By In the present time, I have been witnessing the galvanized rise of the startup community. The growth from a bootstrapped startup to unicorn status is in a brief time. In the light of this abrupt swing, a profound thought crossed my mind:
“Not all business owners are entrepreneurs, but all entrepreneurs are certainly business owners.
The global startup ecosystem thrives, boasting an astonishing 150 million startups. Notably, India’s rise in this domain has been remarkable, with recognized startups soaring from 445 in 2016 to an impressive 86,713 by February 8, 2023. This growth in startup community bandwidth indicates a burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit fueled by an unwavering zeal to make the change by being the change. Indian soil has been reckoned as the land of jugaad since ancient times. Indians are innovative entrepreneurs at heart, who are brimming with passion in order to invent disruptive solutions to the world’s quandaries.
Commemorating that entrepreneurial spirit, I find many startup ventures lose their shine as they meddle with a short lived dream of earning unicorn status. In my honest opinion, startups serve as an incubation center for revolutionary ideas to germinate and see the light of day. It is a platform to translate discovered ideas into tangible solutions that can script the tales of transformation. Hence, a successful startup has a long path to travel before becoming an established entrepreneur.
Yearning to become the unicorns of tomorrow seems to be a common goal amongst these tech wizards, but it takes a lot more guts and grit to emerge as a well-rounded entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is about holistic growth by delivering a long-term value proposition to all its stakeholders, i.e., employees, customers, and investors.
While I take liberty to exhibit my pearls of wisdom as my journey of entrepreneurship is just about 45 years 🙂. To fuel my burgeoning passion, I stepped out of my comfort zone, walked upon a lesser-traveled road, and delved into a high-risk appetite zone of entrepreneurship. This self-discover journey played a pivotal role in building voice of my own. According to me, the true success is ascertainable beyond a green balance sheet that helps in making a real difference to the humanity.
Entrepreneurship proclaims an agile mindset, a resilient attitude, and an indomitable spirit. When you aim to be a unicorn, your growth pace is quick enough to dominate the market, but when you’re an entrepreneur, building up long lasting company needs power of benevolence. We need to prioritize robust foundations, trust people in building blocks, nurture customers, cultivate values, and harness financial prudence to become leaders in the domain.
Trust me, ‘No one-size-fits-all formula’ exists on this planet. The journey, the hurdles, and the roadmap are unique and customized for each one of us. Striving beyond the confines of unicorn status will propel one to expand their skill horizons. Cast a wider net for upskilling beyond fundraising and scalability, where one can delve into leadership, team building, fostering customer loyalty, and refining business strategies. By embracing this comprehensive approach, we will be empowered to build a resilient and sustainable business that will help navigate through all the challenging tides.
Defining the real essence of success beyond celebrating prestigious victories, is to build a value chain with the pure intent of ‘giving back to society’.
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