Comparing the business of creating an enterprise with bringing-up and raising a baby
When an entrepreneur or a group of entrepreneurs start a company, they give birth to a baby. When a startup is born, it’s like a child coming into the family of business.
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| Anurag Batra |
Like the parents of a newborn baby, the entrepreneur and the financier (assuming there is one and it could be a HNI or a VC) are very fond of and possessive of this newborn baby. They take care of the baby and see that the baby starts crawling, walking and eventually grows up.
Like the dilemma faced by parents of most adolescents, corporate parents are also confronted by the question of how much to control and guide this grownup baby? It is not an easy decision. The parents have an emotional and sentimental connect with the teenagers or shall I say screenagers (as all teenagers seem to do everything in their life through screens whether mobile, TV, laptop etc.) and want sometimes to be the guiding force to the semi-mature grownups. Let me state that the startup is the equivalent of an infant and a teenager is the equivalent of the transition from a startup to a semi-mature business.
So when does the baby (now a grownup as a business) become a man or a woman? The man or woman being the equivalent of an enterprise. What are the skills needed for making sure the parents still remain a guiding force and a positioned catalyst without being a hindrance? Suddenly, I am sure I have confused you and you are thinking whether I am writing a column on bringing up children or about creating an enterprise. Let me reassure you that you are reading an entrepreneurship magazine and yes, I am Dare-ing to compare the business of creating an enterprise with bringing-up and raising a baby.
Similarities between the two are more than the dissimilarities. Like the baby, a newly set up enterprise has to be tutored for growth, with the right values, practices and ethos infused in it. The founder’s vision and philosophy, like that of the head of any family makes all the difference.
And let me tell you that adoption also happens in the business of nurturing companies. Families adopt children and this can happen in the case of any entrepreneurial venture as well. It may be aimed at further extension of the business goals or a logical progression of business processes such as takeovers, brand extensions and diversification plans.
The enterprises need huge infusion of resources including capital and technology. That is why it is crucial that the enterprise should be nurtured in a way that there are healthy bottom lines as a healthy baby will grow up to become a healthy individual. To run an efficient business, one needs to have both energy and resources. Energy can be considered as the human capital and resources as the machinery and cash reserves. And when you have all these as in the case of an energetic, healthy individual who can face problems and conquer all obstacles; an enterprise with productive human capital, well-oiled cash-flow and machinery as well as resources can go running.
So the key question is when and how much to let go? Too many overaching fathers have left their anointed heirs to take charge and let them be on their own and I know that it’s not easy. However, whenever the young adult is left on his or her own, he or she will shine.
The best philosophy that a founder of a business or the father of a child can practice is as Edward Everett Hale said:
Look up and not down;
Look forward and not back;
Look out and not in;
Lend a hand.
Anurag Batra is real life, first generation entrepreneur who is Much Below Average (MBA) from the prestigious Management Development Institute, MDI. When he is not busy writing such columns, he can be reached at anuragbatrayo@gmail.com. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Anurag is the co founder and editor-in-chief of exchange4media group which includes exchange4media.com.
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