There was this story I once read… I do not remember the source, but I remember the story … it has left its mark on me. It beautifully communicates the essence of what I want to say. So to this source .. whoever has thought of this story or has experienced it .. I convey my thanks. Now for the story…
There are three young men who want to become actors. Those who look at the three persons see similar young men and club them together as birds of the same feather. One person gets more curious and asks the three young men why they want to be actors. The first young man says he wants to make a lot of money and travel around the world. He thinks being an actor will be a quick way to get money and to high living. The second young man says that he wants to be famous. He feels that with acting, he will become popular and recognized wherever he goes. The third young man says that he enjoys the experience of enacting different roles. He enjoys playing the part of a young man once and an old man another time, a sad person once and a joyful person another time.
So each one of these persons had different reasons for choosing the same profession. What is motivating you to be or to become an entrepreneur?
Bangalore has many persons who are sitting on the fence and who want to be entrepreneurs. Think about why you want to run your company. Is it to run away from a bad boss? Is it to make a lot of money? How do you select what you want to do.. do you look at the market and see what is an opportunity? Do you also look to see if there is a fit between you and that window of opportunity that you see? Fit is important. Your business must make sense to you, it must resonate with you. You see the same business or similar businesses run by different persons. Some are successful, some are not. If you observe, the ones who are successful, bring a lot of energy and passion to the table. This is what keeps them going when the going is not so good. Do you have the same passion for what you are doing, or it just something that looks great on paper?
Talk to entrepreneurs and others to get a feel for this if you wish. There are several forums in Bangalore – to name a few Bootstrap Bangalore, Open Coffee Club at Bangalore, TiE Bangalore and I think a couple more! Choose which group fits you, maybe more than one may fit you. Happy Entreprneuring!
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Nice story and nice article. But my curiosity got better of me and hence typing this question; From the three young actors who are in the business for right reasons, and who has higher probability to excel in the field – is it the first one because business is all about making money and he has the passion to make money; Or is it the second one as he wants to get famous and he has chosen the right field as this field has the highest chances of getting famous faster than probably most other fields or is it the last one who is throughly enjoying what he is doing – what I say “Do what you love and is more powerful than the reverse” – as he will excel much faster as he is enjoying what he is doing and money and fame follows anyways. I am really curious if someone can analyze this.
Manjunath M Gowda
S7 Sofware
“Where Migration meets Innovation”
I guess the energy and passion levels will be sustainable over a longer timeframe *only* if the urge comes from “with-in”.
Entrepreneurship requires a lot of persistence and it is sustainable only if you get into it because it comes from within you.
You ought to love to “build” things … build a team, build a product, build a spirit, build innovation.. whatever.. that passion to nurture and building is a must if you have to keep going on a longer term.
IMHO, external triggers like a bad boss, making money etc probably can not be the real driver in most successful (and meaningful) enterprises.
Dear Manjunath Gowda, thanks for the appreciation, I appreciate this!… As my former boss told me, if one enjoys something, then one will excel in this, then name will follow, fame will follow, money will automatically follow. I think this is what you have also said. The other point is that entrepreneurship allows one to be oneself. For example, if I want to run a small ten person business, I can do so, there is nothing wrong or right; it is my choice. On the other hand, someone else may want to grow to 100 persons in the same line of business. That is their choice and for them that may be right. The beauty of entrepreneurship is that one can have great flexibility in deciding what one wants to do, why one wants to do this and then go all out! That is also why entrepreneurship may not be for everyone; some persons can be very uncomfortable with multiple choices and paths to choose from.