Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Musings of an Entrepreneur

A year has come and gone since I quit my fancy job with my fancy salary and set out to change the world. When I was going to quit, I hardly paid heed to any of my peers in the start-up world who warned me that it may take longer than I planned before I could get anything substantial out in the market. But I was determined. I truly believed that in 3 to 4 months, I would have a world class product out there and change the world and make my destiny.

I quit my job and landed in Mumbai to be welcomed by rains! Rains that just didn't stop for even a minute. The entire city was flooded and I couldn't even find a house to stay in! I was wondering if the city was crying at my arrival and whether the Gods were sending me signs! I persisted and stayed on. I trusted people with ease and always believed that I could overcome anything that came my way.

Over time, I realised that trust is highly over-rated and basically promises mean nothing in the world when you are un-established and hoping to make it out there. Very ironic that I should choose to stay around Lokhandwala in Mumbai where I see so many people trying to make it out big in the Film Industry. But as I saw it, Mumbai is truly the Maximum city, where everyone is trying to realise a dream.

A year down the line and multiple partnerships forged and broken, I sit down to take stock of the situation. First and foremost, what I've learnt in the last year could probably out-shadow most of what I've learnt through the rest of my life put-together. There are people who will drop you at the drop of a hat and there are others who will stick with you through the most trying of times! Broken promises, hugely missed deadlines and people questioning you in the hope that you are failing - I have learnt the single most important factor in being an entrepreneur.

REDUCE DEPENDENCY!

I have learnt that people are more than ready to work with you as long as you offer a compelling proposition. But the issue with these people are that they are also willing to work with others who offer a more compelling proposition! And at a stage when one is not yet established, people come and go so very quickly. Post the first year, when we didn't really have a product to call our own, we took quick stock of the situation and decided that we had to work on our won to actually get anything out there. So instead of depending on others to deliver on timelines and promises, we sat down to do everything ourselves. If we knew how to do it, we did it quickly, if we didn't, we learnt how to do it quickly.

We put in all that we learnt into our product. For our product to succeed out there in the market, we had to reduce the dependency on all external factors. That way, the success or failure of the product would purely depend on us and there wouldn't be a blame game that follows. And after three months of long hours, no sleep and insane passion, we actually had a product to call our own. We pivoted multiple times from the original product we had planned and arrived at something so beautiful. Something so wonderful that despite how it goes out in the market, it is truly ours. The result of our sweat and perseverance, and our passion.

I found a team that compliments my skills and character - People I could trust and who would slog it out with me. People who were as passionate as me and dedicated as me. And today, we are at the stage where we are to launch the product and I can't but not stop for a few seconds and look back and smile. What a journey it has been! 

Keep following this blog for updates on our revolutionary product that aims to change the way people engage with local businesses. Trust me, this is a truly amazing first-of-its kind product! Wait for it...... Legendary!