Being on the field

These days I am busy doing sales for my product ShoppingLanes.

I think sales experience is a must for every entrepreneur. The biggest skill you need in this work is overcoming the fear of rejection ;–). I am writing here a few funny (I have the sprit to take it lightly and not get offended ;–)) incidents I have encountered so far …

1) “…yaar product accha hai , idea accha hai par apne ko iska use nahi, apne ko extra customers nahi chahiyeh,I am very happy with my life and business, dont wont more, aur internet pae toh bilkul nahi daalna hai ” .  A boutique fellow who just believes that internet is the biggest business doom and his doom too ;–)

2)”..sirji our items keep changing every week, so no use putting them online, customers will never get what they see ;–)  ” …After pushing him a little more ;–)… “..sir actually my business papers are not registered at all .. so i cant take chance of putting my info online…koi saab aa gaya toh ?…band baj jayegi ;–)”.

3)”..sir aapka idea funtastic hai….superb hai..par yeh aapnae mujhe mediam raftaar waali gadi dhikai hai..ab kuch aur tej dikhav… super fast model wali car… aisa kuch jo aur isse zyada maza aaye..” I was wondering if this guy is visiting some pychotic doctor…

4)”…sir aap inne kam paiso mae itna saara service dogae toh kaise chalega..” … A Doctor who was so shocked at the rates and the features we were offering,and after we actually offered him what what we promised

5)A hip hop aunty ,when i speak about the product “…i am just not interested…please go”…I smile and say very politely , “mam ill just take 5 mins of your time…. we have made this product ourselves…we want you to have a look.. please..” …..“ok…wait there …. have a seat….(angryly)…” I was still standing …. waiting for her to come and meet me…she shouts …angry tone.. “I told you to sit ..why are you still standing..just sit down..”… “I just felt like laughing seeing her so hyper…I sit down still smiling, she says yah tell me now, I say mam have a look at our broshure…ill explain you what we offer, she says “,  …..”I will not look at any broshure…Just speak to me about it…fast … (again angry)” …. “After explaining ..she gets calm, tells me ” “ ok ill buy this …. come tomorrow thou…ill think over it peacefully… ;–)” …. “….“I say lady was tough and sales is tough…needs loads of smile and patience ;–)”.

6)When I met him for the first time he just looked all confused and totally perpelexed he tells me to come after some days, after I go again “..yaar abhi aapkae product mae interest nahi aara, mere ko business mae bhi interest nahi aara …kya hai ki  yeh month meri shaadi hai…thoda tension mae hu ….uskae baad decide karta hu “.. I wished him all the best for his wedding and move on and i dont expect an invitation from him

7)Visited one fellow whos into business of icecreams and kulfis and  he was so impressed by our service, hes offered us most of his items and seeing the summer sun we couldnt refuse

8)Met one business owner whos into home theatre systems. Hes really impressed by our product and given us loads of references … was great fun listening to music on his systems ;–)

Well , ill keep updating my wild and hillarious experiences of being out there on the field, in the sun, facing the crowd..Its not easy… but then this is what drives you each day ;–)

Stay Hungry …Stay Foolish

Most of the books i buy are random and instinctive. Just the other day had been to crosswords and there I came across this wonderfull book “Stay Hungry,Stay Foolish – By Rashmi Bansal”.
I bought the book instantly and read it in one shot.Its an amazingly inspiring book for those who are on the path of entrepreneurship .

Written Below is the authors note ……..

………………………………………………………………………..

Of all the questions we leave unanswered the one that comes back to haunt us the most is : “What if…”

What If Id married my college sweetheart?
What If I had the good sense not to?
What If I had been born in this job market?
What if…
What If Id planned a little less?
What if i had lived a little more?
What if id chucked it all and started my own company?

What if’s are never idle fantasy.These are our hopes,dreams and desires.
Logic and reason are the naphthalene balls we use to pack them away into a sandook called “someday”.But when that day comes we are too old,too poor,too tired or too lazy.
This book is for all those people who seized their moment.So they would not wake up one day with regrets.Of course they saw markets and opportunities and need gaps.But more importantly ,they stood in front of the mirror and saw their true selves.
That self told them it was meaningless to sell soap just because you’re paid well to do so.
That being a corporate slave was the easy option, but not the one that felt right.
That there was something bigger and better to do with their talents.
So they did things others thought were foolish.And they stayed hungry for that something more.

“Stay hungry , Stay foolish” is what steve jobs advised the graduating class of Stanford University in his commencement address to the class of 2005.And that is the motto by which all entrepreneurs I have met for this book have lived.

Each story may be different but at another level they are all the same.The entrepreneur took a leap of faith.Then struggled and strived for years.Before finally achieving a size and scale which made the effort what we call “success”.

For every story there are several who are still struggling out there,struggling ,striving.This book will give them renewed hope and vigour.
And for those who look at themselves in the mirror each morning, before they head out to sell those soaps, I hope you catch in it a glimpse,
A glimpse of your hungry and foolish true self.
…………………………………………………………………………………….

This book has surely provided inspiration,hope, rejuvenation and most importantly shared experiences about those who took the untravelled path .

Illusion of time

Stephen hawkings , A brief history of time , is indeed a wonderful book , and i guess a must read for every physics fan. It really does a great job in explaining the scientific theories about the universe, and about the concept of origin of time. It also raises questions about existence of God, and where the universe is heading too. I have jotted some of the interesting points from the book here.

“Each individual has his own personal measure of time, that depends where he is and how he is moving“

“From a pair of twins, if one is living on top of a mountain and other at sea level, the one at the height will grow old faster than the one at the bottom “

“The universe is growing constantly, with time and equally in all directions. The force of expansion is just higher than the gravitational force, else it would contract itself and  get shrunk ed  “”

“If an astronaut falls into a black hole , its mass will increase , but the energy equivalent of that mass will be returned to the universe in the form of radiation. In a sence the astronaut will be recycled . “

Happy Fools day

Its really been a long time since ive blogged .

Lifes been way to busy, have to devote almost 15- 16 hours in a day to my work.

Today i finish one year after starting my company. Looking back i still recollect those moments when i started. The fear of being alone, the thoughts of traveling on unknown paths , resigning from a so called stable job and trying to do something perceived as totally unstable , That sinking feeling of been lonely and constantly doubted, I just remember everything way to clearly.

But amongst all that one thing that just made me go on and continues to make me go on is “faith” . Ive never felt so satisfied in doing something , as much as i have felt in the last one year.

Its been a great  experience, Ive even made loads of mistakes , but most importantly Ive learnt from them and continue learning from them. Today , each day i am living my dream , and no doubt when u start following them , you somehow feel amazed about how  life gets interesting and opportunities come up and loads of things start falling into place.

There is indeed nothing more exciting ,thrilling and challenging  than trying to start a venture from 0 and make it grow up the ladder towards infinity.