#6 Things I Learnt from my Entrepreneurial Journey BVR Mohan Reddy is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Cyient India Ltd, a global engineering and geospatial service provider headquartered in Hyderabad. Additionally, he has also served as the Chairman of NASSCOM and CII –Southern Region.
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BVR Mohan Reddy is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Cyient India Ltd, a global engineering and geospatial service provider headquartered in Hyderabad. Additionally, he has also served as the Chairman of NASSCOM and CII –Southern Region. He is also the Founding Director of T-Hub, country's largest incubation centre for startups.
Speaking at the Franchise India Conference, BVR imparted some of the key learnings from his entrepreneurial journey.
#1 Dream Big
It doesn't cost you anything to dream big. And by dreaming, it's not about dreaming about the next movie you are going to be watching or day dreaming. You need to dream about what you exactly want to be in life. Think about an idea you want to work on and the idea doesn't have to be copied from the United States it needs to be unique.
If uniqueness does not exist in an idea, then the product idea does not last long.
#2 Constantly innovate yourself
You cannot stop learning once you receive your degrees. You need to innovate yourself alongside changing industry trends.
Today one needs to improvise his organization continuously, for instance automation. If a company today stands up and says I don't want to introduce automation in my processes, he will be left at a limbo. You need to make sure that you introduce the right tools so that you can implement automation in your existing business structure.
#3 The importance of people
At every stage of entrepreneurship, your team becomes a very critical aspect of your organization. As you climb up the ladder, choosing the right team becomes extremely important for your organization. You need to tell your story to draw the right people into your organization and make them believe in your dream.
Stability is very important at every stage of your company's life span as it can really make or break the future of your organization. Another things companies fail to realize is who eventually adds value to your organization! Every single employee is important and it's important to share your wealth and increase employee engagement within the company. It's important to inculcate a sense of ownership within the organization.
#4 Profit is not a bad word
Unless you make money, you will not be able to survive. Profitability is a key to success for any organization. Invest in companies that can make money, if companies can't reap profits, they are not something I would choose to invest in.
#5 Choose your investors wisely
When it comes to venture capital, it's not a bad thing to raise external funds. But one must be careful not to raise money when you are in desperate need of it. Nobody will give you money and it will hurt your valuation. Be prepared to raise money much ahead in time before you know you have the last ounce of funding left. We have always raised money from those who can help you build your company. Ask your investors whether they can help you build your brand, improve governance, help in networking and help you hire the right people.
#6 Customer is GOD!
I have customers who have stayed with me for over 25 years and hence I value customer stickiness. The customer's main concern is the value you create for his company and that is how you can become sticky to him. You need to constantly keep engaging with your customer and understand what he is looking for at every stage. It's important to conduct several levels of customer feedback.
BVR's areas of technology includes disruptive technology, innovation in engineering, education, skills and entrepreneurship.
