"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing."
-Abraham Lincoln
One of the most enduring challenges I faced was in the 3rd year of my graduation when I decided to get into entrepreneurship. I have worked with quite a few start-ups before that but deciding to start a venture on my own was another ballgame altogether. Equipped with my idea and a ton of doubts in my mind, I started a venture in 2017 - LeadSports. I have interviewed a few first-generation entrepreneurs to understand the ground realities and consequences of starting a venture. The picture they painted was not a rosy one by a long shot. One of the most common advice I got from these interviews was not to start my own venture until I had enough money to fall back on.
As I was from a middle-income family, that meant getting a job which I wasn’t willing to do. The first few months after setting up my venture was probably the most difficult months of my life. The work was not hectic, but on the contrary, I had no idea what to do next. Anything I did could go right and had an equal chance to go terribly wrong.
That was the time when I had a face-to-face with what an entrepreneur goes through. I felt like walking in darkness with no compass, map or a torchlight. I was answerable to my friends who put their trust in me and my idea, potentially putting the best years of their professional life at stake.
It was during this time that my mentor and Head of Incubation Centre at Koneru Lakshmiah University, Dr. Rajasekhar has guided me. He had helped a lot in understanding the dynamics of the start-up industry, business jargons (which made no sense to an Engineering student), getting the right contacts and fine-tuning my business plan. He was undoubtedly the most consequential persons who have helped me get through a tough phase of my life and I am here at Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam because of the interest he has ignited in me about Management.
How the Aditya Birla Group impacted my Life?
There are very few companies and conglomerates that deserve to be called Pioneers and Aditya Birla stands tall among this select list of companies. The Birlas have been spearheading the development of Indiapost-independence and if someone said that Aditya Birla Group has not impacted their life, he/she is either lying or is grossly misinformed.
Aditya Birla group has impacted my life in the form of UltraTech Cement. During my stay in Bengaluru, my primary mode of the commute was by Metro which was a project of UltraTech Cement. Not just this project, but many more across India, UltraTech Cement has its footprint.
Birla Temples, although not a part of Aditya Birla Group, has a special place in my heart. I am a Hyderabadi and one of the fondest and lasting memories I had of Hyderabad was the Sunday trips to the Birla Templemy grandfather used to take me to. Standing tall on a hillock next to Hussain Sagar, the view from there is something that I’d never forget in my life.
!dea, More Supermarket, Birla Sun LifeInsurance and many more - Aditya Birla Group played an integral part in my life and will continue to do so.