Tenacity, an Entrepreneurial Attitude

 

Giving up is so easy, isn’t it? It does not take much time. Only fools keep wasting time and energy on something that is not materializing, right. If that is so, then, all successful people in this world are fools. Every successful businessman is insane. Gates, Steinbrenner, Disney, and even Steve Jobs, all were crazy heads. Every known innovator is stupid enough to ruin his entire life in a closed laboratory. Edison, Einstein, Curie, all were insane.

Each one of these people failed at least once in their attempts. Some failed 100 times or even 1000 times. But can we deny that their names remain etched in our minds when we talk of success and successful people in the world? What if they had given up on their dream projects? What if, they did not show the tenacity to continue their passion in spite of failure and ridicule? It’s scary even to think that we would not have electric bulbs, Microsoft, Disney, Apple then.

You know, why did all these people succeed in spite of failures and their part of struggles? It’s because they did not give up. It’s because their visualization was so strong that others could not see what they saw. It’s because they knew they can; it's due to their tenacity to keep on doing things, though small, with dedication and belief. It’s because they were true innovators and entrepreneurs who could think much ahead of their times. It’s because of the attitude of people like Edison, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. I found 1000 ways of how not to make a light bulb”.

How many of us have succeeded in what we tried in the first attempt? Not many, right. This proves that success is not an easy sweet. It cannot be attained in one day. There are exceptions where people become successful easily. But when it comes to running a business or any other tough task, it takes a lot of patience and needs many attempts. And to remain glued to the task, one requires the attitude to never give up. Now, this is called tenacity. When it comes to business, tenacity is very important. It is not a skill but a trait and it goes hand in hand with various other traits in successful people. Not to mistake it, tenacity is not burning out oneself completely. It simply means the quality or fact of being very determined. That is persistence.

The Tenacious e-commerce seller

It’s not about raising your hands to give up. It’s about remaining unfazed during each episode of failure. This is usually among people who are focussed on their major goal, and who love what they do. Let’s understand it with an example. So here there is a new seller on those eCommerce sites. He opened his account, completed all the business-related formalities, and listed all his products very well. Now he is waiting for his orders online with the hope that he will sell all his inventories within a week or so. One week goes by, the second week goes by, the third, fourth, and even the fifth has gone. Still, he did not receive a single order. He started with the incredible hope that he will see great profit in a week. He had heard people saying so about eCommerce. In reality, this happens to a few.

So what most entrepreneurs would do? They would rather give up saying, eCommerce is not for them. But our hero did not. He decided to stick with it. He tried to understand why did not receive any orders. What does he need to do now to drive traffic to his listing? He tried reaching the root cause of the issue. He found out that his sales did not materialize because his products did not rise up in the customers’ search results. That he needs to find out great keywords to describe his products and that he needs to do some search engine optimization now. He is not a computer engineer of course. But he did not give up. He hired somebody who would help him in this task while he did the rest of the things. He is enjoying the process and he is optimistic that the issues will get resolved. So it did in a few days’ time.

So what did we learn from this? That tenacity is about telling oneself that you are in love with your work. You are passionate about your job and that you will overcome all obstacles. Our hero did not leave his night’s sleep or become frustrated. But he dealt with every issue with patience and sense. It did not matter to him that he did not sell any product for weeks. He knew that if he resolves the issues, things may work out. He remained optimistic.

How to keep your tenacity levels high

Tenacity revolves around your love for something. So it is important to find out what you love. Remember, anything you are curious about or you love doing becomes an enjoyable process. You do not have to struggle to keep yourself going!

When one thing does not work, keep looking out for an alternative way of doing it. If you are serious about something, you will always find a way. That is why it is being said, ‘where there is a will, there is a way!’. If your goals are too big, break them and set micro tasks where you might only need some micro-level tenacity. Soon micro-level tenacity will turn into macro one. So if you want to know you are tenacious enough to build a business, ask yourself whether you are passionate about the idea you have picked up. Let the world discourage you, and be against you. If you believe in your idea, give a huge smile and say, I can. Just keep visualizing your final goal and keep working. You will succeed.

Four Important Milestones in Entrepreneurship: Launching a Business and Growing it

Ever wondered why half of the new businesses fail. What causes many businesses to bring shutters down just after launch? Of course, there are things that might go against it. Sometimes it’s the market volatility, sometimes it’s due to some unforeseen calamities like the coronavirus epidemic. Some businesses fail due to poor timing of the launch. There can be a slew of reasons that are outside our control. Even when things are in control, the majority of small businesses fail. This is because launching a business and growing it are two different things. Launching, I would say is far simpler. It is like kick-starting your bike to go on a journey to a destination. Scaling or growing is difficult. There are many milestones that entrepreneurs should reach to continue journeying.

Businesses need to be looked at from a practical perspective rather than a theoretical one. Like I had said in my earlier blog, in entrepreneurship, every day is a new day and new learning. Hitting a new milestone every day or every few months is very crucial in growing a business. You need to look into growing your network of clients, work on the scaling of operations, marketing your company and its products, acquire more funds, etc. It is now converting your business into a profitable model. You must work upon your milestones now. There are a few entrepreneurial milestones that every new business must look forward to achieving to successfully converge into growth.

Milestone 1: Work on a creating a profitable business model

What regular textbooks teach is that entrepreneurs should find answers to these questions: What is it that your client requires? How would you give that value to your client at the right cost? And finally, why do you want to be in this business? Till you know your clients' needs, how would you give them what they need? And these would determine your 'why'. 'Why' is not about profit but why means your purpose. What’s your cause, your belief? Why does your organization exist? This is the outside-in approach. Most businesses work on this model of growing a business. I would not say that this is flawed. It may work, it may not. But if you ever happen to observe successful companies on earth, they work inside out. They ask why, how, and what.

Why do you think Apple is so successful? Why do you think Apple is more innovative? Year after year after year, they are more innovative than all their competitors. Why is it that they seem to have something different? They are like every other computer company, yet they are market leaders. So what is Apple’s business model? Apple communicates like this: Everything we do, we believe in changing the status quo, we believe in thinking differently (why). The way we change the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user-friendly (how). We just happen to make great computers (what) Would you like to buy one? And that’s why not only computers but everything they make gets sold. That’s why they make profits. People don’t buy what you do, people buy why you do it. So the message to my entrepreneur friends is, 'work on creating a profitable business model that answers inside out'. Your goal is not just to sell to people who need what you have, the goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe. This is what will make your business profitable.

Milestone 2: Work on bringing the right kind of people around

When you first launched your business, it may be that you started out all alone. You were one in all managing everything like a superhero. But now that you want to grow, your next milestone must be to grow your network of partners. You may now need to build networks with individuals and organizations that relate to your business. This means you need to work with your suppliers, your product wholesalers, and retailers. Start networking to find out the right people that will feed your business uninterrupted.

Milestone 3: Work upon growing your operations

Once your business starts showing signs of growth in sales, you might need to expand upon your operations. You need to fine-tune production processes to ensure quality, hold down the costs of materials and labor, and cut costs that don’t add value to the finished product. You also need to build a good workforce. Let us get back to the earlier milestone, to explain why you need to start with why. Because your goal is not just to hire people who need a job, it’s to hire people who believe what you believe. If you hire people just because they can do a job, they will work for your money, but if you hire people who believe what you believe, they will work for you with blood and sweat, and tears. So start finding people who understand your purpose, your mission, and your goal. Get in place managers who are experts in marketing, fundraising, operations management, sales, etc. Surrounding yourself with the right workforce; the right kind of people will help you grow your business. Ours is a competitive business world. Hence you need to stay ahead in terms of technology too. Invest in technologies and software that can help your business run more effectively.

Milestone 4: Secure your authority in the industry

Now, that you have placed everything in place, it’s obvious that things are working in your favor. You have started reaping profit in terms of growth of sales. Your next target should be to become a leader in your area of work. Let yourself be known in the industry. Create the type of content that your industry requires and publicize your business. Arrange local events or be a part of local events that allow you to showcase the expertise you have in your business. Become a member of the groups that have a hold on the market. Engage with the leaders to become one among them.

Entrepreneurship is a journey, a process. As you grow, you will become a confident and astute business person. Your business can be one among the list of top-performing businesses in the world. Keep setting milestones in your journey and keep trying to achieve those with sheer focus and determination. Keep growing!

Five simple steps to start a small proprietary business from scratch

 

If you are thinking of having a business of your own, and you want some tips to go about, I would like to share with you a few. Starting a proprietorship firm is one of the easiest ways to get into a business. It has its own pros and cons. If one has no experience and wants to get started somewhere, a proprietorship firm is definitely a good choice. Just to inform my readers, the internet is flooded with so many articles that explain the procedure of starting businesses with all those theoretical explanations, strong bullet points on the importance of powerful business plans, finance plans, marketing plans, and whatnot. Often such things, make us so nervous, and we think, ‘Oh it’s too difficult a task’. Trust me, when I started out, I got completely overwhelmed by a whole lot of information. It’s great that people are writing so great articles on starting a business from scratch. But, from my personal experience, I believe that one need not scratch his brains out. At a practical level, things unfold as and when we take the first step, and we progress step by step. We get the way out. Just look around in the vicinity. Your nearby salon owner, fast-food joint person, beauty parlor lady, and laundry owner! Each of them is an entrepreneur and a small business owner. I bet if they ever read so many things before they started out. So here are some tips to keep yourself at ease and focus on building a small proprietary business from scratch.

Jog your brain, and look around to find your business idea

If you have got an idea or a passion that you want to turn into a business, great you have already taken the first step. If you are yet to find one, start finding one now. It is easier than you think. We live in a world of 7.9 Billion people. And the good news is that there are only around 213 million companies worldwide. So look around, research, google it, and talk to people about their needs. I am sure, you will find many great business ideas. Select the one that you think you can jumpstart with. It does not matter whether you found the monopoly idea, the monopolistic one, or the perfectly competitive business type. No need to reinvent the wheel. Anything is great, if you are ready to say “Come what may, I will not give up. I am ready to rock and roll”. To help you out from scratch, I have a few profitable start-up options for you.

Consulting, Freelancing, Blogging

Grooming, Personal training

Cookery Classes

DIY craft making such as candles, soap, and cosmetic making

Designing

Snacks Joint, Juice Points

Costumes for different occasions on rent

Tailoring, embroidering

Daycare services

Event planner, travel agency

Beauty salon

Boutique

Yoga, fitness center

Organic farming, mushroom farming

Tiffin services

Home chocolate making

Laundry shop

Pickle-papad making

Food processing

SEO Expert services

Stock market trading

Repair and service shops

Poultry, Fisheries, Piggery, Dairying

Ayurvedic products retailer

And the list can go on and on. So look for things that people around you are seeking solutions for.

Give Identity to your business

Select a good name for your business and register it. You may also register your business in your own name. Register your proprietorship firm with Government portals. Though GST registration is not mandatory for businesses below Rs. 12 Lakh a year in India, I would recommend you go for it. It will help you in long run. You will also have the added benefit of getting a certification. If you plan to do e-commerce business then, you will require GST registration number. However, for businesses below Rs. 12 Lakh per annum run from brick-and-mortar shop, GST is not mandatory. You also have the option to enroll yourself on the Udyam Portal. For registration, one would require a few documents like Aadhar Card, PAN Card, Bank Account Details, proof of ownership of the premise which may include an electricity bill or any other such bill. A trade license is also something you should acquire if you want to serve in a particular locality or an area. For individuals who want to start their business related to food or food items, FSSAI registration is necessary. Nowadays, things are very simple and can be done online. A little computer literacy is enough.

Money matters. Source your products, raw materials, and supplies well.

What you need to do now is arrange some money. If you don’t have any, don’t worry. Borrow some from family, friends, or relatives. Handling money for your business needs is great art. With time, you will become good at it. When you have just started, you must know that the thing that determines your profitability in business is the price of your inputs. The lower the price of your raw materials or your input costs, the more profit you make. As a manufacturer of a certain product, you must always consider your raw material price. For example, if you are into handmade soap manufacturing, you need to buy oils, fragrances, colors, molds, etc. Go for the seller who offers the best price. The same goes for the retailer also. If you are dealing in a readymade product, work on your prospective manufacturers and wholesalers. Considering the example, sort out the wholesaler or manufacturer of a variety of soaps offering a good deal. Bargaining is crucial. There are some great wholesale markets in India and everything is just a phone call away. You need not even visit them. Just get some samples. If satisfied with the rest of the things like quality and price, you are ready to source these. Online platforms such as Indiamart are great sources to contact your suppliers. One thing necessary to remember is that cutting down on costs should not mean compromising quality. Remember that quality, along with the competitive price will determine the growth prospects of your business. People in service-providing businesses like consulting are free from the headache related to cutting down on input costs. But then they need to be competitive in terms of offering their services, especially when several others in the vicinity are also in the same business.

Congratulations! You are ready to sell

Once you are done with the manufacture or procurement of the products, you are ready to sell. You can now sell your products and services in various ways. Thanks to e-commerce and social media platforms, you can go for these, other than physical stores. When it comes to selling your products through e-commerce platforms, all you need to do is enroll your business on any of the platforms like Flipkart, Amazon, Craftsvilla, and Meesho. There are many these days. Register your business, and list your products. Thumbs up! you are online. Wait for your very first order now. Soon you will receive one. Consultancy businesses! start making websites, YouTube videos, and Instagram reels, or launch a channel on your niche. Take the help of someone or do it on your own. Provide good content. Flyby viewers will soon become your permanent customers. For businesses who are offering products and services on the physical front, rest assured, anything that’s displayed, gets attention and sells well. The best part is that you get to have direct interaction with your customer.

Final Words! Keep learning

Now on, start reading and understanding what more your customer wants, and what you need to change in your offering that your customer would love to have. Remember business is all about learning new things every day. Keep your eyes and mind open to understand the pulse further. Keep adding, keep improving. This is how small businesses grow. All is not at once. If you have worked on branding, and packaging beforehand, good, you have done a great job. If not, don’t worry, it’s not too late. You can work on these aspects now. Good branding and attractive packaging will give you an edge. Visualize your business growing leaps and bounds. May read my earlier blog on the power of positive visualization for success https://uphill-campaign.blogspot.com/2022/04/entrepreneurs-make-power-of-positive.html . A final word of wisdom my friends. Success never comes overnight. So be patient.

The Successful Brand Called MDH! And the Legacy continues …

MDH (Mahashian Di Hatti) is not just a masala brand; it represents the spice culture of India. It’s the flavor of India. Ever since I was a child, I grew up watching the MDH advertisement on our black and white television set. Asli Masale Sach Sach, MDH, MDH! The tagline still resonates in my mind. What I liked most about the ads was the grand old masala man Mahashay Dharampal Chunnilal Gulati in the commercials proudly flaunting his mustache and a turban. He remained the life of every commercial of the brand, as long as he was alive. The iconic man, the winner of Padma Bhusan died in 2020 at the ripe age of 98 but he remains etched in my mind. I always liked reading about businesses and business personalities, their struggles, and their growth. However, I am always in awe of Late Mahashay Gulati and the brand he built.

Recently, the news that HUL is in talks to acquire MDH shook me up. How could it even happen? No way could I imagine MDH, the iconic legacy of Late Shri Gulati, becoming the feather in the cap of another company. As I said earlier, it is not just a company but a story that inspires everyone. It is the true replica of a start-up that grew on to become Rs. 10000 crore business. And then, the clarification came, that the news is fake. Hmm, I heaved a sigh of relief. I came across the new commercial of MDH on our new flat-screen television. I loved the ad with his son Rajeev Gulati taking his place in the long mustache. Excited I screamed, “and the legacy continues…”. I thought it will not be just if I keep the inspirational account of this mega man and his mega-brand to only myself. No doubt, there will be only a few who do not know about MDH. But in times of start-ups and entrepreneurship all around, the story of MDH is worth a revision. It can inspire all of us to stay focused on our dreams and be successful.

So the story goes like this. MDH Chachaji or Dadaji, or Masala King, as he was popularly known, was born on 27th March 1923 in Sialkot, present Pakistan. He spent his initial 25 years of life in Pakistan where he used to assist his father Chunni Lal Gulati in running his spice shop. During the 1947 partition, his family migrated to India where they spent some time in a refugee camp in Amritsar. Later they shifted to Delhi. With just Rs. 1500 in hand, Dadaji bought a Tonga and started taking passengers around Delhi. He realized that it was not his cup of tea, and hence, got back to his roots. He bought small tools and once again started his family business in a small shop in Karol Bagh, Delhi in 1948. He added another shop in 1953. Within another span of six years, he purchased some land and set up a spice manufacturing unit, Mahashin Di Hatti in 1959, the same name with which his father ran his business in Sialkot. From just a small shop in 1948, Dadaji laid the foundation of his huge empire. MDH is one of the most recognizable brands in the spices segment with a global presence in more than 100 countries. It has a range of spices and products. The majority of the sales come from the Chat Masala, Chana Masala, and Deggi Mirch variants. Each variant has a sale of over a crore packets every month. During the financial year 2021, the brand had operating revenue of over Rs. 500 crores. It has a chain of thousands of wholesalers and retailers across the country. MDH Spices is a household name in India.

There are many things that the late Mahashay ji will inspire for decades to come. He was a fifth-class dropout yet had a keen business inclination. He tried his hands in several businesses such as soap making, carpentry, hardware business, etc. He failed and failed in all these businesses before picking up his father’s spice business. But he never got discouraged. He faced ups and downs in his life. However, he never backed off. He scaled his business bit by bit. Once he realized his expertise, he stayed rooted in what he and his family were best at. He learned through his mistakes. His perfect entrepreneurial spirit reflects in the fact that he dared to relaunch his business in a new territory. As a far-sighted innovator, he provided variety in spices that nobody would have thought of in the spices segment. Even at the fag end of his life, he remained energetic as ever and featured as a brand ambassador for MDH. He became the highest-paid CEO in 2017 but used to give away 90% of his salary for philanthropic activities. During his lifetime, he opened several schools, a hospital, and a mobile hospital in slums, and did many other charitable works. He remained a disciplined man throughout his life. Every day, he diligently took rounds of the factories, dealers, and markets, including Sundays, until he was satisfied that everything is fine, something that we must learn. Mahashayji believed in the simple mantra of success, that is, to follow the principle of honoring his commitments and serving his customers through pure and quality products. This is a significant thing that young entrepreneurs should keep in mind. Quality and honoring commitment are ingredients to achieve success in any business, small or big. Above all, he believed in honesty in business transactions to his core. Mahashayji may not be any more today, but he set an example of how businesses need to be conducted. With fearlessness, perseverance, hard work, dedication, and a service attitude, any business can grow from the grounds to the skies.

Source: MDH Website

Rule over Success in Your Business with These Golden Rules

Rules are important to avoid chaos and become organized. Rules define how balanced an approach you have in your life. Rules help to posit to the world what you are, and why you are where you are. Societies go by a set of rules; families have rules; schools define rules; organizations have conduct rules. Rules are everywhere. A golden set of rules is like a compass to steer clear of any little ambiguity or indecisiveness. That’s why successful people and organizations, and societies go by rules. In this article, I would like to discuss a few golden rules that young enterprising people might find helpful to start with.

Train your mind to handle everything and anything: Entrepreneurship is all about managing people, finance, and resources. And managing these, to perform well in the market, also have its own constraints and pressures. Whether it’s you or someone else, everyone has to perform under pressure at some or other point in time. There is deadline-related pressure, the monetary pressure, people pressure, and whatnot. But it is all about how we react to pressures and situations. Everyone gets butterflies in their stomach when in a totally uncalled-for situation. But how we make the butterflies fly, is something that we need to arm ourselves with. It is an art to respond to such a stimulus in a positive way. Rather than trying to interpret what our body experiences as nervousness, it’s beneficial if we can interpret it as excitement. Becoming the Yes Man and saying Yes I can do it, I am excited would push you forward rather than backward. No doubt, the experience within the body will be the same, but the interpretation will be positive, hence this positive push. When we train our minds to see the positive and believe in the positive things, entrepreneurship will be fun even under pressure and constraints.

Do anything you want to do and the way you want to do it: There are two ways to see the world. Some see through the half-glass full approach while some as half-glass empty. Some people see the things that they want and some people see the things that prevent them from getting the things that they want. Don’t wait and watch, just do it in whatever way suits you. Nothing is going to stop you from getting whatever you want. Just keep in mind the ethics but at the same time, you don’t have to do it the way everybody else has done it. Do it your way.

Take responsibility for your actions: You may take all the credit in the world for all the things that you do right, as long as you also take responsibility for the things you do wrong. It must be a balanced equation. But the problem is that people want to take only credit and don’t want to be accountable. Say for example, when you start a plant that makes the best quality leather shoes you are known for, you also need to acknowledge that somewhere you have created a polluted environment. You have thrown away your dangerous residue into nature. An environmentally enlightened entrepreneur would take it as his responsibility to clean up the mess. It’s good to see that these days most new-age entrepreneurs acknowledge that being in business is set to impact something in the surrounding, and they need to pay back for what they took. I am not endorsing any product or company, but the way I get it through their advertisements, some personal care brands, have the commitment to plant saplings towards every order made. Because they are taking the responsibility for their actions, they will gain consumer appreciation, and hence their loyalty, in the long run. Taking accountability or responsibility for one’s actions at every step must be in the rulebook if one aims to mark an impact in the minds of the consumers.

Compete with yourself not others: Set a rule to compete with yourself and not others. You are your competitor. Be the infinite player, ask yourself every day how you become a better version of yourself than you were yesterday; how do you make your endeavor better than what it was yesterday. It’s not about getting yourself or your business ranked in the list of best entrepreneurs or enterprises. It should be about how to make sure the work that you are producing is better than the work you produced before. Competition with yourself ensures that you keep up in the game the longest and infinite, not competing with your competitors.

Be genuine: Staying in business or being in a society are one and the same. It’s all about communication. The way we display our emotions, act, and say things, presents what we are and what we believe in. Displaying something else and doing something else can ruin growth, whether it’s your life or your business. People may get attracted to the image that you may have presented, but once they realize you are not what you show, their trust gets broken, and so is the loyalty of customers in business. People look for consistency in your approach. If there is slight deviation, you start losing your ground because people no more can connect to the ideology you symbolized. That’s where businesses start getting labeled as inauthentic. Must have heard or read about many such shooting star businesses that meteorically rose and fell. Entrepreneurs must remember that consumers surround themselves with products or brands that match what they believe or who they are. For example, people who are conscious about health get weirdly drawn towards products and brands that display their products to be 100% natural and organic. A slight deviation ruins the prospects forever. Remember how Maggi had to fight hard to build back its image in India when some reports suggested that it contained Lead. Consumers had started shifting to other alternative noodle brands. It’s another case that alternatives to Maggi’s could not make a mark in the consumer's minds. So the rule is to be genuine always to rule the minds and hearts of your customers.

Stay composed, and be patient: The worst thing that is happening in our generation today is that we are becoming more and more impatient. We don’t have time to wait till the fruit is ripe. We are ready to eat carbide, but we don’t have the patience to see the banana become ripe naturally. This is what exactly happens everywhere, be it in our lives, career fulfillment, or relationships. We don’t get it instantly, and so we quit. To be in business and become successful, you have to be there for a long period, and that requires great patience. There are ups and downs in everything. There are hiccups everywhere. You have to feel in love with whatever you do. As love requires patience, so does entrepreneurship. You have to give it all, to feel the sense of love that eventually builds up when you dedicate yourself to your job. The golden rule to succeed is to be composed and calm.