LESSONS FROM A SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR ...K Ganesh

LESSONS FROM A SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR

Got a fresh idea? Raring to ‘change the world’? Here are some tips to help you hit the ground running

You should be able to attract & sell your dream to the founders or top brass, especially at the early stage
Entrepreneurship is a rewarding experience, both in terms of being able to control one’s destiny and leaving an impact on the world. It also brings with it unique pleasures, pressures and perils. It is not enough to have strong passion and unstinting belief in your idea and yourself. You also need to be clear on what you are doing and a strong desire to prove yourself.
Here are some key learnings from my entrepreneurial journey that may help you.
Seek Uncontested Spaces
Find a product, service or opportunity that fulfils an unmet need. Look at areas where there are no large players. This allows you to create high growth and profitability due to the uncontested space you operate in. Also, you can create disproportionate value for all stakeholders if you are able to open up an untapped market. For instance, when I realised that only the affluent in the United States could afford personalised tutoring, I set up TutorVista to offer online personalised tutoring to make it affordable and convenient. Also, when I started IT&T as a bootstrapped company, the concept of an independent IT infrastructure management company did not exist. We were the first to offer single-point maintenance for all hardware brands. Once we were able to sell the concept, customers could not compare IT&T with anyone else as we did not have any competition. Since TutorVista, Customer Asset, Marketics or IT&T have all been Greenfield ventures, there has never been any pressure on us.
Select the Right Team
Choose your partners carefully and build a strong team. You need to be able to attract and sell your dream to the founders or senior management, especially at the early stage, when you do not have money. Have cofounders with diverse skill sets, who can meaningfully challenge each other rather than always be in agreement. Hire people with better capabilities and corporate skills than what you possess.
Have a Clear Objective
A venture always starts with a lot of passion and excitement. However, once the initial euphoria settles down it is important to build your business towards an objective. Else, it will be difficult to exit, scale or monetise. When I started my first venture, IT&T, I did not have a clear business objective in mind. IT&T was incorporated as a computer hardware maintenance company. Between 1990 and 1998, the software exports sector was picking up. While we entered the hardware maintenance business at the right time, we missed the software exports boom, even though IT&T was developing software. I did not foresee the potential in software exports. Had we been open enough, like Infosys and Wipro, we could have made multiple times the return for a fraction of the effort we put in for hardware maintenance. In all my subsequent ventures, I have had one eye on the goal and progressed towards it.
Choose Right Investors
The choice of an investor or venture capital fund is important as it can help scale your business and take it to the next level. However, do not take VC/PE money if you don’t need it. In my experience, scalable and valuable businesses can be built by bootstrapping too. Not all businesses are about exits. You should look for investors who believe in your venture, are stable, and will help your business scale up. VCs are like your co-founders or spouse — you need to be able to trust them, work with them and live with them through the ups and downs. Never compromise on the investor just for the sake of higher valuation or brand name.
Have an Exit Plan
Work with the notion of scaling, building value and exiting the venture right from Day 1, if that is what your plan is. You can exit a business only if it is scalable. Be clear on what the ultimate end-game is, and build a business according to it.

K Ganesh
DESIGNATION
Founder and CEO, TutorVista
FIRMS FOUNDED
IT&T, CustomerAsset, Marketics, TutorVista
ONE THING I’D DO DIFFERENTLY
Focus on market opportunities rather than one’s comfort zone
MOST EXCITING SPACE TO BE IN
Cost-effective healthcare and education for masses

ET12060