How to win a lost Battle ?

"If you want to take your mission in the life to next level , don't look outside yourself. Look Inside" .. Rahul Kapoor Jain , Entrepreneur & Speaker . Author of "Work Wise"

Rohit was working as Vice President Sales in a Multinational Travel Company before he started his own Travel Site and customized tour business. First 6 month was like a Honeymoon period when every one was talking about Rohit’s bold step to come out of the rat race and his media friends were excited to know his plans for future and publish stories about his childhood.

His Venture picked up like a Rocket , thanks to his good saving habit through which he could afford to pay good salary to his first 5 junior staff managing 5 verticals he created like his previous company had. He pitched hard to his client contacts , got few big assignments basis his commitment and passion for Industry. He was hoping to close leads at 5X rate than others because of his 20 years of experience and expertise in the Industry . He was regular speaker and authority to speak on what's happening in Travel Industry thanks to support extended by vast research his previous company did in this space spending millions on expensive consultants.

He created a nice website which was mobile responsive and started creating buzz in the market that very soon his venture will go Global. Being a Sales person , he never wanted to loose a deal due to pricing and beating biggies and well known portals in their own game was his hobby.

He approached few Investors within his network after signing up few corporate deals and then the reality started biting him .

Mr. Rohit , what matrix you are following is outdated ? When will you make money ? Why are you playing on thin margin ? What is your plan to deliver your targets ? How are you going to build the team to deliver ? How do you plan to prevent lead loss or customer going direct after taking all clues from you ? Do you have any idea how market leaders will behave ? How are you going to make margins , going thinner than paper ?

Rohit’s formal education from INSEAD , France helped him answering these hard questions more diplomatically , but he knew that there is a fundamental problem which he has to fix before it is too late.

He was advised by some senior to hire a CEO who can take care of these problems , so he did. But after some time conflict started between two of them because CEO was talking about reducing the speed at which Rohit wanted to grow his venture and spread out faster due to his fear of missing out something big. CEO was more worried about delivery and building capabilities and capacities to create customer wow. CEO quit after some time and Rohit brought a friend of him as co-founder to manage the show.

Team of Junior staff were burning midnight oil every day and soon started falling apart. He lost his client base due to poor service delivery and Rohit started going to pub everyday instead of Gym for which he paid Annual membership. His chain smoking , drinking and surfing internet for hours made him a dull salesman and he started avoiding and re-scheduling important client meetings. His media friends were excited to publish his stories because they wanted “masala” from him , which he generously gave without any hitch. His popularity in social media was increasing but his business matrix was not picking up. He increased his SEO , SMO and Digital Marketing spend double with the hope to covert more leads into deals. But his Customer service & capacity building budget was reduced to “Nil”. His personal network of friends started distancing because he was always boasting his “social image” and super imposing his “virtual success” on to them. His family was disturbed due to his behavior change because he was like a deer running and jumping in the mirage of Desert.

This is story of many startup and founders today and one of biggest reason for them not achieving business success is failing to build foundation strong and  “capacity” to deliver. It is easy and essential to celebrate your small success , your first few rounds of funding ,  but it is vital to ensure that your first few customers become your biggest brand ambassadors .

Being in Sales , Rohit never had experience of customer delivery , Finance & Profitability , Pricing and Costing and how to manage Cashflow. He offered wrong pricing models and ventured into high credit period for his premium clients. He was quick to pay to his vendors but failed to recover his sales proceeds because he believed that his junior accountant will do this part. It resulted into cash dry outs and he was forced to sell his assets to fuel the business which was not growing actually.

After being advised by a close family friend , he signed up for Mentorship. Unfortunately , in India there is no school or formal mentorship network for Startup founders or first generation of business owners. Even So called mentors are running their own business of advisory , training or co-working spaces and many times turn out to be money lenders in the name of Angel Investing. He was not convinced with this idea initially , but after 2 session , he found that most of his problems were common and he was unaware of solutions which were time tested and if applied could prove better results.

He stopped his burnings immediately and started focus on few things at a time. He renewed his Gym membership and discontinued his Drinking club visits. Listening to motivational leaders and working on the process, training his junior staff and engaging religiously with his customers in hand made him turning his venture into a profitable one in 6 month time. He stopped taking call of distractors who were wasting his time and energy for their own unfulfilled dreams.

Do not allow someone else dream become your reality , was the mantra he started following by heart. He started giving quality time to his family and college going kids , who then started teaching him about what millennials want ? It was a big lesson for him because no one every taught him about this growing customer class of millennials which is even a mystery for world’s best companies selling product and services.

SME space is crowded with startup today and there are many extra ordinary professionals jumping into the ring to try their luck with business.  

Never do Business like a Job and Never do Job like a Business. Both are two different streams and require different mind-set.  Collaboration , Listening skills, Inter-personal skills, soft skills and curiosity to learn , change and move on is part and parcel of business success.

Rohit is now not running after the award selling companies , neither he has inclination to achieve 50000 page views and fake reviews. He is a smart businessman who is cracking deals , delivering business and paying well to his staff wherein 80% of them are on Fixed + variable compensation plans. He ensure that every customer help him bring more customer and personally engage with them through his unbeatable style of stepping into their shoes.

Happy Entrepreneurship Rohit !!

Disclaimer - Rohit is an imagination and views expressed are personal. Reach out to [email protected] for any disagreement or clarification about How to build capacity for a sustainable growth. How to use innovation to help you grow your business into a Cash flow positive venture from the very first year ? How to save yourself from the honey trap put by your competitors , greedy investors and your own self limiting beliefs and negative affirmations from childhood days. How to make unlearning as part of game to succeed before others and adopt healthy practices to invest on process , people and profits. This story is not an advise or solution because every brain is unique and different . Every situation need prior examination before jumping into conclusion. This is a narrative of real life experiences we had with few of our clients and without naming them , we want to be share the benefit of their learning with readers of this article.

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Rishabh Kumar Sawansukha, Founder BizStreet.biz