Contributor: Gowtham. I graduated from SASTRA University in the year 2010 with a Mechatronics degree. I have experienced my share of failures, troubles and successes. Today I want to share my life experiences and the lessons it taught me.
Let’s start with my childhood
As a kid I was very impatient and restless. I get bored easily. I wanted to do something that excites me all the time. Not only as a kid. I am the same even now :P
I was good in academics. My schooling was great. Let me tell you, high school is the toughest phase of my life. So after that experience I wanted to have more exposure and come out of the social circle I was in as I felt that they hinder growth and learning new things.
So the only option I felt that would help me was to study out of my state. As any other parent even my father did not agree to go out of state. So I have threatened him telling that ‘If you don’t allow me to go there I will run away from home and become a lorry mechanic or assistant’. I am not making this up these were the exact same words I told him. I think he did not sleep that night. The next day he came and told me to do whatever I feel is correct.
I stayed at hostel till my second year but then moved out to thanjavur. I got to meet different people and made a lot of friends here. Apparently their mother tongue is different from mine and most of them being Tamilians I have learnt Tamil out of necessity
I being a day dreamer, all along my college life I used to dream big about my future. I always feel a great urge to do more or something innovative to prove my intellect.
I read books and a lot of articles from the internet. I watched a lot of Hollywood movies. It might sound ridiculous but if you ask me “what is the best thing that I did which helped me or inspired me in my life” I will definitely say reading books and watching movies.
They helped me in developing myself. You people might wonder how come movies help. Well , here is the answer
I watched different genre of Hollywood movies. I always seek knowledge in whatever I do. Believe me guys watching movies will give you a lot more than you will recognize.
So life was good, education was kind of OK. My CGPA was 7 point something, not sure if is a good GPA now.
My friend started Punjabi Dhaba the first non veg restaurant in front of our college. I was the one who incepted the idea in his mind. Back then there were many rumors that the college management will not allow this and we will face a serious opposition from them.
But believe me nothing of that sort happened. So the rumors were not true. My friend earned a good fortune from the hotel and of course; what are friends for? We friends used to get good discounts in the hotel as well.
LESSON 1: Expect rejection when you are trying to do something new and different.
Since the Dhaba was a huge success, we were ready for our next venture. We have seen a huge crowd during the college Tech fest and our Dhaba did a very good business. So we wanted to utilize this opportunity.
How many of you guys know Tiruppur and what is it famous for? I am sure many of you guys do know the place. Tiruppur is a major textile hub contributing to 90% of total cotton wear exports from India. Last year the export turnover from the town was more than Rs 5,000 crore.
So the plan was simple, 7 of us collected a sum of 16000 (approximately 2200 each) and started to Tiruppur. We went there and took a small room and did our basic ground work.
We got to know some 10 address where we can find good branded T shirts. The problem is we wanted to hand select them, so we needed a retailer. We almost went into 30 to 40 shops hand picking T shirts and negotiating deals. We finally collected 150 T shirts and came back to Thanjavur.
The average price of a Tshirt we have purchased is Rs 100. We had t shirts from Armani, Abercrombie and Fitch, French connection, Gucci, GAP, Aeropostale and etc. We felt like millionaires. Because these brands are every students dream. We knew our idea will be successful.
We sold the T shirts in front of the Dhaba during the Tech Fest. We sold them for Rs 200 – 250. So you guys do the math. We were cash rich J. So by then I knew that I had a keen eye for business.
Lesson 2: Identify the right opportunities, they are always around you.
So days went by and I got placed in a reputable company. I have faced a lot of failures at my work. Things were really tough as I was from a mechanical background. I had lot of friends who have helped me out and I found a great mentor at work.
Gradually things changed, I have seen lot of successes during my career. I have achieved things that I thought I would only achieve them in my dreams. I became a team leader during my third year, achieved the top ratings. I have given many technical lectures to freshers, I was able to inspire and mentor lot of young talent. I have understood that with the right effort and mentor one can achieve success no matter what.
Lesson 3: Find a MENTOR, learn from his experiences.
Currently I am working on a venture called Tubelight Podcasts. So let me tell you the story behind it.
We are 5 friends with different ethnic backgrounds, passions and interests. We used to have very interesting and diversified discussions whenever we meet. The topics would range from food & culture to investments and science. On a typical weekend we started our discussion while playing poker. One of our common friends felt very uncomfortable when we were talking on a variety of topics and asked us if we can help him out in understanding things.
Out of pure laziness, one among us had suggested that we record all the discussions so that others can listen to them if interested. Everyone got excited and sat down to work. We have fine-tuned this idea to create Tubelight Podcasts.
We are a podcasting firm which creates rich content on a variety of topics. Well, these days everything is available on the internet isn’t it?
The reason we create content at Tubelight Podcasts is because we found that most of us want to learn new stuff, read something new and broaden our knowledge base. But we do not and sometimes we will not because there is a lot of information on all you wanted to learn on the internet, actually the information is in abundance.
Internet is the main cause to this problem. Due to the confusion and complexity created we will tend to lose our interest to learn. We have also observed that people generally tend to learn if the subject or content is easy and condensed.
So at Tubelight podcasts we digest the complex topics out there and present it to you in a simple manner. You can learn something new in just less than 10 Minutes.
Lesson 4: SOLVE A PROBLEM, it will inspire and motivate you to do more.
Many people rejected the idea of Podcasting and said that it will be a huge failure. But against all odds I was able to create a team of 5 who shared the same vision and had the confidence that it will succeed. Now we are present on all major podcast hosting sites. You can find us on Apple ITunes and Stitcher. Our views are growing MOM at a rate of 15 to 20%.
Lesson 5: Be ready to face REJECTION, Don’t think too much, act on your idea.
So the the lessons I have learnt from my life are
Be ready to face REJECTION
Identify the right opportunities, they are always around you.
FIND MENTORS who can help you
SOLVE A PROBLEM and build your business around it
DON’T THINK TOO MUCH, ACT ON your idea FIRST.
Did you know that If you have Rs 6,80,000 or $10000 in assets you are among the richest 25% of the world.
So don’t always work to be rich, Becoming rich is the easy part.
So friends be curious, try out new stuff, enjoy life as it comes, try to invest in experiences.
Stay Hungry Stay foolish.
So to conclude I quote Pele:
“SUCCESS IS NO ACCIDENT,
ITS HARD WORK
PERSEVERENCE
LEARNING
STUDYING
SACRIFICE AND MOST OF ALL
LOVE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING”
All the very best in your future endeavors.
