The Basics of Building a Business

October 16, 2022 / Management, Business

As regular readers of my blog are aware, I serve as a consultant to a few business owners. My job entails advising and assisting these clients as they launch their businesses. It also entails giving the CEO or other top executives advice regarding their daily operations. It is an engaging and challenging task! I thoroughly enjoy it!

In this third inning of my life, I have been dreaming about working closely with young minds. It has been my goal to reach at least 1 lakh students and entrepreneurs and share my passion and expertise with them. With that in mind, I’ve been considering how to communicate with more aspiring business owners and providing them with information on the fundamentals of managing a company. To reach a younger audience, I have distilled my lectures into these five basic tips in this post.

Tip 1: The Entrepreneur must have goals and objectives that are clear.

The bigger vision, yearly mission statements, goals, and objectives of an entrepreneur’s business or initiative must be very clear. More importantly, all employees of the organisation who work in various divisions, departments, branch offices, etc. must be made fully aware of these. The word SMART, which stands for specific, measurable, agreed upon, realistic, and time-bound, best describes these goals. For every entrepreneur, these goals will be different, depending on their specific project or stage of business.
Let me give one or two examples to demonstrate my point. For an entrepreneur who is implementing a real estate project, the objectives would ideally be controlling the timeline, project cost, and scope of activities. For another entrepreneur who is managing FMCG operations – these objectives would be related to the cost of production, product and process quality, speed of delivery (to minimise the lead time for the customer), flexibility, and dependability.

Tip 2: Resist the temptation to borrow more

For first-generation entrepreneurs embarking on their entrepreneurial journey, it is prudent to begin with a micro or small business with 100% equity raised from savings, with financial assistance from family, relatives, friends, and associates. Since a first-time entrepreneur is still learning to manage finances, borrowing would add to the stress and increase risk. Borrowing from banks/DFIs (by mortgaging your property as collateral) should be avoided as a general rule unless and until you have mastered the art and science of handling money and making money from money.
The advice I give to first-timers in general is that they should start a micro or small business first. Check their tenacity for business risks, grow their business slowly in modules and eventually with baby steps consolidate the company over a period of 6 to 12 to 18 to 24 months. This would be an ideal strategy. This technique will work wonders for them in the sense that it will enable them to learn and make money at the same time. Additionally, it will protect them from unanticipated dangers, and in the event that they do, the damages will be within reasonable bounds.

Tip 3: Build experience first, then jump into riskier waters

As the company grows and the size of your business expands, then the entrepreneur can create an additional equity pool. Ideally, they should start with the people they know. The first resource is to reach out to classmates who have completed their professional degrees with the businessman for help. One could also get in touch with the major suppliers of machinery and raw materials of their business or other business associates. There are many alternative ways such as bootstrapping, crowdfunding, and so on. Eventually, the entrepreneur would have gained sufficient experience and mastered the art and science of effectively managing all of their resources (particularly financial resources). This experience is required to learn how to create the necessary value addition from their business operations. Once this experience and rigour are achieved, they can always seek a secured loan from a bank or a development finance institution (DFI) and make somewhat riskier business decisions.

Tip 4: In the digital age, information is an important resource.

The entrepreneur must also create proper systems for information flow within and outside the organisation. This systematic collection, organisation, presentation, analysis, and interpretation of all available data and information will facilitate good decision-making within the organisation. This simple task will result in the initiation of timely actions. An effective and robust MIS (Management Information System) should also be developed and implemented to ensure that all employees and key executives benefit from all important top-down and bottom-up communications. An effective MIS also ensures the organization’s long-term success through effective management control.

Tip 5: Develop world-class business processes

The next step should be to choose world-class business processes. These processes should be created and validated with the assistance and support of various domain experts both inside and outside your organisation. Process or activity flow charts should be created as needed and made available on your intranet for access and retrieval.

I hope this helps young entrepreneurs visualize the challenges and the road ahead for them at whatever stage of business they are in. If I have missed a crucial point, let us discuss them in the comment section below for the benefit of others!

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India needs more and more Entrepreneurs!

October 9, 2022 / Business, Motivation

Having worked for over 4 decades in business at various locations in India, I am really passionate about this topic. From my varied experience in corporate planning, business idea generation, project identification, project finance, preparation and execution of business plans, entrepreneurial development, general management, marketing, and strategy, I strongly feel that entrepreneurship is very lucrative. The only way to tackle the unemployment problem of our country is to create more and more entrepreneurs. A vast and vibrant network of entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, freelance advisors, consultants, and mentors together with qualified, skilled, and committed executives employed in all kinds of organizations across the length and breadth of the country can significantly contribute towards achieving three laudable national objectives – sustained economic progress leading to tremendous growth in GDP, environmental sustainability, and fulfilment of various social and governance goals.

I am now 73 years old. Most of my time is spent on educating and guiding youngsters. I am engaged in either teaching undergraduate and post-graduate management students or advising and motivating ambitious young males and females on planning and execution their dream businesses/projects. My dominant agenda at this juncture of my life is to convince, motivate, guide, and prepare young people to start something on their own rather than opting for a 9-to-5 job. They can either work as a freelance professional or take up the entrepreneurial (or intrapreneurial) route. They can start any business or remunerative activity either by working as an agent of an established large enterprise or as a franchisee.

Entrepreneurship is not only a financially rewarding prospect, but it is also an intellectually stimulating and uplifting journey. Starting a new business or a social enterprise is thrilling and intimidating at the same time. The delight of boarding on a new expedition, mapping a new path, being self-sufficient and in control, the possibility of accumulating substantial personal wealth, solving peoples’ problems, meeting those unmet needs of society, and making the world a better place to live are all reasons to look ahead with great excitement and hope. For some people working in a 9 to 5 job feels monotonous and stifling, while some thrive in the structured environment. But if you are the former, entrepreneurship is for you.

Let me give below several reasons why entrepreneurship should be promoted in a big way in India and why all young people should opt to become entrepreneurs:

Tackling Unemployment:

Promoting entrepreneurship is a sure-shot strategy to create more and more employment opportunities in the country. As more and more entrepreneurial clusters/pockets get created, many new job opportunities will be generated. Smart and educated young persons residing in cities/urban areas can also promote entrepreneurial units in nearby villages/rural areas on a remote-control basis – visiting their promoted unit once or twice every week.

Rural Entrepreneurs:

Promoting micro and small enterprises in rural pockets of India by small artisans, SHG groups, and other aspiring young persons should now be a national priority and relentless efforts must be made to achieve this goal. To involve people from lower-income groups in entrepreneurial activity – the development of the cottage industry can work wonders! However, this will require help and support from the state governments. Special emphasis should be given to the promotion of those businesses that focus on providing education and healthcare (including health education) to village folks.

Balanced Regional Development:

The Central and State Governments should be actively involved to ensure that all our initiatives to promote entrepreneurship are adequately broad-based to cover all metro towns, big and small cities, and semi-urban, rural, and micro interiors. No region – howsoever small should be left out. To intensify our efforts in this direction, we may also rope in state-level developmental agencies like SFCs and SIDCs and others. These efforts will go a long way to ensure balanced regional development across the country and to prevent the migration of rural workmen to bigger cities in search of employment.

Income Generation & Wealth Creation:

Promoting your own business or industrial unit helps you in earning great profits and generating wealth for you and your country (by contributing to the national GDP). Besides achieving exponential growth in your business and becoming rich over the years – you are also becoming a salary and wage provider to so many executives, staff, and workers employed in your unit. This is no doubt a great feeling of satisfaction and helps you to realise your self-actualisation need.

As an entrepreneur, you control your destiny:

As an entrepreneur – you enjoy so many benefits and privileges which are a far cry from a 9 to 5 job situation. Here, you are your boss. Nobody will get in the way of your vision. You make your plans and schedules. You pick your clients and projects. You pick your team. Owning a business allows you to support local charity events, local schools, and non-profit organizations. Being able to make a difference in your community is a great feeling. Being an entrepreneur is anything but monotonous. There are always fresh business prospects to dive into, new ideas to brainstorm and execute, and new individuals to collaborate with. Being an entrepreneur is a never-ending rollercoaster, but if you enjoy what you do, it’s a thrilling journey with new challenges every day.

There is no harm in being an Employee:

Many young males and females are not at all interested in starting their businesses. This category of persons can jolly well go for the “9 to 5 job route”. There is no problem with this because for the industry to thrive we need both entrepreneurs and employees. Such persons can always go for additional income by investing their savings in well-performing companies or in the start-up projects of other entrepreneurs. Those whose salary is very high can also become non-executive partners/directors in businesses promoted by other entrepreneurs. I can cite an interesting example here where a person is employed in a 9 to 5 corporate job and his/her spouse is an entrepreneur!

Finally, I would like to conclude by saying that entrepreneurs are innovators! Think of all the new technology and ideas that have come to life over the past few years. Those were all once just an idea — but amazing entrepreneurs brought those ideas to life. Doing what you love is the best part of being an entrepreneur. When you’re working with people you enjoy and are doing things that inspire you, it is just easier to get up in the morning with a smile on your face. This is what makes starting a business worthwhile. Creating a successful brand to the point where it leaves a personal legacy behind is appealing and serves as motivation for many entrepreneurs.

So I hope I have convinced you with my passion and sound arguments! Comment below with your thoughts on the subject!

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Surviving & Thriving in the Corporate World

September 25, 2022 / Motivation, Management

Today in this blog post – I am trying to answer a common question that is being frequently asked to me by my management students, young aspiring executives, and entrepreneurs. The common questions being asked by these young males and females are:

• How do we prepare ourselves for the corporate world where we are going to spend the rest of our lives?
• How do we become effective and smart business managers in today’s business environment?
• What attributes and/or qualities we should have to become successful as an employed executive or as an entrepreneur/intrapreneur?

Whereas these questions may, prima facie, appear to be different, these point towards the same answer. Here, I am making an earnest effort to answer this crucial question in the succeeding paragraphs:

Reinventing Yourself

What you are?… What do you know?… And what you can do? What is your eventual professional goal – where do you want to reach in your career? What do you want from your job and/or life? Do self-introspection. Articulate your dream. Do your SWOT analysis to find your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. For this, you must scan your internal as well as external environment. Formulate your strategic plan, goals, and objectives. And finally – work on the implementation of your plans under the guidance of your mentor.

Realize Your Organization’s Vision

Stick to your and your organization’s long-term vision and values. Your individual goals and your organizational goals must be aligned – that is important. Be firm and strict in realizing this vision but be flexible when you are implementing your decisions to accomplish this vision. In other words – your long-term vision is firm and non-negotiable, but you are flexible in pursuing the path that takes you there – flexible in terms of your approach towards deployment of all your resources and your general style of management. While you are working with your team on the fructification of your enterprise’s tunnel vision – you should also walk an extra mile to enhance the emotional quotient and happiness quotient of your team members.

Be Effective first, then Efficient

As a corporate executive or a business manager – you shall like to give your best to your organization. This will require that you are effective as well as efficient in your job. Being effective will mean that you set your priorities right and do the right things at the right time. On the other hand, being efficient will mean that you can accomplish your organizational goals by deploying all physical, financial, human, and informational resources in optimal measures. Here, let us not forget that being effective is more important than being efficient. An ideal business manager will be effective first and efficient thereafter. In other words – while effective means doing the right things, efficient will mean doing things right.

Work on Your Communication Skills

Another important requirement for you to succeed in your corporate journey is being very good (if not excellent) in personal as well as business communication. Effective communication is crucial to a business manager’s personal as well as professional life. A large part of our waking time is spent communicating. However, we do not give thought to most of the communication unless it involves a critical business issue or when something goes wrong. Every communication is essential, however insignificant it may seem, especially in the workplace. The communication may be as simple as sending a text message to a colleague requesting data or preparing a lengthy technical report – with proper planning and care both types of communication can be made more effective.

Your Body Language

Apart from mastering your verbal and written communication, you must pay attention to your non-verbal communication skills which we also refer to as body language. These include your posture/gait, power of your handshake, eye contact, and other soft skills (many professional colleges are teaching these soft skills as a part of their curriculum).

To understand and master the art and science of communication, I suggest that you read about 5 Ws and 1 H of communication (What, Why, When, Where, Who, and How).

Your Domain Knowledge

You also must possess good functional knowledge in the field of your specialization together with an appreciation of available resources (including the scarce ones), proven processes and technologies in your professional domain. To achieve this goal, you must engage in regular reading, talking to many domain experts, and attending professional events like trade fairs, exhibitions, webinars and seminars. In other words – you will do well to build a learning and growth environment around you and your colleagues in the organization. This will additionally require building libraries, positioning experts and mentors in your organization, and building a strong intranet.

Your Overall Personality

To build an attractive personality – you should also try to practice speaking and writing with due economy of words – I call this ‘brevity in your expression’. Apart from efficiency in action, and brevity in expression, you should also develop firmness in your decisions, courtesy in behaviour, and tact in handling delicate and sensitive situations. You may also like to work on your listening skills, negotiation skills and problem-solving skills. Building all the skills will require time and effort and active engagement with knowledgeable and experienced people in your contact sphere – but rest assured, you will reap great dividends later in life.

Like I always remind you- this list is not exhaustive. I have written this from my experience. If you think I have missed something essential that you think must be included in this, then do let me know in the comments below!

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Finetune your management style!

September 18, 2022 / Management, Leadership

Are you a manager/supervisor, business executive, or organizational leader? You may even be a CEO, or a Unit Head overseeing the working of a medium or large business, social, or a ‘not-for-profit’ organization. Your role may be entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial.

Whatever the situation – you are concerned with effective and efficient utilization of various physical, financial, human, and informational resources at your disposal to accomplish organizational goals and objectives.

My sole purpose in writing this post is to impress upon you the need to restructure (and/or fine-tune) your leadership and management style so that you are more professional and ethical in your broader approach to people, their problems, and to their organizations. You will also do well to blend the right proportions of compassion and empathy while dealing with people.

Based on my over four decades of experience in dealing with people and organizations, I am giving below a few specific suggestions to restructure/fine-tune your leadership/management style:

The first and foremost aspect is to genuinely respond to the interests and expectations of all your stakeholders in the business – namely, your customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, and other local bodies that impact your business, the government, and society. You must do the best possible to fulfil their expectations from your business.

You must always ensure that all your decisions and actions are based on structured information and data. Kindly avoid taking any decision or action based on your personal preferences, whims, or fancies because that would mean that you are deviating from the path of professionalism. You must strive to practice stark professionalism in almost all functional areas like production, marketing, sales, accounts and finance and HR.

You must also ensure that all your employees show up at work every day and on time, maintain good hygiene, dress appropriately, and follow the company rules. All your employees must understand that their employer expects a full day’s work for a full day’s pay.

All managers should also demonstrate integrity in their behaviour. In my opinion, managerial integrity is an essential ingredient for effective and ethical leadership. In addition to their job competencies, functional expertise and credentials, successful managers have personal characteristics that underlie their leadership skills. Integrity is one such characteristic that is noticeable in leaders who demonstrate a firm commitment to business principles.

Illustrations of managerial integrity can be found during interactions with peers, colleagues, and subordinates as well as the public within and outside the workplace. Managers who lead with integrity do not sugar-coat employee evaluations for the sake of being popular or being liked. Socially irresponsible corporate behaviour is something that managers with integrity will not tolerate even if it means putting their job in jeopardy.

As the Head of your organization – you must also ensure that all your employees working in various departments follow and practice ethics in their functional areas like production, marketing, accounts and finance, and advertising.

You will also do well to sensitize your employees towards various other aspects like workplace discrimination, regulatory compliances, insider trading, and always adhering to moral and ethical practices.

As a great organization, you must also do your bit towards society by adhering to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) practices. As far as possible you should follow the concepts of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) and the 4 Ps of Ethical Business to make your CSR initiatives more effective and meaningful.

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.
Vince Lombardi

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Learnings from a first-time author

August 28, 2022 / Personal

Many of you must be aware that I recently published a book titled – “Entrepreneurship – The Mega Opportunity”. (Click on the link to know more).

I have been asked over and over again what my experience was of writing and publishing the book. I wanted to take this opportunity to share the learnings from my experience of writing this book.

This is a fact, and I have told my family members, friends, and a few students already: “If there was no pandemic and there were no lockdowns, I would never have become an author.”

I have always had a lot of ideas in my head but then I never sat down to pen them because I was always occupied with my routine work of consulting, mentoring, and teaching. COVID – 19, the consequent lockdowns and being at risk at my age of 73 forced me to remain indoors. This proved to be an opportunity for me to give shape to my ideas into a book.

#Learning 1: Self-Confidence

The first and the foremost learning was gaining self-confidence. This process reaffirmed my belief in my capabilities to articulate my vision on the vital subject of entrepreneurship and enterprise promotion. Of course, I have taught this subject for many years, but to see all my hardwork transform into a tangible product appreciated by all was a big boost of confidence. It adds another feather to my cap. I am now a published author.

#Learning 2: Write with audience in mind

The second important learning that I would like to share with fellow aspiring writers is that one should write while keeping the target audience in mind. In the process, I found myself wondering who do I sell my book to? To businessmen who want tips to do better, or new entrepreneurs thinking about how to start? One may write anything, but it has no relevance unless it strikes the right chord with the customers. Since I decided that my target audiences are young people, I learned to write in a way that would interest them. I created the book in the style of a workbook, where one could make notes, and reflect in the pages immediately. Also, telling anecdotes and stories makes crucial business concepts more relatable to possible readers. I also learnt the art of storytelling while writing this book.

#Learning 3: Editing is the most important

I personally feel that this third learning was an important one! I would like to give the highest importance to the editing phase of the book. While an excellent editing may make an ordinary book highly successful, below average, or poor editing may ruin the prospects of even an excellent book!

#Learning 4: Writing is a group effort

Last but not the least, like many other endeavors in life, writing a book is also a team effort. You must rope in many competent persons from multi-disciplinary backgrounds to ensure that the final product is a good balance of both creative and commercial aspects. Unless you strike this balance – your product may not do well in the market. You need proofreaders, editors, designers, publishers… all of whom have to work with you to build your vision. Writing my book has taught me this crucial lesson: Books are not written alone!

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Lessons from Lord Krishna after the Great War

August 21, 2022 / Motivation

In Hinduism, it is believed that every action has a consequence. This action is called “Karma”. This word does not just mean “an eye for an eye”. It has a much deeper meaning in the scriptures. Karma is what we do (or don’t do), and all of it has consequences for us and the world around us. Our Karma, deeds or actions, will eventually catch up to us as blessings or punishments.

To get a deeper insight into what Karma really means, read this short conversation between Lord Krishna and Draupadi, after the Great War Mahabarata. Here, we see that Draupadi is distraught at the scale of the war and seeks some answers from Lord Krishna.

18 दिन के युद्ध ने,

द्रोपदी की उम्र को

80 वर्ष जैसा कर दिया था …

शारीरिक रूप से भी

और मानसिक रूप से भी

शहर में चारों तरफ़

विधवाओं का बाहुल्य था..

पुरुष इक्का-दुक्का ही दिखाई पड़ता था

अनाथ बच्चे घूमते दिखाई पड़ते थे और उन सबकी वह महारानी

द्रौपदी हस्तिनापुर के महल में

निश्चेष्ट बैठी हुई शून्य को निहार रही थी ।

तभी,

श्रीकृष्ण

कक्ष में दाखिल होते हैं

द्रौपदी

कृष्ण को देखते ही

दौड़कर उनसे लिपट जाती है …

कृष्ण उसके सिर को सहलाते रहते हैं और रोने देते हैं

थोड़ी देर में,

उसे खुद से अलग करके

समीप के पलंग पर बैठा देते हैं ।

द्रोपदी : यह क्या हो गया सखा ??

ऐसा तो मैंने नहीं सोचा था ।

कृष्ण : नियति बहुत क्रूर होती है पांचाली..

वह हमारे सोचने के अनुरूप नहीं चलती !

वह हमारे कर्मों को

परिणामों में बदल देती है..

तुम प्रतिशोध लेना चाहती थी और, तुम सफल हुई, द्रौपदी !

तुम्हारा प्रतिशोध पूरा हुआ… सिर्फ दुर्योधन और दुशासन ही नहीं,

सारे कौरव समाप्त हो गए

तुम्हें तो प्रसन्न होना चाहिए !

द्रोपदी: सखा,

तुम मेरे घावों को सहलाने आए हो या उन पर नमक छिड़कने के लिए ?

कृष्ण : नहीं द्रौपदी,

मैं तो तुम्हें वास्तविकता से अवगत कराने के लिए आया हूँ

हमारे कर्मों के परिणाम को

हम, दूर तक नहीं देख पाते हैं और जब वे समक्ष होते हैं..

तो, हमारे हाथ में कुछ नहीं रहता।

द्रोपदी : तो क्या,

इस युद्ध के लिए पूर्ण रूप से मैं ही उत्तरदायी हूँ कृष्ण ?

कृष्ण : नहीं, द्रौपदी

तुम स्वयं को इतना महत्वपूर्ण मत समझो…

लेकिन,

तुम अपने कर्मों में थोड़ी सी दूरदर्शिता रखती तो, स्वयं इतना कष्ट कभी नहीं पाती।

द्रोपदी : मैं क्या कर सकती थी कृष्ण ?

तुम बहुत कुछ कर सकती थी

कृष्ण:- जब तुम्हारा स्वयंवर हुआ…

तब तुम कर्ण को अपमानित नहीं करती और उसे प्रतियोगिता में भाग लेने का एक अवसर देती

तो, शायद परिणाम

कुछ और होते !

इसके बाद जब कुंती ने तुम्हें पाँच पतियों की पत्नी बनने का आदेश दिया…

तब तुम उसे स्वीकार नहीं करती तो भी, परिणाम कुछ और होते ।

और

उसके बाद

तुमने अपने महल में दुर्योधन को अपमानित किया…

कि अंधों के पुत्र अंधे होते हैं।

वह नहीं कहती तो, तुम्हारा चीर हरण नहीं होता…

तब भी शायद, परिस्थितियाँ कुछ और होती ।

“हमारे शब्द भी

हमारे कर्म होते हैं” द्रोपदी…

और, हमें

“अपने हर शब्द को बोलने से पहले तोलना

बहुत ज़रूरी होता है”…

अन्यथा,

उसके दुष्परिणाम सिर्फ़ स्वयं को ही नहीं… अपने पूरे परिवेश को दुखी करते रहते हैं ।

संसार में केवल मनुष्य ही एकमात्र ऐसा प्राणी है…

जिसका

“ज़हर”

उसके

“दाँतों” में नहीं,

“शब्दों” में है…

इसलिए शब्दों का प्रयोग सोच समझकर करें।

ऐसे शब्द का प्रयोग कीजिये जिससे, .

किसी की भावना को ठेस ना पहुँचे।

क्योंकि……. महाभारत हमारे अंदर ही छिपा हुआ है ।

This short dialogue shows us how even our utterances also represent our karma. Indeed, a great reminder to all human beings as to how we should conduct ourselves! We must conduct our actions (our explicit reactions and responses) and even our subtle words with awareness and care.

Someone has rightly said, “Karma is the best teacher, forcing people to face the consequences of their actions, to improve and perfect their actions.”

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5 tips for a better professional and personal life

August 14, 2022 / Motivation

Tomorrow is Independence Day, and I have been thinking about how professionals can work independently on their growth. Here are a few suggestions based on the common themes I came across reading self-help websites recently.

Develop a growth mindset.

The first thing to instill in ourselves is a learning orientation. This will lead to a true transformation- both personal and professional. Get out of your comfort zone and break limiting self-beliefs. Overcome your fears by trying different things and intentionally pushing yourself. Read every day. Level up your skills. People who have a growth mindset believe that their abilities are not fixed in stone. They are prepared to work slowly and steadily towards developing the skills they don’t have right now. A growth mindset develops optimism and willpower.

Improve your body language.

Just a simple change in your body language can work wonders! A straighter posture boosts your confidence. A firm handshake creates a good impression and communicates trustworthiness. It is so effortless to make eye contact when talking to people. It shows that you are connecting with the speaker, and are listening attentively. Body language is a huge part of non-verbal communication. Therefore, Paying attention to your gait and posture will enrich your personality.

Invest some time in self-care

Given how workload and stress have increased in our professional lives, it is crucial that we take out time for ourselves. Feeling rejuvenated is important to continue working on your dreams. Self-care helps you perform at your best. It looks different for different people. For some, it could be singing while you are in the shower, and for some, it could be meditating after waking up. Do not ignore self-care as it helps with building self-esteem.

Be balanced.

The secret to a good life is to find a balance in whatever you do. Be assertive and strong in your words, but not rude. Show kindness to everyone, but don’t be a pushover. Be bold in your thoughts and actions, but don’t bully someone. Be proud of your accomplishments but do not confuse it with arrogance. Be humble but do not shy away from putting your best foot forward! Understanding these nuances is key to creating balance in your life.

Connect with the right kind of people.

The kind of people you surround yourself with can make or break your mindset. When you are setting out on this path of self-development, it is important that you surround yourself with people who are also determined to make something of themselves. Avoid pessimistic people, and keep negative influences at bay. Instead, consciously get in touch with like-minded people and network with experts in your industry. Develop friendships and find mentors so that you are on track even in your lows.

These are a few ways you could commit to your personal growth. A small to-do list like this could help you stay focussed on your professional and personal development.

What do you practice for self-development? Let me know in the comments below.

Wishing all readers a very Happy Independence Day in advance!

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Planning and Control are indispensable

August 7, 2022 / Management

While as a leader/manager you must practice all managerial functions like planning, organising, leading, motivating, communicating, coordinating, and controlling – you must focus on the crucial relationship between planning and control without fail.

Planning and control are known as Siamese twins of management. I mean, that these are inseparable from each other. Planning has no meaning unless accompanied by appropriate control and you cannot enforce any control unless you have a plan. A modern enterprise continuously cycles back and forth between planning and controlling.

To start with, the manager makes plans and then uses the control system to monitor progress towards the fulfilment of these plans. Such a practice ensures that you always remain on track and avoid any kind of sub-optimal performance in your operations.

How do Small Businesses benefit from planning?

The institution of effective planning and control systems – both during the project implementation and operation phases can prove beneficial to the entrepreneur in one or more of the following ways:

Ensuring that the project or the program is completed without unwanted costs and time overruns.
Ensuring that the scope of the project is not altered during the project gestation period and if there are any unavoidable changes in the project scope, these are thoroughly discussed with project sponsors – so that cost and time frames are revised suitably.
Meticulous planning and control systems during the operation phase of the project will ensure that all-important operational parameters like cost of production, expenses on salaries and wages, financing charges, promotional and advertising expenses, lease rentals, and other avoidable expenses are kept under check.
The firm can deploy suitable strategic planning tools to undertake structured performance evaluation in various areas like Quality Control, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Portfolio Management, Competitive Analysis, and others.

So, what’s included in PLANNING?

Planning, as we all know, means deciding the future course of action. In other words – planning will mean what to do, when to do, what to do, who will do (team), and what should be the rules, procedures, policies that follow. When we plan a mega project or any big activity (like Mumbai Metro, Asian Games, or Commonwealth Games) – it may encompass a series of small secondary and tertiary plans and activities – these can be called decisions. So, in essence – planning and decision-making are the two sides of the same coin. Planning can be strategic, tactical, or operational.

Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning is generally long-term (covering periods of over 3 years to 7 years or even 10 years) and is initiated by the top management. Some good examples of strategic planning may be opening offices and showrooms in foreign countries, undertaking growth and diversifications, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures. Strategic planning provides the vision of the top management about the future of the organization.

Tactical Planning

The broader vision of the organization set up by the top management is broken down into yearly chunks and the middle management works on these yearly chunks to realize the whole vision eventually. This is called tactical planning.

Operational Planning

Finally comes the day-to-day operational planning which is undertaken by lower management or the front-line functionaries. The purpose of operational planning is to directly support tactical plans and indirectly support strategic plans.

Contingency Planning

We also must understand another kind of planning known as Contingency Planning. Contingency Planning is done to provide for any unforeseen future event or contingency. Let me emphasize that contingency planning is very important in business due to the very uncertain nature of the business.

How do we think about CONTROL?

While planning looks forward – the control function looks backwards to ensure whether the plan was accomplished properly. There are essentially four components to any good control process – namely setting standards or the target, actual performance, comparing performance with the plan/ target, finding the deviation or variance, and lastly taking the corrective action.

In actual practice, we deploy many types of control. These could be feed-forward, concurrent, and feedback controls. Then there are strategic controls – namely premise control, implementation control, Special Alert Control, and Strategic Surveillance Control.

A corporate executive or an entrepreneur can apply a suitable control mechanism to ensure the success of their business ventures/projects. In business and industry – the control function is used with advantages in areas like Production Planning & Control, Project Control, Cost Control, Administrative Control, and others. Various control techniques generally deployed include Direct Supervision and Observations, Financial Statements, Budgetary Controls, ROI, Break-even Point, MIS, and Management Audit.

Strategic Planning Tools

Planning and control are vital to your mission’s success. For effective planning and control, you must make use of various planning and strategic management tools. You can deploy SWOT Analysis for undertaking the situation analysis, PESTEL Analysis for scanning the external environment, BCG Matrix for doing Portfolio Planning, Porter’s Five Forces Model for formulating your competitive strategy, and Balanced Scorecard for analysing the performance of an enterprise. Likewise, there are many more tools to help you with every aspect of your business planning and control.

Are there any other planning tips and operational practices that you have followed in your business to your advantage? Let me know in the comments below.

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My visit to EDII – Ahmedabad

July 31, 2022 / Personal

Recently, the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) Ahmedabad invited me to take a 3-hour guest lecture at their sprawling campus. The event was hosted by Dr Satya Ranjan Acharya, Director, Department of Entrepreneurship Education. It was part of an Induction Program for PGDM-E batch 2022-24. I had a great time talking to young entrepreneurs at their campus!

EDII Campus boasts of a vast, well-designed learning space, at par with IIM-A. I was accompanied by Nidhi, a senior student of mine, who was really gracious to me with all her help. We strolled around the estate office of EDII and were treated with delicious meals throughout the day. EDII ensured that our stay was a pleasant and comfortable one.

Since it was EDII, I was expecting to meet energetic young entrepreneurs who would benefit from my lecture because they are clear about their goals. That is exactly what I found when I stepped into the lecture hall. The students had an entrepreneurial drive within them. They were self-propelled and keen learners which was evident by how interactive the session was!

The three-hour session with these bright entrepreneurs was engaging and energizing for me! I spoke a lot about entrepreneurial spirit, which I could see in their eyes already! I strongly believe that all smart young people like them should invest their efforts, resources, and time into starting their own ventures. Not only does a happy, prosperous life await them but also a feeling of great pride and satisfaction for having contributed to society at large. In today’s day and age, when a job cannot provide as much remuneration or satisfaction, entrepreneurship is the way to go!

I spoke in depth about how entrepreneurship is not for everybody but anyone can be an entrepreneur. Even the people who might describe themselves as “not-so-qualified” can also start a business. The key is the entrepreneurial spirit! If you have the aptitude to look beyond the obvious, the fortitude to work, the problem-solving ability, an innovative outlook and are a calculated risk-taker, then entrepreneurship is for you!

I think it is very important for young entrepreneurs to reflect on themselves first. Who they are. Who they are not. What does success look like to them? They must ask themselves: Are they doing what they love? Does their business idea create value for society? These questions may seem basic, but they are the stepping stones toward the path to success. I filled my talk with many anecdotes and stories from my own life, and therefore, students opened up in a positive manner.

A frequent question that is asked is: How do I find a business idea? We spent some time on this question, thinking about how the best fit depends on who you are and where you are at. I regaled them with different stories of entrepreneurs who look at the opportunity in the ecosystem they are in, rather than asking an outsider for a formula.

The discussion went on about charting the path of a business from project feasibility to business plan to project execution to operations and profitability. Finally, I gave them some tips as a mentor and encouraged them to think about mentorship seriously as they work on their business idea. A mentor can lend their experience to your fresh business idea, and the combination can create magic.

What I see as a positive sign is that there was student engagement even beyond the classroom. We discussed entrepreneurship passionately even during the lunch break. I also had the chance to further interact with the students as I roamed around the campus and visited their offices. It affirmed the fact that what I had to say to the youngsters had immediate relevance to them!

After the session, the “meet-and-greet” with the author was also successful! The response to my book was outstanding! I would like to make a special mention of my student Nidhi here, who made commendable efforts for the promotion of my book. She not only helped me with the sales but also ensured that I had enough pictures and videos to talk about the whole event!

At the end of the fun-filled and eventful day, I discussed with Dr. Acharya how I could join hands with EDII for more specialised objective-focussed sessions with the students, who had engaged with me so zealously! So hopefully, this was just one of the many forthcoming collaborations with EDII.

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Improve your EQ for success at work!

July 23, 2022 / Management, Motivation

Do you feel demotivated easily at your workplace?
Are you critical of everyone at your office?
Do you find it difficult to be part of group projects?
Do you think you are not communicating your ideas to your team leader?
Do you freeze and blank out under pressure?

If you have answered “Yes” to most of the questions, then you are not utilizing your emotional intelligence in the workplace. Emotional Intelligence (EQ), as you must have figured out, is the most important ability that contributes to success in your workplace.

EQ, as an ability, has five factors to it:

Self-Awareness
Self-Regulation
Motivation
Social Skills
Empathy

We can build these things within ourselves incrementally over time. I believe that no intelligence is fixed and permanent in nature; everything is a skill that can be learned with time. The same goes for EQ. It may seem elusive; however, it is not! We all have some level of EQ, to begin with since it is so crucial to our survival in the world. So, it is only a matter of honing it!

Here are my five tips to improve your EQ so that you can do well at your workplace:

1> Look Inward

First of all, recognise your feelings and the root of them. What feelings come up in the workplace? What is the root cause? How do you react to others when those feelings come up? The first lesson is simply to observe what you feel without judgement. In this process, you will discover who you are.

2> Respond, don’t react.

Once you are able to recognise what you are feeling, you are one step closer to regulating it. Think before you jump into judgement and an emotional reaction to the situation. Find ways to channel your feelings in productive ways! If you feel emotionally charged, expend it in exercise or sports. If you feel low, watch a movie or listen to music to uplift you. These strategies are totally subjective. You will know what works best for you!

(I have written a post narrating an incident from my life that deals with this topic! Read it here.)

3> Stay Motivated

People who have high EQ are known to have intrinsic motivation. It means that they are motivated “by the process itself” and not the external rewards that the work can offer. So, you must think about what you like about your job and focus on it! If you do this, it will be easier to stay motivated even on the tough days at work.

4> Stay Connected

Students always tend to ask how can we improve our social skills and be more proactive in the classroom. The simple answer is to be genuinely curious about other people. If you pay attention to what people are saying, their body language, you will know what the right thing to say or do is. Another practical skill you will have to develop is to improve communication skills by imitating the style of someone who you admire, and slowly you will find your own unique style.

5> Think from different POVs.

Last but not the least, we have to be empathetic. People who can see the situation from different perspectives, and be kind about those differences are emotionally intelligent. If you can put yourself in the shoes of the other person, and imagine their reasons, you will be better able to communicate and collaborate with them.

Why must you practice these tips on a daily basis?

We know that an emotionally intelligent person can handle workplace difficulties without indulging in the blame game. They can take responsibility for what went wrong in any situation without castigating themselves too. They have greater empathy for others in the workplace, and therefore can avoid office drama! And above all, they make great leaders since they set the right example by taking action calmly and objectively. And obviously, while you work on your EQ, your personal life will inevitably be enriched too!

Reference:

Cherry, Kendra. “Utilizing Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace.” Verywell Mind, 25 May 2020, www.verywellmind.com/utilizing-emotional-intelligence-in-the-workplace-4164713.

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Kapil Tandon

क्योंकि……. महाभारत हमारे अंदर ही छिपा हुआ है ।