scaling up your business - startup saturday

Scaling up your businessRandom Dots – Connect yourself

Aji IssacCo-founder, CEO – Techshu.com

“I can’t teach you anything today but you can learn a lot today” – Aji Issac

Can’t express the value of this pic!

Gyaan #1: Understand your Business

• Product vs Service (Mix) (Product => Service, Service => Product) [Think again, again]

• Your SWOT (Examples – Testimonial, relationship, money, knowledge, People etc etc etc)

• Why you are in business? Just sake for it, you need to graduate and find the purpose.– Your need to understand Market– Resources (Money, People)– Path to Execution

#1: Understanding Business #2: Understanding Yourself #3: Understanding Scaling

Everlasting Gyaan #1.1: Core of it

• What Value are you adding?• ROI for people investing in (Customers)– How can we improve ROI?– How can we increase visibility of ROI?– How can we improve relationship?

Think again, every day, every week, every month, learn, Ask, Get Mentored … Get this

solved, rest can be fixed.


Everlasting Gyaan #1.2: Market• Local, Current• Long term• Sustainability• Competitors• Think Logically, Ask, Read, Understand Market• Document, cowork on document.• Etc Etc

“Managing to think business administration logically is MBA” – Aji Issac


Everlasting Gyaan #1.3: Resource

• What resources are needed• How will you get it• How will you retain it• CUT the cost (Logical, I hardly bought clothes for last 3

years, our tables are Rs 500, Plastic Chairs, Micromax zindabad) … CUT CUT CUT (But do invest, you will lose)

“Going frugal initially is right MBA, Marwari Business Administration == Amazing Success” –

Aji Issac


Everlasting Gyaan #1.4: Execution

• Bengal Execution• Process• Hard Work => Smart work + Hard work =>

Smarter Work + Hard work (All at will and with passion)

“Going frugal initially is right MBA, Marwari Business Administration == Amazing Success” –

Aji Issac


My Reality #1: About business

• Focus is bogus – Don’t worry – Survival is everything.– Health, Family, Money, Reputation, Anger, Team– God (Be Merciful, Be Gracious)

• Focus is essential and should be targeted, keep revisiting Focus Documents.

• One year passes off in 4 months.• Short Term & Long Term• Stay along, believe, keep working and keep learning.

Don’t waste your time. Just keep collecting dots (PPT making, relationships, reports) .. Later connect.


Takeaway counter #1:

• Documents use drop box• Perfection is not desired, Don’t waste your time

on perfection (Think ROI) – 80-20 rule• Have Scoreboards as much as possible (We did

spend a lot of time)• Do partnerships• Do give attention to detail (How I changed PPT

and frustrated people and myself). Excellence is costly, people are not comfortable.


#2: Understand yourself

• You are the Business for many months• Every person who takes up ownership is business, people

deal with people not companies initially.• Develop yourself (You are not ___, qualities)

– Determination– Flexibility– Understanding business– Understand marketing – How to argue– How to value, motivate people– How to recruit.


Why do we Suck?

“I still think why I was so stupid last year & it is happening for last many years” – Aji Issac


It’s ok to suck, we all will do, just keep improving?

“It’s ok to suck at times, its ok be human and imperfect” – Aji Issac


Wait! Do you really Suck & don’t know• This is the horror part of it• Killer issue here.• People can’t teach you• You don’t understand, you are too much on ego

• Don’t even know how to eat valuable shit

“Knowing what you don’t know is the greatest knowing” – Aji Issac


By Alok (Rodinhood)• Determination• Wanna be a start up CEO?

Then learn to to board the Titanic AFTER the captain has left; sink with it; go and weld the big bloody hole; then go to the surface, fill your lungs, dive back into the ship and blow bubbles into the bulkhead. Now do this 1 trilion times. Die. Go to hell. Excuse yourself from the devil and come back. Blow 1 trillion bubbles again. Die. See the ship rise with your corpse on it.

God will not want you even then, but the devil will give you another company to start


Marketing/Sales#1: Understanding Business #2: Understanding Yourself #3: Understanding Scaling

Takeaway counter #2:

• Read books (Its organized) – Jack Welch “Winning, Straight from Gut, Answers”, Execution (Ram Charan) … from people who have proved their worth not the best selling alone.

• Don’t get confined to yourself. Go out, meet people “X Coffees with _____” (Balance sheet)

• Make comfortable.• Cumulative respect.• Right Decision is over rated.


• Having #1 & #2 in place helps you to go to #3.• Beyond You – Next Level– “Train the Trainers” for Service industry

• Documents, Process, Programs• Right Valuation for yourself and your company …

Don’t wait for perfection (Not sure)• Customers will be different, Selling will be different.• Risks will be bigger. (#2 is important)• Diversification … Busy CEO can be killing


It’s different! A little different!