Why do we do business?

Why do we do business?

The most common answer would be business of business is to make money, but that's not the correct answer its just the end result.

I came across two excellent links one article and a video which sums up the answer very well.

"It's not about exiting for millions of dollars or going public. It's about changing the game. It's about seeing something that's not quite right in the world, and deciding you want to fix it. For me, personally, it was observing that marketing is broken. Most people hatemarketing. we want to transform marketing into something people love. It's hugely ambitious, but I have this feeling, deep-down inside, that we're right." by Dharmesh Shah on his blog

"The goal is not to sell people what you have but the goal is to sell people what you believe. That's what great organisations do. If you can't show people why you are doing, chances are they willn't buy your product" by Simon Sinek on TED

Journey of two years

Today with the last exam I completed my two years of MBA. It seems just like yesterday when I had shifted to Mumbai on a rainy evening, and before I could realise the two years are over. These two years were worth all the sacrifice and hardship. When I joined MBA I was confident and ready for any kind of challenge but I was tested in very different ways, it grounded my confidence and built it all over again from the scratch to a height taller than ever before. And now I feel I am ready to take on the world.

Another thing which contributed a lot to my learning was the city of Mumbai. I came to Mumbai with lot of apprehensions, as I had heard different versions about this city from different sources. I had lived in Bangalore, Chennai and had traveled to other metros like Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata etc. Its needless to say that each city has its own characteristics and is different from the other. But Mumbai is perhaps the most different from the rest, unlike other cities it doesn't leave you alone, it takes you in its folds and before you can release you turn into a Mumbaikar. It is perhaps the most civilised among all the other Indian cities, among all the chaos there is a discipline which keeps the city running. From local trains to the queues for movie tickets there is an order followed by everyone, without which the city would have come down crumbling. This city hardens you and makes a man out of a boy. This city and its spirit is addictive, once you get a hang of it you will never be able to leave it.

I always wanted to go back to Bangalore again or some other city like Pune but now I am glad that I am placed in a company based in Mumbai. I am now really excited about coming back to Mumbai after the two months break for a new beginning...

Hopeless Sports Management

The news of olympic medalist Sushil Kumar being ignored for the padma awards didn't come as a big shock to me. The sportsmen of our country has always been treated shabbily by the government and the sport bodies alike. Sushil Kumar represents majority of the Indian sportsmen, a guy from humble backgrounds made it big in international level but the sport he represents is not popular in India, neither he is proficient in English nor does he has the Adonis like looks of Vijender Singh. It is another discouraging signal sent to the budding sportsmen.
In fact the development in different sports in the last few months was not very encouraging for some one who wants to take up sports as a future profession. The national hockey players were offered a meager sum of 25,000 for representing India, Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra is not allowed to play in Common wealth games as he didn't participate in national camps, Leander Paes didn't play in Chennai open as he was not given the appearance he wanted. The root cause of all this is the same, the sports bodies which control the respective sports think that they are bigger than the sport and the sportsmen. People with magnanimous egos run this organisations. Until and unless there is a major change in the attitude of the management the sporting scene of the country looks bleak as ever. May be this organisations should start recruiting managers from B-schools, I know quite a few of my friends who wouldn't mind giving up a hefty a pay package for a career in sports management.