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
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