Sharing with Indian Business Network Message Board members.

recent Presentation at Mumbai by speakers which,I feel valuable for Indian Business netwoking people.. 

Entrepreneurial tips from Anand Mahindra 

Going Global

Do believe in yourself

Don't be afraid of failure - if you fail, "fail forward"

Do take risks for things you believe in

Do aim for true competitiveness - not just low cost advantage

Do think big

Innovation 

Tips for Entrepreneurs - by KB Chandrashekhar 

Dos:

Take Risks  Be willing to fail and apply learnings

Your passion for the concept is what brings everyone together

Communicate openly  both good and bad news

Stay focused on the core theme but adapt to market and technology changes

Your success is based on making your customer successful

Dont:

Win one battle at a time  do not open too many fronts on market segments, technology

Do not overspend till you know the concept works and you are ready to scale the business

Do not create bureaucracy  start up is about small teams working together

Do not neglect face time with employees, customers and partners

Do not neglect family; make sure they are partners in this journey

Leverage Indianness - we, in India, have a talent for using innovation to better our lives.

India's competitive advantage lies in our ability to provide high quality innovation at the lowest cost per unit of innovation.

Don't penalize people for trying to innovate - reward them for effort and risk taking.

Build respect for innovation within the organisation by promoting IPR and sharing the gains of innovation.

Innovation is everywhere including our villages - look for it and help it blossom.

Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurial Traits - by Kanwal Rekhi

Entrepreneurs, Modern Revolutionaries:

Entrepreneurs can revolutionize societies by adding economic dynamism, setting them on way to increasing prosperities. They are also the only source of new wealth and productive jobs in the society. It only takes a small part of the population to become successful entrepreneurs to pull the whole society along. India is going through such a transformation now and it is a matter of time that the crushing poverty that India has been known for will be history. It seems to have finally unleashed its entrepreneurs genius and is well on its way to assuming its rightful place on the global stage.

I have mentored thousands of young aspiring entrepreneurs over last dozen years. I have come to believe that entrepreneurs are born and not made; but on the other hand the entrepreneurial genes, if there are any, seem to be randomly distributed. One does not necessarily inherit them from his parents.

Entrepreneurial journey is a lonely journey though. Only 1 to 2% of the general population is endowed with the right stuff. The burden is on the entrepreneur to prove that he has the right stuff as it is an easy bet to place them in the larger pool. An initial opt-in to become an entrepreneur improves odds by a factor five over the general population. These odds further improve as one is not deterred by failures. In any case, outside factors play a major role and one can never be certain about the success. Odds may be low but for those who persist and succeed the rewards, financial and spiritual, are more than worth it.

Entrepreneurial Traits

No one set of values or traits defines entrepreneurs. Rather it is a combination of traits that gives them an edge. One trait that seems to be necessary (but not sufficient) is leadership. Entrepreneurs must at minimum, be skilled enough to assemble teams, provide vision, and inspire confidence. In addition, entrepreneurs are, per necessity, intelligent, hard-working and street smart. They are also fast learners. Some other traits, in no particular order are:

Intellectually honest. Intellectual honesty is a hallmark of entrepreneurs. They constantly reassess their assumptions and discarding the ones that can no longer be defended. They have very realistic awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses. They are their own harshest critics.

Confident. Entrepreneurs are very confident -but not arrogant- people. They bring a winning attitude to everything they take on.

Results oriented. Entrepreneurs are obsessed with producing measurable results. They have no respect for the mindless processes.

Value oriented. Entrepreneurs are instinctively value oriented. They are financial thinkers and notions of costs, expenses, value-added, margins, and profits are ingrained in them.

Innovative. They are out of the box thinkers. They question the conventional wisdom and think of newer and better ways of doing things. They thrive when they are out of their elements.

Generalist. Entrepreneurs are by and large generalist and not specialists. They must understand and manage every aspect of business and not favor their own area of expertise.

Risk taking. Entrepreneurs are action oriented and risk takers, but are smart and calculating in their approach and dont take foolish risks. They are also looking at ways to eliminate risks they may have assumed.

Persistent. Entrepreneurs are very persistent and not easily discouraged. They usually outlast the competition.

Efficient. Efficient use of resources is at the heart of successful entrepreneurship.

Knowledgeable. Entrepreneurs are very knowledgeable about their environment. They make it their business to know all about their markets, competition and technologies.

Fair. Entrepreneurs bring a strong sense of fair play to the table. They are very aware of the contributions of others. They also have a win-win mindset with respect to fellow workers and customers.

Competitive. Entrepreneurs are very competitive and constantly benchmark themselves against the best in the industry.

Opportunistic. Entrepreneurs are very opportunistic in their approach and become very tactical when it suits them while maintaining their strategic vision.

Inward looking. Entrepreneurs internalize problems rather than externalize them. They do not blame others for their failures. They also do not need outside validation to feel confident.

Rebellious. Entrepreneurs have no respect for an established order. Indeed, they typically benefit when the established order is upset.

Self-motivated. Entrepreneurs draw their strength from deep inside them. They by and large do not need much help from others. A simple spark or inspiration is enough to get them started.

Not all these traits are necessarily present in every successful entrepreneur. A healthy combination of these traits, however, is present in most successful entrepreneurs.

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