I vividly remember our relocation from Singapore to India. My parents' entrepreneurial endeavours drove us to Coimbatore in India. I was around ten years old at the time and it seemed like a long vacation. Having spent my formative years in the comfort of a developed country like Singapore, India was very alien to me. Everything was moving around me very quickly. In a blink of the eye, I was in a new school, we had moved into a small apartment, my parents started a company and soon they rented a small factory. At the time I was not aware of what my parents were doing and how it was going change everything. However, I did learn over time.
Both my parents have founded and managed several other ventures before I was born. However, Ampere Vehicles Pvt Ltd was the venture I grew up around. I was probably around nine or ten when my parents started Ampere. I saw an idea translate into something tangible, which involved manufacturing a product in a factory, a team of over hundred people, investors who saw potential, customers who believed in the product, dealers who wanted to distribute and sell the product. Over the years, I saw how my parents built what they built.
This is not a 'How to become an entrepreneur 101' article, but more of an insight into what I observed over the years and what I learnt from both my parents.
1) If the first 100 times don't work, try the 101th time.
When my parents started Ampere, it was something new for the two of them. Ampere focused on manufacturing electric bikes specifically designed for people coming from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. They had to do a lot of research. How should the bike be designed to fit different demographies, what should the price points be, how to reduce manufacturing costs, how to sell the product, how to raise funds etc. I saw my parents try and try and try until they figured out what worked and what didn't. This process was not something that was done in days, it took them years, so much of R&D. It is a time consuming process to fix the same problem again and again, but if you believe in the solution, then you got to keep going at it. My father would say "Each time something pushes you down, get up and fight. You become stronger each time you fall". So if something doesn't get solved the first time, I always keep in mind that I have more than a hundred attempts to figure out how to solve it.
2) Your internal well-being matters.
When you are immersed in your venture, as an entrepreneur, you dictate your working hours, because you are your own employee. My parents breathed work. They worked in the factory and worked at home. Sometimes my father stayed over in the factory, especially during the initial years of Ampere. The stress of work is different when you are an entrepreneur, and I understood that from my parents. My mother would constantly emphasise to me the importance of doing activities that would care for your inner-self. Over the years I saw how meditation and yoga helped her tackle extremely difficult situations at work with poise. My father who loved to travel would go on these small road trips and I believe this was something that he enjoyed that helped him relax internally. As a very anxious person myself, I realised that I'm always restless and constantly stress about the near future. Music and painting calms me and gives me inner peace allowing me to let go of the thoughts that constantly circle me. Find what works for your inner-self and give some time to do that regularly.
3) Learn to Delegate.
This is something I learnt from both my parents over the years but I learned this in great detail from a conversation I had with my father. He said, "Pay someone else to do tasks that anyone could do. Focus on the tasks that only you can do and no one else can. That is where you show your value." Sometimes when we like things done a certain way, we end up taking more responsibility to do things the way 'we want it to be done'. But in a professional setting, when running a venture that has over a million of issues at a given time, this mindset is futile here. My mother would say, "I delegate so I can focus on what is priority". I have learnt from my parents that delegating tasks also helps to reduce stress as you don't have too much on your plate to handle.
4) Always ask. Don't be shy.
We are always learning and whilst learning we need help. We can choose to stay quiet and wait for help to come by our way or, we can just step out of our bubble and ask for help. Mr Ratan Tata (Tata Group) and Kris Gopalakrishanan (Former Vice Chairman of Infosys) are just a couple individuals who have invested in Ampere. How did this happen? My mother just reached out and asked. It sounds simple, but my mother would tell me how difficult it was to ask for money for fund-raising. When an entrepreneur is asking for money, the money offered upon request represents the trust someone entrusts on you as well as your venture. It is a huge responsibility. My mother would emphasise the importance of valuing the trust investors had placed on her and the same time, working towards ensuring that that trust is not broken in terms of return. This is also applicable when learning how things work. When my parents built Ampere for the first time, this was new to the both of them. They learnt every inch of the business by asking and asking more. As an introverted person myself, I always hesitate to take the first step. Especially if that means asking about something I don't know. Over the years I have tried to step out of this bubble and become more vocal. I'm still learning!
5) Your personal life is as important as your profession life.
No matter how busy my parents were with Ampere, they never missed out on any event that involved my sister and I. My parents always prioritised their family and ensured that they were always there to support us. Be it sports day, attending every parent-teachers meeting, take us to the hospital, celebrate our achievements with us, plan family trips, my parents were always there with us. It is easy to get carried away when building a venture with a million things to do at a given time, but I have learnt from my parents to always prioritise family. As my father would say, "Family comes first. Always.".
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