Sethurathnam Ravi (S Ravi) is the former Chairman of Bombay Stock Exchange Limited (BSE) (November 2017 to February 2019) and Founder and Managing Partner of Chartered Accountants’ firm Ravi Rajan & Co., an advisory and accountancy firm, headquartered in New Delhi, India. Mr. S Ravi is a Post Graduate in Commerce and holds a diploma in Information System Audit (DISA). He is an Associate Member of Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE), USA and is also registered as an Insolvency Resolution Professional. S Ravi talks about the value of a mentor in startups.
Sethurathnam Ravi is a Chartered Accountant based in India. He is also the Managing Partner and Promoter of Ravi Rajan & Company. In addition, S Ravi is also known as the former Chairman of BSE. S Ravi gives his views on the common mistakes of young entrepreneurs and how to overcome them.
S Ravi, former BSE chairman and independent director of the Tourism Finance Corporation of India, sheds light on the common shortcomings of startups. As a policymaker, S Ravi gives his views on the common mistakes of young entrepreneurs and how to overcome them.
Former BSE Chairman Sethurathnam Ravi said, “First of all, these entrepreneurs seem to have an excessive passion for their ideas. So the first and most important mistake is that they may have a very good idea, but they need to be flexible and very imaginative to change the business model to suit the needs. Because capital, growth, marketing and above all a story need to be told to people to make any idea a reality. So this is a package that will make the company successful. If a company's personnel has a good idea and they fail, it is because they are too attentive to their idea and are not willing to change it according to market conditions. According to S Ravi, this is the first and foremost reason for failure.
The second is the capital, says Sethurathnam Ravi, former BSE Chairman. If the entrepreneur does not plan the next two steps to be taken if his startup is successful, there will be huge bleeding in the capital. Having been part of the BSE for a long time, S Ravi realized that a company should have good advisors who can work hand in hand throughout the process. Primarily the idea is to start the whole process. Next, you need to find the capital, then how do you go to the next level, raise the capital to the next level and then you have to market it because it is not available for capital. After all, burning money is too much. Then you have to get it to people and sell your product, and how you optimize everything is an integrated package. According to S Ravi, the second reason why everyone fails is capital.
The third reason is that the market conditions for one person are not red. Catch up is very fast on a startup. One idea comes up and another comes up with the same idea, which may be a better version of the idea. The better the more acceptable. Therefore, one must adapt and act quickly before the other company can make a move. That is why the fertility of the individual and the immediate response they receive to bring the product to market is so important. Unpacking is always very important and the story and people should believe their story, says Sri Ravi.
Mentorship is very valuable in this regard. The right form of advice from a positive set of people is always good. Counsellors and mentors can be people who can smooth out ideas. Because the ideas we say are dreams. So dreams need to be put in a box of success, and that box is very important. Now another thing, in S Ravi's opinion, is that an advisor can also be a risk manager. The consultant can also be an entrepreneur. He can be an individual who can help an entrepreneur reach out to a policy. A mentor will have a lifetime of experience, would have had great success somewhere, and then you would accept his help and plan according to his chart. One can use his idea and in the end, everything stops with the entrepreneur. Many people have become consultants from the IT space and banking sectors. Entrepreneurs should take their advice for a better life.
Comments