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Piran Doctor
DirectorASCII Group Of Companies
Avoidable Pitfalls For The Entrepreneur
Establishing Credentials
Pitfalls Or Mistakes
Learning From Mistakes
Wise learn from mistakes of others Average learn from own mistakes Fools never learn
Purpose Of The Session
Make Sure You Don’t Make Them
Boy, Have I Made Many!
The Circumstantial Entrepreneur
Personal Standing
Fascinated by computers Studying in 12th Std. Proficient in Applications & F1 Key Dream to own a bike Attended a course on
Entrepreneurship conducted by IMC Extremely impressed by Mr. Forbes
The Course
Identifying Projects Finance H.R. Marketing …..
Selective Listening
Motivation & Support Structure
Both parents in service Chartered Accountants Grass always greener on the other
side Business definitely the way to go Dad puts up office space Willing to guarantee borrowings
The Opportunity Franchise Advertisement For
Computer Education Low investment Immediate setup Money would just pour in Existing success stories
Not to mention a Posh Office and the Mafatlal Name
Sure Shot !
Signed Up
C.A. Dad Prepares Project Report
Loan
Zoroastrian Co-op Bank Disburses Loan
Comprehensive 1 Week Training
Rearing to go Definite beliefs on
What is going to work And what is not
Sure knew how to make it work
So What Are Your Beliefs ?
MoneyPricing
What Brings In CustomersBusiness KnowledgeScale Of Operations
What’s Needed
Let’s Get Back
Its My Story, Remember ?
Infrastructure Ready
Arguable Location Out Dated Computers Arguable Scale of Operations
The Inauguration
Small affair Called all well wishers All who would be some use
My First Employee
Not sure of volume of business Hire
1 Lecturer
Send him for training for the Course
Hold the fort till he gets back
Contribution to brand building Advertisements
I guess I was the only one that read them!
Lesson Learnt
Brand Building Advertisements For Small
Businesses A Waste
Advertisements Need To Focus On Getting Customers In
Need To Be Focused & Customer Centric
The First Student
Pre-Convinced
Yet
Took The Longest To Convince
The First Batch
8 in the Morning My Role
Open the door Keep students entertained Apologize for Lecturer’s absence
What are the problems so far ?
Lessons Learnt Business Opportunities need to be
scrutinized thoroughly Entrepreneurship NOT a bed of roses Don’t mess in something you have
no idea of If you don’t have an idea – GET ONE Keep Backups Get A Mentor
The Learning Stage
MythI need to know everything
there is
Never Happened
Needed To Get Others
Recruitment A Moderate Issue
Got Basic Help
Loan Repayments Commence
Need To Get That Money In
Thanks To Mr. Gutta
Sitting Learning Not Helping
Got to get out & sellGet my self a Sales Guy
The Sales Stage
Batches started money flowing But not enough to pay the bills
Sales Guy Gets A Break
1st School Student Batch
Kids Do Great
Easier To Teach
More In My League
School Marketing In Full Earnest
First School Contract
Hung On Pricing
Learnt About Marginal Costing
Applied, Deal Goes Through
What are the problems so far ?
Lessons Learnt
Sales is what we are in business for You need to know a good deal Not everything Planning Keeping provision for Working
Capital Your budgets are not accurate:
Provide for overflows
Pays The Bills, Nothing More
Marginal Costing Sucks
Word Spreads
Better Pricing More Schools
Business But No Money No People
Need Of The Hour
FinanceRecruitment & Training
Approach To Staff
I Needed These Guys Nothing Less Than Equals
I was Only More Equal
What are the problems so far ?
Lessons Learnt
Repay before time Earn the confidence of lenders Be prepared for growth Team has to be ready before the
business comes in Team is what makes it all work
You Gad U Dares The Unthinkable
Meeting with the Chairman of the Bombay Port Trust
Huge Recruitment & Training Contract
A Real Confidence Booster
Observation
You tend to play at your level of comfort
Lesson
Might as well play at levels of discomfort
What Holds Us Back
Self Image
Fear
First Invitation Out Of Mumbai
Pouring In Of Advice
Put On The Back Burner
Why Not ?
Respond After 3 Months
Get Thrown Out
Get The Business Any Way
Start Of A One Month Nightmare
The Nightmare
Implementation Commenced New Language No Course Material Not a clue how to teach
What are the problems so far ?
Lesson Learnt
Know your customers Know their requirements Get good local people Setup good systems Outsource what you cannot do Right amount of involvement Personal control
The Stage Of Growth
Turnover Crosses A Crore For The First Time
Natural Diversification
Planned This Time Around
Self & Staff Roles Change
Levels Of Management AddedTime Allocations Change
Availability Change
Birth Of The Boss
Cant be expected to visit over 30 centers myself
Brewing Unrest
Dot Com BoomMass Exodus
Staff Retention an Issue
What are the problems so far ?
Lessons Learnt
H.R. A very important function Organization growth linked with
individual growth not enough Growth should be in line with other
opportunities The better you train them the faster
you loose them . Train anyways.
New Challenges
Large staff strength Multi location operations Rising overheads Staff turnover Competition at every corner Ploughing back mostly
EVERYTHING
Lessons Learnt Clear job definitions Accepting staff turnover as inevitable Greater emphasis on systems Innovate or perish No deal better at times All eggs in one basket Business is done for what you can take
out
Lesson From Avoidance
People Will Pay Your Price - If They Want What You Got
BPO Boom
New Challenges
Still working on cost based pricing Pricing bound by contracts Inability to Compete With Salary
Structures Rejuvenating Innovation Pampering Staff Reduces Quality
What are the problems so far ?
Lessons Learnt Value based pricing Customers understand your plight but
expect solutions Involve customers in the solution Work around the problem Change your Business Model Balance systems & freedom to innovate Blow Hot Blow Cold
A Few Pointers
The Gyan
Job People And Entrepreneurs
It’s A Frame Of Mind
Our Conditioning Plays An Important Part
After all you are a sum total of every thing you have picked
up on the way
Look Before You Leap
A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss
But you definitely get polished
More to be worried in case you are a first generation business man
Get Clear Why You Want To Get Into Business
Not Just Any Business - THIS Business
You Are An All In One - Till You Can Afford Others
Plato on blindness
The Discomfort Of Something New
Pointers On Learning
How To Use Learning
Especially Contradictory Points Of View
Ask
If you don't knowIf you want something
No matter how stupid or audacious
Ask the right questions to the right people
Try, Keep If It Works For You
Don’t emulate big businesses - It’s a different ball game
Internalize Or It Will Just Be Your Knowing
Take Advise - But Make Your Decision
After all the consequences are yours
Model On Success
Go into details
Smart Works. Smarty Does Not
Fear & Insecurity
Don’t try to be fearless They are your allies Listen to them They are warning signals Acknowledge them get the
message Set the situation right
Beliefs
Question them Check to see if they are your own See if they serve you well Drop them if they hold you back Strengthen them if they empower
you
Your Beliefs Form Your Limitations
Self Image
Don't identify your self image to your role as an entrepreneur
or It becomes a roller coaster ride
Put A Person In A Situation And He Survives
You too will survive
Courage Is Not The Absence Of Fear , But
The Ability To Do What Is Right In Presence Of It
Take Calculated Risk
With Ideas With People With Money With Whatever You Got
The Imagined Risk Is Always Greater Than The Real Risk
Making Choices
No Golden Formula You cant have everything You cant do everything Make them one at a time If they were right, good for you If they were wrong, get the lesson
Pick Your Niche
Pick Your Battles
Great things come out of warBut you need peace to enjoy the
fruit
Adapt & Innovate
Give More
Let Others Grow With You
It Is The Fastest Method
Share Your Vision And How The Business Is Doing
Keep In Touch With Customers
Relationships Are Everything
Integrity Is Important
Go For The Long Run
Change Is The Only Constant
People Closest Resist Most
They Have Invested In You
It Is A Continuous Discovery
Don't Work Because U Have Nothing Better To Do
Certain Things Are Cast In Stone
The Rest Are Shades Of Grey
As Kenny Rogers Puts It
Know when to hold them Know when to fold them Know when to walk away Know when to run You never count you money sitting
at the table until the dealings done
Please feel free to contact me
Piran Doctor, Kamani Chambers, 32- R. Kamani Marg,
Ballard Estate, Mumbai 400001Tele:22613516, 22617597
Email:[email protected]
