They say ‘Behind every successful man, there is a woman”. Let me extend it to, ‘Behind every successful business, there is a driving factor”. The driving factor could be anything which drives business to excellence. Cost is one such driving factor some companies have adopted.

•  I recall reading an article many years ago that, Samsung Electronics (a major player in consumer electronics in the World) adopted successfully cost as one of their driving factor and one common question asked was ‘How can we reduce cost?’ For Samsung, it led to innovation; better quality; improved productivity; shorter sales cycle; better market positioning; higher automation; etc.,

•  Air Deccan, India’s first low cost airline. Air Deccan has revolutionized air travel in India, by making it affordable to the common man. Cost is the driving factor for Air Deccan and they have changed the whole paradigm in the Indian Aviation segment. Their quote caught my attention ‘Cutting Cost, Not Corners’. I had to experience to believe it. If you understand the concept of how they did it, it sounds so logical, simple and true.

These were only examples to quote, but most important points for an entrepreneur or a startup to note are:

$ Do you have a primary DRIVING FACTOR for your business?
(Some examples of the driving factors are innovation, cost, premium quality, high customer satisfaction, technology, etc.,)

$ Other driving factors should be the undercurrent of any strategy. For example, Air Deccan has cut costs by following innovative processes which reduce overheads drastically.

$ There should be a tangible and visible benefit to the customer. Is your cost control resulting in a lower price for the customer? Has your latest technology made the product/service more convenient for the customer to use?

In the journey of building the company don’t forget to periodically check on; how far has your driving factor has taken your business?

An eternal topic of discussion in the corporate world is the term “new wave”. Business magazines and papers devote a lot of time in analyzing this phenomenon which may be a new rising industry, a new process, a new economic trend or just a fad which has gripped the corporate community which is making an impact in the society. Let me share my thought waves as points, which rose in my mind:

Note: The waves to me are ‘Business Trends’

# Entrepreneurs sees and senses the new wave early.

# Entrepreneurs utilizes and takes advantage of the emerging opportunity and rides the wave to reach the shore more effectively.

# Even the unskilled can ride the wave. Only the smart ones’ develop skills on the way and make it to the shore.

# Every wave has an end.

# A wave ends only to arise a reverse wave.

# New waves keep coming.

# The new wave amplifies when it meets the reverse wave. Smart people learn from the reverse wave and also take advantage of it.

# For any reason if someone is a part of the reverse wave, the smartness is in catching up with the new wave.

The best scenario is when we create a new wave ourselves and others ride it too…happy journey, enjoy the ride!

For any organization which has a futuristic vision, building a team is one of the most important activity. It could be a big challenge. Group of people is not a team always. Then what is the difference?

A perfect team activity which inspired me for this article was, that winning goal conceded by the Argentina team against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006 FIFA World Cup. It was amazing to watch a goal at the end of 24 passes between eight players of a team. The goal was perfectly architected, designed, planned and executed. There was no Hercules here. It’s a lesson on how a team should work. The effort of the team was to make a goal!

“For an entrepreneur, The GOAL is to make a TEAM” – Naveen Lakkur

Getting the talents is a part of building a team. But the real dare is to find the balanced competence and bringing them together. Right people with pursuance aligned with the right strategy and will to execute, then the success will become a journey….anyways ‘Journey is the reward!’

The foremost quality that drives an entrepreneur is the risk taking ability. Unfortunately risk has been generally associated with negativity. But there is a tremendous positive side to risk too. It’s that extra risk which makes us grow. Consciously or unconsciously we face risks every day in our lives. We cannot even cross the road without the risk of being hit a vehicle. But this risk doesn’t stop us from crossing the road. Similarly many times we want to achieve something extra-ordinary and great in our lives but then we are unwilling to take that risk which can make it happen. We have heard many times the quote “high risk, high reward!”. It’s so true. There is no security on this earth, there are only opportunities.

Deepak Chopra very well associates life and risk to trapeze artists. Let me try illustrate my learning in this article.
Risk is like the death defying acts of a trapeze artist. While performing the artists take a risk and let goes of the trapeze before catching onto another. During this act there is a moment when the artist is in mid air without any support. But then they are confident that it’s for a short duration, till they holds something else. Many times in our lives we have to take a risk by letting go of something safe to be able to reach new heights. We can’t hold onto both ends. To achieve something in life we have to let go of something else. That’s the law of nature. The artists may fall down which could even be fatal or make a mess out of their life. If you want to start, you will have to take risk else you will be hanging in the same place.

In this aspect an episode in the life of Stephen Hopson is very inspiring. From his article ‘value of humor through adversity’ I learnt that even if we make a mess out of our risk taking nature, there are ways how we can still en-cash it.

Finally summing it up, the take home messages are:
$ To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
$ Take a calculative risk and manage that risk by having a safety net underneath.
$ Challenge the unknown and create seeming difficulties and adversities into opportunities
$ Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
$ Dare to bear Risk as it is sure that, high risk, high reward!