Business Is In Their Veins

Title: Rokda: How Baniyas Do Business

Author: Nikhil Inamdar

Pages: 242

Price: Rs. 199

Published by: Random House, India

“The companies I have chosen not only represent different sectors of the Indian economy, but also the changing landscape of doing business in India.” Nikhil Inamdar, Author

Whenever we hear the term ‘Baniya’, we are conditioned to think that the person being referred to as Baniya (the term comes from the Sanskrit word Vanij, which is synonymous with India’s trader class) has a business of his own. Historically, too, the Baniya cast has been known to be moneylenders and merchants. Written by a senior journalist in Mumbai, Nikhil Inamdar, who is currently a special correspondent with the Business Standard, Rokda: How Baniyas Do Business tries to talk about the business acumen the popular Indian trader class has in abundance. It does so by not only interviewing the entrepreneurs themselves – from the Agarwals of Emami to Rohit Bansal of Snapdeal, to the Guptas of Meru cabs, to RK Somany of Hindware – but their families and friends too, which takes the readers a little closer to their private lives. Most importantly, the interviews help us understand the qualities which make these highly motivated individuals running multi-million dollar companies so successful. Published by Random House India, it takes six such Baniya entrepreneurs and talks about their exceptionally successful ventures.

The book starts with demystifying the perception everybody seemed to have formed of this caste over the years. It says that Baniya is a loosely used expression. It helps further the belief that they are a community that only knows money making. Although when the current business ecosystem is talked about and discussed, the organisations run by their clan, ranging from internet enabled retail, mobile telephone, and oil and gas exploration, form the core of the modern economy.

The interviews are extensive and the book inspires and gives business insights in equal measure. One inspiring story in Rokda is that of Radheyshyam Agarwal and Radhyshyam Goenka, founders of the cosmetic company Emami, of how they started the company in just twenty thousand rupees and turned it into a conglomerate worth Rs. 8,000 crore. The writing connects the early days of these businesses with their present, the conditions that prevailed then and now, the opportunities and pitfalls, and many more of such themes. The book can be of interest to anyone from budding entrepreneurs to business journalists, to anyone who is interested in business and entrepreneurship.

The Morning Quietude – Why Rising Up Early is Important

A hectic day in the life of an entrepreneur calls for a good night sleep. For lesser mortals, however, knowing the sleep patterns of successful entrepreneurs doesn’t count for much apart from learning how disciplined their lives are. As studies on successful entrepreneurs have covered everything right from their protein intake to music preferences, how could these not conclude the time of day most want to wake up, making most of the available hours in a day? Going by what these studies suggest, it can actually teach us one thing: it is far more productive to get up in the morning than to sleep late in the night. In addition, the number of hours spent sleeping is way less than the standard 8-hour sleep.

After all, who would want to spend their special and exciting lives sleeping? Lot of articles on popular entrepreneur-focused forums too suggest the same. So, what must be reasons these successful barons of huge companies want to maximise the morning time instead of night. Let’s learn them like the back of our hands.

Saying No To Distraction: At 5 or 6 in the morning, the distractions are less likely to happen than in the mid of the night. So, all the personal time they want to spend in leisure and hobby pursuing, it can best happen during the wee hours. Taking up hobbies after a long day at work is unpractical.

They Have All the Good Reasons: If you do not have a good reason to get up and start working, you probably wouldn’t get around to getting up early. All entrepreneurs have good reasons to compromise on their sleep.

Taking Advantage of the Extra Time: The earlier the better. The entrepreneurs make most of the early morning time (from 4 am to 7 am) because that is the time one is most efficient, active and lively.

The Experience: The experience of seeing and feeling the daylight taking over the darkness of the night is most fulfilling and wonderful. It is the experience the morning peace and the quietude provides, away from all the madness that surrounds one through the day, that can take away all the pressures which are so intrinsic of any entrepreneur’s life.

Improving Productivity

It is common to feel unsatisfied when a work day ends, due to non-completion of work. It is difficult to stay productive and feel satisfied at the end of each work day. Productivity helps you add hours to your work schedule and here are some ways to increase your productivity:

1. Complete the most difficult tasks in the morning, while starting your day at work. Do not leave them for the last. Leaving them for later would simply drive your intent from pursuing them. Always take up the difficult, lengthy tasks in the morning and the shorter, simpler ones in the evening.
2. One of the most important factors behind not feeling productive is lack of love for one’s work. If you do not love what you do, chances are you will never feel charged up and inspired to do it. Always choose a profile of your liking.
3. Don’t think too much about the tasks given to you. Just start the work without giving it much thought, or without getting dreaded to complete a certain task.
4. There will be times when you wouldn’t be as productive and efficient as other days. Think of it as normal and don’t get too worked up thinking about it.
5. Try to stay away from the Internet. Of all things leading you to an unproductive day, the Internet is one of the biggest culprits.
6. By making a list and prioritising your tasks, you would be much better off in handling them than going ahead without any written plan. Feel in control of your work and don’t fret.
7. Half of the generation today is sleep deprived. Make sure you get enough sleep before starting your day. Sleep away to glory on weekends and make do for the time lost on the weekdays.
8. Find time to exercise daily, even if that means spending ten minutes stretching your muscles at home. After a eight- or nine-hour shift, our bodies need oxygen. And only a good night sleep and exercise can guarantee that. Stay in shape and say bye-bye to lethargy.

These are some of the suggestions that can make your life sorted and work easier. Follow these on a daily basis to increase your productivity at work and also at home. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to write and add on to the list.

Author: Rakesh Godhwani

Pages: 240

Price: Rs. 299

Published by: Random House India

So you are a student or an entrepreneur wanting to become a persuasive communicator, a quality which, among other things, is the key to a successful business/personal relationship? What to Say and When to Shut Up is a rather fancy title of Rakesh Godhwani’s highly researched book, offering invaluable advice to become compelling to others with your language. Not only does it make your work simpler by offering advice in easy-to-remember and comprehensive pointers, it also makes you test your skill-set improve by way of exercises at the end of every chapter.

Although a quick browse through the book’s contents doesn’t make it any interesting than countless books on communication, but five minutes into the book and you know you are investing your time wisely. It covers topics such as motivating audiences to action, nailing the interview for your dream job, making impressive business presentations, pitching to investors to raise money, selling product to a client, negotiating a win-win, networking professionally and socially, resolving conflicts, etc. It is a must have for corporate, students, entrepreneurs and anybody who is wanting to make a permanent impression on their audience.

“Ability to communicate well not only resolves conflicts but also makes life much pleasurable.” Rakesh Godhwani, Author

Returning to Work

Although breaking from work for a significant time period can make you feel refreshed, it is daunting to join back with the same motivation and excitement. It is a common notion that a break helps put things into perspective, but it is far from reality. The longer the duration of staying away from work, the more difficult it gets to resume. The worst part is that the pending assignments that need immediate attention are pushed into further delay. It gets even worse when one is looking for a new job.

The reasons for taking a sabbatical from work could be many, like wanting time to recover from an illness, taking a break after having worked for a number of years, changing jobs, maternity leave, contemplating a change in the industry, getting married or settling down, or simply taking a break from work for the sake of it. Once you decide to work again, you will be asked a number of questions during the interviews: Why did you decide to take a break from work? What took you so long to decide to join back? What did you do while on a sabbatical? Are you sure you will be able to deliver and take on the pressures involved in the job work?

If you join back the company you were working for before deciding to take a break, things will be as difficult. You will have lost touch with the right people in the company. You may not realise it, but with a little bit of exploring, you can ease out the nervous anticipation and start like you had never left. Take up a part-time option before taking up a full-fledged job. It does not necessarily have to involve going from one place to another. You can work sitting indoors, by exploring an opportunity to work online. If you are a fresher with some experience, you have options like marketing, business and content development, HR, teaching, marketing communication, etc.

You should keep in mind that all of this may not guarantee recruitment, let alone starting a level lower than where you had left. The employers would always want to hire people who have on-job experience than the ones who don’t. These days many people are taking the franchise route too. It is a good option considering the initial hand-holding the franchisors provide, aside from lowering the risk involved owing to successful business models. The only dampener could be the initial investment that one is required to make. So, weigh these options carefully before taking on the mantle of starting work after an extended break. All the best!

How-To Series: Managing Strategy (2)

2/2 (contd…)

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a technique undertaken by various organisations to help solve organisational or other operational issues, or to help encourage creative thinking, or to generate any idea. There are three stages to brainstorming: preparation, the session and the evaluation. Starting from the preparation stage, entrepreneur-managers should first select the problem or the opportunity to be discussed about or brainstormed. The next step should be to define in your mind the structure it would have, like what exactly you are looking for the participants to answer, other than the discussion’s aims and objectives. Choosing the facilitator comes next. You will have to choose someone who everyone can openly address to, someone who is open about his thought and knows how to engage a group of participants. He will have to keep it interesting.

Then, it is the location! Where you will discuss is another very important factor one should consider before initiating a brainstorming session. The session stage of brainstorming focuses on the actual topic or subject that needs to be talked about. The evaluation is the last stage and it entails the scrutinising bit and picking up a person with most votes. Other than that, it will also help you see whether or not the solution zeroed in on is feasible. Discourage dominant individuals do most of the talking and appreciate the quiet ones to come forward so an equal flow of opinions and ideas can come to the table.

Choosing a Growth Strategy

The growth path can take you places and is limited only by your imagination. As the most important person behind your organisation, you need to start by understanding the major growth strategy options. Growth is not limited to going national or international, but in its strength to be dynamic and adapting to the changing market scenarios. You need to start by building your brand. It is not only size that will make you dynamic, but a right mix of quality, reputation, prestige and profit margins. You also need to figure if you want to focus on the one thing that your brand is known for or diversify into providing various other products or services.

Whatever the decision, the technological developments of the market need to be taken into account when growing, other than selecting a growth strategy. When choosing a growth strategy, understand that change is inevitable and your business will have to adapt to the changing market scenarios. Nurture your business and know if you need innovation or use of new technology in promotions and customer relationships. Pay attention to communication, teamwork, your office culture and most importantly, funding that you will need to power your growth.

Managing Strategy

Managing strategy is all about how the entrepreneur-managers analyse their organisations, and develop and implement strategic plans and options for the overall development of the business. You start with understanding what the culture of the organisation entails, to carrying out strategic analysis, to implementing it, and measuring and evaluating its success.

The Chartered Management Institute, the only chartered professional body in the UK dedicated to promoting the highest standards of management and leadership excellence, in its Checklist Series on Managing Strategy talk about the understanding behind organisational strategy. This particular book focuses on empowering the managers by helping them understand their organisations. In this article, we cover three action-oriented checklists for our entrepreneur-manager reader base: Understanding Leadership Styles, Brainstorming and Choosing a Growth Strategy.

Understanding Leadership Styles

Everything from what an entrepreneur says, to how he says it, to how he leads with example, to how he keeps his reputation, etc., greatly affects his relationship with his colleagues and co-workers. There could be many leadership styles entrepreneurs get their learning from or get inspired from, but staying true to their original personality is what gives them that edge. A difficult leader may be bad for the organisational growth because he will end up discouraging employees. As an entrepreneur, you need to invest in your staff to get the best out of them. A good entrepreneur would know how a poorly trained employee can cost the company even more that what he is worth.

Motivating employees is an equally important component for ensuring your business’s growth. That can make all the difference! If you expect your employees to perform as you want them to, you have to work toward motivating them. Whenever taking a major strategic decision, take care to inform and invite suggestions from the lowest in the hierarchy. The employees feel a sense of togetherness when they are shown that their suggestions are valued. All the entrepreneurs should be flexible in their approach toward their employees and should not restrict themselves to just one style, because every individual you are going to work with is different from another.

(To be continued. . .)