Anand Nataraj

Posts Tagged ‘Business’

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House in Washington D.C. One from Bangladesh , another from India and the third, from China.

They go with a White House office to examine the fence.

The Bangladesh contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. “Well”, he says, “I figure the job will run about $900. ($400 for materials, $400 for my team and $100 profit for me)”.

The Chinese contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, ”I can do this job for $700. ($300 for materials, $300 for my team and $100 profit for me)”.

The Indian contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, “$2,700.”

The official, outraged says, “You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?”

The Indian contractor whispers back, “$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from China to fix the fence.”

“Done!” replies the government official…

Today was the second session of the new Business Networking meet for which I’m one of the Founding organizer. It was a 6 member meeting during the first session and for the second meet there is a marginal increase to 14 entrepreneurs.

I’m very happy because for long I wanted to start a Group for entrepreneurs & this happened with less effort. Also people who have made it for the first time today are happy the way it progressed.

It so happened because of the offer we got from one of the friend who helped us in getting a meeting room. Even the second meeting which happened today was a casual one without any planning or preparation. These are some highlights about the group;

• Group is named Go Network Grow…
• Meet happens on 2nd & 3rd saturday of every month…
• Group is opened to entrepreneurs only…
• It is a non-profit group…

Next meeting happens on 12th March 2011 & we are expecting a decent turn around… If you are an entrepreneur you are welcome for the next meet… Kindly ping me for an invite…

September has become a special month in my Life as it is during this month that I started my career and that too as an entrepreneur. I still remember it was during September 2000 I started my first company in a Ganesh Temple in Besant Nagar during Ganesh Chadurthi. Then I didn’t know I’d have crossed soo many hurdles & would be blogging about it today.

Also my second venture Cogzidel was started during september 2 years back and again I cant believe it has been 2 years. I can still remember both the days afresh.

It was a wonderful journey which was a mix of;

• Excitement
• Learning
• Experience
• Betraying
• Managing Cruelty
• Criticism
• Appreciation
• Recougnization

It took me 10 years in life to understand only half what entrepreneurship is and I’m still learning. Now I’ve a past to show people about my performance. But time to redraw my future & this is how I want my future to be positioned or I want to be or I want to do;

• Become an Angel Investor
• Become a Business Mentor
• Become a professor on Entrepreneurship
• Experiment / Research on Entrepreneurship like
  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Holding and scaling an Entity
  • Forming a Company with Crowd Funding
  • Run a Public Limited Company

Just understood where my heart is and slowly moving towards the direction of my passion. Finally on this day I’d like to thank all my friends, relatives & my associates who have helped me reach where I’m today.

I wish 2020 will have a lot more to Share than now.

For long i wanted to change my mobile as my old low cost handset was having problem with its speaker. Also as a part of my new year resolution wanted to buy new handhelds and hack it. Other thing is i want to be a early bird for Web 3.0.

So as a apple freak i was almost about to go and buy an iPhone. But one of my friend confused me and didn’t allow me to buy an iPhone. He insisted me to go for a BlackBerry. He evangelized BlackBerry and still my passion for apple products made me blind and deaf.

Then for my birthday i got a combined gift from Balaji, Mom & Sister and it was nothing other than a BlackBerry curve. In two days i activated the email & IM options and within a day i fell for the product.

I’m using a BlackBerry for a week now and i can say there is a huge increase in my productivity. I don’t feel bored while waiting and I’m able to keep myself occupied.

For entrepreneurs i strongly recommend BlackBerry than any other business phones.

Interference of Bureaucrats over businesses in India is a growing concern. There is not a proper forum to condemn their arrogance & ill-treatment. There are several instances where in we are affected because of bureaucrats.

Two days back one of our employee has put in his papers. He boldly says that he have put fake experience and has got a job in another company. Not only he has broken his bond he is also not prepared to give one month notice which he agreed while signing his agreement with the company.

When the HR team conveyed things seriously to him, there was a call from Labour Commissioner & Madurai north zone Labour Inspector asking to relieve the person smoothly. When the HR told them about company policy the officers has said that they have helped break several bonds & notice period with TVS group.

They repeatedly called HR and has literally blackmailed him asking if they had to come in person. This is all because the mother of the candidate is also a Labour Inspector. Now Labour officers have intruded unnecessarily into a matter which is totally unnecessary to them.

I don’t know when politicians talk about promoting entrepreneurism in the society. How can that be achieved with unnecessary influence from Bureaucrats which is totally not their mistake.

Most of the company have to live with their shit fearing unnecessary harassment by the officials. We could have taken legal action against the candidate and the concerned officials. But  it will be like throwing a stone in a piece of shit it makes the entire area stink. So, we have left it for now.

Since i didn’t take it legally and teach such people a lesson i thought i can at-least write this blog and reduce my anger.

Wish you all a Happy New Year (2010). As everyone i want to star this new year with a list of Resolutions and let me list it;

• Make my first Abroad Travel this year.
• Start my Book on “Hardships of First Generation Actors” and publish it this year itself.
• Workout & Have a good physique.
• Getting a Pretty wife or a Girl Friend .
• Start Collecting Expensive Gadgets & Buying expensive merchandise.
• Become a Golfer.
• Become a Good Photographer.
• Mentoring Budding Entrepreneurs.
• Starting 2 more entities under Cogzidel Group.
• Creating a residual income other than my mainstream income.
• Learn swimming.
• Start Open Terrace Networking to help startups & SME to network with professional and fellow entrepreneurs.
• Join Chennai Tracking Club & go for more tracking.
• Long drives to Pondy, Madurai, Bangalore, Mysore & GOA.

Will post the result by the end of this year.

Wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Yesterday has been a fulfilling day as it kept me fully engaged which is what a person like me expects. The day started drowsy as usual like every day. I got up by 11 AM and it was normal routine. By 11.45 AM i drove to my office and reached office by 12.15 noon.

Then I started the day with couple of tweets and posted a Blog. Then came my cousin who wants to be a part of my marketing initiative and I took him as a Business Development intern.

I did some mentoring which started with some enlightenment of his current small business and then I took him through his role as an intern. Hope he enjoys working under me.

Got a call from my friend who came to give his marriage invitation. Then spent an hour with him and took him to the house of another friend.

Then retuned to office to pickup another cousin who started an aquarium business and he visited my office to give his consultation on setting up an aquarium in my office.

Then by the end of the day me and Bala thought of going for a movie and we went to Satyam Cinemas and booked a ticket for Kurbaan. As it was only 8 o clock and the show was by 10.30 we thought we could spend the remaining time at Amethyst as Bala has never been there before.

At Amethyst it was as usual a nice atmosphere but the food was really bad. Then this time I was more irated by their behavior. in their menu they has specified their timings as 10 AM – 10 PM.

But instead they started closing the shop by 9.15 and the guy came near us and he switched off the fan without having the courtesy to ask for an excuse. They did all things to drive us out even before 9.30 PM and we came out with frustration.

But we were talking business, cracking jokes and I didn’t want to spoil my mood and I drove till island ground and returned and parked the car at Satyam Annex and we took a walk to theatre.

My expectations we set high on movie as Shiv Sena has said that they are going to send saris to Kareena Kapoor & while getting the tickets we were told it was an adults only movie and we cant take minors.

I thought there would be some adult scenes in the movie and nothing of that sort was shown. All hype created by promos, media and the person issuing tickets ended in disappointing me after the movie got over.

Over all it was a day where I was engaged every minute and I’m happy to close the day.

Good Night!!!

It is the month of June, on the shores of the Black Sea , it is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town. He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 Euro note on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one.

The hotel proprietor takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.

The Butcher takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the pig grower.

The pig grower takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel.

The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the town’s prostitute that in these hard times, gave her services on credit.

The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 Euro note to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 Euro note back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.

At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and takes his 100 Euro note, after saying that he d id not like any of the rooms, and leaves town.

No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the business is today…..

Found this article from elance.com a reverse auction website. Though this article is well written and highly recommended I personally disagree with some points like preparing business cases, family support etc. Though I agree we must plan things in my personal experience I found 9 out 10 things goes wrong. Also this article is missing on essential things a person to have as a startup more than enthusiasm like Guts, Perseverance & Persistence. Anyways this article will be useful for people who want to be on own and for sure it has many good take away. 

1. Chest-Bursting Enthusiasm

   In order to birth your business idea, you are going to have to have a tremendous amount of energy and stamina. When you are totally enthusiastic about an idea, you don’t have to worry about “staying motivated” or “dealing with procrastination,” concerns voiced by many prospective entrepreneurs. Here are your enthusiasm checkpoints:

   When you think about the work you do on a freelance basis, do you get a big smile on your face?
   If you had your daily expenses taken care of, would you work on this business anyway because it is so exciting to you?
   Do you see how this business fits into your overall life plan?
   Would being successful in this business give you the kind of life you want? Would you be happy while doing it, not just once you were making money?

   2. A Solid Business Case

   Passion without a business model or viable market is a sure road to perdition. Business case checkpoints:

   Have you prototyped and tested your idea with real people in your target market?
   Do you have a viable business model? Could it survive if the market shifted?
   Can you describe what makes you different, more effective or more appealing than your competitors?

   3. An Eager Market That Has The Means To Buy What You Are Selling

   You know that your business cannot serve everyone in the world. Who, exactly, do you want to serve? Do they have deep, important problems that your product or service will address? Market checkpoints:

   Can you define your target market in clear and specific terms?
   Do you know where they congregate in person, online, in associations or in the media?
   Do they have access to cold, hard cash to pay your for your services?

   4. A Money Plan

   If you don’t manage the money side of your business, you are destined for misery. Financial checkpoints:

   Are your personal finances organized and tracked in a systematic way?
   Do you have 6-12 months of living expenses saved?
   Do you have a solid plans B, C and D that you can activate if things don’t work out as planned? (Remember, they never do)

   5. A Marketing Plan

   You may know exactly who you want to work with, but if you can’t actually talk to them, how can you expect to make any sales? It may take a good, long while for you to build a relationship with mutual knowledge, respect and trust, so you must get started right away. Marketing checkpoints:

   Have you chosen a marketing model and are you implementing it step by step? (Duct Tape Marketing, Action Plan Marketing and Michael Port are all great models)
   Do you have a functional website that clearly nudges people to do what you want them to do? (sign up for your list, download your product, join your community)
   Are you doing a handful of marketing activities consistently each month like writing articles, blogging, speaking, participating in online forums or inviting interesting people to lunch?

   6. A Healthy Approach To Sales

   I worked with salespeople for years and am convinced they are born with special (some say mutated) genes. Excellent, ethical salespeople are totally excited by the sales process. Most first-time entrepreneurs, on the other hand, feel like throwing up at the thought of asking prospects for money. Selling checkpoints:

   Do you know what problem your product or service solves?
   Do you know what your sales process is?
   Do you lead your prospects through it or wait for them to take the lead?
   Do you know how to ask for a sale?

   7. Time To Create The Business

   It takes time to get your business up and running. If you have to continue working as an employee while you develop your business, create a project plan and carve out time in your schedule to make steady progress. You may need to forgo activities that make you happy such as evening television, golfing weekends or excessive volunteering. Time checkpoints:

   Do you have efficient processes in place for managing your email, tracking projects and accomplishing tasks?
   Have you wiggled out of any non-essential obligations?
   Do you know the major milestones you have to accomplish to get your business off the ground?

   8. Support From Your Family

   Starting a business is a very emotional experience, and you will need all the support you can muster from those closest to you. Family checkpoints:

   Have you listened at length and without judgment to the concerns voiced by your spouse?
   Do you have mutually-agreed upon metrics like amount of money in bank account, length of time to get business off the ground, amount of hair you are willing to lose before pulling the plug?
   Have you clearly discussed the risks he or she will assume if you are married? (credit rating, co-signing for equipment or contracts, etc)

   9. Support From Your Tribe

   If you have grown up inside corporate environments, many of your friends may not be experts in entrepreneurship. You don’t need to know everything about your new business, but you should know people who do. Support checkpoints:

   Do you have active networks on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter?
   Do you have at least one mentor, mastermind buddy, staunch advocate, technical expert and friend at your fingertips?
   Do you regularly and willingly help others, share information and provide resources without being asked and without expectation for reciprocation?

   10. A Mixture Of Faith And Mistrust In The External Market And A Backup Plan

   I have now lived through two significant upheavals in the financial markets as a business owner: Silicon Valley in 2000 and Phoenix, Arizona in 2008. What I learned by living through the busts is that nothing last forever (both the good and the bad). If your business success depends on the economy staying the same for the next 5 years, you are doomed to intense moments of panic and possible financial ruin. Market checkpoints:

   Have you learned as much as you can about the market you are operating in?
   Do you have a positive mindset and constructive thoughts about your new venture?
   Are you willing and able to look on the bright side of the most stormy market condition, even if it means radically adjusting your plans?

Courtesy : Pamela Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur, is a former corporate manager turned entrepreneur focused on helping frustrated employees break out and start their own business. For more information, visit her blog at www.escapefromcubicalnation.com.

I started my entrepreneurship ride during the year 2000 in the month of September. It was the starting days of so called dotcom bubble. The buzz, happenings and the glamour have all come to a halt. It was one of the worst times to even think of starting a company and that too offering Web based services. We were criticized left right and center for becoming an entrepreneur. My parents asked me to take up higher studies and my friends asked me to take up a job till things revert back.

 

In spite of all those obstacles I started my company with the help of my mentor and well wisher Mr.Shunmugavel Yogan, founder TheITDepot.com. Initial struggles were enormous… When ever I failed there was more criticism than getting moral support… We had no mentors and also the startup ecosystem was not mature… Everything was starting to take shape unlike today;

 

• Opensource and frameworks were starting to emerge and were not usable. So, we had to develop everything from the scratch.
• There were not many market places like elance or scriptlance. We had to depend on forums and on top listing on search engines (SEO).
• Startup ecosystem like proto.in, barcamps, open coffee clubs etc were not there.
• Also the concept of bootstrapping was new. There was an illusion that to start a business one needs huge capital.

 

In spite of all those odds we were able to strike it big and I personally feel we can see persons best only when his character is put on a test. Why I keep repeating these kind of post is because I see many enthusiastic people who want to become entrepreneurs keep telling me reasons like it is recession, market is inflated, family commitments, emotional commitments etc.

 

Unless we have control on us we can’t strike the gold. So instead of getting inspired by successful people try to know their path to success which can teach you lots of lessons.