So you want to be an Entrepreneur?

For the past few months, I have read lots of interview experiences[mostly MBA] and have conversed with several people. In many cases, people say that they want to work in a company for 4-5 years, get some corporate experience, save some money, and then start a business of their own: That is become an Entrepreneur.

Now if 2 or 3 people were to tell me this, I could have believed them. But when almost every Tom, Dick and Harry begins to say this, I have no option but to be skeptical. Nowadays it has become a fad to say that someone wants to be an entrepreneur. Not withstanding the fact that he or she may not know the heads or tails of entrepreneurship. Out of 10 MBA aspirants, 6 or 7 will say that they want to be an entrepreneur so that is why they are doing an MBA. Interviewers have become so frustrated after hearing such clichéd answers that they automatically assume that when a person says he wants to be an entrepreneur, he is obviously lying.

Here are a few reasons as to why so many people say that they want to be an entrepreneur, especially with respect to contemporary Indian scenario.

1) The Cool Factor: People think its a cool and fashionable thing to be an entrepreneur. They also believe that they can become famous easily, and launch a mind blowingly innovative product or franchise, and go global within a few months, and become world renowned. Nowadays entrepreneurs have replaced film stars as role models for many.

2) The Money: Somehow, many young people have this impression that becoming an entrepreneur will help you in making some quick bucks. That they will become a millionaire instantly as they feel that they have some unique idea or business plan. They forget the amount of hard work and patience it needs for an entrepreneur to gain success. On an average it may take 8-10 years for an entrepreneur to get fully established. Moreover, 9 out of 10 entrepreneurial ventures end up as failures. Somehow most people ignore their fact and believe that becoming an entrepreneur is in their genes.

3) No Boss, Please: Everybody wants to be his or her own boss. Most people detest the idea of a megalomaniac boss running after them 24 x 7, barking orders on the top of his voice. They feel that by becoming an entrepreneur, they have automatically become the CEO and are hence answerable to nobody but themselves. They feel that they can work whenever they want to, and can relax and take holidays whenever they want, as the business is their own. This is obviously a very false notion and can lead to disaster if the person indeed tries to launch his own venture.

There are several other factors too, but am not mentioning them. The truth is that NOT everyone can become an Entrepreneur. You need to have certain skill sets if you do want to be a successful entrepreneur, risk taking and social skills included. For details you can read a good book-'The High Performance Entrepreneur' written by Subroto Bagchi.

The worst thing you can do is to jump into entrepreneurship without evaluating the pros and cons of it. Remember just having one brilliant business idea does not mean that you can be a great entrepreneur. You need to have the ability to execute it and lead it to a chain of ideas which can develop into a sustainable business over a period of time.

5 Reasons on Why not to do an MBA

You may be surprised about this, coming out of an MBA aspirant himself. But yeah, MBA has become the recent fad, and I believe its too over-hyped. So here are the 5 main reasons. There are other reasons too, which I will mention later.

1) Money. Yeah, money. Cold, hard cash. Money, honey, yeah yeah. There is a saying in Hindi, ‘Paisa Bhagwaan Nahi Hai. Par Bhagwaan se kam bhi nahi hai.’ (Money is not God. But it is also not less than God). Probably it’s one such thing, which almost every man or woman is after, in this world. It’s also probably the major reason for the majority of crimes and wars which are prevalent ubiquitously. So what is my point? That money is not important? That we should not aim at making money? Isn’t that illogical and absurd? What are we studying for anyways? Isnt it to get a decent job and make loads of money? Well, money is surely important, no doubt about that. But if your primary aim is just to make money, and do nothing else, mark my words, you will never succeed in life. But unfortunately this is the number 1(and plausibly the only) reason for the majority of students who want to pursue an MBA. So it is but natural that most of them end up as failures, or get into some odd jobs which they end up hating. Reason being simple enough: They themselves had no idea what they wanted in life apart from money. Earn money, surely. But by good means. And though an MBA degree will surely help you in doing so, money in itself should NOT be the main reason for becoming a manager.


2) Because my friends/peers are doing it: So if your friends decided to jump off a 100 storied building, you would too, right? Please say yes. Come on, lead your own life. Create your own individual identity. You should not pursue anybody else’s dreams. Make your own. And just because all of your friends are giving Management exams does NOT mean that you should blindly follow them in lure of money and fame. According to me, this is also a major reason for failure. The student himself is clueless as to why he wants to do an MBA, and consequently he plans nothing for the future and makes a mess of it. This is because he/she never performed a self-analysis test. On whether an MBA will actually help him/her achieve his/her goals or not. In fact, I have seen students giving CAT simply because their room-mates/friends were doing the same, and they did not want to be left behind in the rat race. Nowadays, in India, the situation has become such that almost 4 out of 5 students want to do an MBA. And most of them are doing it because they see others doing it. Some do it because their parents/uncles/relatives advise them to. This is not only silly buy extremely ridiculous. As Napolean Hill remarked, 98 out of 100 people do not pause and think as to what they actually want to do. It’s the remaining 2 guys who obtain success as well as money.


3) Because MBA is the only way that I can be successful in life/Get a great job: On the contrary the truth is far from it. Though it’s true that if you get into a top Bschool, you will definitely get a good job, with a handsome pay-check. But then, not everybody is suited for the corporate world. We all hear about youngsters getting into IIMs, young entrepreneurs making it big, but scarcely do we hear about people who have passed out of IIMs(or other good bschools) in their 30’s or 40’s. This is because most of them join any job they get with a high salary, get so immersed in the hectic schedule that they have little time for anything else. As a result, they don’t even get time to spend their money and enjoy or relax. Rather the only thing they are spending their money on seems to be on ‘health’. Not surprising for persons who work 14-18 hours a day. Ultimately, one should remember that a person comes empty handed and returns empty handed. You cannot take your money with you to heaven. So why so much greed for it? But we don’t seem to learn our lesson. Money is all that matters. No matter how much I have to sacrifice for it. Sigh! Guys, becoming a manager is good, and an important occupation no doubt, but it’s not something everyone and anyone can do. The current trend is a good example. Most engineers go into Bschools only for money and fame. They are least interested in Business or the Corporate World, but more interested in placements. They end up becoming mindless machines who keep working past their limits and finally lose everything they have earned. Their family, their money, their fame, and sometimes even their sanity. No wonder so many of them commit suicide in depression. Why does something that tragic happen? Simply, because most of them were not suited to work in the Corporate World. But they went ahead, because their friends were doing the same and due to their lust for money, without realizing their true potential.


4) Because you want to study in the IIMs/Other premier Institutions:
Sure, getting into an IIM/Other good Bschool is a very prestigious thing, and something which is a dream of lakhs of students. But you should not aim to do an MBA only for that reason. I have seen people who badly wanted to get into the IIMs but had no clue as to what an MBA/PGDM was. Their logic was that they wanted to study at a Premier institute, and since there are no IICs(Indian Institute of Commerce) or IIAs(Indian Institute of Arts) or IIMEs(Indian Institute of Medicines), or IILs(Indian Institute of Law), it would have to be the IIMs. For such people, the course contents or the degrees do not matter at all. The only thing that matters is the money and fame. By getting into an IIM, they will supposedly get both. Who cares whether they teach Business or Management or Economics or Law or whatever. We can adjust to anything. Just give us quick bucks and fast fame. Obviously if you feel that you can be a good manager and can adjust well in the Corporate World, definitely aim for the IIMs, but please don’t do it only for the fact that you feel they are the ‘shortcut to success’, because they are not.


5) Because you feel that you are consummate in English and also a Maths Wizard: Even if you are impeccable in Maths, that does not automatically qualify you for an MBA degree. Rather if you are really that good, you should either do an MSc./Ph.D. in Mathematics, and continue your research in Mathematics either in India or outside, under the guidance of an experienced Mathematician. But no, you would not do that, would you? The reason simply being that it’s not luring enough, and it would not give you a seven digit salary. So, rather you opt for an MBA. Never mind the fact that you don’t know the B of Business, or that you have not even touched a Management book in your life. But you are supremely confident of cracking the CAT, because your Maths is God-level, and you speak in English (more to show off than anything else) wherever you go. Though the CAT and other Management exams do test your proficiency in Mathematics and English, that does NOT mean that if you are good in either or both, you should do an MBA. But unfortunately, in our society such is the prevalent case. People only see MBA in front of them, killing any scope of creativity within them. The student could have done better if he had pursued English or Maths at a higher level, say he could have become an eminent etymologist or Operations Research Expert. But he is rather forced to do an MBA, and get into a corporate job which he hates from the start. People presume that since a person is good in English and Mathematics, he should do an MBA. In fact the actual truth is just the reverse. A manager should be proficient in English and Maths, and NOT the other way around. In fact I have seen people attempting CAT, simply because they loved the feel of the paper, its pattern and the way it was set. No wonder CAT attracts so many engineers. Because engineers love working with Maths, Logical Reasoning Puzzles, even Verbal puzzles. But one should have a real motive as to why he is pursuing an MBA. And that should not be something asinine as ‘I like the syllabus/pattern of CAT’ or ‘I am good in English and I love solving puzzles.’

Anyways enough typing for now. More on MBA later. Hope all of you liked this article. I definitely enjoyed typing it. See you later. Take care folks.