Sometimes Copying is More Profitable Than Innovating

One Wise Man has said, "What is the use of reinventing the wheel, when it is already there?". It is true, sometimes.If you locate something - product or a service - which is a hot one and everybody wants it, there is no reason why you should not copy it. How many times have you thought that this is a good product, but still people don't buy it. You might have noticed some problems about it. May be it's location; may be it's service; may be it's presentation. Anything, which you think, if changed will bring in a great demand for the product. 

Go ahead and copy it. Sometimes, you need to learn from the First mover. First mover may have done many mistakes, which you will be able to correct. Being in the system, you may not know what are the problems. This things happens with everyone. That is why, Kamath hotel management has a unique model of carrying out surprise audits from Guests. When some external party looks at your systems, they can pinpoint any deficiencies, any lacuna that your system has. This same lacuna can be taken advantage of while copying. If you are copying a hit product, there are chances that it will be more profitable. 

In fact, I would go to the extent of saying that when you start up, don't go for innovation immediately. While successful innovation might bring in huge amount of success, the chances or the probabilities of successful innovation are quite low. Hence, I would suggest that you should go for a copy cat model at the start of your company or a business. Once, you have settled and there is a good cash flow, you can then think about the innovation model. 

Working Space

We start in the morning and go to office. We remain in office/factory/workspace for almost the whole day before returning home in the evening. If you really think, you spend more than 8 to 10 hours per day in your office. And all that time is your productive time. The time in which you work. You create. You multiply. The whole time that you are at your workplace, you are normally working and seldom get time to take a nap or rather the power nap like the Virus. Oh! It is our Viru Sahastrabuddhe from 3 Idiots. 

And when you consider your home against that. Suppose you start to your work at around 8.30 in the morning and return back by 7 pm. From 7 pm till 8.30 am, you watch TV, you sleep, you go to some shops, you walk around. I am just trying to point out that in the less than 12 hours that we are at home, normally you sleep for major time. I will not say anything about home here, but I must say that if the workspace is in your control, you must keep it so that it is the most comfortable for you. Whatever you have, the arrangements, the table, the chair, etc., everything must be what you comfortable with. Afterall, it is here where you generate a business. 

It must also be said here, though in lighter vein, that the people where you work should also have a very good frequency with you. Because if they do not have the right frequency, how will your working time go? You have to face that person for majority of your work time. If the frequency is not right, imagine what happens to your mood. And this mood actually then sets the tone on how your work. 

Think About It !

Motivate Yourself After Failure

Whenever someone has tried to do something, failure has been there. It took more than 10000 experiments to perfect the bulb. Had Thomas Edison not motivated himself after each failure to make the commercially possible bulb, we might not have seen the light of the Bulb. Similarly, it took many efforts to invent each and everything that we see it easily today. The manufacturing techniques that we see are made possible after many trials and after each trial the team had to get up and see that they discovered another way to make things possible. 

These failures sometimes are so big that it puts everything out of the track. Imagine something in which you have poured your heart being destroyed. It is painful. However, it takes an immense amount of courage to bounce back. The most important thing in the process is to accept. Accept that something can go wrong; something has gone wrong. Once your mind has accepted this, it should come to the terms and understand that this is not the end of the Road. There is a world beyond the thing you were doing and you need to do something else. Whatever you do, you need to take it positively. While success teaches us how to do things, failure teaches how not to do things. We should learn our lessons from failures too. It is time to move on. Once bitten twice shy - This is the mode in which the world operates. Once our tongue burns due to hot milk, we blow the buttermilk too. (I know this is a very bad translation, but I hope you take the point home). 

It may take some time to feel confident about yourself, but you need to meet different mentors, different successful people and read books. Your life must not be made of failures only, you might have done some good things too. You need to go into your past to dig out the good things you did, the successes you met. This will increase your confidence. And confidence is only the main thing that you need. Once you have confidence, you can do anything in the world. 

Payment Service For First Time Customers

Business are no longer local. For a whole-seller or a manufacturer, it was previously the physical visits that were necessary to sell their products across different places. You have to move physically or you have to advertise so that your customer notices you and orders you. Not anymore. Internet age started in India somewhere in the last decade of the last century. But it really picked up pace in this age of Mobile. First it were net cafes and then it was mobile where people surfed the internet. Then came the 3G which really moved people from internet cafes to the mobile. And the real game changer was the Jio launching 4G. It catapulted India to a big user base of internet. 

While there were e-commerce companies in the first decade of this century which pulled funds electronically from individuals or retail customers, it is not slowly coming into B2B too. The internet age has started a string of companies which list different businesses on their website - free or paid. The front-runners in them are the Indiamart and the Tradeindia. They focus mainly on Manufacturers. There is another one called as the JustDial. This is also a business listing service but it's focus is rather on shops and traders. They have a good database for each cities and their people have scanned the city to list many shops. They also have different categories. So, if a business wants to look for a distributor, they can look at the JustDial. If distributors want to look for a manufacturer, they can look at Indiamart and Tradeindia. 

Though this considerably eases the finding part, the other part still remains a problem. Trust. The manufacturer needs to be liberal to supply goods on credit or the trader should trust  the manufacturer to pay in advance. Only then a deal or a business can happen. This space has now been addressed by Indiamart through their service. Businesses can now list prices or their products on Indiamart and traders can buy them. If they want to negotiate or discuss with supplier, they can call them. After that, the businesses can actually generate a proforma invoice with goods details and send a link as sms or email to the trader so that the payment can be done online. The payment is through Indiamart and this service is only for a paid customer of Indiamart (I guess). So, the manufacturer is genuine and trader can trust the manufacturer. This can really be a Gamechanger. 

Have You Got The Big Picture

One who takes time out to see the Big Picture will be the one who will get it. Because he has already decided what he wants. In that Big picture, he has visualized and found the mojo of his life. That mojo will drive him towards that Big Picture. Instead of going to office daily and doing the day to day activities, it is better off to visualize the Big Picture and then work towards it. The Big Picture is like a Dream. Someone has truly said that Dreams are not what we see during sleep, rather Dreams are that which won't let you sleep. Once you have seen the Dream, it is only in your hands to run after it. You have to work the details. You have to see if the Dream in indeed possible. What are the steps that need to be done? Is there a team needed? What type of team is needed? What type of resources are needed? 

What are the parallel activities that can be carried out. Many of you might know about Mukesh Ambani. He is the Chief of Reliance Group. When he was young and his Father the Great Dhirubhai was setting up a factory, Mukesh was called to work for the Factory. The project completion speed of Reliance group are second to none. While setting up the project, many companies do not allocate appropriate resources and they do not complete the project on time. The time lost is never considered as a loss because it does not come into accounting. But the time lost should be considered as an Opportunity cost. Say Reliance & 'OTHER' company start a similar project at the same time. The estimated completion date of the project is one year. What Reliance does is that it identifies all the steps that could be done in parallel and sequence. Then it allocates all the resources required, often more, and completes the project in 9 months. The factory starts production in the 10th month and is already catering to the customers. The 'OTHER' meanwhile is allocating its resources as and when they get it. The result being that the project is late by 3 months. That three months is never bothering to the company. But in those six months, Reliance has already got the upper hand and has garnered enough market share. Secondly, it has started earning in these six months and already paid back on its capital. These opportunity costs matter. 

Similarly, to advance towards the Big Picture of yours, you should allocate all the resources properly at a very early stage. 

What To Do When Nothing To Do?

Things happen very fast. Time flies by at break neck speed. We plan our time, our meetings so as to align them to our goals. But once in a while it happens that some meeting is cancelled or there is power failure or might be some other reason (reason is not important), & you have time - free time. This time is unscheduled and it takes you by surprise. You are not used to spending time free; whenever you find you have some, you plan entertainment or play, etc. And so when it comes at unexpected free time on unexpected occasion, you suddenly get bored and are unprepared to do anything. You fumble upon and take out your telephone and go past the contact list to see if you want to call anybody. You just roam around, may be! 

Whenever such time comes, you can do a couple of things actually. You can actually go through your schedule again and see if you want to add anything. Or if there are certain things which can be pre-poned or can be completed now instead of waiting for the scheduled time. You can also look at organizing your bag/cupboard/table. Many a times it happens that you just stuff your bag or cupboard with something thinking that someday you will sort it out. And you don't find time. This free time is the perfect time. Take out your bag and clean it. Throw out the things that you want. You might also have kept some articles or some movie to be read/watched in free time. Do that. This is the free time that you got. 

It is also time to review your time table or goal list to see if they are relevant or they need a change. Things need to be updated with passing time. May be this is the time to do that. May be this is the time to redefine your goals. Redefine your steps towards the goal.  Go and find stuff like that and utilize your free time. You will be free of the guilt that you did not utilize your time properly.

Story Of Sinhagad!

Sinhagad! This is a famous fort in Pune, Maharashtra. It has a story attached to it and the story has a great lesson. The fort was called Kondana. Previously with Adilshah, this fort was taken by Shivaji Maharaj only to be given to Mughals over a treaty. It was at this time that Shivaji wanted to win back the Kondana Fort. He called his friend and a fighter Tanaji Malusare and entrusted him with the task. Tanaji postponed his son's marriage date to get the control of Kondana. The famous words of Tanaji 'Aadi Lagin Kondanyache mag aamchya raybache'. He climbed the stiff cliff of Kondana using the Ghorpads (big lizards) and got on Kondana from back side along with his brother and his few troops. There was no other way to reach on Kondana. 

There ensued a fight between the Mughal Sardar Udaybhan and Tanaji Malusare and after fighting bitterly, Tanaji was killed. Seeing their leader die, all the Maratha troops started to go back from where they came. It is here that the main turning point of the story lies. Tanaji's brother spotted that the Maratha troops were going back. He immediately ordered cutting of all the ropes using which they came on top of the Fort. There was no way out for the Maratha troops. They thought they are going to die any way. They turned and fought back. And they just did not fight to live, but they fought to win. And they defeated the mighty Mughals. On learning the news, Shivaji Maharaj was deeply grieved and could not help but utter words, 'Gad aala pun Sinha gela'. He renamed the Kondana after Tanaji Malusare as 'Sinhagad'. 

There is a great lesson in the story. If you have other options, you will simply quit and chose the easier option. But if your all options are cut then you do all the possible things because you simply are aware that all other options are cut. Business is similar. If you have options, you would just run around. Quit and seek the easy way. 

Time is Cake. Timing Is Icing On The Cake!

There are many things on Time Management. But few highlight or know the importance of Timing. The only time, I remember people appreciating timing is while watching a cricket match. When someone like Kohli uses delicate hands and times the ball perfectly so that it zips past the cover fielder and reaches boundary before anybody knows. That is the timing. Had it been stroked a few microseconds early or late, it would have ended elsewhere. Or when somebody waits till the last moment to counter the opponent's move by surprising him. Timing is doing the right thing at the right time to affect the maximum damage utilizing the minimum resources. Each and every word is important in this. 

Timing may be a part of strategy which will help David go past that Goliath. This might sound somewhat filmy but just remember the scene in the films when a rope tied to a tree right across the road is pulled to trip down the horses or men. Timing is a player like Rahul Dravid or Anil Kumble, do did not get their due just because they were in the age of someone who is God of Cricket. Timing's importance is undermined just because it's sibling Time is so important. Every body focuses on time. In general, offices start around 9-9.30 in the morning. That is the maximum rush time. If you start early just by 10-15 minutes, you can save precious 30-40 minutes simply because you are ahead of the crowd. You can simply reach office early and prepare for your day. 

Procrastination can tell you more about timing. When we procrastinate, it is opposite of timing. Remember that if you do not rectify the small mistake, a hill might be created out of a mole within no time. That is why it is necessary to timely rectify the small mistakes. Preventive Maintenance is one such activity which is about rectifying small mistakes and keeping machines in best shape. Timing is also important when you call your customers. If you call them when he might not be at his work or he might be in a meeting, the call may not bring in the results that you wanted. Remember to call them in a time when they might be ready to take action. If you are looking for order, call them when they might be comfortable to look at the inventory. If you are looking for payment, ask them in the morning or afternoon, so that they might take the action and immediately send someone with payment or transfer payment. Timing is the Key to achieve something big with limited resources. 

Resource Allocation

Resources is a limited commodity. Everybody has limited resource. Take most of the companies and they will tell that their cash flow is very tight and that they need money. Unless of course, they have reached a steady state. A state from which they do not want to grow, but just want to consolidate. For someone, 1 lac might be a big amount but for some other person even 10 crore is small amount. All these definitions change with time and from person to person. But for all those persons, one thing is constant that they feel that they need more money. The fact is that your point of view changes as soon as you see money flowing in. If you want to start a project with Rs. 5 lakh but you get Rs. 20 lakh, the plan changes. May be your project remains the same, but the execution style will change. When resources are scarce, you tend to make good utilization of them. However, if the same resources are plenty, the efficiency reduces.

To make my basic point about today's topic, I would give one hypothetical example. A & B start a project with same amount 5 lac. But by the end of the year, A is struggling, while B has grown into 20 lac enterprise. While the reasons might be different, but main factor could be optimum use of resource. I have written this example in one of my earlier blogs too, but this example is special. When IPL had just started, Bangalore's team was mocked as a Test team by many. In the second IPL, Rahul Dravid was leading the side. I don't remember the exact numbers, but Bangalore had lost too many matches. Probably, 7 out of the 8 matches. Then, management changed things. They brought Kumble as captain. And with the same resources, Kumble won many of the next games to finish in the Top 4. This is what I call proper use of resources. There is nothing to take away from Rahul Dravid as he latter proved himself to be made of same stuff with Jaipur. 

There are similar cases when people with enough money have launched such businesses that they failed miserably. While there are other people who started with very limited resource, but have rose like a star. 

Miracles? How Do They Happen?

Heard about the book 'The Secret'? It was all about Law of Attraction. Many people must have seen the movie, read the book, but many fail to apply it. It is just because they don't do anything wholeheartedly. You will try something for about a week and then just leave it. Rome was not build in a day. And you want your desires to be built in a day. It is not easy to climb to the top. And it is harder to remain at the top. At each stage, there are ifs and buts. For climbing to the top, there are different steps and it is here that you have to pass each step to reach the top. First and foremost, you must decide first that you want to reach the top. Then only you will actually get a goal. Once you have your goal / dream set, you have to think about it. You need to do something to reach there. You need to make a plan and take action. Only then will the dream fructify. 

But even if you do not have the plan and have dream, you can think about the dream again and again. Do not forget that you have given too much of energy to your fears. The fears because of which you have not been able to go on the path to the top. The fears might be different for each person. But you give in to that fear and then do not take that action. Even if you don't see anything concrete, you will get some opportunities. It is only a matter of clarity in thought that you will be able to recognize the opportunities. Once you have recognized the opportunities, you also need to have talent or learn something about the opportunity. Then you need to take action to profit from the opportunity. When you have reached the top using the opportunity, only then you can think that your dream has been completed. 

If you give in to your fears, you will go nowhere. Instead of giving your energy to the fears, give it all to your dreams. Enliven them in your thought. And meditate often to clear your thoughts. This is a process. When you enliven your dream, your subconscious mind begins to feel it. It will begin to believe in your dreams. And it will do what it takes for you to reach there. To understand the messages, you will need to keep your mind clean. Keep yourself free from clutters, as far as possible. And last but not the least, Take Massive Action When Opportunity Presents Itself. 

Should You Have A Side Hustle OR Focus On What You Have At Hand

Grant Cardone! Ever heard this name. If not, search on the internet and you will find his name. He is the author of the book - 10 X rule. His book focuses on how to evolve your business 10 times as fast as what it is now. He says that you must have a die hard passion for what you are doing. The book focuses on Massive Action for whatever you want to do. The first step is as usual - To identify a goal. Next is to have a plan in place. And the third but the most important and the obvious one is Massive Action. Without Action, you will achieve nothing. And for this you need to focus on one and only one thing. 

There is second thought, however. I don't remember the author, but it is probably Kiyoski OR Investment Guru Buffet. He says that you must have multiple stream of incomes. When this happens, you will not be dependent on one source just in case it fails. It can also be called as Don't keep all your eggs in one basket. Multiple stream of incomes can include anything - side hustle, part time job, consultancy, royalty, investment, income through assets, shares or alternative investments, etc. 

You might agree with both thought processes. And both thoughts are powerful too. I personally believe that everything can be a success if proper time and efforts are given to any task. Unless of course, nature, government, rules or technology interferes and changes your world upside down. For this second reason, I recommend the second thought. However, to put it in perspective it is also necessary to give some time to it. What can you about it? See if the below thought provokes you.

You must be doing something which will take your maximum time and is your primary work giving you primary income. To have some secondary source of income, you must first build assets instead of spending on liabilities or what you call as 'spending on your needs rather than wants'. Once your assets are build, they should give you income which will be more than your needful expenses. This will give you financial freedom. If you want to do something part time or side business, then you must give it time. Unless, you have something automated or you have some person/team/system in place to take care of your side business/income. You must strictly follow the rules for that. Either you give a couple of hours daily or you give continuous block of time on your holiday. Even if you give 7-8 hours on weekend, you would be working close to 25-30 hours in a month. This is not a very small time. Think about it.

Why Positive Self Talk Is Important?

Have you watched movie 'Taare Zameen Par'? It is Amir Khan movie with Amir in supporting role. Yes, the main hero of the film is the child. In that movie, Amir tries to explain the condition of the child to his parents. The child's results in studies are not so good and are pale in comparison to his brother's. He is not able to understand because of his condition dyslexia. The parents are not happy at this as they don't know the condition and are seeing only the results of the child. They are constantly scolding the child. In one of the scenes, Amir explains to the father a system followed in South African tribe. Whenever the tribe had to cut a tree, they won't cut it directly. Before cutting the tree, all people would surround it. After that they will give all kinds of abuses *basically negative talk*, to the tree and return after a few days. Believe it or not, after a few days even a greener tree would have turned into a dry brown tree which is ready to fall. 

The effect of the negative talk is so much that even a tree cannot accept it. You might also like to hear stories of the nursery's where some good music or Om sound is being played and the effect is phenomenal. The plants show a marked improvement in good environment. When a tree or a plant shows such marked effect of the good & bad environments, how about the human mind. It is much more sharper than the tree. When there is bad / negative environment - be it at home, at work, in your neighborhood, or at other places that you visit - it is bound to affect your work. Remember the often said lines - Aaj mera dimag kam nahi kar raha. 

What others say is not in your hands? Of course, to some extent it is. If we talk with a smile, normally we will get back a smile. And if we talk in rude way, it will be greeted in a rude way. But the most important part comes when there is criticism and negative talk around you and it gets into your head. In such times, it is extremely important that you talk positively to yourself. This positive talk will instill confidence in your mind and you will be taken out of the negative effect. 

Productivity Tip

I don't remember whether I have written this earlier. But I remembered this tip now and thought to share it here. I think I read this in some book or book summary which was a special productivity book. The book was written at a time when there were no cell phones available. The internet also had a limited penetration. However, today it is a different case. Today, there is internet everywhere. There are smartphones all over. Smart phones today are available at a cost lesser than what feature phones cost when they were ruling. I remember, I bought a phone of 3315 - the most run phone during those times - 2003 and it cost around 5000 bucks. Today, you get a smart phone in that money and you also get Jio 4G which is at good speed. This has increased the smartphone penetration in India like wildfire. This smartphone has made an impact on our life. It has addicted us to it. We are continuously looking at our screen for any notification. After 5 min, 10 min interval, we lose our comfort and tend to look at the screen. This can make us lose focus. 

In such situations, a tip given in the book can help us. The author suggests that we keep a bucket / pocket / book near us at our work place or table. You should break your periods into half hour or one hour no break periods. In this period, focus on only one job. Only take any urgent calls because it is a part of our duty. There are fire fighting going on in our job and for that call taking is necessary. Except those urgent things, shun from looking into your phone. Or do it only if it is a part of your task like calling customer or calling supplier, etc. During this time, there might be many things that might creep into your head. You might be tempted to look at those things. You have to pay an electric bill. If you don't do this, it will creep into your mind. You might think that you may forget this and so tempt to do this task. Here is where the bucket will come in. Whenever such things strike you, immediately take the book or take some paper and list them and put it in the bucket. This will enlighten you from the load that your mind has to take while focusing on the task at hand. Once you know that the task will be looked after some time, you will be able to focus and this will increase your productivity.

Bye Bye VAT Welcome GST

Tonight will be a historical night. When the clock strikes twelve at midnight, a singular tax system will be implemented in India. This tax will supersede all the tax systems. How is this different from what we are already doing? This is best explained in the joke circulating around on whatsapp. When you were single, you had to report to your parents and siblings & explain one thing to each. After marriage, all these are replaced by single person - WIFE. 

Jokes apart, how is it going to change business. How will it affect common man? How will it affect business? Things will be clear only after implementation. Overall, there would be no great effect. But see closely and you will be able to see some differences. At present, there is tax system which differentiates between small businesses and traders with big businesses. Small businesses & traders normally register only for VAT which is a local state tax. The big businesses will normally have excise registration along with the VAT registration. For small businesses, they will levy only VAT on their final product price. So, a product priced Rs. 100 at factory will be levied by VAT (say 10 %) and the price out from factory is Rs. 110/-. Above that there is transportation and margins by the distributor and the retailer, depending on the product as well as the supply chain. For a bigger company, they have to first levy Central excise. So, if 12 % is the excise duty, the same component coming out of this big factory will be Rs. 100 plus 12 % excise and on the above total, 10 % vat. The final price becomes Rs. 123.20. There is a marked difference between Rs. 123 & Rs. 110. This is the reason why branded products cost is higher. 

After GST, the tax structure will be same for small business as well as big business. GST somehow levels the disadvantage faced by the big manufacturers, while the small manufacturer loses his advantage of lower tax. The flow of people therefore, would be towards branded products because simply other products will also tend to price in a similar way and the price difference between branded & unbranded, organized product to unorganized product will decrease. This will be big game changer in the near future. 

Secondly, earlier the material dispatched outside state was levied 2 % central sales tax provided that the C form is given. The person supplying outside state would have to follow continuously for C Form. Now, this state boundary will disappear. People can send beyond state boundaries and there will be no C forms. The extra 2 % tax won't be there thereby reducing the tax burden. This will probably increase the transportation between state to states. Material flow will be there from one state to other. This will also bring a boom for transportation business. 

This is bound to bring many changes for India. Hope for a better India.

How To Manage Your Time Efficienty?

Do you know 5S? In 5S, there is a Mantra - a line -  'A place for everything and everything in its place'. I will borrow slightly from here and extend it to - 'Time for everything and everything on its time'. This in essence should be your best shot for Time management. When you say 'Time For Everything', the thing that comes to mind is planning. You have to plan your time for everything. This can best be done while sleeping on the earlier day. If you are not able to plan your tomorrow at night, then plan your today this morning. 

'Don't Start Your Day Unless You Finish It'.

The above line says it all. Unless you have finished your day in your mind, don't start it. Because if you do not plan, others will plan your time. If you have nothing to do, you are not driving your boat. You are merely avoiding any accidents and keeping it on some track. You yourself might not be aware whether it is the right track. First thing achieved. 

Always try to complete all the difficult tasks in the morning. This will end all the dread and the day will be peaceful. You can also plan your activities such that 80 % of the problems are sorted out and taken care of. When you are not able to decide on something - like choosing a dress or vehicle or something, just go ahead when things seem okay. 

Now, without going in details we will come to the second part. 'Everything on its time'. This is all about discipline. And managing your time efficiently is also about discipline. No matter how much planning you do, you will achieve nothing if there is no action. To do all things on its time, you need to keep a list and just complete all the necessary tasks. 

Laying Down Of Rails

Recently, I met one entrepreneur. He was into one related product to what we manufacture. And he had given us one enquiry. In relation to that, we met. During talking I liked the one thing that he said. He had several salespersons moving around the country. There were expenses that he incurred on them. And he thought that his company has come to a saturated level in terms of the market. Meaning that as per him, the market was only as big and he did not see any scope of further improvement in his business. What he hoped for was that if he could secure some back end manufacturing, he could extend his sales and take some percentage on that. He said that during all these years, I have laid down the rails. Now, I hope to run as many trains on these as possible. What he meant was that he has his network of salesperson and now if he could increase the sales through each of them by increasing the product line (mainly trading), he could benefit through it. 

This is similar to the parable of the pipeline that we hear. To take you back to the pipeline story if you have not heard it, it is a story of a village where there is water problem. Outside village there is a river from where water has to be brought. The contract was given to two persons - A & B. A is traditional person who carries water on his shoulders. As long as he is healthy, he carries the water. The more water he carries, the more he earns. But his earning had limitations as he could work only so much as his body allowed. Mr. B was long term in his thinking. He installed a pipeline and connected the village to the river. Then, without moving from his home, he could bring in water without sweating. He could bring as much water as was required and was able to earn more and longer than A. 

This is what entrepreneurship is all about. It is about building a system, so that it could be milked later without much fuss. 

Joint Advertisement

This topic might be of interest to ultra small business owners. There are many shops in our neighborhood. Some of the shops might be very common like a grocery store, saloon, ice cream shop, dairy, variety shop, etc. But there are also some shops which offer printing services, they offer flex service, repairing computers and offering old & new computers, and other such shops which will offer uncommon / special services. These services are not in demand much and are required by fewer clients. This is the reason why when people require such services, they do not know the place to go. You are not so known and the users of your services are also limited. This limits the reference through which many people come. This situation might be tackled with some advertisement. 

Advertisement for shops like this can be ultra local. These cannot appear in newspaper because it is given in many places. You can try giving advertise in classifieds of the most read newspaper. It may not cost you more than 700-1500 bucks depending on the newspaper and its circulation. Here, the advertise is only 6-7 lines so you have to solo. This is more suitable for a shop where people from other areas can also come. Another option is to give pamphlets / leaflets in your area. Depending on how big your area is, you will have to print the quantity. This ensures that your target which is nearby market gets the leaflet. If you want to give a discount, you can ask people to bring the leaflet to get the discount. Discount ensures that people who want the service / product anyways will definitely come to you because you are offering a discount. 

Another way in which you can advertise is collaboration. Meet your fellow shopkeepers. Ask them if they are interested to distribute leaflets. If they are ready, you can divide the leaflet area and print both business information on one paper. The cost will be for one but the result will be for both. Similarly, if you can have 3-4 businesses, it would be great because this way you can get a big deal with your printing guy. You can have both side print and print in large quantities. Large enough for distributing each month or at least once in a couple of months. This will ensure people remember your name. More the visibility, better are the chances that people come to you.

Idea University

Do you remember the advertise Idea University / Institute? The premise for the advertise was simple. It told the story of Eklavya. Confused? Let me take you back to the story of Mahabharata, where Rajguru Vyas taught the princes of Hastinapur. There was another poor child who wanted the services of Rajguru Vyas. But since he was not a prince, Vyas did not teach him. Then one day, when Vyas was going through jungle with his dog, he found that someone had aimed 6 arrows exactly in the dog's mouth. Nothing happened to dog; the only thing happened was that he could not bark. Vyas found out that it was Eklavya who had shoot the arrows. Eklavya tells him that he had kept Vyas portrait and practiced bow & arrow under his guidance. He offers Gurudakshina to Vyas considering Vyas as real guru. 

Idea brought a similar concept. Idea telecom wanted to spread the usage of 3G phone and the internet usage. So, they advertised underprevileged people to be studying what they want on internet instead of going to a college (because they cannot afford). Similar advertisement was taken out by Jio where a Hotel boy is trying to learn English through internet. THE POINT I AM MAKING IS THAT INTERNET IS A STRONG MEDIUM. Many people use it only for entertainment purpose. But another E (Education) is also a possibility. Indeed, a greater one. People can virtually learn anything on internet. As if the writing and the pictures were not enough, that youtube brought a revolution. People are uploading all kinds of videos on youtube. It is you who have to choose between wrong and wright. Some entertainment is okay, but only entertainment is a problem. 

You can learn something about new subjects, music, talking english, different skills to take your business to the next level, making videos, making presentations, installing printers, etc. The world is not enough. You can learn yoga, you can learn Zumba, you can learn dance, you can learn technicalities of sports, etc. Jio has really changed the way India uses internet. Now, we just need to channel the energy. Welcome to Jio/Airtel/Tikona/Idea, etc. university.

Cost Of (Bad) Quality

Why are brands preferable? Why do people prefer to buy branded material even though it may cost 1.5 times more than other items? The answer is trust. Trust of what? Trust of quality. Common people don't know much about quality. They only know that when it is of a big company or a big brand name, it is of good quality. It is better to pay more that product because there will be no headache in future. Even though the product offered is same. The unbranded product comes from the supplier to the brand, while the competing product is of the brand itself. Both the products are same, but the branded product is costlier and bears the brand name. The basic point is, that the branded product will give 'PEACE OF MIND' because of it's QUALITY. 

Commoners agree that though we are paying more price, this product life is longer than the other one. Ultimately, the lifetime costs are less. This means that the effective price of a quality product is less. Quality manufacturers are preferred because there is no headache in their supplies. So, where does bad quality or no quality consciousness take us. If there is no quality consciousness, then the rejection ratio will be high. There will be internal rejection. This rejection will come when your product quality inspection is good, but you lack process quality inspection / control. This will ultimately give a loss of the raw material and the process cost. The higher losses are in the next stage. What if your product quality inspection is also absent. When product quality inspection is not there, then and will have headache. No one likes headache. He will transfer that headache to you. You will be asked to replace that material. If this is repeated, it is quite possible that the customer will break. You will not get orders from him. 

This will have the most detrimental effect. When it is internal rejection, only your raw material and process cost is wasted. When it goes to customer and it has to be replaced, the replacement is the additional wastage. We are not adding any in-tangential losses here like time, loss of faith & goodwill, etc. If the customer gets dissatisfied and is disconnected, then it is the biggest loss. No customer is wholly dependent on you. It will be only for one time that he will be affected. Next time he will have cover and you will be the sufferer. The best way to avoid this is to have quality products & systems.

How To Break A Wall?

How strong is any chain? Well, the chain is as strong as its weakest link. As soon as the weakest link fails, the chain will fail. It is true for remaining part of the chain too. The strength of the remaining chain is next weaker link. How does the wood cutter cuts the 🌲 tree? Does he hammer his axe at all over the tree. If he does so, he will be wasting his energy. Instead, he needs to aim all his shots at one place. The tree will be cut in few shots. Similarly​, you need to focus on breaking a brick by repeated attacks on the brick. Once one brick is broken, the wall will be weak. Don't spread the energy of the attack all over the wall.

In our life, we have​ similar walls. On the other side of the wall lies our dream. We should not spread all our energies by attacking all​ over the wall. Focus is a great thing. In any problematic situation, 80% of the problems​ results in major problem. Attack on that problem may take only 20-30% of your time, but the results will be great. You can turn any simple thing into a weapon by tweaking it. There is one scene in Jackie Chan movie, where he gets out of jail using a cloth. He just pees on the cloth to make it wet and then puts it across two bars and twists the cloth over & over. The cloth gets enough strength to bend the bars. If we focus on solution, we will find one.

Sometimes Small Wins Make To Add Up Big Win

Impromptu. This is what I would say to today's title. A thought cropped up in my mind. This is inspired from one of my games played during my college days. At hostels, we used to play chess. In one of the games with my room partner, it happened that I was in a precarious position. I had done castling and my Rook had moved to keep my King open behind three pawns. The other players rook was in right position to bring it to my side and give my King check and mate. Only one chance was needed for him. From there on, I just decided that I won't give him chance. I was not a great player. But just thought that if I give him chance to play, I would lose in next step. That prompted me to give check, so he does not have any option but to move his king. Because if I give him option, he would checkmate me. I gave checks without thinking and a moment came when my check actually mated him. I won. 

Sometimes we are also down. Everything is dooming and it is only our endeavor which keeps us alive. Any moment and it would be shutters down. At such times, we should concentrate on small wins. May be that big things are too far away, but if we manage to win even small trades, we might be well on our WAY TO VICTORY. Quitting is a big question. Because it all depends on whether we should quit or not. May be we will just bottom out. May be not. Focusing on these small wins will make you concentrate on bottoming out. If you are getting better and better day by day, trade by trade, then you have just closed that probability of closing down. You have started to make those small moves, which will add up to become a big WIN. Remember that Rome was not built in a day. 

Also, remember that it is only a drop that makes an ocean. 

Crowd Puller Concept

Have you heard the advertisements of Retails showing the price of some of the items? These items are priced very low and either designed to be sold in bulk or be just a crowd puller (subject to availability / limited stock, etc.). The items will be a crowd puller and the moment the consumer sees the advertisement, he will make a plan to visit that Retail Mall. Purpose fulfilled. The purpose of these crowd pullers are to increase the footfalls in the Mall, because more the number of foot falls, the more the chances of sales. This concept is applied by almost all the Retail places, be it a cloth shop or a saree shop or a retail mall or electronics shop. This concept is hardly applied in B2B segment. 

However, this concept can be of help. For example, if you have a machine which no one has or has very low competition, then there are chances that people will flock to your places. For that you need to find the machine and the application. With the identification of the application, you should also learn the skill or have some skilled person in your team who can run the machine. I have seen a few examples to whom people will flock. The identification criteria should be like, no one should have that much work on the machine otherwise they may buy it themselves. Secondly, there should be at least so much work identified that you will have around 30-40 % capacity utilization at the start. Applications like Laser welding, Key way making, etc are applications which few people have and they will not buy machine for their own purpose. However, there are enough people who can come to you and do their job. Once you have become famous for these machines, people from different corners of the city will flock your shop. At that time, you should also have some other machines. People will think about giving work for that machine too. 

This way, you will increase your work without much marketing. You should be organized enough for the other person to be impressed by your work. Quality suppliers don't have to fear about slowdown. They are always full. If you are having some common set up and less work, it is time that you also identify some special machine and go for the foot falls which later on get converted into customers.

Special Purpose Machines

When we set up a unit for manufacturing anything, we have some set of products that we manufacture. We take the orders of products which can be easily manufactured on our machine. In due course, we have enquiries for products for which we need some additional operation. If possible, we do that operation at our end or give it to some vendor. When the quantity increases, jigs and fixtures are used to make the operation easy. But there are a few operations, on which our complete business may depend. For that purpose, we need to look for Special Purpose Machine. 

Have you heard or seen about a washing machine being modified to be used as a bulk Lassi maker? We can call this a Jugaad. But when we design a machine specifically for making machine, it is called a Special purpose machine. There are numerous special purpose machines created. If you leave industrial applications aside, there are also home applications, where different equipment are made. Idli maker is easy to understand because we have been seeing it from beginning. But consider the Medu wada maker. It is a different instrument altogether which can be and is used only for making Medu Wadas. Then there is Appe maker. This is also a different instrument made for making Appe. Any body remembers 'Dough' maker or Chapati maker. These are all special purpose machines which makes some task easier. 

Making special purpose machine is like automating or making something easier. As easy as a child can do. Like you have to make a counter in something, just make a fixture so that the job fits into it and the drill should move only so much, that it makes the necessary counter. Bhavnagar, Jamnagar & Rajkot is the belt which makes many such special purpose machines. Similarly, it is Ludhiana where many such machines are there. When the number of jobs is high, it is beneficial to make such special purpose machine. You just need to weigh what is your budget and would it be beneficial to have the machine at your end rather than outsourcing the job.

How To Get To The Root Cause Of Problem?

There are problems everywhere. Still, some seem to be comfortable with it and are happy to solve them to move on. While others may just defer the problem and not solve them, others solve it comfortably. The solution lies in the conditioning of the mind. We should be conditioned to find the root cause of the problem. Problems come and go. Fire fighting is the main task of many managers of otherwise smooth running company. Problems arise and for that these managers need to run and solve them. However, some problems are solved only on surface. Instead if they would have been solved at the root, then it may not come again. For example, there is a faulty reading in the electricity bill. The customer goes to the Electricity board office. The bill is corrected and paid in this month. Next month, again the bill is erratic. Again it is corrected and paid. The customer has to go again and again to the office of Electric board. The fault with the meter. If the meter is corrected in one shot, it might just release the pain of going to the office in each month. 

For that our mind should be conditioned to find the root cause of the problem. For finding the root cause, it is good to ask Why? Ask Why till you arrive at the root cause. It is also called as Root Cause Analysis. Another way is to find list all the reasons for the failure and writing a value/percentage against all the reason. The top one or two reasons might be causing the bulk of the problem. This problem might be tackled by investing to cure those one or two reasons. This is on the line of 80:20 rule meaning that 80 % of the results are due to 20 % of the work/problem. 

There is another method also called as the Fish bone diagram. You can a horizontal line at the centre, which is the problem statement. And slanted vertical lines at the top and bottom may be drawn to drive the attention to the causes. After identifying the causes, it is easy to find the root cause. Once the root cause is identified, attack it.

Daily Meetings - How They Can Go Long Way In Increasing Efficiency?

Meeting is a word often cursed by many people. In one of my companies, seniors often complained that they had to attend many meetings. And some departments/persons are such that they need to be there in almost any meeting.  In humor, one of them called himself as 'Aloo' (Potato), which needs to be put in any 'Sabji'(curry). Be it any meeting, he needed to be there. The meeting is cursed by some people, because often it comes as an hindrance to day to day activity. If you are giving 50 % of your working time for meeting, then it is difficult to do actual work. 

The daily meeting though is very essential. The daily meeting in the morning normally covers all the activities that happened yesterday, while discussing the production activities, the problem areas and the solution to fix them up. The plan for production and the availability of raw material, readiness of machines, etc. is also discussed in them. What daily meeting does is that it gives a direction for work. If we do work without any guidance, it will be difficult. It all starts with communication that is done through the meeting. Since all the departments represent during the meeting, it is a common platform to come to the solutions.  The chairperson decides all the responsibilities and others need to bide by it. If any problems, they need to be discussed. 

However, these meetings should be short in nature. For the meeting to be short and meaningful, all of those coming to the meeting need to be clear about the agenda of the meeting. All the figures, problems need to be seen and identified, so that right data comes up in the meeting. The responsibility should be given to some particular  person to propagate the agenda for the meeting. Similarly, what is discussed in the meeting should also be followed up with individuals. If decisions are done and not followed up, the desired results may not be achieved. 

Body Rejunevation

Mind & Body go hand in hand. Do you feel dull when you are slightly feverish? When your mind is not so fresh, is there a body pain? Just as what you eat are what you are, it is also true that to keep your mind healthy, you need to keep your body healthy. You need to keep your body fit so that your mind remains as sharp and fit as ever. If you have not been exercising, just try a walk for around half an hour, either in the morning or in the evening, and you are bound to feel a difference. Just a walk around for 15 minutes or so, will make you feel good. And if you are regularly going for exercising, then you are bound to feel very light and energetic. This is the Mantra to be cheerful and happy. Happy body brings in happy mind. 

From years together, we have been putting too many things inside our body. The body gets tired and it is a good idea to get your body detoxication once in a while. If you can do once in a quarter or so, it will be very good. The body rejuvenation activity will make you feel good. Your body pain, tiredness, etc. will go for a toss. You can go for a face massage, body massage, head massage, etc. to get it detoxified. Even spending some time in a pool of water will detoxicate you. You can also do the classic Ayurveda Panchkarma to get rejuvenated. I heard you say that these things are luxury. But the cumulative effect of not doing rejunevation will make you spend much higher at old age. For getting the feel, go for a cheaper version of massage like head massage and see if you feel fresh.

Capital For Expansion

Every organization goes through different stages. In earlier stages, it is about getting settled and growth. Growth is the focus in earlier stages because you want to have sizable market share. When you are in growth mode, there is constant need for capital. Unless, it is like a consumer business where you get money as soon as you sell your goods. This is where good business models come into picture. It is a different picture altogether when growth is common but cash flow is different. When there is a credit involvement of customer, you are stretched to the hilt. More so, if you are having more growth. This is because you may not get enough credit from the supplier, but you have to give credit to the new customers. Whenever new customers come, it is very tough for the first 2-3 months. This is because you are just supplying them material without getting the cash. Revenues are generated but are not in hand. That makes the cash flow a little difficult. So much so, that you might be at your wits end, if you have more than a couple of such big customers. 

But once that period ends, there is a constant flow of fund. We can call it a stead state. In steady state, you are giving material, while you receive payment albeit for material given a couple of months ago. When going for expansion, always remember that you have to have cash flow such that your cycle does not get stopped. Capital requirement is a healthy sign when it comes with the growth because, this requirement is short term if supported well with growth in revenues. When you have to give credit to customers, you should always foresee your cash flow before adding the customers. Foreseeing the cash flow will make you to take a decision of either slowing down or to arrange for a bridge loan or a short term cash loan. It is always better to raise debt rather than losing equity, since it is assumed that the debt is a cheaper form of finance. 

You can also work out with your suppliers to increase the credit period since your requirement increases. This will make you more resilient to decreased cash flow, as your cash out will be delayed a bit. 

Power Of Persistence

Talent is a great thing. You get a jump start when you have talent. Look at Vinod Kambli. He had immense talent and got a break. But talent itself will not take you far. It needs a lot of hard work to remain at the top. Look at Sachin Tendulkar. He had talent. But talent is not the only thing that kept him at the top. It was hard work. Just consider this. You have been playing for 24 years and still you are being counted among the best. It is not easy. In the last couple of decades, there have been all types of analyses that happens. The playing videos can be watched many times. The opposition teams, coaches can dissect your technique and practice on how to handle you. In spite of such stiff situations, if your shelf life is 24 years, then you must have done something which others are not able to do. Talent gave him the head start because it got him launched at 16 years. But Parthiv Patel too was launched at a very young age. He too has talent. 

The power of Sachin Tendulkar lies in the power of persistence. It was his persistence with the hard work that he remained at the top. If Shane Warne got him out by bowling at the legs, he practiced and practiced and practiced the sweep shot. Next time when Warne came, Sachin came out on top of him. So much so, that Warne declared that Sachin gave him nightmares. Such persistent hard work, practice with dedication was the only think which made Sachin stand the test of time. But when we say persistence, it is not something which has to be tried again and again. The ant tries to get on top of hill and falls many a times, and each time it falls, it gets up and begins to go on top of the hill. Each time it will try different routes. Our goal remains same, but when we do not achieve or go near it, we should not quit. We should make persistent efforts. Each time, we should change our strategy, action plan, so that we get nearer to the goal. 

Remember that with persistent effort, even water can cut the rock. And you are Human Being!

Get Fresh & Energetic In Morning

I read a lot and in one of the articles I read, the author had recommended an insane way to feel very fresh, energetic & innovative inspirational thinking in the morning. How our day pans out depends a lot on the mornings. If the morning is refreshing, you will have a guaranteed good day ahead. Even if some things turn sour, you will be able to convert it into something good with your sheer energy. That makes it very important to make the mornings great, because it becomes the basic of success for that day. 

The easiest way is to sleep early, get up early and have a plan to do something in the morning. Because if you do not have anything to do in the morning, chances are that you will spill away the morning rising habit. It is best to do meditation, exercise, walking or jogging type of acrobatic exercises. Even doing warm up will make you feel better. After these things are completed, the thing that comes to us is bath. 

And it is here that the aforementioned author surprises. While most of us like to bath with hot or warm water, the author has his own views. The author says that rather what you should be doing is to bath in shower. While starting, take cold water and then gradually turn to hot or warm water. After your bath is over, you should immediately turn the water to cold shower. The sudden change in the water will make your body shrill in cold, but after you come out of the bath, you will be very fresh. It would have a feel of going up to the Mother Nature and coming out of a pool of lake / dam water. You can too give it a try.  

How Our Wear Can Affect Our Thinking

While going on work, there is a dress code? There is also uniforms for schools, colleges, police &army. As soon as a person wears the uniform, he immediately becomes conscious. Student will think about college while police & armies will become conscious about their duties. Ever thought about why the normal dress code for the marketing guy is formal. First is of course the appearance or presentation in front of the client/customer. But on a sub-conscious level, it also creates a sense of job responsibility, a realization that we are on job and we need to be decent. A mechanic or a workshop guy will wear a Boiler's suit type of dress, so that he can work with machines without worrying about his dress. Similar such instances could be found in Doctor's Apron, Lab technicians, company worker's uniform. The basic idea behind uniform is recognition and at the sub-conscious level, the realization that we are on job.

Now, let us take case of personal life. What do we wear when we are heading for a holiday or beach or picnic? Do we wear formals? No. Casuals, yes. Why. Because, when we wear casual we know that we are on a holiday and you can let your hair down. There is no worry, only enjoyment. As soon as we start to go on a holiday, we wear that clothes in which we are very comfortable and it doesn't matter if it becomes dirty. When in a marriage or a festival, we try to wear formal or traditional. When we wear traditional, we remember that today is traditional day. We behave accordingly. Though it is holiday, there will be no childish enjoying like you did on that beach. You are relaxed, but this relaxation is different from what we do on picnic. 

For this matter, it becomes important that we should wear clothes according to situations. This will bring credibility when you are on job. You would be looked at as a responsible person. The uniform will also give you a recognition. You can watch how the Business Coaches or Life coaches come groomed to the session. They will be wearing a coat or a blazer and this gives a sense of authority to them. If you have a blazer, you can also try it at your home in front of the mirror. Wear the blazer; good if you could also wear a tie and watch yourself. Watch yourself with pride and you can also give a self talk. How do you feel? You can write in the comments section.

Have You Ever Done Self Talk?

Busy schedules nowadays don't give us time. From the time we get up until we sleep, it is difficult to find time in solitude. Once upon a while, it is necessary to close yourself in one room and be away from everyone. Just you. And in such times, do self talk. Napolean Hill writes about self talk in his book. He writes about how to gain confidence. You should stand in front of a mirror and talk to yourself. You must talk positively about yourself. You should talk about how much powerful you are and how you would use all that is possible from your end to attain the result that you want. You should assert yourself about the power you have and what goals you want to achieve. If you watch or read some detailed Shivaji life story, you will come across the self talk he does. Though he talks with the Goddess, it is more or less a self talk. And from this self talk he gets most of the answers. 

Erhard Freitag, in his book 'The power of subconscious mind' writes about the Auto suggestion. In Autosuggestion, he writes that we should suggest ourselves or to our subconscious mind about the targets we want to achieve. How you plan to achieve? At times, you can just suggest about the goals/things you are having in mind and suggest your mind that it has enough powers to achieve those goals. After some time, you will be presented with opportunity which if taken will take you towards your goals. But at such points, you should be aware of the opportunity and should be able to take & convert it into success. 

You can also go to Mother Nature, where your mind will be able to connect with nature. You get instant gratification, instant stress relief by going near nature. Go to the beach and hear the sound of the waves, the water. Go to the waterfalls. Go to the serene green zones and get the fresh air. Go for a walk early in the morning and do self talk. You will get your answers, because our subconscious mind is very powerful. 

Risk Vs. Reward

Once I had jokingly said that I take only so much risk that I am safe. Joking, because when you are safe, that risk isn't risk at all. There is a thumb rule, when it comes to Risk & Reward. The risk & the reward are directly proportional to each other. Higher the risk, higher is the reward. There is though, a science to it. Though there is risk everywhere, there are things where we can minimize it. Even when we get out of our house, there is a risk associated. But that does not mean that we should never get out of our house. If we do not get out of our house, how do you work? There is a risk everywhere. 

For small businesses, the risks are much more. But aren't there risks for others. How do you minimize risk? By planning. When you start a project, do the survey properly. Many of them start up because they have been doing the same work for others. However, they discount the other works that need to be done while doing the business. While working for others, they might be doing the work. But who will bring in the work. Such projects start and end soon. For avoiding the risk, you need to plan about how to bring in customers. With minimizing the risk, your rewards will increase. 

You can also look if you can get a running unit, because with the running unit, you can start revenues from Day 1. You just have to put in some money, bring in systems, market, etc and just deliver to get in money. By doing this, your risk is minimized. You can also have good communications with the prospects, because prospects would turn into customers one day. Don't let your existing customer go elsewhere. When you get a chance to work, satisfy your customer. A repeating customer is better than two new customers. 

Proper cash flow planning is another important thing that you should be doing. This is very important if you are looking to keep your business alive. Risks are many, so are rewards. Just take the steps to minimize your risks. 

Think Before Reacting!

This is what I have heard umpteen number of times when I was young. There are some people who will always talk roughly, no matter what. This is there normal tone, whether or not the situation demands. But if somebody talks to them in the same tone or language, they feel insulted. While you may see some people who will talk humbly even when they are talked to in a harsh tone. 

The rule which I have read / heard many times, says, 'Talk/communicate/reciprocate in a manner in which you expect others to communicate with you'. Before reacting, always think about the way you would feel, if you would have been in other's place. This thought will make you talk respectably with others, whatever is the situation. True, there are situations when normal talking won't do. As the saying goes, 'Laato ke bhoot baato se nahi mante'. The people who understand language of slap will never understand soft talk'.

But there is another angle to it. By reacting respectfully in a turbulent situation, you are showing your character. Showing respect to people who really don't deserve does not belittle you, rather it shows that you have a character. You should not lower your character because others have lower character. You always need to think about your image. By thinking the situation by putting yourself in others place, your respect will automatically increase and you will talk respectfully. There are examples when hard talk and violence has not been able to change things, but the talk does change things. 

By talking respectfully to them, they also understand their mistake. If you have humble voice, they will also lower theirs. Just beware of the situation where undue advantage is not taken. For that, you must know the right things.

Kaizen - Continuous Improvement

Kaizen! Kaizen is a Japanese word. It means Continuous improvement. It is conceptualized for work places. It can be applied anywhere. But the techniques are mainly in context with the workplace. It works on the simple concept that there has to be continuous improvement in whatever we do. When we start something, it is not perfect. Rather than on perfection, we always work on setting the things up so that it is well run. Once you get the things under control, you should start looking for improvement in the activities. Kaizen is not for short term. The meaning of the word itself has Continuous in it. This means it works for long term. To start with, consider that we have the goal to up the production rate. While increasing the production, we do many things. We use extra resources,, extra manpower, extra fuel, etc. The primary importance is given to the goal of increasing production. Other things are secondary at that moment. 

Once your production has stabilized, you should start looking for optimizing the resources. If you have gained in scale, you can ask for discounts & more credit periods, which will improve your cash flow. You can also make some special purpose machines or fixtures which will simplify your work there by reducing costs or steps. You need to break up things into different steps and check if any of the process is still needed. You should constantly ask questions. Find new answers. The day you stop your continuous improvement, you will stop to be a success. At best, you will be where you are. 

The word Kaizen is also associated with Gemba; it is Gemba Kaizen. Gemba is nothing but the location, the field, the plant where work is carried out. Until you go to that place, you cannot look for improvements that can be done. 

How To Overcome Fear?

I may be repeating this, but this is the best example. Can you walk on the 6 inch boundary of the footpath? Try walking. It would be like catwalk, but you can do it. Would it be any better if you were asked to walk on a path of 12 inch wide. Yes, definitely. It is so easy. Now, if I say the path is 6 feet high. Suddenly, it becomes difficult. But not impossible. You may still try it. Why did it become difficult? Because when we are walking on a 12 inch path on ground, you know nothing will happen if you go wrong. And 99 times out of 100, you will be able to walk on that path. However, when this path is taken at a height of six feet, it appears difficult. The one and only one reason is the question, the imagination that comes to your mind. And that is, 'what if I fall'? The fear of falling, here and at other places, the fear of failing. There is no risk associated when you are walking on ground level on the same path. Even if you go wrong, nothing to worry. However, as you go high, it becomes difficult and impossible, later. This is induced by the fear factor. 

I had seen one program on Discovery, where a man takes up the challenge to walk on a very narrow path of 6 inch; the path is connecting two multistory building tops. He trains his mind for one full month using different techniques including meditation, walking at increasing heights, walking through a virtual reality program, etc. After a month, he is successful in training his mind and completes the challenge. 

The key to overcome fear is belief. Belief in yourself as well as others is important. You must first believe in your mind that you can do that. Half of the war is won there. The rest is about training. You need to move in the direction of training your mind or body to be able to complete the task. You should not be inactive. You should do something. You cannot go one day and walk on a path at 50 meters high or 20 meters high. It will take training. You will have to do it step by step. You should be able to analyze and look for mistakes that happened last time when you failed. Instead of taking the failure to heart, you should rather analyze what could have been done differently to successfully complete the task. And do whatever is needed. Acceptance is very necessary. If you fear something, fear that. Acceptance will lower the intensity of the fear. The next step is to tell your mind that you can do something about it and you are positive & confident that you will do it. The moment you do that, your fear level will be down to 1-2 from level 9-10. This itself will bring in confidence in you and once that confidence, that belief, that faith comes in, there is no one who can beat you. 

Go & Win the World. 

Age Is No Barrier In Entrepreneurship

When people don't want to accept a challenge, they give excuses. There are different types of excuses that we can hear. One among them is the age factor. People say they are too young to do this or are too old to do this. But there are examples when some extra-ordinary persons have been able to achieve the dreams that they took off with. In today's age of entrepreneurship, there are all sorts of entrepreneurs who start a variety of company. There are some students who have not got their voting cards, yet they have startups behind them. Then there are people who start a company at a age when many others retire. These are the extreme ends of the range. But there are people who in between have started and failed. Failure may not be due to the age factor. While that may be the case, but many a times, it is the other factors like vision, focus, execution, hard work, etc. that make or break a start up or an entrepreneur.

Take the name of Mr. Velumani, founder of Thyrocare, who left his government job and started Thyrocare. Normally it is better to start at an early age because the liabilities are minimal or not present. There is ample scope for learning and standing up after the fall. But as you grow older, there are more pitfalls. Normally people get married in their late twenties to early thirties. After they get married, there are many a responsibilities which care you want to take. And the thought of these responsibilities puts a bearing on whether or not you will take the jump in the entrepreneurship. Then there are people who have started their companies from school campus. If you want to take bigger names, then there Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, etc will be at the forefront. Closer home we have entrepreneurs like Phanindra Sama who had the guts to look in the eyes of the opportunity and create an enterprise. When he had to go home from college and wanted to check out with buses, he had to run here and there. It is then when he founded RedBus from college. Today there are many copies of the same business, but Phanindra was the pioneer. 

We also have Rahul Yadav, founder of Housing.com, who made Housing a famous name. What happened after that is altogether a different story. Then we also have Bhavish Aggarwal, who started Ola at a very young age. It take a lot of hard work and time to start the way these youngsters have done. It is very easy to take a job and sit back & relax. But they have found their own way. 

All the people have shown that Age is just a number and nothing else. It is only the hard work that matters.

Success - The Way People Think

When people see successful person, they are sometimes jealous of him. They remember the times when he did not have anything and how today he has everything. He has got all this because of one good idea / one good decision, etc. They all think that it was too easy to do what he has been doing. To them, the success looks like what it is in the first figure. 

But it does not get as easy as this unless there is some luck. The role of the luck is to give opportunity. After getting the opportunity, it is up to the person whether or not he is able to grab it with both hands. It is up to the person to be able to make a living out of the opportunity that has come. There are many opportunities daily presented to each & everyone. The one who spots it and believes in it, takes the risk to leave what he is doing and accept the challenge the opportunity presents. Success then does not look like what the first figure shows, rather it looks like the second figure. Going towards the path of success, however, isn't really straight forward. There are ups & downs, there are curves, there are learning, there are many a turning points from where you could either quit or have confidence in your chosen path. 

People really measure the success by its final point. The actual process should be noticed though. Rather than the destination, it is the road on which success has been achieved. As Pele says it, 

'Success is not an accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrificing, and last but not the least, loving what you do.'