Takeaways from "The Immortals of Meluha"

It's been quite sometime since I picked up a Fiction book. So on my way from HYD to KOL, when I had some time to kill, I decided to go and buy the book "The Immortals of Meluha" [purchase decision affected by my instant attraction to its appealing cover]. I finished it by the time I reached KOL and I must say, I loved the research and creativity and hidden words of wisdom and thought-provoking learnings. Sharing the prminent ones:

1. "Leaves appear green - Does it mean they possess Green color?" [Book Expln: Light falls on them, they absorb all colors of VIBGYOR spectrum except Green, which they reflect back, thus, giving them an appearance as Green]. An idea, a notion, a thought can be contrasting if looked from different perspectives.

2. Are Devas good and Asuras evil? or ist they just follow different approach of living - one guided by strict rules and the the other allowing freedom of expression. [Historic text about "evils" of Asuras has been written by Devas and allies and may be biased]. 

3. If you do Purushartha (Karma),  sometimes you may be even allowed to break the law, or may be even change the Law. You will not find anyone who questions your decision. In today's context,Karma is very much synonymous with Money - You get the point !

4. And on a lighter note, you must know how to dance to impress a girl ;)

NB: You will need to read the book to understand the context of the above points.

My two-year MBA: Lesson Series #1

It's two years since I got my current office on rent [Read: Officially started my journey of Excel Next]. Having learnt so much about business and profession in these two years made me realize that I completed my 2-yr "un"official MBA. 

Wanted to share my learnings so that you may get the two years' MBA in 5-minutes !

Finance

1. Use initial profits to develop your Core-products before, rather than Investing in non-core "new" business opportunities.

2. Keep a very close watch on Liquid funds availability & debtor realization.

3. Religiously follow "Stop-Loss" principle. If any investment decision's payoff is way-off initial target, consider using "Stop-loss" and get out of it if need be. Needless to say, forget the sunk cost and remember the learnings.

Human Resources

1. Hire for Attitude. Skills can be developed.

2. It's your responsibilty to create business opportunities so that deserving  juniors' growth can be ensured & sustained.

3. Treat juniors with dignity and you will have already reserved their Loyalty towards you. [i.e. Assuming you/your firm pay them the salary on time]. They will work for you as the Spartan soldiers worked for their King Leonidas in the movie - "300".

Marketing

1. You need to be "Internet-savvy" in today's world - Be it basic web-designing, or Advanced Google Search or using Wordpress or knowing the concept of SEO. From a Saree trader to a Financial Consultant, everyone can benefit from Internet Technolgies with little cash cost.

2. Businesses like Flipkart, Facebook are two prime examples of "word-of-mouth" publicity. Read about it, experiment with it, but do not ignore it. And yes, it doesn't happen on it's own - You have to have a genuine product or service offering.

Strategy

1. Whatever is your CORE product or service offering, stick to it. Develop it, improvise it faster than that of your Competition. There may be non-Core business opportunities which might look lucrative up front, but be VERY VERY cautious before you commit funds and effort to develop it.

2. "Naam badhaao, Kaam apne aap milega" - In he initial stages, stress more on creating a Brand value based on Quality & Usefulness even if payoff is low. Once clients trust you / your product, work/orders will flow almost effortlessly and they will be willing to pay for it as commensurate with its its inherent value (2x - 3x the initial fees/price).

CRM

1. Would you like if at the Movie hall, you are given Popcorn-Cola free? My guess - You'll love it. ThatSomething Extra  has two elements - it's a surprise and it is free. If somehow, you can use these elements in your product offering, you are already a CRM specialist.

2. Be genuine - Do that Something Extra with zero-reciprocal expectations.

Those are the initial thoughts - Would be more in Series to come.

Top 5 pitfalls of being an Entrepreneur !

1) You'll love (read: obsessed) your venture so much that you will have difficulty in finding time & motivation to find the "love" of your life :D

2) You'll find business opportunity cost of even your personal expenditures. E.g. should I buy an iPhone or 3 PCs for my office? Should I buy an i20 or should I invest in a new Business Franchise?

3) You'll get up at midnight and spend hours on the laptop/notepad just because you had a dream, which gave you a very good business idea.

4) You'll never be able to watch any movie with full concentration. You'll feel guilty of having spent 2 hrs. on such an unproductive activity. You may also get into the habit of watching 3 movies back-to-back just to tick on the movie-watching checklist.

5) Business, Venture, Opportunities etc. will be an integral part of any conversation (Lunch/Dinner).

Using your brilliant mind...

I am not talking about scoring high in exams. My point of view on Using your brilliant mind relates to the way you condition your mind to take decisions without any interference from physical pain, mental exhaustion and of course, heart. Some tasks to explore the idea of giving mind the full Control.

Task #1: Get up at 6:00 AM. You will feel sleepy but tell yourself repeatedly that your mind controls your body. You will do what your mind says. There should be NO SPACE for other thoughts to come in. Take a bath with cold water without flinching & while you are at it - remind yourself  that mind controls everything

Task #2: You may get offended / cheated in day-to-day life. DO NOT react immediately. Remind yourself again that the mind has not been harmed - so no need to react.

Task #3: You will look at the temptations around you. Be inert to them. Bombard your mind with thoughts of MIND IS EVERYTHING. Nothing beyond it. No reactive sensation at all.

The above statements may sound dry and heartless, but this is one way of life that multiplies one's ability. Makes him/her do the biggest of challenges.

When a workaholic entrepreneur takes a day off...

• Slow-motion (20-mins) Breakfast buffet. Normally I spend 2-3 mins on B'fast as I gulp down Porridge mixed in Milk in flat 2 mins EVERYDAY.
• Some shopping.
• Lunch @ Rajdhani (25-mins). Avge time spent on other days: 8-10 mins.
• Watched 3-movies back-to-back in 3-D: Cars 2 + Kung-Fu panda 2 + Transformers 3. The ticket checker started recognizing me as it was the same Audi & same seat for all the 3 shows. In response to his surprising smile, I had to say it was my day-off. :D
• Hangout with close friends @ a nice place called Howzzat in GGN. A friend got enagaged, a friend about to be promoted. Reasons good enough for a party on a weekday.
• Quick drive in friend's new car.

Try this exercise

I have a habit of scribbling abstract things in my notebook when I travel in flights. On one such ocassion, I started writing words that were striking my mind at random. During the flight that night, after filling one entire page with words written in capital letters, I could not make why I thought of those words. Now after 1.5 - 2.0 months, whenever I have a look at the same page, I find new meaning and reason why I jotted those words then.

List of the words (not in order as it was scribbled randomly over the entire page). Must say it's a good exercise. Try it sometime, take a look after few weeks and you'll know why.

REGRET | WAIT | NARCISSIST | EXCEL | TIME TRAVEL | BLACK HOLE | SHPONGLE EYES | FOOD | EYES | SUPERSONIC | VENGEANCE | PEACE | ENJOY | BLIND FAITH | CIA | INTUITION | LOVE | BIG BREAK | LEGEND | ENGINE | MONEY | POWER | GLAMOUR | NEXT ORBIT | SURVIVE | STEALTH | FAIR N  JUST | PURE DIL | SPLASH  | HIGH | INTOXICATING | SINCERE | LOYAL | THE ONE | BREAK FREE | ROOTS | HARDCORE | ARMOR | SELF INFLICTING | JUDGEMENT | BOLD | SOLIDA | SECURITY | FORECAST | SAFETY | TRANSPARENT | OPAQUE | SOFT | TOUGH | LUST | IRREVERSIBLE | NOTHING ELSE | BEAUTY | AMBITION | SURPRISE | CREATIVE | MUSIC | ROMANTIC | AGILE | RELAXED | LOVABLE | QUIET | DREAMS | GUILT | CONTROL | IPR | ABSTAIN | INSPIRING | THE RISHABH PUGALIA | SHARP | VIBRATIONS | PREDICT | UNDERSTAND | OBSERVANT | EMOTIONS | PARTY | FRIENDS | HOME | RESPONSIBLE | THRILL | PAYBACK | THINK | COMMITTED | ONCE | GOOD | COMPLEX  | TRUST | KIND |  CARING | RELAXED | FULL | HEALTH | FUTURE | PAST EXISTENCE | UNIQUE | INSANE

Food for thought and the frog

The story is told about a frog that fell into a large pothole in a country road. The frog tried several times to jump out of the pothole, but couldn’ t. In time, a rabbit came along and tried to help the frog, but couldn’ t. Other animals came along, but they too were unable to help the frog. Finally, one of the animals said to the frog, “ We better get you some food. It looks like you’ re going to be in that hole for a while.” So they left the frog to get some food. A short time later the animals heard someone coming up behind them.

They turned around, and to their surprise it was the frog. One of the animals exclaimed, “ We thought you couldn’ t get out of the pothole.” “ I couldn’ t,” replied the frog. “ But you see, there was this big truck heading right for the pothole, and I HAD to get out!”

Source: Internet