People often ask me, “How
did you become an entrepreneur?” Well, it’s a tough question indeed. I think I
have had entrepreneurial qualities right from my childhood. I was always ahead
taking leadership roles, to take up projects which others considered difficult
or where there was an imminent risk. Later when I grew up and entered my
career, my organisations benefitted with these qualities of mine. And I was
also fortunate to be part of projects which required entrepreneurial drive.
Thus, I became an entrepreneur not one morning, but it has been a journey by
itself. But yes, if you ask me when did I plunge into becoming an entrepreneur
full-time for the first time, it was around ten years ago when I was jobless. Yes, I decided to be
an entrepreneur during my maternity career break!
I had to quit my first
job because of a transfer to another city when my baby was just 1 year old and
me being pregnant a second time. I was a
qualified and an ambitious young girl who had a pretty high paying job along with
two little babies to take care of. Since I didn’t have mothers on both sides alive,
I couldn’t leave my babies with anyone trustworthy. So, the only option at the
time was to quit my job. The next four
years of my career break was a struggle trying to balance my aspirations and
the needs of a growing family. On one side, there was a financial pinch and on
the other side, my own ambition for getting a job and then there was this worst
side; it was the year 2008 – the great recession period.
Days were very tough.
With no job at hand and with meagre family income, I knocked several doors
asking for help. Those days, one good thing I did was to utilise my break
period for learning. I enrolled for PG in psychology and completed the same
successfully.
After having failed in
attempts to get a job and with my increasing frustrations, I decided that I would
become an entrepreneur! Yes, I became an entrepreneur because I was unemployed. :)
I started my first company with a friend and
colleague at that time. My computer and phone number were the only investment.
I named my company, arrived at a service list and worked hard. At that time, the word “startup” was not in
the dictionary and hence we entered “business” . Now, the word “business” was
not very appealing to people around .
Professionally qualified girls from decent families do not want to enter into
business. They normally take up jobs in MNCs. Period.
So, you can imagine
the kind of impediments that we faced in setting up the company, in trying to
convince our early clients that we are capable of handling their service
requirements and in obtaining the resources needed to run the business. We toiled hard. We made some money. It was the
early days of social media. Digital marketing was new or non existent. We
relied on old methods of database management – paper, registers and used the
telephone to get client appointments. It was a very slow paced growth with nil investment,
with having not much idea about business and minimum family support, we were
forced to shut down the company within the first year. The only option in front
of me was to take up a job. And I did it. My partner left India within a couple
of years and is now settled abroad. I worked with couple
of organisations for the next few years. Wherever I worked, I was appreciated
for my “out of the box” thinking and my drive to get things done, which made me
realise that I was good for entrepreneur stuff. But still lacked the confidence
to plunge in.
In 2014, when I sent out the resignation letter to my last
employer where I enjoyed a great position as well as a great salary, I was
confident to the extent of being arrogant. I thought that I will make it big in
just six months! I invested all my savings in my company. But, to my utter horror and realisation,
business was not easy. Income was meagre
compared to expenses.
In all these years of
my business, I bootstrapped and didn’t take investment from outsiders. I only
took a bank loan. Most of the times, whatever money came in was reinvested into
business. With nil contribution of my
revenue to my family, I have been tempted and even forced by my husband to quit
business. The entire financial needs of the family has been on my husband’s
salary and it also took a toll on my self-esteem when I had to ask my husband
for money for my personal needs despite the fact that I am working day and night . On one side, I was
making money which doesn’t reach the family and on the other side, the needs of
the family was on the rise and on the worst side, wherever I go, I get tempted
with a job offer because of my skills. Most of the time, it has been a lonely
journey and I have felt lost and frustrated. I had lost my piece of mind. I had
been a bad mother, a bad wife and a bad daughter many times. Someone who burnt
the dishes while on phone trying to convince a client or talking to a friend
about a business deal. Someone who went
for a business meeting when the child is sick or someone who forgot to pay the
bills or book the gas because I was so involved in preparing a proposal to a
client. Someone who doesn’t attend parties, someone who doesn’t attend marriages,
someone who is always busy trying to hop around with multiple jobs. Someone who
doesn’t teach or at least help her kids with their homework. Someone who doesn’t
feed the babies or serve food for her husband because of lack of time. I get up
early morning to go to radio station and do RJing, then go to a college and
teach and in the evening sit and work on my business. In between I took up
whatever freelancing jobs I got including selling insurance, becoming voice
artist, anchoring, trainer, content writer – all this while managing my kitchen
and kids. I have tried to sell food, garments and also work on outsourced projects. This was me a few years back. :) (Since
I didn’t go for selling fish in the market, I wasn’t noticed by any media!)
In the past four years of my entrepreneurial journey, I have had lots of losses.
I have lost lots of
money which I could have earned if I had continued with my last job, which in
turn could have made up for my family loans. Not just that, I could have gone
on several foreign tours, had I continued in that corporate job. On the home
front, if my income was stable, my family and I could have gone on annual
luxurious holidays or had much better comforts needed for a home. I had lost
the opportunity to buy a bigger and better car. I had lost the opportunity to
buy a better laptop or other gadgets. I had lost most of my gold jewelry which was given to me by my parents during marriage. I had lost the opportunity
to buy more gold or other luxurious items. My children don’t go to premium
school or tuition because it’s an additional monetary burden. I don’t own an
extra luxury flat or villa which I could have bought, had I continued with my
job and given out on rent. I have felt sad and frustrated looking at the price
tag of something I liked, when I realise that I don’t have the money to buy. I
don’t frequent fancy restaurants or roam around with friends. I have felt
jealous of my friends and family when they upload the pictures of their
luxurious lifestyle. (To the extent that I deleted my FB account once and then
restarted only two years back to aid in my marketing!) And the list of unfulfilled needs continues. During this period of entrepreneurship, I have also worked on projects which I thought was great but ended up as a disaster. I have lost on some good friendship because the business relationship didn’t go smooth. I have had periods of depression and loneliness when I have felt like ending my life. I have cried after every failed projects.
But, despite all this,
I am happy. I am extremely happy as an individual who have realized my path. I am
happy that I didn’t compromise on my dreams. On my aspirations. And I am happy
that in the past four years of my entrepreneurship, despite several situations
which could have made me quit, I didn’t quit. I am happy that I am not living a life of servitude in the name of a comfortable job. I am happy that I have my freedom of choice. I am happy that during the past
four years, people meet me and say, “You look so happy and young always! ” . I
am happy at the fact that I have evolved into a seasoned entrepreneur who can
dream, execute and manage projects as needed. I am happy at the fact that my
kids have evolved into independent individuals who eat, cook, study and take
care of themselves as well as have a better life and career orientation. They know the value of money and do not like to spend money unnecessarily. Their needs and wants are limited and are based on family income. My husband has
evolved into an equal partner whose expectation about his wife has gone beyond
someone who manages a family kitchen and kids education. My relatives and
friends have evolved into my best referral network. I am happy that I have provided income and a career entry to several girls who worked for my company and later moved to other companies.I am happy that I am a constant learner and not ended up as a redundant unskilled person. I am happy that I learn about multiple areas and latest technologies to keep myself competitive. I am happy that I don't have time to waste!
I am happy at the fact
that in the past four years of my business journey, I haven’t felt bad about
getting up on a Monday and going to work. I am happy that today I get to decide
when to work, what to work on and how to work. I am happy that today, I am able
to look at the price of a product and say “no”, not because of the price, but
because I don’t feel attracted to material things. I am happy that I am able to
invest my time on creative pursuits than spend time without any purpose. I am
happy that each day of my life has a purpose to fulfill. I am happy that I am
able to influence people and get as many people to join my team of positive
influence. I am happy that I am able to impact my society in whatever small way
I can. I am happy that people have started recognising my efforts. I am getting
world class opportunities which an ordinary girl from a middle class family
hadn’t dreamt before.
As I write this today, I have been selected as one of the 25 “Woman Changemakers” from India by US Govt to attend a camp at Dubai in September as well as been
selected as one of the ten women entrepreneurs all over the world by United
Nations for their Biennial Women in Business Award ,2018. I am happy that I
have a circle of great friends with whom I can talk ideas than talk about
people or things. I am happy that I am becoming more and more confident about
myself and my business each day that I am setting bigger and better goals. I am
happy that my milestones and deadlines are being met. I am happy that I have
people around me whom I can trust and are ready to work as a team based on the
trust they have in me! I am happy that my company's revenue is on steady increase year
after year.
And I am happy that I
have come to a stage where finally I am 100% sure that I won’t quit being an
entrepreneur because, an entrepreneur never dies. She lives forever and I want to
live forever, even after I’m gone. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment