HOW TO START A START-UP

Whenever a young one says, “I want to be an Entrepreneur” or “I want to start a start-up,” I get into a teasing mode…

“What is that?” I ask.

Some days ago, in one of our PD sessions, 17-year-old Balpreet was telling us about his immediate plan… “I want to go to Canada for further studies,” he said, “I am preparing for some entrance tests.”

“What do you want to ‘study’ in Canada?” I probed.

“Sir, I want to be an entrepreneur,” came the reply, “I want to start a start-up.”

“Lovely,” I said, my tongue a bit tucked in my cheeks. “Tell me, can’t you be an entrepreneur here in India? Can’t you ‘start a start-up’, here?”

“I can,” said Balpreet, “but, Sir, I should study that first.”

“The tuition teachers, the fruit vendors on the roadside, the paperwala and doodwala, the young men who run most of the mobile, stationary , jewelry, medical, hardware and sanitary stores in the city of Mumbai,”  I pointed to all of them and asked Balpreet, “Are they not entrepreneurs? Are they not into ‘start-ups’?”

“They are, Sir; but…”

When I was a high-school boy, after coming home from school, my grandma would place in my hand a basket of fresh vegetables – home grown cucumber, lady fingers etc – and send me to sell them off in our neighborhood. On completing the task, she would place in my hand a few coins as my ‘profit share’?  Were my grandma and I entrepreneurs? Was it a start-up of some kind?” I asked Balpreet.

Before, Balpreet could come out with an answer, I said, “When I came to Mumbai, some forty years ago, I was burning with the desire to become a teacher. For four months, I was just desiring and dreaming, reading all the while the book, ‘Think and Grow Rich’. I had no job and no money… But, I was consumed by a dream. One morning, I just walked into the nearby township, knocked one door after another and started selling myself energetically, telling those who opened the doors, “Hey, I want to teach Commerce kids... Was it entrepreneurship? Was it a start-up of some kind?”

By now, Balpreet and his fellow-participants were able to get what I was trying to convey through all these.

“Beta, is any one into any business in your family?” I asked Balpreet.

“My grandfather had a transport business,” Balpreet said, “He had to close it down due to huge losses.”

“Is your grandpa around?” I asked Balpreet.

“Sir, we live together,” Balpreet said.

“Have you discussed with him about business, anytime?” I checked.

“No Sir,” Balpreet admitted.

“Do it today, beta,” I advised young Balpreet, “It can be your best school of entrepreneurship.”

I added, “It can be, also, the best way to start a start-up, dear.”

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Jatinder Sondhi