Romance is so much like entrepreneurship. No? Nothing teaches you life lessons any better than being in love.
By Aniket Deb
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With Valentine's week playing out in high decibels, I wondered what a relationship experience can teach you which the famous mediums like books, videos, articles, listicles, seminars, conferences or meetings can only attempt.
Let's face it: a majority of us have been through a torrid romance with heartbeats racing, hands holding, hugging and kissing, tears and fighting, only to find ourselves parting. After all, as entrepreneurs, our passion and loyalty has an altogether different priority.
On days, when the entrepreneur in you is scared of traversing new avenues, allow yourself to reminisce how you survived the torrid "head-over-heels" romance.
Here are the top 4 memories you can hark for the needful motivation!
1. Never give up: Oh! How you wrote those lengthy mails and sent expensive birthday gifts, feeling contented with a simple "Thank You'! You were the Secret Santa, the Mysterious Valentine, the Silent Keeper. All those long nights spent in waiting for one text message, stalking his/her social media for an update, befriending mutual friends or worshipping Ross Geller - you just did NOT give up!
Then why not feel the same for the one idea you have bet your life on? So, the customer response is slow, there was a negative remark or the product idea is still unclear. But you can still make it to the top, starting afresh with new vigour. Remember the day when you finally decided to propose? That sure took a lot of guts and optimism, didn't it?
If you get slapped on one cheek, show the other: Maybe the first date did not really go as planned. While expectation and reality were hanging on opposite poles, recollect the time when you still went ahead and gave an awkward goodnight kiss. This was your genius (read : creepy) way to make up for everything that went wrong.
2. Everyday in a startup is like that first date: A hundred VC meetings and still nothing? Split with the co-founder? In the end, you make up for the failures with optimised innovations which either give positive results or put you down for good. But it also teaches you to pick yourself up and send a "Good Morning ' message the very next day!
3. Everything will fall into place, when the right idea comes along: All it takes is one idea to create massive waves of change. Hmmm...wonder where you picked that one from!
Today, when you look back at the moment he/she smiled and thought- "This is it', I think you already know what I am talking about. Suddenly the scattered puzzle pieces questioning your existence, start to fall in place. All the hitherto inexplicable reasons unfold slowly into a purpose.
Honestly, this feeling is exactly alike to starting a venture. Seeing it grow, become successful and finally creating a dent in the universe, is what makes the struggle worth it!
All it takes is just one idea.
4. Plenty of ideas in the sea: Let's just say your venture could not hold itself out for long. Be it the market, lack of funding, poor team management or business models, your dream of changing how the world functions failed.
So did that first serious relationship.
After the gorgeous few months, you did not bother holding your horses. You gave them a drawer at home and envisioned your partner tagging along on all your solo holiday plans. You even changed your financial plans to accommodate their present and future needs. Everything was planned, until things started to go awry.
The one thing you learnt from your "this-isn't-it-I-was-mistaken' partner, is how after a period of no shower, sad movie marathons, ice cream tubs and liters of alcohol, you stumbled upon another person. And it happened all over again- eyes met, hearts beat and yes, you got all ready to hop onto the roller coaster, albeit a little wiser this time round!
So, remind yourself one important thing. There are plenty of untapped issues out there. The customers can never anticipate what they really need, thus setting entrepreneurs like us apart. Everything is one big complex problem, waiting to be solved. With sleeker technology and advancements in research, finding newer horizons to attack has never been this easy.
Entrepreneurship is all about initiation. So is romance. Running a startup is hard work. So is sustaining your relationship. Developing your company is all about perseverance, just like being in love against all odds.
So, if you are single, then find someone, fall in love or fail in love, experience the little joys of togetherness or admire your inner strength after that separation, because nothing teaches you life lessons any better than being in love.
