A Concept Called

Entrepreneurship
As an adolescent, one is susceptible to delusions of grandeur. When I first came across the term
‘entrepreneur’, I was struck by how regal it sounded. I immediately wanted to be one - a reaction one
would come to expect from an impressionable 14 year old. The trouble was I hadn’t the faintest idea as
to what an entrepreneur did. What was worse, and I cannot stress this enough, was that I did not even
have the means to find out. The lack of knowledge is excusable. The lack of a system to find out what
you don’t know is not.

The idea remained, and for a long time, I ignored it. When it was time to start making difficult career
choices, it cropped up again, and this time, I had developed the maturity and intellectual integrity to
contend with the concept. This is not to say that I didn’t struggle with it. It would be irresponsible of me
to state outright that I grasped it. The truth is, entrepreneurship is a multifaceted idea, and each time
you think you’ve finally got it, it throws another dimension your way and makes you re-evaluate your
understanding of it.

Perhaps this Hydra analogy is not completely apt. As robust and unyielding as it makes it sound, being an
entrepreneur is delicate work. I realized this when I had the opportunity to interact with an entrepreneur
for the very first time. My father had introduced me to the man and I managed to convince him to let me
observe what he did, while he did it, for a few days. I did my homework, studied up on the different
domains of a company, got confused when it came to operations, and reached his office at 8:30 the next
morning. It was a small company, albeit a successful one, and I had full confidence that by the end of the
day I would have a maestro’s insight into what an entrepreneur did. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The day started off sluggishly enough. My ‘mentor’ walked in at 8:45. He sipped on a cup of coffee while
he regarded me with perplexity, mixed with a tinge of annoyance. Then, without a word, he flipped open
his laptop, opened Outlook, and replied to e-mails for the next 8 hours. He didn’t even break for lunch.
Of course, I contained my fury over a day completely and utterly wasted, wished him a pleasant life, and
proceeded to never be a part of it again. In hindsight, that day taught me the most important lesson of
my life. It taught me that you cannot be taught to be an entrepreneur. As an authorial note, I will urge
the reader at this point, not to undermine the significance of this fact. Also, I will make it clear, that being
taught something and learning something are concepts that are poles apart, and I never said that one
cannot learn to be an entrepreneur… food for thought.

Anyway, fast forwarding a little bit, I had started to prepare for my MBA interviews when next I had to
tackle with the term entrepreneurship. By this time, I really had gotten weary of it and it affected me, I
admit, negatively. The simplest definitions I had come across proved to be too weak to properly
conceptualize the term. Unfortunately, the most exotic ideas that I could relate with it were just that –
too exotic. I needed to find equilibrium, and it was proving to be quite a challenge. I decided to change
my strategy this time. Instead of seeking opinions on the matter, I decided to try to evaluate, with my
limited understanding, whether or not I wanted to be an entrepreneur. The answer? Well, I still don’t
have one, but the idea did prove to be fruitful.
Anyone who has ever made a business plan, a comprehensive one, will understand this. When you get
over the initial hurdles of what, why, where, when and how, and provided you have taken into account
all the variables involved, to the best of your abilities, you get an instance of clarity as to whether the
business will work or not. I attempted to make a business plan. I rocketed through the pre-cursors. I kept
into account all that could possibly go wrong… I realized that my idea belonged in the trash can, next to
the half-eaten banana from the day before. It was a futile exercise, but it was most informative. The
sense of management of an infant commercial venture was so vast and so intricate, that it gave me a
first-hand insight – an epiphany even – into what it means to be an entrepreneur.

My knowledge on the matter was further enhanced when I came to Hyderabad to pursue my PGDM. At
NMIMS, I could share my views with others who had struggled with entrepreneurship like I had. Sharing
learnings and opinions with like-minded people was an unexpected, but much appreciated, vent. A
certain consolidation of the group’s experiences is what took place and we corrected each other’s
misgivings and misunderstandings on the topic.

If you ask me today what an entrepreneur does, I will only say, that an entrepreneur does whatever he
or she must do - nurture and feed an idea so that it can grow into a sustainable entity. This is the most
comprehensive definition of entrepreneurship that I can possibly iterate. It may not be academically
appropriate, but it is, nevertheless, the most truthful statement I can come up with. A good picture is
one where the artist can convey the most meaning with the least content. And this definition paints the
perfect picture of a concept called entrepreneurship.