have the patience and want a business which after six months or two years makes them rich. People with get-rich-quick schemes are not building enterprises.
The A-team
Teams are very important. In the modern world there are very few businesses that can be built and run by one person. It is all about collaborative efforts, working with people to maximize reach, value and minimize cost.
Unfortunately I come across a lot of entrepreneurs who do not understand the true value of management. The reason they are in business is again because they want to get rich and buy the fancy car and a great home.
Decisive
I meet entrepreneurs who are not decisive and when they take a decision and falter, start a blame game. In the path to success there are failures, but one needs to figure out what went wrong and do it all over again. My message to youngsters who want to start businesses is do not become an entrepreneur if you cannot get a job and think you can make a lot of money.
Take criticism in stride
Many entrepreneurs have big egos and taking criticism is not easy. They have to learn to deal with criticism because as a company grows, your public visibility grows. So you would move from being a small company to mid-sized company and then a public company. Listen to people with an open heart and an open mind so that you get to hear the things which may prove to be important to you.
SUNIL KARLA is a part of the Indian Angel Network.
©Entrepreneur July 2010
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