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to be an ‘entrepreneur’

By Nithya Prabu on 38 Comments / 5327 views

“it takes 10 years to ‘be’ an entrepreneur. then it takes 10 entrepreneur years to create something.  if you were thinking of quicker pursuits, go learn embroidery…..” – Alok Rodinhood Kejirwal.

The profundity of these words strikes a chord in my mind for I took over 9.5 years to convince myself to becoming an entrepreneur. So what could we call for the work I have done so far, well, I would say, I was exploring, learning and understanding how things work in the business world as a self-employed consultant. And I tasted some success in it that kept me going for nearly a decade.

I am a classic example for the struggles of a first generation entrepreneur who dared to be different and failed in the eyes of ‘so called’ society norms. I had excellent job offers with extraordinary remuneration and in order to convince my parents I have even worked in few on a full time basis. But I would not last for more than a month or two. I was always hungry to do something but what should I even do? I had no clue.

Photo Credit: Ming.ly 

I did not have a set agenda and kept accepting everything that came in my way.  I was open, very open to any work, learning and motivated myself with the results as opposed to money. This attitude of less-money-more-experience had become a bonus to my learning curve as I never felt defeated, dejected or lost. I have tried my hands on various things from teaching, training, technology, business consulting, marketing, selling to even delivering food I prepare :) All the years of experience have taught me the following:

1. Failure, There’s no such thing called as failure in business – it’s always experience.

2. Indifference, One might be rich, poor, illiterate, Harvard educated, affluent, unheard of  – it is only our ATTITUDE that makes the difference in business world.

3. Luck, Yes, luck is an important factor to be successful in business world but I have not seen or heard of one person who has been successful and owe it all to luck. My ideology is that luck favours only those prepared souls

4. ‘Overnight success’ is a lie. Any hardworking and every successful entrepreneur would agree with me. Perhaps some people like me might accept the fact that they don’t work hard, as a matter of fact, they don’t feel like working because they enjoy every minute of it.

5. ‘Talents’ – this is a small word thrown by small people to stop other liberal minds to explore the business world. My experience has taught me that I can be anything or anyone I want to be provided I am passionate about the field, willing to learn, adapt to the situation and sincere to my work.

6. ‘Fear’ can be conquered only by working more, convincing thyself and thereby yielding results.

7. ‘Success formula’ there are no elements for success formula. It all depends on one’s meaning for success to themselves. To me, success is doing things that I love, therefore I am successful each passing day. I do not attest my success to the results or the outcome of my work but I attach it to the work I am fond of doing hence I do not seek others approval and keep working.

8. ‘Work-Life Balance’ I could never come to terms with this terminology. I respect people who could differentiate their work from personal life and balance it but to me its almost the same. I discuss my business with my husband, parents all the time and I am sure when my daughter is able to understand what I do, I’d most certainly talk to her as well. My life is driven by my passion and compassion to my work, family and society therefore I do not see different ‘me’ – one for work or another for family. I am a single package and its all the same.

9.’Ethics’ The more I meet people the more it makes me ethical and respectful – of people’s time, passion and money for these are the most expensive commodities in today’s entrepreneurial world.

10. Most importantly, I have learnt that, if I am honest, sincere and give the best of me to a work that I am passionate about, I will definitely be ridiculed, failed in society’s eyes, less able than people who choose a comfortable living on pay cheques from someone and at times not be financially very strong to even protect my bottom… BUT up to me this is eternity and it keeps my life interesting, for I am a learner & lover of  life !

This learning curve has made me the person I am today and I, basically love everything around me :)

Sincerely,
Nithya Prabu.

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38 Comments

  1. Nice post Nithya

  2. Good points Nithya….

  3. superbbb post Nithya… loved every point of this post.. 🙂

  4. The best expression of  ‘Work-Life Balance’ that resonates with my school of thoughts ! Well written and straight from the heart Nithya 🙂

  5. Thank you, Puneet.

  6. Thank you, Anamika.

  7. Many thanks, Rupesh 🙂

  8. Thank you, Sugandha. 

  9. Wonderful post Nithya….What An Attitude!!!….Hats off

  10. Awesome post Nithya…. its the story of most of us out here 🙂

  11. Thank you, Aravind.

  12. Thank you, Abhishek.

  13. Good Points, what i believe, its like billions of people and all these billions try to become those hundreds of people who are very rich. for me i can say, Love what you do, or do what you love and at the end its you who is the happiest person on earth.

     

  14. Rightly said, Sai. Best Wishes.

  15. Nice post.  Only comment is that I know lots of good, hardworking, intelligent, successful, talented and fearless people who also live on pay-cheques – there is nothing wrong with that.   

  16. Thanks Mahesh. Apologies if my words are misleading. Nevertheless I would like to politely let you know that I do not consider any profession or people who choose to live on pay cheques any less but personally speaking, choosing entrepreneurial path would at (several) times make me ‘less able’ financially and not able to enjoy even the basic comforts of life as opposed to people who live on pay cheques. 

    Definitely there’s nothing wrong in not choosing the entrepreneurial path but speaking for myself, it’s the only choice that gives me utmost happiness. Hope this helps.

  17. U inspired me Nithya..U really did!!! Awesome just awesome..

    Thx! 🙂 

    btw hw to kill laziness??

  18. Nice Post ..!

  19. Brilliant!

  20. Nithya, Thank you so much for sharing your practical experience with us which is mirror image of every first generation entrepreneur in our society. Very well written and expressed by you. Some part of the article resemble to my life but most  exciting and motivating line written by you is………..

    Most importantly, I have learnt that, if I am honest, sincere and give the best of me to a work that I am passionate about, I will definitely be ridiculed, failed in society’s eyes, less able than people who choose a comfortable living on pay cheques from someone and at times not be financially very strong to even protect my bottom……………

          I read it again and again to motivate me. It make me satisfy and proved correct that there are other entrepreneur also who have faced such a experience which I have been facing now. 

  21. Thank you for your kind words, Rahul. 

  22. Thank you, Varun.

  23. Thank you, Akshay.

  24. Many thanks, Anil. Glad to hear this. 

  25. Wow, what a post! Excellent points 

  26. Its a nice post Nithya! 

    And yes, all of us who dived into Entrepreneurship can easily relate to it. 

    Good one! 🙂

  27. Hi Nithya,

    Wonderfully put up, thank you for the post.

  28. Thank you, Karan.

  29. Thank you, Ajeet.

  30. Thank you, Kaushal.

  31. Thank you, Venkat.

  32. Comes from the heart reaches the heart… Great Post! Nithya

  33. Awesome post, Nithya! This forum has so many people who, at a very young age, have such wisdom! At your age, I was an idiot… 🙂

    Meaningful insight, beautifully worded, bubbling with energy and passion. Loved it!

  34. Thank you, Abhishek 🙂

  35. Thank you for your kind words, Neerja.

  36. Great post.. You have clearly related that being an Entrepreneur is about how you live your life, and not be in the “race”. Something i failed to do in my post. I just feel like you presented my thoughts in a way. 

    Do read my thoughts https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/entrepreneurship-is-way-of-li…

    Might just be more amateur writing thought 🙂

  37. Great post!

  38. nithya,

    i was about to re-share this post when i re-read it.

    the work-life balance part is something i keep talking about! to me it’s such a huge myth! as a working mom i constantly struggle to snatch quality time with #theeightyearold!! and because i work from home, i breathe therodinhoods, talk therodinhoods all the time, and my family pretty much knows what’s going on!! i guess some of us are incorrigible!!

    🙂

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