I think entrepreneurship is a fashion nowadays rather than being a passion. And there are many blogs, which add air to the wanna-be-entrepreneur feeling. We see the success of the other entrepreneurs but fail to see their struggle and how hard they have learnt from their failures. What we see on the blogs is which companies got funded recently and this gives a false hope to a struggling entrepreneur that he will receive VC funding very soon. There is only one or two Alok Mittal or Sanjeev Bhikchandani who becomes successful and finds mention on each and every website but we fail to understand that there are thousands more who tried but couldn’t make it big. Every young entrepreneur then considers them as role models and wants to realize his million dollar dream. Â
Again getting big designations like CEO, COO, VP seems an attraction for the young entrepreneur. Though the above mentioned things definitely have few exceptions, most of the young entrepreneurs go through these notions and learn gradually the true spirit of entrepreneurship through struggle and failures.  I am real time example of the above scenario and a struggling entrepreneur trying to fight for survival and growth at the same time. And after long long struggle, I came to conclusion that 25 is not the age for entrepreneurial activity. Most of the successful entrepreneurs are in the late thirties as they develop contacts, domain expertise as well as achieve financial stability by then. At the age of 25, an entrepreneur sees his fellow classmates getting high salaries, foreign tours, buying houses, getting married and leaving a well settled life. In contrast, the entrepreneur faces financial problems like loan installments; lack of support from family and no women wants to be with a struggling entrepreneur. Â
Talking about my startup Indiagini, I had been working hard on this innovative business model on recruitment front since last 1 year. Foolish preferences like have a well furnished office, good computers etc made sure I was deprived of working capital very soon. Then a investment banker friend came to my rescue and introduced me to this tempting world of angel investors and venture capitalists. Trust me, for a novice entrepreneur; this VC world seems as glamorous as the Bollywood industry in India. Like every novice entrepreneur. I got carried away by the flow and browsed each and every VC/ Angel investor websites hoping to get funded some day. I met few investors as well which were impressed by the business model but asked me to get into a working business model. I still don’t know whether it was sheer encouragement, which further tends to misguide amateurs like us.
   My willingness to learn and ability to adapt to situations got me few deals for seed funding (less than 7-8 lakhs for 20% equity) of which I choose to go with a HR Consulting firm lead by a top women entrepreneur. This lady investor who initially accepted to provide us incubation opportunity, made some attractive promises. Now within 2 months we had steady revenues and good clientele and were growing at a good pace. Suddenly our investor come up with revised valuations and asks us for 80 % of the equity or to operate under her consulting banner. She then started recruitment operations in Bangalore and told us to stop attending office premises within a notice period of two days.
 Now we are completely stranded with our confidence level hit hard. We are confused to look for seed funding opportunities or to look for angel/ VC funding at this stage. The business model has proved to have a competitive advantage over job portals, recruitment consultancies and print media. Or sometimes I get a feeling to work for six months and get working capital for our venture instead of depending on some unknown investor. Â
The passion is still there and it increases with the struggle and obstacles we face. The more obstacles we face, we keep a positive attitude considering it would also create barriers to entry for new competitors in the industry. We have come so far that we see a ray of light ahead of the dark tunnel, but when we turn back there is ray of light as well. This forum has some seasoned entrepreneurs from whom I would like to seek advice how to proceed with our venture.
Sumit kale
9819291670
- The dilemma of being an entrepreneur - January 3, 2008
Twenty, Thirty, Forty – age does not matter.
It is the answer to the big question — WHY ?
Are you trying to prove a point – have the guts to stick with the ups and downs and do not indulge in mud slinging
Are you a social entrepreneur – be humble and noble and accept the ups and downs
Are you a creative genius – learn from history – creative types never had it easy. So learn to focus on your work and get going
Unfortunately nowadays it has become the ultimate kick – the most macho thing to do irrespective of how prepared you are for it.
Come on – make your own choice and stop complaining and bitching so much
Guys are there no success stories out there — let us hear it from them!!
Suck you people who are asking him to quit and run away.
Sumeet
I don’t know what are your expectations or should say what you had in mind when you started on your own. But one thing I can confidently say there is no looking back.
You don’t make any sense when you say classmates earning high salaries, tours.. etc. Think of the reasons for which you wanted to run your own company and pay salaries to others.
I also don’t agree on your age of 25 not being the right age. Infact you should have started much earlier at the age of 19-20 or something and I’m sure you will figure the obvious reasons…
Yes, you are in a trouble right now but not everything is in a mess. If you can do it once, you can do it one more time in a much better way.
I’m sure you remember the stories of these great men.
Dhirubhai – Everyone knows…
Li-ka-ching – Did not attend school, was very poor, started selling flowers, currently gets a seat in Top 10 rich persons alive.
There are many examples, read more about them and get some inspiration.
I would like to suggest you following (read them only if you have faith on yourself and that there is no looking back, otherwise they wont make much sense)
1) Get a mentor – You really need a guru to guide you, where to find one? Any businessman who has a successful business and started on his own.
2) Gear up for some tough days ahead. This will be the best learning phase of your life.
3) Forget that you are an engineer, you are now a businessman, desi mein bole to “pakka baniya”.
4) Lower down your expectations and be ready to cash any opportunity to make money. I know a person who earned about Rs. 20,000 in a single day selling roses/hearts to couples on Valentine’s Day. 😀
5) You might want to work on your original idea, or may be scrap it and start a new thing (anything that can make money, lots of businesses are there). Whatever you do, if you are out of money, get a business partner(may be that high salaried classmate of yours) and please do register this company legally at RoC.
6) Read some business management(not MBA kachra) books and learn more about running a business and possible troubles.
Again I would say, you are in a much better position than others, you are highly educated, have some money for two meals a day and pay your internet surfing and you also have a business idea.
I know of real successful people who had none of the above and are making more money than your high salaried classmates, even much much much more. 😀
Run away, mate. You are too young and inexperienced for this business. Understand the market, build contacts and then get in.
Success in a job can’t be taken for granted. Keep your chin up else you will have trouble if you decide to move (back ?) to a job.
“No woman wants to be with a struggling entrepreneur”. Let me share the path I followed to overcome this – get a job, get married and spring a surprise by becoming an entrepreneur 😉
Will call you tomorrow to share my experience on a similar journey with you.
Sumit, I think taking up a job for time being is not a bad idea at all. After all, you need fuel to run the engine, right:-). You could still keep the site alive and continue working on it until you decide to go to another idea.
Okay I think I perhaps sounded like I was being vituperative. Not my intention at all, no offense meant.
Sometimes when you’re out there with nowhere to go, and you have employable skills, its best to step back for a bit, get a job, rejuvenate (while getting paid) and then return to startup mode. I think that if you tried to get funded now, which seems like your only way out, you’d get a pretty raw deal.
Don’t give up on entrepreneurship. Your skills and learnings are far more than your peers that took up regular jobs, and you have your startup to thank. When you are able to get back on your feet and build the business (or another idea) again, you’ll be more prepared and know what you’re getting into.