entreprenuer?!

I know again there was a long absence from the blog.  almost a month and half, and I did not write anything. which is generally against my wish, as everyday I see 10 odd topics I want to write on. But there was either too much of happening, or moving around in my own life, that I could have posted chronicles of these 2 months. Thankfully I did not, and today when I get some time and topic afresh, here I go!

people close to me somehow refuse to end up having a typical life. I had written about breaking away from the norms, and the trend continues. well, It so happens that the concerned fellow wants to be an entrepreneur.

He has a great degree, an excellent academic record, and he might get handful of job offers in the US. still, somehow he is planning to leave all that and get to start his own company. A start up is all he is looking forward to, in the recent times.  luckily, his parents or friends do not discourage him from this idea, but large amount of people kind of have a mild shock listening to all these plans. why- o- why a start up when you can have a job? 

 I fail to understand the logic. I suppose th vast majority always consider job as the only option, coz well, its always better to have a steady income if you can, there are lesser risks involved, and well, frankly most of them are not mentally capable of dreaming about something like that. yes, it takes immense mental courage to be able to think on the untrodden path, to develop an idea, and to actually work on that idea to execute it. not everybody has that kind of capability. the concept itself goes beyond their cup of tea. but lets get past that.

I have seen many guys(and ofcourse girls) having that mental capability, to do the above mentioned things, they have the brains, the guts and a zest to conquer the unknown. still the thought of a start up is a total no-no for them. why?

the maharashtrians mostly have been conditioned this way. working for somebody was always considered a great thing in a typical middle class maharashtrian household. IT might be so due to the need of a fixed income. But at the end of the day, it kind of killed our entrepreneurial instincts. I see many parents vehemently opposing their kids if they say that they want to start something of their own.  I see a typical maharashtrian family, which very proudly tells that their son/daughter is working for some software giant in the US and earns 100,000 dollars per annum. all good.  But I have seen these parents making faces, disapproving the start up that  somebody's kid is having. probably it's loafing around according to them, or may be something that you do when you can not do anything else ( read-find a decent job).

I am amused at the logic. If you think carefully, you need a great set of skills for running a business. a business plan, a product to sell, constantly generating innovative ideas, a decent business sense, and most importantly, dedication and immense conviction. and not to forget, belief in self.  Intelligence, updated knowledge of the concerned subject and a risk taking heart I am not even counting. For doing a decent job, you need a good CV, may be some contacts(but placements cell does that for you), and performance. That's it. some things like perseverence and knowledge of subject is needed both for job and for business. but it's a relatively super safe game, you have a fixed income every month, and be happy for next 5 years atleast. in old days it used to be forever! :D

now given all this, how can a salaried person be greater than a businessman? why is a software geek(who does nothing more than coding) admired so much when a young techie who is enterprising,, is given unwanted advices on why he should shut his business down? why is there so much of negativity attached to the idea of having something of your own, developing it and enjoying it to the fullest? why are people with typical jobs preferred in the matrimonial market over those who are fighting it out for a start up? I see the security factor. But why are the entrepreneurs discouraged, disregarded and generally spoken things about?

has our mental slavery not yet disappeared? we were great employees of the goraa saab. the tendency to listen to the superior, not to counter, and to be ruled, runs in our blood generation after generation. we were great clerks. were we great entrepreneurs? sadly, no. were we great innovators? I am not even talking about it. we were and are people who are happy living in the set pattern, not questioning, not playing with new ideas, and thinking out of the box for individual or collective good. when will be open to the idea that having a start up probably is more risky, and hence it needs more support and admiration? or even give the admiration that it deserves to a really excellent business idea?

No idea. I have not really organized my thoughts very well into this, it deserves a crisper post, in which probably innovation should also be talked about. more later.