Sprouts | Raaina Jain
Sharing instances from his professional life, renowned business coach and author
tells us ways to overcome challenges and leverage opportunities in business
Sachin Kamath, with 25+ years of experience in training and coaching, is known for mentoring MSMEs and corporates to help them grow and scale their business. In an exclusive conversation packed with valuable tips and insights,
Mr. Kamath reveals what goes behind building a successful business, based on his experience with a diverse portfolio of clients.
CHALLENGES FACED BY ENTREPRENEURS
When you start a business, you have a certain level of passion and enthusiasm to do something in life. After some struggle, that usually fades off and entrepreneurs feel stuck. They either don’t know what they want to do in business or where they are.
Another challenge is that business owners want to be involved in everything. They are the unpaid employees of their own companies. Due to time restrictions, they are then unable to learn new things.
BUSINESS MANTRAS
˜ Ask yourself the question, “Are you creating value for people who trust you?” If the answer is yes, you will grow.
˜ ‘Sales’ is a department that every entrepreneur should be skilled in.
˜ There’s a need to shift from survival mindset to growth mindset.
˜ Business owners must constantly upskill themselves. Your skills will pay your bills.
˜ If you manage people, they will mange your business.
˜ Businesses should take into consideration that the buyer’s journey has changed and position themselves in front of the target audience accordingly.
˜ One skill that entrepreneurs need to develop is reading. Sometimes, even one sentence can ignite your journey.
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS CHANGING
You need to ask the following questions.
˜ Why do you want to get into business?
˜ Do you have the competency to get into that particular business?
Before making a decision, understand the business, think about the challenges and read about the journeys of entrepreneurs to learn from their mistakes and successes. Take small steps.
BUSINESS LANDSCAPE
Technological interventions are present in almost every industry today. You need to be aware of technology that is being introduced in your industry. Business is not a part-time job. In the initial phase, you’ll have to give more than what you expect from the business.
NEED FOR FORMAL MENTORSHIP
Friends and family are usually not experts in the field so they will give advice based on their experiences and learnings. This works sometimes, but because of drastic change in business dynamics, one needs a structured approach.
You have to be industry ready which becomes easier if there’s an expert (business coach, consultant, etc.) involved.
Know the Guest
Inspiration behind choosing this field My experiences, failures and achievements helped me understand the challenges faced by entrepreneurs.
Biggest milestone in your career Helping clients turn their passion into profitability is a milestone for me. Given my journey of bouncing back after every obstacle, I feel I’ve achieved a new milestone every 5 years.