DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

"I don't come from a business family," is how Vipul Prakash, Managing Director, Elixir Web Solutions, a leader in Recruitment Process Outsourcing, started the session, who is currently running his 5^th, 6^th and 7^th business. Defying all myths about how important it is to have the entrepreneurial bug in your gene, he said what is important is the passion, drive and networking.

In India, taking up entrepreneurship is still not the first choice for many if they are not from a business background. In fact, the first time when Vipul told his parents what he wanted to do, they wouldn't quite agree with his choice of career. Like any parent, they were concerned of various issues-- where will he manage his funds from, what if he fails, what if he goes bankrupt and so on.

However, with the determination to create something of his own, Vipul went ahead with his decision. He started a clothing business. He put up a small factory in Bangladesh, from where he used to supply clothes to the US. While the first year was smooth, problems for Vipul sprang up in the very next year.

Many of his shipments got rejected on quality concerns. The shipments didn’t match the requirements of that country. That is when a customer of Vipul, with whom he had become rather friendly, suggested that he should go visit the US and see what people in the country like to wear.

On his customer's advice, Vipul visited the country which helped him understand people’s taste. Soon after coming back from the US, he ordered for garments in accordance with people’s liking and the current trends in their country. Needless to say, his business, picked up soon again.

But due to constant strife in Bangladesh, he decided to shift his business to Dubai. Unfortunately, in Dubai he was faced with lots of compliance issues. However, with the help of a button supplier, who he had become friends with, he overcame the challenges the foreign land had presented him with.

And while his clothing business gained some momentum, with a friend's advice he started a dot com business, Students.com. "We raised 10 million dollar and the business had grown significantly," said Vipul. But the business soon went bust. "In fact, by 1998, both my clothing business and dot com business had closed down," recollected Vipul.

It had been a very difficult phase for him. But more than him it was difficult for his parents as a failed business is still seen a social stigma in the Indian society. People would call up incessantly and ask for their money, which was not just humiliating for the entire family. This is when the network of friends he had made in Dubai, Bangladesh and New York came to his help.

They shared their experiences with him and advised him to make his parents meet a few first generation entrepreneurs who can tell them that it is okay to fail and succeed again. This exercise helped both Vipul’s parents and him.

In the meanwhile he joined TiE where he met Saurabh Srivastava who was planning to open franchisees for web education in India. Unwilling to let the opportunity slip from his hands, he took the franchisee and opened a company that started teaching people how to create websites. Over two years they built a fairly large enterprise, much to his liking.

Later he also joined NASSCOM. There he met a software professional who had some staff requirement for his company. Vipul suggested he could provide him with few freshers and that was the beginning of his recruitment business.

But ahead lay another challenge for Vipul. While the recruitment business had caught up some speed, the computer business started going down with the dot com bust. “I had in fact started doubting myself, when a VC who told me, ‘it is not important that you failed, but you had the resilience to restart all over again.’” said he. This advice helped him pull himself up and concentrate on his business.

With time the recruitment business witnessed growth, from 14 people in 2001 they grew to 300 people in 2004. They were getting bigger and better. But before he could triumph over their achievement, Vipul was faced with yet another obstacle. While people had started taking notice of this business, their competitors started poaching on their people. But Vipul tactfully handled the situation with the help of Raman Roy’s advice who told him that to retain people he needed to sell his vision to them. And when he told people what his plans were for future and where they were heading towards, employees who had even put in their papers started coming back to the company.

The recruitment business had after all been saved. And additionally he also bagged a offer from GI staffing, Italy’s recruiting company. Vipul met them through a recruiters’ association, while the company was looking to enter India. “I met them and our minds met”, said Vipul. And together they started building offices in India.

All he had achieved so far, he says, was because of his networking. He met various people through various associations and friends who helped him a lot.

He is also a member of Young Entrepreneurs’ Association, a group of 6000 members all over the world. The members he met through this association have helped him particularly. The association makes groups of 6-7 people from different walks of life. They help each other by advising peer members on their projects and by sharing their own experiences.

Recently, when he was planning to set up a business in Nigeria, people from his network helped him overcome various challenges that are involved with starting a business in that country.

“It is important to build a network and share both your problems and opportunities,” said Vipul. As a concluding note he said building the culture of helping each-other is crucial to a healthy entrepreneurial eco-system.

Here are some questions Vipul Prakash answered-

How important is the base/ location from where one operate in business?

Your base signifies your environment. I moved my business from Bangladesh to Dubai, in search of a more peaceful environment for my business. There were strikes in Bangladesh and my business was getting affected. Being in the right environment can help a business succeed.

How to overcome fear and apprehension?

To handle your fear you have to be on top of it. Awareness of the current happenings all around can help.

What is the best platform for young start-ups to connect?

TiE is the best platform and helps you to connect to many resourceful people, including  investors, mentors, entrepreneurs.

With this we come to the end of our 2nd EWeek. Read the reports of our previous eweek webinars on www.dare.co.in/eweek.

Watch this space for next Eweek on second week of February.

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