Sethurathnam Ravi, famously known as S Ravi is a chartered accountant who is based in India. He is also the managing partner as well as promoter of Ravi Rajan & Co. Besides this, S Ravi is also known as the former chairman of BSE, S Ravi gives his comments on the common flaws of the young entrepreneurship and how to rectify them.
S Ravi, the former BSE chairman and the independent Director of Tourism Finance Corporation of India sheds light into the common drawbacks of startups. From his vast experience as a policy maker, S Ravi also gives his comments on the common flaws of the young entrepreneurship and how to rectify them.
The former BSE chairman feels that first of all these entrepreneurs are too obsessed with their ideas. So the first and foremost mistake is that they might have a very good idea but they have to be flexible and very fertile in their imagination to change the business model according to the requirements. Because any idea to be converted into reality requires capital, growth, marketing and above all one need to have a story to tell people. So it’s a package that makes the company successful. And if a company personal has a good idea and they fail, it is because they are so obsessed with their idea and are not willing to change it with the market conditions. According to S Ravi it is the first and foremost reason for failure.
Second is the capital, say the chartered accountant, S Ravi. If the entrepreneur don’t plan the next two steps to be taken in case if his start up takes a hit then there will be a major bleeding in capital. Being the part of the BSE incubator for a long time, what S Ravi BSE had realized is that a company should have good advisors who can hand hold them throughout the process. Primarily idea is what puts the entire process start. Next one has to find the capital and then how you go to the next level, raise capital to the next level and then you market it because it’s not available to capital because the cash burn is very high. Then you have to take it to the people and sell your product, and how you optimize everything is a composite package . So the second reason that everybody fails according to S Ravi, is the capital.
The third reason is that one has not red the market condition. The catch up is very fast in a startup. One an idea is floated and somebody else is coming over with the same idea, may be a more improved version of the idea. The better one gets more acceptability. So one has to adapt fast and act quickly before the other company makes a move. That’s why the fertility of the person, the quick response that they take to get the product in to the market is very important. Unpacking is always very important and the story too and people should believe their story, says Mr. Ravi.
Mentorship is a very valuable thing in this respect. Advice in the right form with the positive setup of people is always good. Advisors and mentors can be people who can can polish the ideas. Because ideas as we say are dreams. So the dreams need to be put in a box of success and that box is very important. Now the other point is, according to S Ravi BSE, a mentor can be a risk manager too. Mentor can be an entrepreneur as well. He can be a person who can help an entrepreneur to reach out for policy. A mentor would have had an experience of his lifetime, would have made some great success somewhere and then you take the help of the him and plan according to the his chart. One can use his idea, and at the end of it all stops with the entrepreneur. Mentor is a person who can put boundaries for a person and that boundaries if one adapt will be successful. There are many people from IT space, banking sector who have become mentors. The entrepreneurs should take their advice for a better being.
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