Write your B-Plan

A business plan is the foundation of the business. A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing the business. You can use the business plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow a new business. It is a way to think through the key elements of a business. The business plan is the tool one uses to convince people that working with them, or investing in their company, is a smart choice.

The secret to a great B-Plan is - the plan is supposed to be viewed by management as a living document: should be concise and accurate.  It is a constant guide to high performance and corporate success. The plan should be meticulously designed by the leaders by defining who the customers are, by the numbers, with specific measurable demographics: know everything about the buyers including what they watch, read, and hear. The management and leaders should know the targets better than their own family. You should know the answers to the "What(s)": customers need, want to buy, will pay, "When(s), Where(s)" and "Why(s)": the need to buy; basically the emotional components as well as the utilitarian purposes. The skill of analyzing the augmented needs of the market to forecast what the consumer might purchase in the future even before the customer knows he will need it. The B-plan should reflect about the set specific priorities with key objectives that the business will achieve through the correct resources. The financial plan should be defensible and accurate, with backup plans in the event of unseen consequences.

As a conclusion, a great plan is developed by people with deep knowledge and experience. They possess a strategic mindset. They have a clear vision of where they want to be and how to reach their destination. And, most importantly, they achieve desired results based upon a clear road map. Perhaps these insights can be of value as you consider your own business plan. If you are developing a plan for your first business, you should engage the help of people who met the criteria as discussed here. It will be well worth the additional effort.

Reverse Mentoring

Nowadays, an interesting concept of reverse mentoring is gaining ground. Many instances of younger people mentoring experienced/older people could be seen in the corporate world. Since the younger lot is very much involved into areas like technology, creativity and design, than the older generation, they help in bridging the gap to a very large extent.

Reverse mentoring is simply the opposite format of traditional mentoring, where the senior leader is mentored by a younger or more junior employee a.k.a. mentoring in reverse. Traditionally, a mentor is expected to be more senior and more experienced than their mentee. However, this process mentoring recognizes the fact that there are skills gaps and opportunities to learn about on both sides, and that each person can address their weaknesses with the help of the other's strengths.

Reverse mentoring encourages employees to form “professional friendships” - regardless of seniority – to exchange skills, knowledge, and understanding. It can play an important role in crossing generational divides as not only does it encourage communication across multi-generational workforces but it can also help to break down harmful stereotypes about different ages groups. Meanwhile, reverse mentoring is not just about age but new starters can provide fresh perspectives and ways of working, while long-serving team members likely posses a wealth of organizational knowledge.

Reverse-mentoring programs provide millennials with the transparency and recognition that they are seeking from the management. While digital skill development should not be the focus of a reverse-mentoring program, it is a meaningful part of the relationship. At the same time, there are potential drawbacks when you engage in a reverse mentoring partnership. A more senior team member may not believe that their younger mentor(s) have valuable knowledge to share, and they may not be open to receiving feedback from people with less experience. Conversely, newer team members need to feel confident enough to share their opinions, and they may be less willing to participate if they are afraid of giving feedback to more established colleagues.

Does your startup need a mentor?

In any startup, a mentor brings in their unique perspective, experience and network. They more than often are on a lookout for giving back to the fraternity or community and seek suitable opportunities and trends to analyze an idea and provide direction from an outsider's perspective. As mentors generally bring an area of specialization with them, they can advise start-ups as to what they should focus on, or how they should tackle various problems. A good mentor provides a genuine feedback about a business plan or an idea, which makes a lot of difference between success and failure. The mentor comes on board with their deep insights gained through experience and guide startups to make right decisions at right time. They also provide key strategic inputs across various lifecycles of a product or business.

Mentors bring to the table their domain knowledge, learnings from professional and personal (arising due to business) failures in the past and provide an insight into market realities so that startups do not tread the same path in similar situations, and are much better informed, equipped and proactive. The mentors also help startups connect with the right people at the right time through their network. Their rich experience helps in understanding the potential upcoming pitfalls and how to avoid them.

A mentor is generally passionate about working with bright people, shares experiences and has a sense of giving back to the community. The kind of network and the degree of training that a mentor brings to the table helps a startup achieve success to a great extent.

Imperfection: the strategy for strategists

In a world and times of rapid changes around, professionally and personally, seeking certainty can often lead to indeterminate opportunities and results. It is wiser to take sure-footed smaller yet confident baby steps, to pave the way through uncertainty.

The world today feels chaotic, with economic and other disruptions, and consequently imperfection sounds like a bad thing, but it pertains more specifically to accepting the ambiguity of not having perfect knowledge before making strategic moves. Companies and nonprofits can make a series of small moves that help them build knowledge of the uncertain world they are operating in, and slowly add capabilities, assets, and other forms of advantage so they can essentially bootstrap themselves into strategic positions, rather than making the wrong type of bold leaps or being frozen in stasis.

In a world where things are changing very quickly and fundamentally, the elementary approaches learned in business education can yield either incomplete or misleading results. The kind of uncertainty that we face today really is twofold. One is the type we see in the media, which is economic uncertainties and external shocks, while more importantly and basal kind of uncertainty are the rapid technological changes. Artificial intelligence, automation, programmable biology, and other disruptions are blurring industry boundaries and what it means to be a competitor in a particular domain.

In the world of big data, AI/ML, and other disruptive technologies, the strategy formulations and implementations need to be in real-time, more dynamic, guided by audacious questions at the top level, but at the same time also actualized by the people working at the forefront.

Being an Entrepreneur in India

Being an entrepreneur myself — Apart from handling work pressure, it also entails handling social pressure to keep progressing or making steadfast growth, which is not expected from you when you are in a job, seems as if it is a punishment by your peers and society for having the courage and taking the leap to build something on your own from ground up. When you seek jobs and employment – you are employed or jobless, but for entrepreneurs – you are either a winner or a loser. Believe you me, constantly winning is not a joke - you lose money, you lose fame, you lose clients and markets, and you even lose your family and friends.

Someone who got fired, could be sitting at home and search for another job for a while and could get through by mentioning work experience. For entrepreneurs, who may not have made big in their venture, are deemed not so successful in their professional life and if they try to get a job in the aftermath, they have to explain why there is “a gap” in the resume, which is more difficult done than said. You may even end up facing more rejections than a fresher, whilst it should be the other way round as now you have expedited skill growth, more enterprising and job ready.

Moreover, once you have been an entrepreneur, although you are more street-smart, does not give you a magic wand and make you a wizard and get things done in the blink of an eye. People assume you are influential, powerful, and rich (the tip of the iceberg is acknowledged, but not the ice beneath the surface standing for the effort to be there). Being an entrepreneur doesn't make one rich it turns them poor until break even. An employee feeds his family every month, an entrepreneur feeds his family and numerous other families who work for him. The entrepreneur has to make sure the salaries of employees get dispatched on time, even when the business is running at a loss. This is despite him not taking a single penny when the business is not working well.

An entrepreneur at all times has to pretend and fake themselves to remain confident and optimistic during all times. When employees fall sick - they depend on the company, when clients fall sick – they may delay payouts, but the company has to take care of all payables, while receivables are stagnant, which are a real nightmare for an entrepreneur.

Let us say, you have a problem in life — personally, socially, or professionally. 6 out of 10 people will help you financially, 3 out of 10 people will give you advice on how to solve your problem, one person will guide you, help you, create a path for you to sort out your problem —  that person most certainly be an entrepreneur.

An entrepreneur deals with 100s of problems in their career - day and night, so they have this ability to solve practical problems. There is a huge difference between saying “what is right” and “what will practically work out”. That is where an entrepreneur steps in and are unique and different from others.

For some reason, our films have portrayed corporates as villains. Our society strongly believes they are evil, but because of these men at the helm, lakhs of people stay sustained. People seek jobs in private companies, political parties run their rallies and functions with corporate donations, even a small-scale neighbourhood function needs sponsorship, yet entrepreneurs are "evil".

The dark side of being an entrepreneur is — being an entrepreneur in a society that does not respect them but needs them and is quite happy to keep milking them.

Business Mentor: Where & How to Find?

Identifying the right mentor involves aligning your objectives with their expertise and approach. Seek mentors through industry events, networking, and online platforms, ensuring they possess insights relevant to your field. The mentorship relationship should be built on shared values and mutual respect.

Business mentorship come in various forms, offering specialized guidance for specific needs or entrepreneurship endeavours. These platforms provide structured frameworks for mentorship, often pairing you with mentors who are experts in your field. When selecting an avenue, similar to finalizing an investor, here too consider your goals and the availabilities to ensure a meaningful match.

To make the most of mentorship, maintain an open mind, actively seek feedback, and be willing to take calculated risks. Implement the advice you receive and incorporate it into your strategies. A strong mentor-mentee relationship is a two-way street, built on collaboration and trust. Business mentorship stands as a potent catalyst for professional advancement. It empowers individuals to reach new heights by tapping into the wisdom and experiences of seasoned professionals. Whether through online platforms or structured programs, the journey to finding a mentor is a proactive step towards success.

Where to Find a Business Mentor
a) Close to home: you may already know someone that has the skills and traits you are looking for in a mentor. Make a list of the close acquaintances, casual contacts, social media contacts and see if anyone stands out or meets your criteria.

b) At work: an obvious way to find a business mentor. Everyone has to start somewhere and asking for assistance and business advice from a coworker or manager is not a sign of weakness or failure.

c) Online: There are many online mentoring services that connect small business owners with mentors. You might meet with the person over a video conference or even by email. Just because the person is not in the same town or city as you does not mean they are not a valuable resource. In fact that is a blessing in disguise, as by learning about different local markets, you might open yourself up to new opportunities in different parts of the globe.