Thursday, July 19, 2012

Smart reads for entrepreneurs

Books for start ups

          Hello everyone, this isn't a blog actually,  this post has some names of books you all should read that will motivate you and keep you going to work at your start up phase. Start up is a difficult period and requires great attention and dedication its like having a new baby. So here is a list of some books you all should read:
  • "Learn to program" by Chris Pine
  • "Start something that matters" by  Blake Mycoskie
  • "Vital Voices: The Power of Women Leading Change Around the World " by Alyse Nelson
  • "War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle" by Steven Pressfield
  • "The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything"
    by Guy Kawasaki
  • "The Dream: How I Learned the Risks and Rewards of Entrepreneurship and Made Millions"
    by Gurbaksh Chahal
  • "Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big" by Bo Burlingham
  • "The New Business Road Test: What entrepreneurs and executives should do before writing a business plan" by John Mullins
Apart from these some from my personal collections that you all can read are biographies of business leaders like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Dhirubhai Ambani. And if you are quiet young and wanna be an entrepreneur, go for "MBA at 16" by Subroto Bagchi its a fun read.

So, enjoy your life, keep reading, stay updated.

Cheers
Akash Poddar

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

5 misconceptions on being an Entrepreneur


5 misconceptions on being an Entrepreneur

          Hello everyone, hope you all doing good in life. This blog is about some myths people carry abouut being an entrepreneur, so lets focus on this and change their attitudes. If you’re looking for a feel good post about why you should quit your secure 9 to 5 job and become an entrepreneur, this is not the post for you. Being an entrepreneur is great and I wouldn’t trade it for a desk job, but there are some things aspiring (or existing) entrepreneurs should know.

  1. You’re going to be insanely successful. You are not the next Mark Zuckerberg. Sorry, you’re not and I’m not.:( If you have the idea that you’re going to sit down and create the next Facebook and be worth billions of dollars in seven to 10 years, it’s not going to happen. Am I saying it’s not good to dream big? No. I’m saying there is only one Facebook or Apple and only one Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs in this world.
  2. Entrepreneurs have a very flexible work schedule. They can work three to four hours a day and have plenty of time to fool around!. I know I’m not alone when I say that entrepreneurs don’t have the luxury of ending our workday abruptly at 5pm. When you own your own company or work for someone who does, you have to put in the extra hours and the extra effort to make things happen. If you aren’t ready to work some pretty long days, you probably aren’t cut out for being an entrepreneur.
  3. Entrepreneurs can take off when they want — after all, you’re the boss, right? Remember all those times you used to be able to party on random nights of the week or just take off for a weekend with your friends? Not if you want to keep your business afloat the first year (or two, three, four, etc). Now I’m not saying you won’t ever get time off, but most entrepreneurs live, eat and breathe their businesses after all its their money at stake and a lot of times partying gets pushed to the wayside. What’s more important: Playing poker with college buddies or generating income so you can pay bills the next couple months?
  4.  Working from home means you’ll have more time for your relationship, your pets, taking care of your home, etc. Wrong! Because you work from home, it’s like you live in this constant state of never finishing anything. You start cleaning the dishes and then think of a great idea or feature for your company. Instead of taking your significant other out to a nice meal, you ask to get drive through so you can get back to work quicker. No venture can be ever taken for granted. A venture is like having a baby, its a 24/7 job as client calls or a baby in this example
  5.  Everyone wants to have your job. I’m guessing it’s because people genuinely don’t love their jobs, but they think you have this perfect setup where you get to work and play all day long. I always hear things like “At least you don’t have to deal with a commute” or “I have so many worthless meetings and calls, you’re lucky”. It may seem like a cakewalk, but the truth is the struggle is always onn

For all the starving entrepreneurs out there, keep fighting the good fight. We’re all doing things we love and enjoy, and that’s what matters. I may not be building the next Facebook, but I am excited about controlling my own destiny and knowing the harder I work, the bigger i make

Cheers
Akash Poddar

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

How to excel in Art of Net-Working

            Ok first of all i am sorry for the late post have been travelling a lot with 2 big family functions in radar recently and thus couldn't concentrate on posting, i have been getting your comments and emails and it inspires me more and more. Now, as far as this post is concerned, "Net-Working isn't working on the Net" LOL :P Networking is something every entrepreneur has to be very good at, it is one of the most most important criteria to excel in business. You never know who, where and when will come upto you with the next major break through, even if nothing major comes up, you will atleast get to learn so much talking to different people and learning about their lives and ventures and struggles. 

           My 2 cousin brothers are getting married and like every Indian wedding theres lots of ceremonies and people coming and eating, so opportunities like this is perfect to get to know people and build contacts, you never know that long distant uncle of yours maybe the supplier you were looking for! So i took this opportunity to talk to many people in these functions getting to know about them and their businesses, thus this post will help you to excel in this very act of "NetWorking"

  •    Have your objective clear:  With this what i mean is, you should know what/whom are you looking for, are you looking for an investor or a co-founder or a supplier or mentor. If you know whats on your mind, things will be easier and you will save a lot of time.
  •    Get a stag entry: Most of us would like to visit such events with a partner or a friend but its better to go alone, this way you will get bored and to avoid the embarrassment of standing alone by the speaker, you will end up talking to someone. being an introvert doesn't help these days, you will have to outreach yourself to win that export order you have your eyes on.
  •   Cast a web: More the interactions you make, greater will be a chance of benefiting from that occasion. Studies show that 5 to 7 minutes is more than enough to know how much will this particular conversation benefit you, so calculate accordingly and avoid distractions {both beer and babes :D}
  •   Feed-in reminders: Its not possible to remember everyone you meet and talk in such gatherings so its better you make short notes of people and their details using abbreviations, best place to scribble in at the back of business cards or better if you have a note pad app in your smart phone, also to avoid awkward situations do this privately in a corner or at rest room.
  •   Follow up: The most important of them all. Few months down the line none of you will remember anything, so use mediums like Linkedin or facebook or twitter to stay in touch, this also helps to build long term contacts and get invitations to similar gatherings.
    Use these tools to increase your horizons and build contacts as you can never predict who comes to your rescue at what situation.

Cheers
Akash Poddar
akashpoddar@live.com