The Worst Decision of My Life and How I Made it Work for Me

Life is unpredictable and at the same time very interesting.

I can’t count the number of times I have taken bad decisions. I am not perfect…you are not perfect…guy next door is not perfect….no one is. But what to do once a bad decision has been taken. Is there any solution to a decision which didn’t turn out to be the best one? Is there any answer?

During my mid-life crisis (such dramatic narrative fondly reminds of me getting old J ), I left the corporate world and started my own company.

Was it the right decision? No. I can be honest. It was the worst decision of my life. I started an organization but the business didn’t take off. I hired and finally fired some really good employees. I made a beautiful office but could not pay the rent after some time. I had some savings which vanished in some time.

Did I go through mental stress? Yes

Did I go through emotional stress? Yes

Did I go through financial stress? Yes

Post my failure as an entrepreneur, I had only these options left:

a) Go back to the corporate world

b) Loan and start another venture

c) Find a good partner to start another business

Thank god that I opted for the third option.

I had a very interesting run. I learnt the entire process of owning and running a bigger business with higher accountability. It taught me the end to end responsibility as the owner, as the co-founder and as the CEO of a large business.

You must be thinking that why did I choose the difficult path of starting another start up and didn’t go back to the corporate world?

I think I largely owe this credit to the mentors I had during that period. By that time, because of my experience as an entrepreneur, I had developed a sense of ownership and lot of confidence in my abilities. My risk appetite grew exponentially and still is. 

We, as humans, may or may not take the right decision every time. However, our aim should be to explore the best possible options post that decision. It is entirely up to me to make the best out of the situation I was in. You need to own your decisions.

Since the time I have started my entrepreneur life, I have learnt lifelong lessons which are not being taught in any management institutes. I would not have learnt these lessons so deeply otherwise.

Because I ran two businesses with 100% accountability before my current assignments therefore:

·      I have developed a deep sense of gratitude towards my employees

·      I was able to push myself to own the stress of running the business and make it successful

·      I realized the value of every penny in my pocket

·      I understood the mindset of a CEO as I never was the one before

·      I was able to push myself to understand the mindset and actual need of the customers as I was desperate to make a sale every day

These lessons are so deep that it actually changed me as an individual. No amount of college education could have made me learn them but real experience.

You might be a student who never wanted to do an MBA but is doing one. Don’t run away. Try to explore and evaluate your current situation. Understand how many skills you can learn. Being an MBA student has a very distinct advantage. You can do as many live projects/short internships as you can to improve your weak areas. You can do multiple internships in any field of your choice. You must find at least one mentor from your network. If you are a future entrepreneur, there would be many people like me whom you can contact and get guidance.

You might be an entrepreneur with a struggling start up. And you have invested your heart and soul besides your money in your business. Your start up might be struggling but you can always acquire a very deep insights in the sector you are working in. Your insights, experience and knowledge could actually land you a good job, if at all you decide to go back to the corporate world.

You might be one of those corporate employees who may not be doing what you love and are rather stuck in a role which you hate. Take some time out to find your weaknesses and start working on improving them. Get yourself ready for the next venture with your new improved self.

Whichever situation you are in, you can always have an option to learn something new…something good out of it.

Don’t lose your heart and also opportunities from your current situation and make the best use of the time you have on this planet.

Stay hungry man!

Love & Respect,

Nikhil Singh

NDIM

India Centre for Global Excellence

International Skills Centre India

Think HR India