Entrepreneurial Commonalities – One.

When successful people are asked about the reasons behind their success, you will see how a handful of their answers to the same questions differ due to the different life trajectories. The major chunk of those questions, however, would have the same answers as they are bound by a thread of commonality. And that is the reason why, most often than not, you’d get tenacity, punctuality, passion, risk-taking ability, planning, financial wisdom, etc, as answers when asked about traits that make them successful. Philosophical as it may sound, most of these traits often are learned by constant practice and a winner’s attitude.

Quitters in its next phase of writing titled, “Entrepreneurial Commonalities” is committed to take the readers through the journey of learning and sharing, questioning and being counter-questioned, applying and becoming, realising and teaching the stages that make up any entrepreneur’s life.

While everyone might have what it takes to be at the top of the ladder, it is the degree that varies. Successful businessmen learn and implement these traits to realise their calling. Like every activity has a list of “must do’s” and to be successful it its execution the least you need to do is follow the “must do’s”. For example, if you want to be a successful painter, you need to be dedicated and passionate, if you want to become a sports professional, you need to train yourself on nutrition and training-specific knowledge, etc. It is no different in businesses. If you want to become a successful businessperson, an entrepreneur, the following are the business must-do’s for you to learn, imbibe and execute. Through this series, we will talk about 25 common characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. We will cover five in each post (a total of five articles through the week) and welcome feedback/suggestion/counter argument in the comments’ section.

They Do What They Like Doing: They will take up things that will interest them. They wouldn’t take up anything that they wouldn’t enjoy, because they know they wouldn’t succeed. It is said that the business will give you what you give to it, so if you’re not putting in satisfaction, enjoyment and passion, how would you expect the same in return. Businesspersons should take up something that they enjoy. Always!

Meticulous Planning is Key: The activity of business planning is extremely important. Every successful entrepreneur goes through the four stages of planning – developing, executing, learning from mistakes/successes and improving/repeating. It makes you meticulous in your research, in compiling data, realising how to achieve more on paper, even so. It is a great stepping-stone on the things yet to come. No one can predict the future, but, well, as Jim Collins said in his masterpiece, Great By Choice – “You can create it.”

Customer is King: It is never about the products or services, about their prices and the market competition, about the wins and losses; it has and will always be about your clients and customers. There, we said it! God is in the detail and the successful entrepreneurs think about their customers in detail, always planning skilfully at how to keep their customers happy and satisfied. You should always know your customers, because it is they who will decide whether or not your business is standing tall. Try to make your business a customer-oriented organisation.

Teamwork, Number 1 Sales Tool: Don’t underestimate the power of a business team. The team should be trained so it should share the same passion and commitment as yours to the business. They should be trained to treat your business as theirs. No one has ever built his/her business alone. Your team members do not only mean the people you have hired to work with you in office. It is the complete supply chain – clients, customers, associates, colleagues, friends, family, industry people, suppliers, associations, society and the industry. They all have a stake in the future of your business and that’s the reason why they should be valued.

Money Matters: Buying products and inventory, paying for services, designing your front and back of the workplace, repairing shop and other equipment, spend on advertising, marketing, paying the workforce and everything in between – for all this and more, it is the money/cash-flow that needs getting taken care of. All the entrepreneurs are wise capital managers. They will always ensure that the cash flows are never interrupted and everything/everyone gets their due, including themselves. In other words, they know how to maintain a harmony between their incomes and expenses.

We will come with 5 more traits of successful entrepreneurs, before we complete this week’s special offering, “Entrepreneurial Commonalities”. You can share your views and suggestions in the comments’ section.

Quitters in Bollywood.

Every once in a while there comes a film that inspires and changes your life for the better. These films give you something that you can readily apply to your life. Here are three inspiring films that teach us great things about life. Read on…

Band Baaja Baaraat depicts the story of a guy and a girl in their twenties. Bittoo Sharma, a fun-loving guy without a care for his future meets Shruti Kakkar, who is all set on starting her own ‘Wedding Planning’ business. They decide to work together with Chanda Kochchar, a wealthy, popular businesswoman, to gain experience of the business. They work hard but cannot deal with the dishonest practices undertaken by their employer, Chanda.

Together Bittoo and Shruti, quit Chanda’s company and decide to challenge Chanda by becoming her competitor in the market. Easier said than done! It took a few modest ‘shaadi’ arrangements before they could clinch the deal with a couple who was being pitched a deal by Chanda Kochchar. Bittoo and Shruti manage to swing the deal in their direction while walking the soon-to-be-wed couple to the parking lot. Behind the love story in this 140-minute entertainer is the theme of believing in quitting anything that pulls you down while choosing to be a winner in life.

Chak De! India, a sports drama film on field hockey, is one of the better inspirational films in the genre of sport. It depicts the story of the former captain of the Indian hockey team, Kabir Khan, out to win back his lost reputation. In his back story, Khan is shown missing a crucial penalty shot in a match against the arch-rival, Pakistan, resulting in a major outcry, accusing him of foul-play. Seven years later, he takes on the mammoth task of coaching the Indian women’s national field hockey team for the hockey world cup. Initially, the team resents his training. The film masterfully depicts how the Indian team – consisting of people representing various states and showing lack of tolerance towards each other – align themselves together for a common goal. The team was able to lift the World Cup Championship, only because they quit their individual differences, their fears and egos, their prejudices and judgements, and rose together as a unit to accomplish the impossible.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara depicts the lives of three friends, Kabir, Imraan and Arjun, out on a bachelor trip to Spain. Behind the good fun is the theme of quitting fear (both in mental and physical space) by facing it upfront. All the three are shown to have physical fears and decide to realise their long-standing pact on the trip, by undertaking an adventure sport, so as to challenge the fear upfront and overcome it. At a deeper level, the film also projects how every one of them has their own problems that cannot be dealt with so easily. ZNMD is like a journey which leads each protagonist to quit the thing that holds them back and become free of its shackles. In Kabir’s case, it is a forced relationship. Imraan deals with the thought of finding and questioning his biological father on why he decided to escape from the familial bond and responsibility. Arjun, too, challenges his uptight demeanour and comes to realise how important human relationships are, and that these should not be neglected because of work.

In all of these films the one commonality is quitting; the central characters are seen quitting that which makes them vulnerable. They choose a life that liberates them, makes them stronger and in command of their actions.

Share with us the films that have contributed to or changed your life. Let us know your list of inspiring films.

Get Inspired! Have no Fear!