Needle and Sword

"Do not undermine the small for the big. What a needle can do, a sword cannot"
Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana

Excellence is binary!

"Why has no one taught us that excellence is a binary attitude that is or isn't? There are no shades of it!"

Ref: "Of Cabbages and Kings", INSIGHTS, Entrepreneur magazine (Mar 2014)

Vision - a defining trait of entrepreneurship

Vision - One of the defining traits of entrepreneurship is the ability to spot an opportunity and imagine something where others haven't.

Reference: Joe Robinson, Special Feature, Entrepreneur Magazine, February 2014 issue

I want to work with those can teach me

Dilip Kapur (Founder of Hidesign bags) on the connection with Louis Vuitton which picked up a stake in Hidesign in 2007.
"They offered 20 percent. We lowered it to 5 percent because I did not need their money.
I've always said the only people I want to work with are those who can teach me. I don't want to work with those who can grow me or give me money."

Reference: Second Lead, Entrepreneur Magazine, February 2014 issue

Ethical way to do Business

Jeff Hoffman (Founder and Partner, Colorjar) on Ethics and Business...

Ethics is about always doing the right thing. It means making long-term decisions. Lets take an example. Say the customer is mad about a wrong delivery even though it was his mistake. Some people would say, let us not return the money because it was the customer's mistake. That is a short-term decision. The long-term decision says that you can have your money back because we want you to be our customer.
A great example is Zappos. They do this amazing thing. If you don't know what your shoe size is, they will ship you two pairs. Why? Because they trust you as a customer. A lot of people said that they would lose all these shoes because people won't return them. But that did not happen at all. What the customer said wad, "Ethically I feel so honored that you trust me. I will ship the shoes back." So instead of the company saying, "I am going to charge you for two and refund the money," they took the approach of "I trust you and I want you to be happy." And their business won.

Reference: In Conversation, Entrepreneur magazine, February 2014 issue

The most successful people operate at the intersection of three things - passion, skill set and opportunity

"If you are an entrepreneur now or are looking to be one, don't be too opportunistic but be a bit more strategic about it.
The most successful people operate at the intersection of three things - passion, skill set and opportunity."

Reference : Avnish Bajaj, Co-Founder and MD, Matrix India, "In Conversation", Entrepreneur Magazine, Jan 2014

Business has only two functions - marketing and innovation

"Milan Kundera has rightfully said: Business has only two functions - marketing and innovation.

I have seen too many startups fail because of their inability to recognize and embrace this crucial fact."

Reference: Ajai Chowdhury, "Ajai's Take", Entrepreneur Magazine, Jan 2014

Selling ice to an Eskimo

"If you know how to pitch it right, even an Eskimo will be game"
"Eskimos don't really need ice machines. But then real need has nothing to do with sales. As long as we can 'create' a need for our products in the minds of our consumers, they will buy."

Lesson 1 - "Sell vanity and status, not the product"
"Our first meeting is with Koda, a 35-year old eskimo who has a wife and a young daughter. He invites us in his house for a demonstration of our machine. I have brought a baby pink machine with me, knowing very well that girls like pink. I can see his wife looking very lovingly at the machine.
I say, Koda, you are a successful man. You need to have this ice machine at home to make your wife happy and for your relatives to realize that you can afford to buy what they could never imagine. If you buy my machine, I promise I will not sell this machine to any of them.
Koda smiles. I have just used the first and basic trick of sales: 
Sell vanity and status, not the product. The image-hungry consumer will buy."

Lesson 2 - "If required, sell fear to sell your product"
"Atka is in his early 50s and lives with his extended tribe members. With a strong and compelling voice, I tell Atka : Sir you are the guardian...and this ice machine of our makes sure that any crystal of ice your tribe eats is safe and absolutely disease-free. A person like you will never take a chance when you know that a safer alternative is available. The tribe and its health come before everything else."

Lesson 3 - "Sell innovation, innovation and innovation"
"Our third meeting is with Hiti. He is a young man who has just started a restaurant and is very busy. It's been difficult to arrange a meeting with him. Inside his rather cold, blue colored restaurant called "Tihi", Hiti barely smiles and asks us to come straight to the point. I request for a glass of water and he beckons the bartender to serve us.
The moment I get my glass, I quickly slip my hand in my jacket and place what I have been carrying inside my pocket, safely into the glass.
These are real ice carvings, fashioned in the name "Tihi".
Hiti is stunned when he sees pretty delicate ice carvings carrying the name of his restaurant floating in our glasses."

"Always remember that sales is not a process or science. It is an art. It is a dedication, a mediation, and a journey that is unique every time you embark on it. When you really want to sell something, just dive into your buyer's souls and they will tell you how to sell to them."

Reference : Alok Kejriwal - Entrepreneur Magazine, "Thinking & Doing", Jan 2014