E ≠ M3

E ≠ M³

Entrepreneurship is flourishing world over. The surge of capitalism has encouraged many to tread the path of an entrepreneur than toiling his life as an employee. Especially the new generation is extremely enthusiastic about trying their luck. Enough have been written and spoken about on how to become a successful entrepreneur. Extensive workshops are conducted, giving important tips to those who are brave enough to take the risk.

From my experience there is one extremely significant point which every entrepreneur should keep in mind. I would like to explain the same with the help of a formula: E ≠ M³ .Or in other words Entrepreneur is not equal to ME, MY, AND MINE. If there is any threat for being a successful entrepreneur, then it is the excess of these three M’S.

None of the entrepreneurs will agree that in a normal situation the whole organisation will be revolving around these 3 M’S. Unfortunately that is the truth.

It all first starts with ME. Here the entrepreneur assumes the role of a ring leader. He cannot distinguish himself from the organisation. For him both are the same. He believes that he has an ensemble of people around him.  He has the whip in his hands and expects others to obey all his orders. Team is a dirty word and what is developed is a loose group of people who are there to just implement what they are asked to do. In such cases communication will be nil almost. Whenever the leader feels the need of communication, it will be restricted to that particular individual or group. Those communications will be impulsive and won’t have any coherence.  Delegation, which is always considered to be an important element in weaving the fabric of the organisation, will be completely missing as every activity will be pulled on to his table. The trust quotient of the leader will be very low; for whom every other person will be a competitor. The team lack motivation and they end up being a bunch of people who gets the things done mechanically, without any vigour or enthusiasm. In the long run, such organisations will die from within of its ennui and boredom.

Next is the MY feeling. It is true that the organisation belongs to the entrepreneur. The problem arises when it is build on just the MY, where the Entrepreneur merely becomes an Employer. Here MY becomes the short form for MYOPIA.  The four fundamentals, namely- objective, strategy, structure and planning of the organisation will be built on MY. The language of the entrepreneur will be- it is MY objective, My strategy, MY structure for the organisation and he expects others to be subservient to his views. There are no shared objectives and none of the team members will be clear about what their destination is. Strategy will be very limited; structure will be weak and precarious. Every decision taken is based just on the cost. There is no scope for dialogue. No outside views are accepted. Eventually, the organisation will take the shape of an inverted Pyramid. A huge structure will be built on a weak MY. Needless to say the possibility of such an organisation collapsing is extremely high.

From the ME AND MY it grows into MINE. In this scenario, the whole existence of the organisation will be limited to making profits. Every activity will be viewed as an opportunity to just make money and every cost will be considered as a loss. Investments are seen as a waste. The focus will be on maximising the profits, while squeezing the cost. All achievements are the result of the entrepreneur’s effort or ability, while all mistakes are attributed to the carelessness and callousness of the team members. What is worst is that the entrepreneur start believing that all profits are MINE and it is not to be shared. He competes with himself, thus dangerously ignoring the real competitors.  While the entrepreneur enjoys his profit, the organisation is deprived of its prosperity. This finally leads to its decay.

So an entrepreneur should always be ready with a remedy for the malady of ME, MY AND MINE, if the organisation has to prosper.

Rajesh Athrassery