This January, I completed 4 years of becoming a self-employed professional. Time has flown by so fast that I did not even realize it has been a while since I turned entrepreneur. These 4 years have undoubtedly been the biggest learning curve of my professional career, a mixed bag of successes and failures and above all an emotions-filled roller coaster ride.

So what have been my learnings thus far? Are there any takeaways which I can share with openness and candor? How has the journey been in these 4 years? Have there been joys and sorrows in the course of the journey…? I share my thoughts below with all humility and openness. There are far more successful entrepreneurs out there, who have made it big, become very successful and are toast of the investor community. None of these have happened to me yet but I would like to share my learnings nevertheless for all its worth.

Background to turning entrepreneur:

My transition to becoming an entrepreneur was not a planned one at all. It is more of a serendipity. In 2015, after a reasonably successful 21- year corporate career, I had had my run. I was exhausted and had reached the end of the rope. A series of job changes in the previous 4 years (some good and some bad choices) coupled with geographical relocations had pushed me to the brink. I was no longer feeling engaged, driven or passionate about my job. Staleness had set in big time. The mojo had gone completely missing. I felt burnt out. I asked myself – Do I really want to continue doing this or chart out a new trajectory in my life? Will I be able to succeed and make a mark or struggle financially to make ends meet when so many family responsibilities had to be taken care of? It was the biggest risk of my career and that too at the age of 43 years. A classic case of a “Mid-Life Crisis”. Against a backdrop of so many perceived risks, I chose to turn self-employed. I gave up my job with nothing to fall back on. In the first three years (Feb 2015 – Dec 2017), I had teamed up with my former business partner to run his company which was devoted to running marketing workshops and consulting projects for the pharmaceutical industry. I was in charge of business development, managing client relationships and follow up on payments. Subsequently, I set up my own company, Intellectus Consulting in January 2018. In these four years, I have had some fascinating learnings that are for a lifetime.

1. All the so-called industry connections, access to leaders and “getting things done” disappear overnight the moment you quit your job. It is a reality, regardless of which industry you work in and one has to come to accept it openly. Corporate life has its trappings of power, access and many benefits like being part of the “inner circle”. These are transient and mean nothing in the larger context. A humbling feature one realizes immediately is that the same colleagues do not see you the same way once you turn entrepreneur. They may avoid you, hide from you, look down on you or simply look through you. One needs to live with this fact. Some true friends of sterling character have stood by me in these 4 years regardless of what I do and if I make it. Entrepreneurship tests the friendship and loyalty of friends and industry peers.
2. Your first break (like the film industry) does not always come from known sources. I did get help from my former colleagues/industry friends in the initial years and I am forever grateful to them. Build an attitude of gratitude. It is these small projects that go a long way in building your confidence for taking on bigger challenges and projects when they happen.
3. Entrepreneurship requires a good deal of “risk-taking” mindset. Most people I talk to or come across either admire the “so called guts” of their friend/peer turning entrepreneur or complain that they are stuck in a job which has no growth, no learning and /or a bad boss to boot. Why complain when you can do something about it? But the trappings of a comfortable corporate life, guaranteed salary hitting the bank account on the 26th of every month , business class travel are too cushy to give up. This is the biggest hurdle. Most people do not want to trade the comforts of a secure corporate job for a reasonable initial hardship of an entrepreneur.
4. Entrepreneurship helps build patience and resilience. This was in short supply when I was in a corporate career. Entrepreneurship changed all that. Clients do not always respond the way you want them to or in a time frame that you set for yourself. Some take months and in one case I faced rejection for 2 years from a client till I got the first assignment. The key is to hang in there, stay on course and keep communication channels open at all times. Be prepared for disappointments, setbacks and turn-downs. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint hearted.
5. Never have any expectations. It is good to be hopeful and optimistic about your future. However, I would advise caution on being too rose-eyed. Do not place too much expectations on any client deal or project. Disappointments are a big part of the entrepreneur journey and that too in the initial years. For every 100 proposals that you send out, 1 may materialize. No one knows you, no one wants to risk hiring you and certainly no one is interested at times. You build credibility over a period of time and as the word spreads around, people start approaching you slowly. Give it time, enjoy the process and the joys of being self-employed.
6. Turning self employed was the biggest boon as far as spending quality time with family and pursuing other life interests are concerned. In these 4 years, I have spent more time with family, doing those things that I missed out in the first 21 years of my career. Family vacations, small dinner conversations and more involvement in kids lives has been the biggest upside for me. These were happening in my earlier life as well but probably more as a necessity and not as a true family bonding requirement. Enrolling into a voluntary service organization two years ago to teach underprivileged children in Karnataka was the biggest change to happen to me. It gives me sheer joy to teach these kids on a Sunday morning in an open environment with just a blackboard and chalks.
7. Never chase money initially. Many people whom I have met as entrepreneurs have this aim or notion that entrepreneurship brings in more earnings, more wealth and more comforts. This is not entirely true. Atleast not in the initial years. The initial years are the toughest, where one slogs it out to get the first project, the first consulting assignment or the first workshop or whatever. The currency is credibility, experience and client management.
8. Build a network of not just your industry peers or contacts but also from other allied industries. It always helps. Our industry can tend to become a cocoon at times and this is not always a good thing. Bring in fresh ideas, thoughts, perspectives to your business and you will be surprised that how much value these “outsiders” can actually add to your learning. Have a trusted soundboard from another industry. Make him a unbiased reviewer of everything you do. The critique and inputs are simply too powerful to ignore.
9. Have an alternate option to fall back on if things do not go as per plan. This is important. In life, despite best of intent and efforts, things do not go always go as per plan. For every 1 successful entrepreneurial venture, there are 1000 failures. The odds ratio is too high. There are times when one ends up burning cash from savings for the rest of his life just to sustain his family. It is not easy. Build an alternative option, a life boat of sorts so as to mitigate risk. Teaching, part-time jobs are options to have on hand at all times.
10. Finally, no textbook, no senior corporate leader of a big company or a lecture on entrepreneurship can give you as much learning than a first hand experience. Jump into it if you want to experience the joy of freedom, if you have intellectual curiosity, are comfortable with the thought of every day being different and unpredictable, have the passion of building something that you want to, creating value for people, solving problems and above all leading an enriching life. Entrepreneurship is akin to learning swimming. No swimming manual can help you learn to swim. You simply need to jump into the deep end of the pool and learn to float.

My journey over the four years has been a mixed bag. I have had my share of hits and misses but such is life. The thrill of creating something new keeps me going. The biggest positive is I live life on my terms and even if it means earning less than my last drawn corporate salary (in the initial years). I made that mental adjustment in 2015. Today, happiness and freedom are far more important to me than any amount of money earned. Leading a wholesome life is far more important objective at this stage than getting the coveted promotion to a senior leadership level and its accompaniments of bonuses, stock options etc. Having opted out of the corporate rat race even if it was not by design was perhaps the best thing that happened to me.