During a recent interaction with entrepreneurs for nepal group which i established and co-run, got some good tips from Karna Sakya of Kathmandu Guest house fame.

Here are a few.

1. Experience is critical for an entrepreneur, more than the academic qualification as its it’s the experience that teaches you better on how to manage time, motivate people towards your vision, develop your human resources, get the loan approved, deal with unions etc etc. Nepali entrepreneurs have to learn more from the context of Nepal rather than from international books on entrepreneurship. He cites examples such as, Laxmi Sharma, who has been to a school for not more than three days but became the first woman “Tempo Driver” of Nepal and has then created an internationally sprawling business of handicraft, and is now known as “the button queen on Nepal” for her unique designs of buttons made from animal bones.
2. “Saraswati ra pasina sittaima bechnu hundaina” (Knowledge and sweat should never be sold for free) and believes that there isn’t anything called free lunch. He adds, “Selfishness is not wrong, if it does not harm others”. Selfishness is a virtue until it hurts others. He believes self-interest makes people work towards helping others to earn profit in return. Self-interest is an inevitable aspect of entrepreneurship.
3. “An entrepreneur must never be scared of competition, Competition is good thing as it helps you develop your business. Competition shouldn’t be treated as a threat but as a necessity. Competition makes you more efficient and fitter for survival. Don’t think of finding success alone. ”
4. Drive for success, not the wealth, makes a person successful. Silver spoon is a slow poison, not an advantage if you are seeking success in life. The abundance of wealth dilutes the drive to succeed which is the most vital component for success. Many once successful business houses driven to oblivion as the first generation fails to transmit this entrepreneurial drive to the following generation.
5. Nepal doesn’t need any more political leaders. For every one politician produced, one hundred people become unemployed in the name of political workers. They are a burden to our society. On the other hand, we need much more entrepreneurs who are generating wealth and creating jobs for tens and hundreds of people.
6. “If you are serious about being a millionaire, you need to save every paisa possible by utilizing your money,” Shakya reflects back on the difficulties he faced while he was building his first hotel. “I used to make sure every lump of cement was used efficiently. I used to wake up early every morning to water the roof myself,” says Shakya. He believes being a millionaire is the tougher part of the journey in being a multi-millionaire.
7. “But the same resource-utilization strategy of efficient conservation doesn’t work on making you a multi-millionaire though”, opines Shakya. After being a millionaire, Time becomes your most valuable resource rather than the money and an entrepreneur needs to think and act accordingly. Now your goal has to be the be finding the most efficient use of your time and your networks. “
8. His suggestions to aspiring entrepreneurs? Evaluate yourself. You need to be passionate to about your work, you must think about your venture 24 hours a day. A true entrepreneur needs to build his character and have the courage to be different and the enthusiasm to be consistent. A person needs to think, seek more knowledge and implement his ideas. A person must love his work to be successful. Without love for your work, you can be an employee but never an entrepreneur. Love for your work generates passion. An entrepreneur must love and get lost in his work. Entrepreneurship is similar to riding a bicycle or swimming. You won’t learn them by reading books about them. You need to experience them yourself, commit some mistakes and learn from these mistakes.

Hope you enjoyed it. keep the feedbacks/comments rolling !