Rajh is a serial entrepreneur with ventures in knowledge process outsourcing, hospitality, retail, IT and e-commerce. He has over 25 years of corporate experience and expertise in key roles of leadership, strategy, planning & management. Rajh is especially skilled at developing new profit centers within scheduled timelines and costs while ensuring operational efficiencies through long-term strategic planning. His core expertise includes delivering customized and cost-effective solutions to meet the operational and financial goals of the organization and its stakeholders. Rajh holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Mumbai.
Founders of start-ups generally have a hate relationship with mistakes. They are often told of ways to avoid them. Mistakes are seen as the worst thing that could ever happen. While that may be partially true, while focusing on how terrible the mistake was, we often lose sight of how we can learn from it. The fact is that mistakes happen, no matter how hard we try to avoid them. We are only human, after all. Often, it may be the faults of others that cause your downfall. As hard as it is to stomach, it is also possible to learn from such interactions.
The business of start-ups and the creation of art have nothing obvious in common. They seem as different as chalk and cheese. Even when we picture them in our minds, we see suits and offices for one and galleries and colours for the other. The results are obviously very different but the similarity is in terms of their creators. The artist and the entrepreneur have more in common than meets the eye. While their work and work environments often differ widely, their inner workings run along the same lines.
A large percentage of Indian start-ups stare failure in the face within months or years of launching. The money has run out or the co-founders disagree or the investors are backing out because of the lack of profits. The list is long and dark with lots of scary statistics and unseen pitfalls but we do have miles to go before the end. Miles in which we will see the what, why and how of failing start-ups and look for sunshine and hope in the darkness of these challenging times.
Investors were knocking on the doors of the Karts and Deals that sold similar products in the same old ways with the same old styles. I asked myself what it was that investors saw as their valuations rose and their salaries doubled and tripled. Was discounts and undercutting all that mattered in the e-commerce industry? Did uniqueness not matter at all? Flawed business models, bad decision making, getting carried away like kids in a candy store and much more did not seem to faze investors. While, here I was with an e-commerce company that was pushing a unique idea with innovation and more but I was still not getting the kind of pull that regurgitated model was.
Start-ups often fail. That is a fact of life that just has to be dealt with. All your ideas may not be feasible. All your dreams might not be doable. Sometimes, start-ups succeed when the right idea is fed into the right market by the right team at the right time. This is putting it simply. There are many reasons for failure and many reasons for success. A clear understanding of the two is what it takes to make a successful enterprise. The trick is to learn, not just from your own mistakes, but from the mistakes of others. When others sink, go through every problem with a fine-tooth comb and make sure you don’t head down the same road. When it can be avoided, why sink and learn after you have drowned when you can learn without touching the water? That isn’t to say, you will never fail. Just avoid taking untimely dips as often as possible.
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