DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

DARE Entrepreneur May 2011 Edition: Chaired by established entrepreneurs, our free monthly webinars guide existing and aspiring entrepreneurs. A report

Chetan Indap staffoncontract.com

Day 1: How Hiring People on Contract Basis Could Help Entrepreneurs
We kickstarted the May 2011 Edition of DARE Entrepreneur Week by inviting Chetan Indap of StaffOnContract.com to speak about one of the most common pain points of all startups – procuring the right human resource. Indap started this B2B marketplace in January 2011 to bridge the gap between the demand side (IT firms) and the supply side (IT sub-contracting firms) on a Just-in-time basis.

In his session, Indap spoke about how startups can take advantage of such a service. Here are some of the key points:
• Through contract hiring, startups can get experts for specific fields to execute their work, be it software development, business planning, market expertise etc.
• One can also define the engagement of such contract employees based on the money one can spare on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

Sachin Marya Franchise India Holding Limited

Day 2: Franchising: Dos and Don’ts For Entrepreneurs
This session was originally set to be presided by Gaurav Marya, Founder of Franchise India. However, since he could not make it for personal reasons, we had his younger brother and CEO of Franchise India, Sachin Marya, speak on Gaurav’s behalf.

Marya said, “Franchising is like a marriage, you need to understand the relationship between franchisor and franchisee before signing up the deal. Many entrepreneurs ignore this, and that has been the major reason for some failures of the model in the country.”

To sum up, these are the following steps a franchisee needs to follow before signing a deal: 
• Speak to existing franchisees of that brand,
• Get market information, and information about the industry you are entering.
• Study the business plan of your franchisor.
• Define the expectations from each party: franchisee and franchisor.

Like other business models, franchising too has risks, but the risk it holds is controllable and manageable.

Farook Merchant Messung

Day 3: How to Overcome Challenges in Your Entrepreneurial Journey
Farook Merchant, who started the Messung Group of companies, began his entrepreneurial journey with a meager Rs 1000, and today is one of the leading automation brands in India with a turnover just a little of Rs 200 crore. He drew upon his 30 years of experience to identify for us focus areas which ensure success: A stable and competent HR, strong R&D team, good branding, wise spending on infrastructure, focus on indigenous product strategy, focus on business ethics and government rules and regulations.

According to him, an aspiring entrepreneur must be:
•    Sure of his core competencies
•    Ready for any contingency once he starts the business, as there can be no looking back
•    Very customer and market focussed
•    Conscious of spending and should keep fixed cost very much in control
•    Not be afraid to invest wisely in business
•    Get a good set of managers to work with him on a long term business
•    Ensure innovation and timeliness
•    Focus on growth and value addition on a continuous basis
•    Ensure good advertising, good branding, etc.

Navyug Mohnot QAI

Day 4: The Opposable Mind: How Entrepreneurs Succeed
Navyug Mohnot of QAI started by making quite an interesting observation. He made an analogy between human beings, who are far more advanced in their activities than other animals because of the opposable thumb. Similarly, he said, successful entrepreneurs are far more advanced in their thoughts than their competitors because they have an opposable mind.

The entrepreneur explains that an opposable mind is that which can think of an optimal solution when faced with two opposite ideas, such that the solution has elements of both the ideas. It is important for entrepreneurs to change their mindset from ‘or’ to ‘and’. He says it is all about integrating ideas (the ‘and’ paradigm) rather than dropping ideas and going for another (the ‘or’ paradigm). “One such example would be when a company decides whether it wants to make its work process task oriented or relationship oriented. However, if you integrate both these qualities you will develop a work culture that will suit everyone,” added Mohnot.

Tushar Makhija Co-founder & CEO, stockezy.com

Day 5: The First Steps into Entrepreneurship
The fifth and concluding session of this month had Tushar Makhija, Co-founder & CEO, Stockezy.com. He shared his insights on building the step by step process of entrepreneurship.
1. Get the idea right. “You should identify the problem that you want to solve.”
2. Build your team: the most vital part of an enterprise.
3. “Identify the target customer. Connect with your audience. Social media works best—you learn a lot. This strategy really helped us to articulate what we wanted to do.”
4. Decide how to get word out. Again, social media is a great ally for startups..

DARE organises Entrepreneur Week in the second week of every month. We have some interesting sessions lined up for you in the June Edition. Simply head to http://dare.co.in/eweek to see the details and sign up for the free webinar sessions, conducted daily between 4:00 PM to 4:45 PM. See you there.

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