Entrepreneurship Is About Making A Meaning & Not Just Money!

This article is #2 in the entrepreneurship series and continued from #-Link-Snipped-#

Story of CrazyEngineers in brief:

Let me tell you how CrazyEngineers started. People have told me that CE is an excellent idea. I’ll tell you the truth how it struck my mind.

I have been a big fan of two programs on Discovery Channel: Mega structures & Extreme Engineering. I have always wanted to be a part of a mega project. In 2005, precisely, 24th November 2005, I began searching for a place where I could interact with engineers who work on mega projects. I was absolutely sure that there would be a place on the Internet where engineers from all over the world gather to exchange ideas, solve problems and help each other. Even after 10 minutes of searching online, I couldn’t find such place. I was shocked! Engineers, the makers of modern world, had no place to come together! I immediately knew that such a place would be very useful to all the engineers. I said to myself, “Why not start a place to unite all the engineers?” I began searching for a domain name and found out that most of the domains related to ‘engineering’ and ‘engineers’ were already taken. Then ‘CrazyEngineers’ struck my mind. I wasn’t very sure whether it was a good domain name. So I asked my mother. She told me it was an excellent domain name and very interesting too. I booked the domain with my Dad’s credit card. Over the next two days, I worked very hard to setup a simple website and launched CrazyEngineers on November 26, 2005.

After four years, it looks like CE is a ‘great idea’. In reality it was an outcome of the problem I faced. CE solved the problem of getting engineers to interact with each other to build a modern world.

Tip: Do not waste time in figuring out a great idea. Just find out what can you do better than others and then just do it.

Point 2: It’s not about money. It’s about making a meaning.

I’ve met so many wannabe entrepreneurs who have just one thing on their mind: Money. People idolize entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Branson, Steve Jobs and others who are billionaires. Of course there is no harm in idolizing them; but idolizing them because they made lot of money is wrong. Idolize these entrepreneurs because they made a meaning, simplified our lives and improved lifestyles.

Why? Because when you are starting out, you won’t have clients, not a lot of money to spend and nobody will know you. If you just focus on making money; you will be disappointed soon. It could be very hard for start-ups to make money in the initial days. That’s where the ‘passion’ comes into picture. Did I say passion? Yes. Let me explain.

Passion is not just a liking for something. It’s something that makes you lose your sleep and makes you feel lunch & dinner are waste of time. I may be exaggerating, but that’s what passion means to me. When you build your business around something you are passionate about, you will have the motivation to keep on working even when you aren’t making money. When the team working on a product or service is passionate about it, it won’t quit when things go wrong – the most essential thing that saves a start-up.

One must try to make a meaning with his/her business. The most successful businesses make a meaning. They all have a purpose which is other than ‘making money’. Microsoft’s purpose is to provide tools (software & hardware) to make you realize your potential and it’s their passion. That’s why they give you operating systems, coding/development tools, hardware et al. Google is passionate about making all the information & data in the world available to everyone at a rapid fast rate.

Tip: If ‘making money’ is the sole reason you are considering entrepreneurship as a career; stop. There’s a tough road ahead. Instead, find a purpose and go building your business around it.