An evening with Dr. Sri Harsha Govardhana
On Dec 12, we had an interesting session by Dr. Sri Harsha Govardhana. The topic was Entrepreneurial Intelligence: The New Edge in the age of disruption
About Dr. Sri Harsha Govardhana
Dr. Sri Harsha Govardhana has 35 years of global experience as an Entrepreneur, CEO, Board Director, Venture Capital & Private Equity Consultant, Chief Learning Officer and Vice President - Human Resources of large global organisations such as Apollo Hospitals Group, Satyam Computers, Oberoi Hotels, SOL Pharma & Asklepios International.
Over the last few decades, he has coached & trained over 200,000 entrepreneurs, senior business leaders & middle level executives in North America, EMEA, APAC regions. Dr Harsha has a stellar reputation as a go-to-advisor for his expertise in coaching leaders, mentoring entrepreneurs, creating business models, strategic business plans, restructuring organisations, process reengineering, productivity & performance improvement initiatives, organisational policy frameworks, SOPs, performance monitoring, etc., for large, medium and small businesses.
He has authored several tools such as Entrepreneur Skills Assessment, Sarvaguna Indicator, EQ-SS, Leadership Styles Inventory, Conflict Resolutions Styles Inventory, Personality Type Assessment, SalesPro Indicator, Super Star Doctor Effectiveness Window, 12BB-Business Model, CHANGE 3S-4P, SCOPE-HR Maturity Model, SCALE-Sales Maturity Model. His clients find these tools enormously useful for the attainment of their goals.
Dr Harsha holds a Doctorate in Organisational Psychology from Southwestern American University, Postgraduate in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management from Osmania University and Executive Education in General Management from IIM Bangalore, India. He has obtained various certifications and accreditations from reputed organisations.
Entrepreneurial Intelligence
The entrepreneur’s journey is difficult. Entrepreneurs are worried about various things. They are always thinking: What should I do next? Will my idea fly?
When entrepreneurs run out of resources, they must bank on their own mindset to rebound. This mindset which is related to their IQ as well as EQ is entrepreneurial intelligence.
Why do people become entrepreneurs?
A survey conducted by Dr Roger Pearman indicates the following reasons:
- I am bored of a 9-to-5 life.
- I have a belief that my great idea can turn into a money spinner.
- I have no other options: I may not have a job or the career prospects in my current job are bleak.
- I am passionate about doing something. It is tough. But I can withstand it. I can weather the storm.
On passion
Many people who want to start a venture say they are passionate about their idea. But the key question is whether the passion can be monetized.
As Steve Jobs once mentioned, passion is what keeps you going in the face of difficulties.
For some entrepreneurs, the passion is misplaced. But that was not so in the case of Mr Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm.
Despite many failures, he never gave up. When the opportunity came, he found his niche and launched Paytm.
There also, there was a little bit of struggle. The app did not work well in the initial days. But since then, Paytm has come a long way.
Concluding remarks
Entrepreneurs must focus on the 7 success factors. Mindset is key.
Entrepreneurs must take care of their health. Entrepreneurs can contribute only if they have good health.
Entrepreneurs must have the right mindset. They must always think positively: I am successful and will succeed.
Entrepreneurs must get a coach and mentor. Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey.
Q&A
Many successful professionals (from consulting c0ompanies, GCCs, etc) attend Dr Harsha’s workshops. They take the assessments and then start getting doubts: In the coaching sessions, they ask: Do I really fit in? Their job looks safer. They are not ready to take the financial risk. They may be earning Rs 200,000 per month. The moment they become an entrepreneur the salary will dry up completely.
We must remember that entrepreneurship is about betting on ourselves. It is heartening to note that 95% of the companies in India are MSMEs (contribute about 30% of GDP). MSMEs make up 86% of the companies. There is no need for every entrepreneur to aspire for a billion-dollar valuation. Even a Rs 2 crore turnover may be good enough to lead a healthy lifestyle without the shortcomings of a salaried job. Worldwide, family businesses make up 70%. of GDP. So, people should feel more upbeat about becoming entrepreneurs.
For people from business communities, there is already a base to build on. There is an established ecosystem.
For first time entrepreneurs, five aspects are key.
- What is the idea we have? What is the value proposition? Why would people buy our product? What is our differentiator for the segment we are targeting? What are the regulations and market conditions?
- How do we onboard customers? What type of sales engine do we need to create?
- How much money do we need? What are our revenues, costs?
- What kind of organization is needed to support the product and generate revenues? What kind of infrastructure, technology, people, etc are required?
- How should we reinvest the profits? Profits should be wisely reinvested and not squandered away in luxury cars and so on.
The same 5 stages are involved but a few are more critical. How do we get the customers to generate revenue growth? Should it be the same business or should we pivot? For pivoting, new approaches and technologies are required.
Example: An entrepreneur was running a tyre trading business. He wanted to go online. He built a portal but there was no traction. He pivoted and added other services; frames, fragrances, seat covers, modification of parts, etc. The business began to grow by leaps and bounds.
In India the talent is good. We can operate at scale. There are many sectors in which we can make money. The growth potential is huge. But compared to USA, Australia, UK, Ireland, raising money is more difficult.
For a startup, it is important to talk to customers, partners, banks. In case of a big organization, it is important to talk to customers, board members, different functional teams, sales, HR, product development.
While they should form a 360 view, entrepreneurs must have an independent view at times. They must have the courage to bet on their own ideas.
The gig economy offers a lot of autonomy. Employees can choose their own pace of work and be in control of their lives and career. But the gig economy is about working with different organizations with no loyalty to anyone. Entrepreneurship is not a side hustle. Moonlighting is unethical. Gig is a much smaller game. Entrepreneurship can generate more value in the long term.
Many entrepreneurs struggle to raise money at the start. Dr Harsha’s maid servant has mobilised funds and set up a laundry business with 12 people and 7 machines (including two large industrial machines). So, anyone can do it. It is all about having the resilience to deal with an unfavourable situation. If we do not have our own money, we can approach banks, family members and friends. Recall the experience of Mr NR Narayana Moorthy.
We should examine the data. Is the business slowing down? Is it because the market is changing? Then we must change our strategy, refine our idea and revive the business.
Often this is due to the lack of entrepreneurial intelligence. Recall the 7 factors. Also, entrepreneurs must work day in and day out. Their involvement and commitment are key to the success of the venture. They cannot afford to be hands off.
They are independent minded, knowledgeable and can articulate their idea well with supporting arguments. So, their IQ is high. The problem is with their EQ. Dr Harsha recalled that one of his coaches was perplexed about why his father was not willing to accept his idea. But he was hesitant to go and discuss the subject with his father. Once he did so, he understood why his father was against the idea. The Gen Z are not good at persuading people or having difficult conversations. They find it difficult to close the sale. It is important to train and groom them properly.
On the subject of grooming, Dr Harsha gave an example. One jeweller who belonged to the fifth generation asked his son to come on time and just sit in the shop. He was given a white paper bundle to count and later a huge bundle of notes. He understood the thrill of making money. That is how he became excited about joining the business.