Why I Stopped Wearing My Socks

by Alok Kejriwal

I learned that to get a new business off the ground, it takes hard, gruelling, undying, maniacal effort. Every deal in the initial years felt as if I was physically pushing a large airplane from the rear and building speed for it to take off. In my case, I realised that as an entrepreneur trying to solve a new, unfamiliar problem, it was imperative to do lots of research on the industry I was trying to enter. Ideally, I should have familiarised myself with how the industry worked instead of running around like a headless chicken, just making random calls. When I had terrible days as I often did, I felt deficient and regretted not having a better education such as an MBA. On the positive side, I learned that no matter how uninitiated an entrepreneur is in a new business, one can win customers by focusing on innovation and actual problem-solving. The best lesson I learned from my HLL experience was that even while swimming in an ocean of sceptics and nonbelievers, I persisted in trying to find someone who would believe in me and throw me a lifeline!