Oct 05
My childhood was like any other child's. After father died when I was in college I decided that working for anyone else was impossible. I had to do it for myself. Long before my formal education was over I knew that I was destined to be an entrepreneur. Money was never a problem. Papaji ne' bahut chhoda hamare' liye'. After completing my degree in a reputed engineering college, I headed straight home. While my mother was a regular house wife she was also a hard headed business woman . It was very necessary to convince her that the seed money was to be from her kitty. At the same time I wanted to reassure her that her money would be returned in due time.
"It is not that I do not trust your business instincts son - I have no doubt that you will do well. But have you considered that you have to work hard , put in extra hours , handle pressure, fight stress and at the same time ensure that first you break even and then earn profit? It is a very frustrating and a back breaking job". I hastened to assure her that I was up to it and would in fact work hard to make a success of my enterprise. I even showed her the posters that I had prepared to constantly remind me of my goals. She was duly impressed with my earnestness.I had my first Angel Investor. 
The Idea
We had a driver at home in happier days. But he had an irritating habit of putting his finger in his mouth to fiddle with his teeth. They were stained with beetle juice and were never clean. When once I berated him about this he expressed his helplessness at the fact that the tooth brush never reached the corners of his mouth nor did it clean very well between the teeth. As I grew up a number of tooth brushes came up in the market - some with hard bristles , some with flexible handles claiming to reach the inaccessible places in the mouth and some with zig zag bristles - none of the worked very well.My first idea was to patent a tooth brush which would be very good in all aspects and incorporated all the features that were found in the different types of tooth brushes.
This is how I got the Idea. While on a trip away from home I found to my dismay that I had forgotten my tooth brush. I had to use my finger to clean my teeth. I discoverd that my finger reached all the inaccessible place which my tooth brush did not reach. It was then that I came up with a brainwave- what if my finger had the bristles?? The idea was so simple that it floored me. A Plastic cap for my finger which had bristles on it . I could easily slip it on my finger put the tooth paste on it and brush my teeth. Imagine - no more superfluous plastic handles - use of lesser plastic meant that there was lesser burden on the environment - everyone knows that once a tooth brush has outlived its utility one had no use for the handle. So in my design there was no handle for the tooth brush only the cap on finger with bristles. Of course I patented the Idea. Hindustan lever picked up the idea. I sold it for a handsome profit to hindustan lever, I have not looked back since then ....
I have returned the money that my Angel loaned me . She of course like all affectionate mothers did not accept a single paisa. As she had asserted , the fact that I was starting to find my feet was payment enough. As an entrepreneur my task did not end there. I decided that it was better to be a consultant for other firms in innovating/ improving their products rather than doing manufacturing on my own. But I did decide to gather a talent pool especially in the consumer products which would help in my primary goal of helping other companies. I have named it Anand Entrepreneurs - it expresses the joy of entrepreneurship.
Today I have a thriving business. I have branched from consumer products to electronics, real estate, governance, communication, health care and various other disciplines. It will take up pages to detail my work/successes. Moreover I am loath to divulge my secrets. I have no use for venture capitalists or bank loans. While it is speculated in business circles that soon I will go public, I have no intention of doing so. I do not want the headache of running around SEBI paying handsome amounts to underwriters for my IPO or playing to the stock market by getting involved in underhand dealings. I have realised that the biggest asset is the human brain and though it comes with a premium it depends on how well one can exploit this particular asset to maximise ones profits. More importantly I am happy....
Today's class was on entrepreneurship which was very well conducted by Mrs Lalita Anand . She is one more among the long line of supremely qualified instructors at ASCI with loads of experience. During the class we were struck by her command over the subject and her ability to put across her points succinctly. All in all an excellent class. Though she has only been given two sessions we intend to request Prof Mahadik for some more classes....
My childhood was like any other child's. After father died when I was in college I decided that working for anyone else was impossible. I had to do it for myself. Long before my formal education was over I knew that I was destined to be an entrepreneur. Money was never a problem. Papaji ne' bahut chhoda hamare' liye'. After completing my degree in a reputed engineering college, I headed straight home. While my mother was a regular house wife she was also a hard headed business woman . It was very necessary to convince her that the seed money was to be from her kitty. At the same time I wanted to reassure her that her money would be returned in due time.
The Idea
We had a driver at home in happier days. But he had an irritating habit of putting his finger in his mouth to fiddle with his teeth. They were stained with beetle juice and were never clean. When once I berated him about this he expressed his helplessness at the fact that the tooth brush never reached the corners of his mouth nor did it clean very well between the teeth. As I grew up a number of tooth brushes came up in the market - some with hard bristles , some with flexible handles claiming to reach the inaccessible places in the mouth and some with zig zag bristles - none of the worked very well.My first idea was to patent a tooth brush which would be very good in all aspects and incorporated all the features that were found in the different types of tooth brushes.
This is how I got the Idea. While on a trip away from home I found to my dismay that I had forgotten my tooth brush. I had to use my finger to clean my teeth. I discoverd that my finger reached all the inaccessible place which my tooth brush did not reach. It was then that I came up with a brainwave- what if my finger had the bristles?? The idea was so simple that it floored me. A Plastic cap for my finger which had bristles on it . I could easily slip it on my finger put the tooth paste on it and brush my teeth. Imagine - no more superfluous plastic handles - use of lesser plastic meant that there was lesser burden on the environment - everyone knows that once a tooth brush has outlived its utility one had no use for the handle. So in my design there was no handle for the tooth brush only the cap on finger with bristles. Of course I patented the Idea. Hindustan lever picked up the idea. I sold it for a handsome profit to hindustan lever, I have not looked back since then ....
I have returned the money that my Angel loaned me . She of course like all affectionate mothers did not accept a single paisa. As she had asserted , the fact that I was starting to find my feet was payment enough. As an entrepreneur my task did not end there. I decided that it was better to be a consultant for other firms in innovating/ improving their products rather than doing manufacturing on my own. But I did decide to gather a talent pool especially in the consumer products which would help in my primary goal of helping other companies. I have named it Anand Entrepreneurs - it expresses the joy of entrepreneurship.
Today I have a thriving business. I have branched from consumer products to electronics, real estate, governance, communication, health care and various other disciplines. It will take up pages to detail my work/successes. Moreover I am loath to divulge my secrets. I have no use for venture capitalists or bank loans. While it is speculated in business circles that soon I will go public, I have no intention of doing so. I do not want the headache of running around SEBI paying handsome amounts to underwriters for my IPO or playing to the stock market by getting involved in underhand dealings. I have realised that the biggest asset is the human brain and though it comes with a premium it depends on how well one can exploit this particular asset to maximise ones profits. More importantly I am happy....
Today's class was on entrepreneurship which was very well conducted by Mrs Lalita Anand . She is one more among the long line of supremely qualified instructors at ASCI with loads of experience. During the class we were struck by her command over the subject and her ability to put across her points succinctly. All in all an excellent class. Though she has only been given two sessions we intend to request Prof Mahadik for some more classes....
Topical - a different view at the happenings of the day- simplified for all and sundry. Entrepreneurship - is it all hunky-dory? Aren't we little positively biased as we get to know of the success of a few while the failure of the hundreds, if not thousands perishes without a single thought. Flip side too deserves a look... not to discourage or even frighten... but to learn what not to do.
ReplyDeleteAs is rightly commented up on, and as was also assured by the author in the guise of proverbial son to the anxious mother about the challenges in the field, it is obvious that every one venturing must take all pros and cons and learn from others mistakes and not from ones own. If still one fails, resort to mid course corrections, copy cat experts' strategies or consult experts in the field. Happy marriage of imagination and entrepreneurship.
ReplyDelete