A walk to my birthplace Day 6 (29 Km covered so far)

As I started walking today, a call that I received the day before kept coming to my mind. This was someone who talked to me after a gap of 15 years. His name is Sunil.  He reached me through a common friend and was glad to know that I not only remembered his name but also parts of our conversation 15 years back.

Sunil went abroad to US and I played a part in his movement. During the late nineties when I was an entrepreneur, I had signed contracts with some boutique firms in US to provide them technical manpower from India. Sunil was one of the early ones to go abroad through me. He remembered me because it was his first travel abroad and for me, his departure was one of the early successful transactions.

Sunil’s call gave me a joy because it took me back in time when I started my own entrepreneurial stint in late nineties. After getting an early break to head HR for a software company, I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. I was 27 years old with hardly any network of my own. I just got across to a few people through personal network, who indicated that they may do business with me.

My first client was a gem of a person. He had come to India on personal holiday and had earmarked 3 days for me to get some people interviewed in Mumbai and Pune. This was my first assignment and I decided to give it a best shot. I had released an advertisement but the response was minimal as there was a strike by Postal department - yes! Emails were not that common and I started with a character based internet account about which less said the better! I went berserk contacting people on my own through whatever means and carried out the first assignment successfully. Sunil was part of the first few people who were to go abroad through me.

While I was in the euphoria of my first success, my client asked me to send him an invoice.  The amount involved was more than half my annual salary in my earlier job! That was a time when I realized that I do not know how to prepare an invoice! I sheepishly went to my father who was a banker and asked him for help! I still remember format of that invoice and of course the amount of my first invoice!!

Early days in my entrepreneurship taught me certain principles that have become an integral part of my belief system:

·         It is great to start with a heart, from wherever you are and with whatever you have.

·         Logic is great but it generally ends up telling you about limitations.

·         If you have a burning desire to succeed - paths emerge, working models evolve and you definitely pick up technicalities as you go along

If you deal with people in a manner that you would like to be dealt with – you become a part of their cherished memories!!!!!