My First Birthday!

My First Birthday!

Yeah! I am going to write about my first year of life. Not only did I open my eyes in a new world, from tasting the unknown to recognizing the right & wrong – I have grown up to a certain bit in my first year of entrepreneurship.

The Birth:

The idea was conceived few years back but it got life only a year back. Like every birth it was painful & challenging and all I tried was to avoid any complications. Initially it was difficult to take up the challenge and convince my family that I am quitting a job (which was paying me quite decently) for I am going to start on my own. But, like it’s been said – it’s only the first step. Yes, we launched 30TH FEB on November 17, 2009 and I was born as an entrepreneur.

The Inception:

The inception, the observations, the test runs were at times positive, at times negative and weird at others. Some dint like the logo, others failed to love the idea. Some were worried about the complications attached…some failed to understand that it’s equally difficult to kill an idea like it is to a newborn. Some raised eyebrows & others raised fingers. Few were positive about me and others laughed it out.

All this – made me jittery at times but eventually made me stronger.

My First Lesson!

Learning started from the very beginning. While during the inception only I had started developing business. Interestingly, the first project was bagged out of a job interview. Before launching my venture – I had been appearing at the job interviews – to say that I was still double minded and because of which I had not given them an answer on my joining within a week as expected and so when I had sent the launch mail about my venture, my interviewer, the founder CEO of a new venture called me to meet the VP-Marketing for a Brand Development task. Bingo! I felt. And soon I realized that one shall not let the client treat you a novice, desperate start-up who is just looking to perform. I truly felt that people try to exploit their level best only If you allow them to. That led me to my first rule – “Value your own time”. ‘Be professional. Promise results. Stay Confident and remember – No one is doing a favor by giving you a task. Business is all about mutual benefits.'

First time in the Playground!

When a child gets out from home to the playground, he learns about the competition, the society and makes contacts. He starts making his own identity in the playfield. Now the point – is not about playing the game but it is more about staying in the filed.

My first boost came when work started coming & people valued my ideas and hence approached me to work with them. Yes. That helped me raise my spirits and slowly I was getting into a Brand boosted number game. Earlier the chase was to sustain and now I was growing & realizing competition. The idea now was to stay here and to make my presence felt.

With Brand projects dwelling and events happening side by side… I was assured of sustainability but every time I had the same fear – What next? To some extent that still is the case…..

Be-fitting the New Shoes!

Good Brand projects came in. Friends trusted me & clients agreed to the concepts & the caliber. Many agreed to my point – that you need to give us projects to see the portfolio of 30TH FEB and you need to offer the projects based on my personal portfolio.

In simple words, Issue the bill to see me fit the bill. 

A Difficult One!

Things started churning and in no time, I was hopeful against all hopes. People who we had pitched in April….called us and we fetched a project in June. As challenges were growing and we realized that we need to grow in terms of team, people and power.

What I thought of as an Ambitious project turned out as the most difficult project in this one year. Certain execution problems cropped in, my personal life asked attention – leaving me in a real fix at instances. Here I was lucky as my client took charge for few hours and actually made my team work up to her expectations. But again I learnt a lesson – I need to delegate and I can’t be there at all the places at all the times. I knew it was the time to think of expansion.

No Effort is a Waste Effort

We worked we our soul and our dreams survived. We are now working with more diligence & better plans. We plan expansion & we are growing. We are growing in number and we are growing in hopes.

I am Team 30TH FEB. And November 17th,2010 is my first Birthday.

A Dogmatic COO

Recently got to witness, what an SME’s COO, the Chief Operations Officer had to say to his employees. A small venture started by just 2 people, came to a team of 25 now…..in some 8-9 years. Commendable! I would say.

But what I doubt is their illogical mindset and pre-conceived opinions. Having ideals is good, I agree but one must get to understand the success path followed the making of that hero, the struggle & strategy. Yes, we have the examples like Mr.Dhirubhai Ambani, Mr.Bill Gates, Mr.Sachin Tendulkar etc, but these are again exceptions. One percent of the lot and not to forget that they made it big, but they couldn’t run it all alone. They believe in management principles, they believe in delegation, they believe in strategy and they believe in the word ‘We’ and not just ‘I’. Our venerate COO, unfortunately couldn’t use the word ‘we’, though he demanded again & again, that his employees should carry a part of him, should leave a footprint like him, wherever they go. The problem here is not expecting too much but what amazed me, asking too much so straight without a pinch of modesty was little too much to digest. Coming to his people skills now, he once mentioned to the team, ‘there shall be no second thoughts on what he thinks, he feels about the work, the business, the leaves etc.

At times, I feel I should plainly ignore the facts stated above, but somehow I am so disturbed after listening to all this. It feels like the helplessness at the cost of he being the owner, the runner & the boss. People must be sitting with the attitude to listen & forget, some even mentioned that we just went out, we ignored, and we weren’t with him. He sounded like a hypocrite & dominating union leader but of course not a manager, not a leader. Yes, I appreciate him thinking big, but one more thing which is more disturbing is the ever seen Myopic business mind. Dreaming big is different from planning big. Or I should say that dreaming big is not enough if you have no people skills or if you deny respecting the people working for your firm just because you are the Boss. It’s terrible!

Not talking much about this anymore, few more (disturbing) things I would like my readers to comment on are:

1. Do you agree that the Business Volumes is the only difference between a Big & Small Organization?
2. Team spirit is carrying the boss’/ head reflection in each employee?
3. As a working professional, for growth all a person needs is to compare himself/herself with oneself. (Something I remember was termed Peer Group)
4. A rocksolid professional is one who never complains & gives reasons like a family problem, an accident etc.
5. Who believes in leading by treading on the ego of his employees?

Why have I mentioned all this here on my space? Because I want to know your opinion and confirm that if education really makes a difference or it’s just that I am too sensitive!!!