Why being an entrepreneur is not sexy?

Awarded the

“RodinStar” Post

of the week!!

My wife agrees to this statement so it must be true for sure.

In most scenarios stating the above is enough justification but in this case let me try to convince you by diving a bit deeper. (pun unintended)

We all love the Unknowns

For me it started by quitting my job, leaving my $$$k a year salary and coming back to India. I had the chance to walk on a balanced scale and become someone who would be loved and desired from the day one. It wasn’t my calling. My wishes for unknowns brought me here, my venture – Wear Your Opinion. It did require a lot of courage to become an employer from an employee. I did not have considerable amount of savings nor did I have an investor who would finance my whims and fancies.

The principle of bootstrapping an idea to build a sustainable business is overwhelming and difficult.  Amidst this, I have been able to keep my faith. There have been days lined with fear and clouded thinking that really stresses me out and makes me wonder if everything is worth it? And then there are days when things go your way and you are so high on life,  passions just comes flooding. To be honest, uncertainty makes every step tougher and one needs unwavering determination to go through the ride.

The ever changing vision

Recently, one my team members pointed out an article which talked about pivoting the vision instead of changing it. There is some merit in the idea but the truth is bit uglier. As the company starts growing (in terms of age), newer facets are discovered every day. Not many would agree to this in public but ROI and scalability has changed more visions than any other factor. You can go online and make a list of successful startups and read about their vision and how it evolved (changed is too unmarketable term), a lot can be learned about being flexible. There is no reason to be a rebel without a cause as it is nothing more than a glorified tantrum. It may take time to zero down but find a cause and then think of being a rebel.

Hiring, firing and second chances

There are hundreds of articles written about the right way to hire people on salary, on equity etc. Unfortunately, I have come to believe that there is no right way to do it. Over last four years, we have hired people who looked promising and were expensive for the company but together we have been unable to drive results. We have learned that attitude, determination and passion works better than smartness or intelligence. It is tough to form an A team with limited resources and capital unless you are from IIT, IIM or some other IVY league.

One becomes an entrepreneur with the idea of being an employer. Times do come when one needs to fire people so as to ensure that the liability does not pile up. It is disheartening. Metaphorically, recruitment  is always  like the first time with your partner. Both know the theory but have no clue about how will it happen and how good it will be. Give it a try, take a leap of faith.

Preparing a business plan, company projections, market pattern, revenue models, finance models, exit strategy and much more; by the time you are done with all this, you will be exhausted and kind of lost too.  Funding is essential and like everything else there is no single way to get through it.  Is the goal of raising money and then selling the company is really entrepreneurship?  Entrepreneurship gives an individual the opportunity to create something of value and make a difference. To really be able to do that one needs to create sustainable business and survive till the real opportunity unfolds itself.  So even if you do not get an exit you still can earn good money, especially if you bootstrapped. Funding is not the most essential thing all the time, I suggest you wander a bit before you zero in the the destination.

With so much unknowns and confusion on our platter, we can surely derive the fact that we are not sexy. A bit sensuous maybe as there is lot of mystery attached to our community. There is only one thing we can say about the community of entrepreneurs, we are and we will to do epic stuff .  We shall take on challenges while we create a few more. Safety net does not drive us. Our whole struggle is to discover what we are really made up off. Successful or not in worldly ways, we shall have stories and experience that shall inspire people for years to come.

To celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship we have created special merchandise that shall serve as daily reminder to keep going. If you too have some great ideas regarding these merchandise or would like to share a story which would inspire people through the turbulent times, we ask you to  email us on followyourdreams@wyo.in

#followyourdreams
Rajveen Khandelwal
Founder – Wear Your Opinion
tweet @rajveenk