This was published in the bi monthly newsletter of Electrical Technocrats Association)
Having touched upon what entrepreneurship is, I hope the readers would have got a fair idea on the topic. Though it is true that entrepreneurship is an art that can be learnt majorly through experience and applying common sense, it is always a wise decision to learn from others too.
I am reminded of Eleanor Roosevelt, who once said, “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” It is very true in an environment, where one has to grow quickly along with series of mistakes that might be made during the rough path of entrepreneurship.
There are various ways to learn from the experienced people. Networking, blogs, books, articles, interviews, etc are a few valuable sources, we can bank upon.
In this article, I just like to review a few books, which would be useful if one is interested not just in entrepreneurship, but in finding a meaning to their living!
CII. “Star trek, The fascinating journey of entrepreneurship in Tamil Nadu” CII. 2008
Star trek is a book published by the Tamil Nadu Chapter of CII on 101 entrepreneurs who started their own ventures in Tamil Nadu. The book covers the stories of each of the 101 entrepreneurs in two pages with a full size photograph of the entrepreneur. The book covers, how each of them started, the hardships they faced, how they managed to be successful and their business mantra.
Though it is mainly focuses on Tamil Nadu, the book covers several non Tamilians, who started their business in Tamil Nadu and hence leading to a national exposure to the readers.
Some of the prominent personalities covered are Dr. Prathap Reddy (Appolo Hospitals), B G Ragupathy (BGR Energy), S Appaswamy (Appaswamy Real Estates), CKR(Cavin Kare), K P Natarajan (KPN Travels) and many more.
It is worth while reading to all those who like to have a just of glance of these people’s entrepreneurial journey.
Bansal, Rashmi. “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish” CIIE IIM Ahmedabad. 2008
This is a famous book, read by many MBAs across India. The author herself is an alumni of IIM A, has penned down the stories, inspiring stories, to put in a right way, of 25 IIM A graduates, who chose entrepreneurship as their career option. The people include, who just started after experience and a few other with an experience of a couple of years or less! The 25 entrepreneurs are classified in to those who chose entrepreneurship just to chase their dreams, those who started when they found an opportunity and those who started to create a social impact. The stories of each of the entrepreneurs are very well elaborated. The stories tell how the entrepreneurs perceive their career choice and how felt about their decision at various stages of the business and how family and friends supported them. A very interesting and inspiring book by Rashmi. The book also has a column in which each of the entrepreneurs shares their advice to budding entrepreneurs! There is also a contact list of the entrepreneurs for the reference of the reader.
Bansal, Rashmi. “ Connect The Dots” Eklavya Education foundation. 2010
This is an yet another book by the same author on 20 entrepreneurs who started, without an MBA. The content is very similar to the book mentioned previously. Yet another interesting and inspiring book by Rashmi Bansal.
I hope the basics have been covered through the series on entrepreneurship and it seems to be a time to draw the curtains to the series. However, I will be happy to help in this regard, whenever needed.
Thank you readers for the support and I express my sincere gratitude to the editorial board of the newsletter for the wonderful opportunity.
The author is the Founder & C.E.O. of Ulaginoli Energy Solutions and can be reached at boniface@ulaginoli.com or +91 9884342050
