Some of the typical challenges experienced by startup founders are:
- Product-Market Fit
- Building a Strong Team
- Competition
- Scaling
- Marketing and Customer Acquisition
- Time Management
- Uncertainty and Risk
I experienced all of these when I took the challenge to set-up a branch office and expand it in a tier 2 city in India. Though I had the main company headquartered in Mumbai to back me up, I couldn’t expect to be bankrolled for ever.
The year was 1999. I was on the last leg of the arduous 850 kms road journey from Mumbai to Nagpur, a tier 2 city in the central part of India. Another 50 kms to go to reach the city. My mind was a whirlwind of emotions. Leaving a plush job in Mumbai- the financial capital of the country, I had taken a plunge by volunteering to relocate to Nagpur and set up an office there. Was the decision right?
The next six years in Nagpur brought out the best in me, toughened me up and gave me a whole lot of confidence. I learnt to set up offices and operations from scratch, manage a multi-location team, do business development, roadshows, customer service and liaise with regulators. Starting as a one man army in one office, I went about setting up 5 offices in the region and leading my organisation to become the market leader in the region. After that experience, I would jokingly tell my friends — now I can even go to the north pole and set-up a business there.
The background…
I was a little clueless after completing my graduation from Rourkela, a small city offering limited career options. Then I got a break by cracking an all India level exam to join the largest custodian in the country at Mumbai as a Mgmt. Trainee. Suddenly I was catapulted from a sleepy town to a bustling metropolitan city with all it’s glamour and glitz. It was the best career launch that I could have asked for.
The next five years spent in Mumbai was nothing short of a dream — working with the brightest brains in the financial services space, engaging with the topmost brokers of BSE & NSE and being part of a revolution in the Indian capital market as it evolved from a physical certificates regime to a dematerialised one.
And then, I was bitten by the bug — to do something more, to come out of my comfort zone, to prove myself… My organisation was expanding and setting up offices all over the country — why not take the plunge and set-up one myself.
The challenges
Setting up the company business in Nagpur was a difficult nut to crack and much more difficult than I had anticipated. From a stable desk job in Mumbai, suddenly my day job required me to run on multiple tracks — setting up office infrastructure, hiring, training and business development to mention a few.
During those days, Nagpur was a sleepy town and the capital market investment culture was a much subdued one compared to Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi, Kolkata, etc. Retail investors were wary of parting with their physical share certificates which was under their physical custody for ages. There had been many a financial fraud earlier with scores of middlemen muddying the waters leading to investors burning their fingers.
Also, my company in spite of it’s stellar parentage (being promoted by large government companies) was a relatively unknown entity in Nagpur given the institutional business that it had been running in metro cities for more than a decade. To get retail investors to open their demat accounts with us was not an easy one.
The competition was bad-mouthing us as we were not well-known locally and saw us as a threat due to our parentage and deeper pockets.
Getting the right talent was another challenge. There was no availability of trained resources in the market having an iota of knowledge of the demat business.
The fight-back
After the initial euphoria of setting up an office and settling down personally in Nagpur was over the hard reality gradually started dawning on me. How will I achieve my business and operational goals? I did not want to go back to Mumbai as a failed man.
There was no going back for me. That option was not on the table. I had to succeed and go over and beyond in my mission to establish my company’s business in Nagpur.
As the office got set-up with the initial core team in place, we went all out on the business development front to start with. I started meeting up with the HNI population as getting them on board was crucial as they were sitting on a huge pile of physical certificates which could be dematerialised and above all they had a huge amount of influence on the wider circle of retail investors.
Next, I started addressing different investor bodies and associations. I spoke on the topic of dematerialisation at the Rotary Club of Nagpur which got covered in the local press. Investors started to warm up to the idea of dematerialisation gradually.
We started putting up advertisements in the local newspapers and billboards which had a far reaching effect.
Slowly and steadily our demat account opening numbers started looking up. The team was now more knowledgeable and confident and worked very hard to reach out to more and more people and also handle the walk in customers.
Now there was no looking back and we were on the upward trajectory and getting the appreciation, support and recognition from the senior management. Gradually, we became the market leader in our segment.
Learnings
It is very easy to give up and accept defeat. I could have hung up my shoes after the initial challenges that I faced in Nagpur. My familiar and comfortable work environment in Mumbai was beckoning me to return there. Here I was in a city where I did not have a single acquaintance, did not know the local language, did not know how and where to go in search of investors, did not have an experienced team… the only thing I had was determination, tenacity to chug along, execution acumen and above all belief in myself and my team.
We used to work for long hours and I remember one local senior gentleman asking me how I managed to motivate a team of freshers to work for 12–14 hours a day and that too without any extra remuneration. It’s of utmost importance that the leader leads from the front and communicates with the team regularly and gets them to believe in the business’s future. He / she needs to be there with the team through their trials and tribulations.
Ultimately all the above matter and differentiates between the winner and the loser.
Today, I look back at my Nagpur journey with a lot of pride and satisfaction. It has a lot of similarity with the challenges that the startup founders face today. I am happy to have delivered on similar challenges 25 years back.
