Tag: entrepreneurship

Big Decisions in My Life!!!

~ anandnataraj ~ Leave a comment

Since the time I started my career I had been put under a lot of situations to travel the path of normal life…

Frankly I was not OK in being a common man… I wanted to take The Road Less Traveled and make an impact…

So, I’m fortunate enough to come across tough situations and had to take a lot of big decisions to come across the odds…

Becoming an Entrepreneur: I’ve written it many times but let me tell it again… I had to overcome emotional pressure from my parents, no experience, no financial support and no mentors… It was criticism from all corners…

Breaking up of Partnership: Had to break a eight year partnership where I had to forgo a company I started…

Launching CCS: Started this company immediately after quitting from my previous venture… This was something started with the pain points of previous venture… Again no investment and it was a purely & professionally bootstrapped company…

Launching CT: It is version 2.0 of my previous venture… Launched it after getting peanuts as settlement..

Handling Legal Issues: For almost two years I had to face legal issues from my previous venture’s stakeholders… Facing the legal challenges has taught me how to handle things legally in India..

Breaking my Engagement: This is one decision which puts me into guilt sometimes… But we have to take some decision to avoid unnecessary complication after marriage… In fact that was a part of life where I thought if entrepreneurs are fit to get married..

Reinventing my Technology Business: Wanted to change the culture of the company and brought in a new CTO… Within a year the entire company collapsed expect my CTO & me… We again started it from the scratch and rebuilt the team as well as the company…

All the above things were big decisions in my life which I faced it and survived it!!

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The key to success!!!

~ anandnataraj ~ Leave a comment


Knowingly or Unknowingly all my business ventures have been launched before I ready!!

My first venture Agriya;

  • It was started even before I was out of college!!!
  • Never possessed any technical or interpersonal skills!!! 
  • Could call myself a fresher entrepreneur!!

This was a turning point not in my life but also for a bunch of friends and acquaintances who started their own ventures looking at the success of my first venture!!!

My second venture People Justice Magazine!!!

  • Started at the age of 24!!!
  • No idea on how to run a magazine and that too a Tamil one!!!
  • No expertise on collecting news!!!
  • No experience in editorial!!!

The venture failed as I was not full time into it!!! Also the team I formed didn’t connect with the vision I carried!!! I wanted to go digital during 2005 and the team collapsed for the same reason!!! Today it would have been a great if we have changed!!! Anyway the learnings and connects it gave me was stupendous!!! Also we were able to print magazines for 2 years!!!

My third venture Cogzidel Technologies!!!

  • Started at a time I was broke mentally and monetarily!!!
  • Was running through multiple legal battles!!!
  • Wanted to take a spiritual break but couldn’t!!!

Still running the Show!!! Not reached the heights I anticipated!!! But able to run so far and I’m ready to take a great leap!!

My third venture Cogzidel Consultancy Services!!!

  • Started at a time I was broke mentally and monetarily!!!
  • Was running through multiple legal challenges!!!
  • Wanted to take a spiritual break but couldn’t!!!
  • No idea on what to do & how to do with this venture!!
  • Just started with my pain points but was lacking the operation knowledge!!!
  • My partner Bala was lacking the business knowledge and he was not ready too!!!

Today this company is our identity in India!!! Almost every Startups in Chennai should be aware of CCS!!! In less than a year we got the business & operational knowledge and we are working on great things!!!

My fourth venture Movie Production!!!

  • Didn’t know anything about the industry!!!
  • Didn’t have any capital when we started!!!

The movie flopped miserably!!! But I wouldn’t consider it a loss as it was a crowd funded movie and the loss can be substantiated for the experience of being  associated with the industry!!! 

Also can’t call it a failure yet as I’m on a sabbatical and planning to venture back!! This time not as a producer but as a distributor!!!

But in every case I was not ready with Capital or Experience or Knowledge or Team or any other aspects… But as I perceived everything fell in line and things happened!!!

So, I’d tell anyone running behind SUCCESS to blindly believe in the quote!!

THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS TO START BEFORE YOU’RE READY!!!

Been through these Phases

~ anandnataraj ~ Leave a comment

I’ve personally experienced these phases and saw fit for want to be entrepreneurs to frame it in their drawing room!!

 
 This is why you must not give up;

  • You haven’t tried everything!!
  • You are closer to success than you think!!
  • If you don’t finish, then someone would!!
  • Right before success there is a dark phase!!
  • You will never regret trying until the end!!
  • It’s better to die trying than giving up!!
  • Past failure does not predict the future!!
  • As long as you are alive, anything is still possible!!!

The teen aged Entrepreneurs from Madurai

~ anandnataraj ~ 2 Comments

Last week got a call from my sales folks that a 13 year old CEO from Madurai wanted to meet me… Get impressed by this kids approach and immediately gave them an appointment the next day…

Since his father was busy that day, he was not in a position to make it to office… I didn’t want to disappoint the kid and went to a nice-cream shop near to his house…

He came along with his 15 year old co-founder and they gave a brief intro about them and their ataWAB.COM venture… Frankly got startled to see the way they projected, the vision and clarity they have…

I asked them to come with the expectations on me, swami & cogzidel… The next day kids came with their 14 year old co-founder and the list…

The list goes like this;

– Hosting Support
– Gadgets to review
– Infrastructure
– Mentoring

Without a moment to think we agreed to help these kids and be a part of their success…

Would be glad if you can go thru ataWAB.com and pass your feedback…

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Last to First: S.Anand Nataraj, Syed, Abshiek & Swami…

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Roshan & Anand

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This is how we brainstormed at IBACO…

My First Entrepreneurship Venture

~ anandnataraj ~ 2 Comments

20130908-184814.jpgI always had flair for entrepreneurship from my childhood days… My first entrepreneurship ride started when I was 12… I use to breed fish during my school days and sell them during summer vacation…

I brought 3 big paint barrels and bread fish… Mostly I bread White Molly, Red Molly and Black Molly… Total investment came to less than Rs.30…

By the time my exams were over there were 100’s of fish on each breed… I sold a pair for Re.2 and fish plants for Re1 and ended up making around 1500 bucks which was a big money for a the investment…

The next year I started breeding Fighter(A breed known for fighting)which breeds by laying eggs Rs.10… I experimented by cross breeding fishes…

  • White Molly + Black Molly gave me Chocolate Molly & White Molly with black dots…
  • Red Molly + Black Molly gave me Red Molly with Black Tail…

This time with lot of variety and by starting the breeding process a bit early, my revenue increased to Rs.6000/- the next year…

Finally I had to abandon this venture owing to my mothers pressure… But this was the foundation to my entrepreneurship and this experience helped me to perceive as an entrepreneur at a later stage…

My Business Ventures and Failed Venture Lessons

~ anandnataraj ~ Leave a comment

I started as a freelance at the age if 18 and evolved as an entrepreneur from the age of 20… In last 13 years I’ve had my hand on couple of ventures…

FreeLancer: Between 1998 – 2000 I’ve been a freelance and I’ve been into web design and manpower consultancy…

Agriya: This was my first entrepreneurship venture… Agriya was a Web Services company… I learned the nuances of entrepreneurship… I’ve been a part of this company for 8 years and it was a #success…

Distributor Of a Pharma Product: Invested in this venture to help my friend and I had no earlier experience on the domain… This venture was a #failure…

People Justice: Invested and Operated a fortnightly Tamil Magazine which is into investigative journalism… Learned the nuances of the business where I came to know the types of printing, selecting paper, networking with journalist, editorial, layout design, proof reading and distribution…This venture can also be considered #failure… But still we occasionally keep releasing the issue…

Real Estate Venture: Tried my hands on Real Estate which has created a lot of millions in India… Unfortunately this venture is also a #failure…

Cogzidel Technologies: Cogzidel is a Web, Mobile & Social Media services company… I’m a part of this company for last four and half years…

Cogzidel Consultancy Services: CCS is an accounting and business services company… I’m a part of this company for last four and half years…

In all my #failed ventures I was an investor and I invested to help a friend of mine to settle down… Though I learned from those ventures my main take away is;

– Don’t invest if there is no investment from other partner…
– Don’t invest until the person requesting investment does a business plan and show you some commitment…
– Make tough things in written (agreement) and especially make exit difficult for the person…
– Never invest to help someone… If they give-up you loose your money and the purpose of gesture gets defeated…

Program on Entrepreneurship

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XIME, one of the premier Business Schools in Bangalore holding AICTE’s top accreditation and Business India’s A++ rating in its latest survey, is pleased to announce its 11th training programme in Entrepreneurship Development from April 04 to 30, 2011.

This programme is backed by XIME’s considerable wealth of experience in the teaching of Entrepreneurship over the years by some of XIME’s faculty and also consultants to SMEs.. It will be run at the attractive XIME campus in the heart of the Electronics City of Bangalore.

The diverse aspects of the programme will be covered through sessions at XIME for four weeks followed by a week of Business plan preparation and mentoring.

The broad spectrum of subjects to be covered in the first four weeks will include computer training, followed by lectures on various topics in Entrepreneurship, functional areas of Business, and Key Managerial Skills. The lectures will be interactive in nature and designed to ensure active participation by the trainees. Considerable emphasis will be given on opportunity identification and business plan preparation.

1. Entrepreneurship Competencies
2. I.T Tools & Solutions in Small Business Management
3. Business Opportunity Identification
4. Development of Detailed Project Report
5. Complimentary Skills Development
6. Key functional areas
7. Liaisoning with Promotional Agencies
8. Mentor Programme

There will be a number of experience sharing sessions on successes and failures in small enterprise management.
Interested people can contact Mr.Venkatesh (09845020538 or venkat@xime.org).  For more details plz visit:  http://www.xime.org/edp.asp