But at the very begingin itself things sort of went soar because the Govt officials asked for a a big bribe then I negotiated then they came down hesitantly then agian the BSNL always used to have problem they also demanded a lot of bribe. Then another new inspector came he also asked for bribe. There would be power cuts and there is no Govt support (BESCOM, KPTL etc here) because the layout developer has not handed over the layout. So had to shell out a lot of money for association and fight for the development and handover of layout. Then there was no proper road ran around varous govt depts and paid quite a lot of bribe on behalf of association but still no progress the transformer keeps burning of everytime. So we beg the line man and he is our god and rescue. I came from USA with lot of hopes do something gr8 back home. I did not know I would end up in a gutter like this. Only if get a h1 back and go to USA. I can get some money back to fund my business. India it seems is already in world war 3. Without political contacts and lot of money and influence just with ideas, knowledge and info you cannot survive in India. You need to first become corrupt for yourself s to grow. This is an honest experience and not a made up story.
Re: I tried a startup
by abc_xyz abc_xyz on Oct 18, 2012 05:56 PM
I had posted for 'the need of black money' in order to survive being an entrepreneur in the below comment. But it was deleted by rediff moderators..May be they also need money to post our message!!!!! JAI HIND
Re: I tried a startup
by ramakant on Oct 19, 2012 07:15 AM
yes, come back from US and buy land in illegal layout, then crib about problems about roads. Seriously, if you dont have money, then stay in USA and earn some. Why buy land in the back of beyond and then crib about roads?
Re: I tried a startup
by Hampton on Oct 19, 2012 11:41 AM
I must appreciate the courage u had also thks very much for yr info given it will help others very much.
It is a first hand narration of his journey as an entrepreneur! That gives a lot of credibility to the article. Every entrepreneur may not go through the same experiences or challenges but the upheavals faces are typical of any founder of a start-up company.
Immediately after the dot com crash in 2001 , Indian expats had enough money to set up businesses and industries in India.
No government policy was conducive to set up new company at that time.
So what happened was, all remittances from abroad were sucked up by REAL ESTATE india. As there are no other investment opportunities, people either put the money in NRI deposits or in real estate.
As a result , the REAL ESTATE grew like a tumor in INdia. Now it has become monster that no one can even afford.
Even though people want to set up new businesses, the REAL ESTATE is the biggest deterrent because 80% capital would go into acquiring facilities or even rentals. So, instead of setting up new businesses in India , people are investing outside India.
The romantic GARAGE start ups wont work in India as Indians are not that in genuine.
Re: In 2000 India has the means
by True Voice on Oct 18, 2012 12:33 PM
Agreed. Land rentals are higher in many part of India especially Mumbai compared to big cities in developed countries. It doesnt have any match when you compare currency conversion or purchase power parity or even GDP. Too much of black money rotation also could be a reason
All theories or statistics come out of HISTORY. They are no indicative of future success or failure of Enterprises.
When the DOT com boom began , every Gully company was a run away success. Every single nameless company from gullies of Bangalore and Hyd minted money.
The same theorists them came up with a theory - internet BOOMING and there is no such thing called failure in Internet business.
Fast forward 10 years and contemporary start ups struggle to do business for 10 months straight. Same eco system , same people, but what changed ?
Only one thing ever works in business - People need what you sell. period.
Rest all theories filling books and research cra*p is all bunkum.
Re: It is all history
by Raj on Oct 19, 2012 02:46 AM
If I may say one thing about selling what people need. I believe the great thing is when you build something that changes the need. I will quote Henry Ford when he started building cars:"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." Same is true with Steve Jobs. People didn't know what possibilities exist with phone. Not many people are that visionaries, but something to think about.
Semi-learned articles like this serve only one purpose - scare the sh*t out of prospective entrepreneurs.
While there are challenges in Entrepreneurship, they vary from person to person and with time. Within the same domain and business model, different people face different situations.
Lessons learnt is generally a bunch of 'how I should have done it' memoirs to a newbie rather than any decisive way to safeguard one's interest.
What's more ? these days arm chair theorists churn out wads of such theories day-in and day-out studded with flowery cra*p 'ECO SYSTEM' and bunkum. There is no statistic that would measure the success and failure of a bunch of start ups.
All numbers of 1 in 1000, 1 in 10000 etc are nothing but trash theories floated by idiotic people who think themselves as geniuses.
Re: Scare crow trash
by Ravishankar Subramaniam on Oct 18, 2012 12:45 PM
Are you an entrepreneur? How many companies have you launched! Sitting on the stand and commenting is very easy! You do it all the time like everybody else! Get on the court and play the game. You will know what the deal is!!
Re: Re: Scare crow trash
by pulakesin on Oct 18, 2012 01:11 PM
You do not have to get into the heap of sh^t to understand it stinks when you get into the heap of sh^t. It is common sense ( which you seem to lack).
There is another category of people like you who counter question every thing like a moron just to prove a point. You do not need to dig in to find out the rat.
Every start up follows a business model , plan and a strategy. The points mentioned in this article are nothing but cliches - over and over again.
Even a small time kirana merchant knows them. You do not need TO GET THERE AND PLAY the game to know the sh^t.
Re: Re: Re: Scare crow trash
by Ravishankar Subramaniam on Oct 18, 2012 02:09 PM
Now I KNOW for sure you are full of SH*T :) ! Don't waste your time, go get a life !!
