5 lessons from Mukesh Bansal on Entrepreneurship

It was an honor to meet Mr. Mukesh Bansal, Co-Founder of Myntra, Cure-Fit as part of the YEA! India Program. A very down-to-earth personality who was punctual and consciously present at the happenings of the entire program with finesse!

His journey on being an entrepreneur is quite commendable and he sure was an inspiration to the entire lot of children, parents and fellow entrepreneurs whom he was addressing at the program.

Here goes his 5 lessons on Entrepreneurship

• Long Journey: Being an entrepreneur is a long journey that one has to walk and be prepared for the long haul. He mentioned that his early 13 years as an entrepreneur were the most difficult and arduous. "With no spotlight, a lot of hardships the journey was exhausting. Keep certain milestones for the months, years and that can keep you to track as to where is the growth happening. And one has to be ambitious enough to go ahead and work with a lot of zeal."
• Be thick skinned: One has to have the willingness to be misunderstood by the people, stakeholders. He says, "Entrepreneurship is one of the professions where there will be a lot more setbacks and one has to be comfortable with failures. And one need not worry about what people are going to say. If you have the conviction as to what your product/ service is, it will take some time or years for people to recognize your product or service but you have to be persistent!"
• Flexibility and Adaptability: One can start with certain assumptions but over time, it may change. So, an entrepreneur has to have the virtue of being adaptable to changing situations, technology and ideas. Owing to the current venture, he says, "We started with a few assumptions for our new venture on Day 1 but we have discarded it over the months and started from a new perspective!"
• Team: It is very important to have right people who believe in your product and who can fit into the culture of the organization. He says, "Being a startup, one has to be ready to work in ambiguous environments, be passionate about the work and be ready to take on any unforeseen changes." He highlighted on the need to have people who share a vision and have complimentary skills which one can bring forth to work in a team.
• Product: It is really important to have a product which serves the need and has a competitive advantage over the competitors. It is of utmost importance for any entrepreneur to have a stellar product because that would be the basis of the entire business.

All in all, it was a wonderful talk and it did invoke the thinking hat in the young entrepreneurial minds and others aspiring entrepreneurs too.

So, are you an entrepreneur? How has been your journey so far? Do you have any more lessons to add onto?