Learnings from a Global Entrepreneur

It was 3 years back around now that I took my final decision to be an environmental and sustainability consulting entrepreneur and made it even more interesting by focusing on two different geographies (US and India) 12,000 KM apart.? I always believed in traversing through the path “less travelled” as Robert Frost said many years back. My post on that day is reproduced below.

I want to share some of my key highlights and learnings from these experiences that may be useful for others that may follow the same path:

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1.??????? As challenging as an 8-5 job may seem for you today, it is much more difficult being a entrepreneur.? While your timings are flexible, there is no more a possibility of a Switch On/Off as is possible with a regular day or night job and you have to be available for the right opportunity 24/7.

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2.??????? You will go through a cash flow roller coaster.? The variability in cash flows is staggering, where sometimes you will make 3X what you made in a month as an employee and on the other end, you may go months without an income.? Even if you have a sufficient retirement nest egg as I believe I do, due to the mental conditioning of someone who received a paycheck month to month for 20+ years, there is always an underlying financial fear and anxiety.

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3.??????? Being an entrepreneur, especially a solopreneur can be a lonely place. You can probably count the number of solopreneurs that have been in business for 2 or more years successfully with the fingers in your hand.? The allure of going back to a pay check is a lot more tempting than grinding though the harder times.?

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4.??????? For many salaried individuals that want to be entrepreneurs, the medical insurance provided by the company seems to be the biggest constraint from taking the leap.? I personally have felt that with the health marketplace in the US and the affordability of health insurance in India, this should not be the reason for holding back.? I say this as someone who was diagnosed with a brain stroke and hospitalized two days before starting the company.

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5.??????? As your own boss, you have the creative freedom to do things your own way and set things like travel on your own schedule.? The overall financial upside is likely much higher if your skills and standards of professionalism are high.

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6.??????? At the end of the day, as an entrepreneur, you set your mind free, especially if you are in a job that feels like a rut.?

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7.??????? Also, you can determine the level of independence you want.? I chose to be a solopreneur and have made the happiness quotient important by making a limited amount of money and not dealing with the challenges that come with fast growth. Some of my very successful former colleagues have gone a different direction where they have grown leaps and bounds by running the company in partnerships and they seems to be happier than when they were salaried as well. ?But it is clearly not for everyone.

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So, to conclude, will I be a entrepreneur forever or go back?? The answer for today is hell, yes; though the nature of the business is such that I may be forced to change my mind tomorrow.? ?

I love the field of environmental and sustainability consulting.? If done correctly, this field utilizes mathematics, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, software proficiency, legal understanding (You sometimes become a better lawyer than most lawyers in a topic of competence for you), government interactions, arts and much more, giving a lot of exercise for your brains and providing great job satisfaction while helping the environment.?

But entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be restrictive to a single domain.? In fact, the truth is that I am getting ready to launch a second business (relating to services for returning people of Indian origin) before the end of 2025 and couldn’t be more excited about it.??

Finally, a shout out to my old friend, Allen Lewis, a former Cougarfund Alumni, who first introduced me to LinkedIn over 17 years back.? Over these years, I have developed a sense of community that I couldn’t have with other social media outlets.? And thank you to my LinkedIn family across the globe for being there for me the last 3 years. I have never felt alone as an entrepreneur thanks to this group of people.

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