Small Business Tips

Business schools and management books are flooded with frameworks for various processes. Each claim to work and we all love to know what works, because all of us want to be winners. This makes most business school students, management professionals, businessmen (especially the small business leaders) diligently follow such frameworks. Many apply and are astonished when they find it does not work as taught and think (sometimes are made to) it is they who did not implement it properly. Most are oblivious to the two limitations regarding to implementing frameworks.     First is the clarity to what and how a framework works . Framework is a basic structure that is underlying to the concept. Kind off skeleton to body. We all have similar skeletal features but not same. This difference is what many fail to understand when it comes to frameworks. The context in which these frameworks are applied may vary and hence their output is not as intended. Most available business framewor...

In  a period when mental calculations were wading-off by entry of calculators and computers, there was a human who could outdo the speed of such machines and entered Guinness Book of Records. She was "Shakuntala Devi" also called as "HUMAN COMPUTER". Born in 1929 into a poor family, Shakuntala's innate skills of being able to remember numbers and perform mental calculations were noticed by her father. With no formal education the child prodigy went to show case her skills around the world. When viewing her life from a business perspective there are lessons that Micro and Small Business can takeaway for their growth, profitability, sustainability. Belief:  It was 1955, a few years after India got independence Shakuntala Devi was interviewed by Leslie Mitchell for BBC. That was a period when western dominance was not yet fully out from Indian minds. Shakuntala was given a complex problem by the host which she solved in few seconds. Mitchell told that Shakuntala...

 "A far-sighted statesman and a lion among leaders. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's life teaches valuable lessons for everyone" said Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. "He was a visionary statesman whose uncompromising stand for meritocracy, efficiency and education transformed Singapore into one of the most prosperous nations in the world...His wisdom and leadership will be remembered by people all around the globe" said IMF Director Ms. Christine Lagarde. These are few of the quotes from world leaders on the demise of Singapore founding father Mr. Lee Kuan Yew aged 91 on 23-Mar-2015. Little did I hear about its founding father until I got the opportunity to live, work & raise a family in Singapore for past 20 years. Now I have got to know more about this remarkable leader and some insights which I feel can be very useful for Small & Medium Sized Enterprises. Singapore, a third world country was claimed as one of worst slums of the world after World War II. Wi...

 Fondly called as ' People's President ' or ' Missile Man ' was one who rose from humble beginnings went on to fuel the Indian space missions with knowledge, leadership and shined as the most favorite President of India before perishing into the vast universe. " The man who ushered India on a new journey has finished his own ", he is none other than APJ Abdul Kalam, who has left a legacy that is hard to reach. His life story has been widely spoken after his demise. So let's muse on the unspoken, about take away lessons for SME's from his principles and ideologies. 1. Vision      APJ kept mentioning that " Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep ". The conceptualization of vision starts from dream, a dream which does not allow a SME to rest, a dream which makes each SME to grow and reach heights while widening the base. The Vision of a SME should be such a dream that keeps the organisatio...

 IRRFAN in Arabic means "Knowledge" "Learning" and "Awareness".  Eulogy by Sutapa Sikdar, wife of actor Irrfan Khan who passed away mentions " that its  (his death)  a gain of the things he taught us, and now we shall finally begin to truly implement it and evolve ". Another veteran actor Kamal Hassan tweeted " Too soon to leave Irrfan Ji. Your work always left me in awe. You're one of the finest actors I know, I wish you stayed longer. You deserved more time ". He seem to have lived what his name stands for and in the roles he acted. Probably that is why his demise doesn't seem like a loss only to the film industry but as a personal loss, including me. All great personalities leave some take away when gone. Below listed which I feel are tips for small business owners from what I knew about Irrfan's life:   Perseverance:  The most common trait required for a human and most required for an entrepreneur. After 1988 role in Sal...