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23 July, 2019

4 minutes Read

Approaches In My Entrepreneurial Journey And Lessons Learnt | #MBAIITKanpur

Another instance where I felt my approach was unconventional, was during my next business: Mushroom Cultivation. Mushroom Cultivation is a labour intensive and dependent business. Hence, margins depend highly on labor output. My business model had a process where we used to start our harvesting process at around 4 am daily, had to be done with the weighing and packing by 8, so that it reaches the market at the right time. The person in charge of this process was semi-skilled labor. With the production of approximately 60 kg per day, he demanded a working force of 4 people. An avg. of 15 kg/person production capacity was simply unacceptable to me. I knew more could be achieved as the in-charge himself was not working on full capacity. I sat down with him and calmly presented that our competitor was functioning on an average of 30-35 kg/person, and asked for his views as to how can we solve this problem. “Is there a mistake we are committing, or is our process wrong, or is our speed slow, or anything else?” I said. He realized that such efficiency would be destructive for business and immediately cut short the workforce by 50%. By throwing down a challenge for him, I managed to save myself from his outburst, which might have been unavoidable had I criticized him and demanded more output directly. I might had even lost him as an employee because he was punctual, rightly skilled and a higher demand for output would have seemed unfair to him.

These instances along with others in my journey taught me, if we attack on the core of the problem with an intent of simply solving it and nothing else, we come out with a result that makes everyone happy. I realized that it is actually problem solving that lures people in entrepreneurship. It is problem solving that got us our B-Schools. And it is problem solving, that made me an Agripreneur from a Petroleum Engineer, and eventually now an IITian.

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Comments

Naveen Bagga

Live Life Aam Aadmi Size. A loyal Arsenal and Kings XI Punjab fan (Yes, life hasn't been this easy for me), currently pursuing MBA in IME, IIT Kanpur. A former employee of EY, EX-SRM-ITE. Blockchain enthusiast and Interested in Analytics.

"that once was mocked..." Nice intro!

23 Jul 2019, 11.10 AM

+Read Replies (1)

Apoorv Agarwal

I'm a former Entrepreneur, now pursuing MBA from IIT Kanpur. I started my business after graduation in Food Processing. After that, I entered into Mushroom Cultivation. I have a problem solving and action oriented approach. I believe there is always a solution to the problem. Having a comprehensive knowledge, being able to inter-relate, making the best of given resources and perseverance (not taking no for an answer, finding a way to fulfill stakeholders) are my motos for victory.

Thanks man, appreciate it!

24 Jul 2019, 10.00 AM |

Devansh Srivastava

Nice story, mate. Lots to learn from you!

23 Jul 2019, 11.46 AM

+Read Replies (1)

Apoorv Agarwal

Thank you mate!

24 Jul 2019, 10.01 AM |

Deepika Gupta

Very motivating and inspiring . All the best for future endeavours.

23 Jul 2019, 12.05 PM

Anshul Shah

I am Currently pursuing MBA from IIT Kanpur, Worked as ORMB Developer at Infosys from 2017-2019. I did my BE in Information Technology From IET DAVV. I like Singing, Swimming, Playing Badminton, Playing Chess.

Inspiring! Nice Story

23 Jul 2019, 02.18 PM

+Read Replies (1)

Apoorv Agarwal

Thanks man.

24 Jul 2019, 10.46 PM |

Aditi Sinha

Your story as an entrepreneur speaks volume of your passion, determination and your never give up attitude. Good luck in this journey ahead!

23 Jul 2019, 03.20 PM

Shashwat Goel

Liked your approach to the efficiency challenge. Way to go !!

23 Jul 2019, 04.35 PM

+Read Replies (1)

Apoorv Agarwal

Thanks man.

24 Jul 2019, 10.00 AM |

Seema Sharma

Inspiring and motivating story. Keep finding innovative approaches. God luck for your future growth.

24 Jul 2019, 11.44 AM

+Read Replies (1)

Apoorv Agarwal

Thank you very much.

24 Jul 2019, 10.40 PM |

amit dhingra

Nice job Apoorv Keep it up

24 Jul 2019, 03.10 PM

Shubhi Agarwal

Very inspirational story dear.. Your story shows your determination and hard work towards your success .. All the very best for your bright future my dear..

24 Jul 2019, 03.51 PM