MY ENTREPRENURIAL JOURNEY The only thing worse than starting something and failing, is not starting something Entrepreneurship

is more about survival at tough times, I was sent to boarding school when I was 8 years of age and since then have lived out of my comfort zone struggling and striving hard to achieve small things which now I see, laid the foundation for my Entrepreneurial Journey. My Entrepreneurial journey actually started when I was in 12th standard and wanted to make a difference by doing something that makes people around me proud. Inspired by Indias economic and social prosperity and vision by Dr. Abdul Kalam for a super power by 2020, I started writing a book entitled Young Guns, Conscientious Shots which was about the upcoming statistical concerns in various sector and responsibility of youth towards the Nation. It was not an easy road though. There were lot of discouragement but also some motivation from family and friends which kept me going and finally after a year I was ready with the transcript of the book. Finally got them self-published and initially got 150 Copies printed. The biggest challenge was to sell them. I approached the principals of various schools to allow me to speak to students during morning assembly which was actually my sales pitch! I sold all in 10 days donating the revenue to poor kids. Since the book had statistical facts, its actual span was 1 year as technically most of the statistics change in a year. Entrepreneurship is basically of two types: One, Need based Entrepreneurship and other Opportunity based entrepreneurship. During 2nd year of my engineering, my sisters wedding was fixed and my father was too busy with the preparations. I got an opportunity to look after my family business, proving the fact of Opportunity based Entrepreneurship! It was a challenging responsibility and before getting into decision making, I utilized the time in training myself to know the details of the business and understand the practices that apply on a daily basis. When I returned back to college, I was more fascinated towards Entrepreneurship. Every day spent in my family business made me learn things that I see now, built the foundation of this Journey. Entrepreneurship was something I got addicted to and finally during my 3rd year in Engineering, I started a company (DriftMill India, which is now Craftila) with my two school friends, an idea that framed and got strong with time. Inspired by 123greetings.com, which sends virtual cards, we wanted to do the same in physical way. Being a Computer Science Engineer and technically sound, we created an Internet Store that showcases cards and took orders through phone, We reached break-even in 5 months. The excitement and passion got more and then with a little initial investment from family and friends, we renamed it as Craftila and went above cards adding gift items with a motive to be the next Internet Archies of India. Craftila allowed me to make mistakes and learn from them whereas in my family business i.e. NM Metal Works, there was margins for zero errors as one wrong step can take the company several leaps behind. My constant learning in Craftila allowed me to visualize the future path of NM Metal Works and the practical working trends in NM Metal Works helped me grow Craftila.

Since my 2nd year I have taken deep interest in NM Metal Works i.e. My family business, very seriously and as I was about to finish with my graduation, all my undergraduate endeavors gave me new thought processes about businesses and organizations. I began to realize what it had cost my father to build such an organization; I decided to work in our family's company with Craftila. To move forward and succeed I must learn more sophisticated management skills. I discussed each and every process in details with my father like production, machinery mechanics, skilled labor issues, present and future market, history and challenges with a commitment of scaling the business by applying latest technology and practices to increase the production capacity and more managerial working to increase the output and efficiency. The knowledge I gained from my engineering has helped me a lot in making quantum changes in our business. Now, I understand that every challenge faced by the company will be a challenge to me, every success will be my success and every failure will be my failure. Before I get into the implementation of the strategies and take decisions for the future of the company, I am committed for a self-improvement to enhance my confidence and swift my decision making and here I am applying for MPEFB to take the Journey ahead. Few Lines that kept me on toes and motivated me every day: I am a Winner and I am supported by my Gut, Which pushes me every day to strive for excellence? Which Activates leadership in me, Which has demonstrated Integrity to construct me? It taught me diversity; it has edified me to Enjoy Participation, And here I stand practicing sustainability. By: Siddharth Maheshwari Applicant MPEFB-2012