I completed my study in Tamil medium. During that time there was an opportunity for 20 students of our batch to be enrolled to a special section called ‘Engineering’. This was meant for the bright students. That was my first brush with wanting to be an Engineer and eventually I became a Mechanical Engineer. During the admission interview, I remember saying that “I want to start my own business”. This stayed with me ever since.

Five years into the job, I decided to become an entrepreneur saying “I need more freedom, more responsibility and more money”. Every now and then, I have tried to be a part of the Corporate executive team, but have always come back to Entrepreneurship.

Leaving a well paying job with a very reputed Engineering firm called Thermax, devastated my parents. And I could not hide the truth from them. When the situation got out of hand, I decided to hide from them for a while and thus shifted to a new city to continue my journey in entrepreneurship. Did not do any home work on which business and how much money etc. Remember sleeping with a walkman where the battery was so low that the song was playing like a drag. Yes, I was down to my last 2,000/- rupees. But after that there was no looking back for the next ten years.

The next setback was after I inaugurated my factory. A few antisocial elements came to encroach my factory armed with weapons. I spent the next 3yrs fighting it out at the police station and court. I felt very strongly about standing for what is right, especially when I had the education and reasonable amount of money. Also, few large corporate, which availed my knowledge and company goods but never paid for it was the toughest to face. I kept marching on to achieve more and more and de-risked through wide diversification that last ten yrs have been bliss.

Right now I am focusing on innovation especially the ones which will impact the nation in a positive way. This is a part of my entrepreneurial mission. The funding scene has changed a lot in India over the last 20 yrs. Anyone with a good idea can raise money. Plenty of forums through which he or she can ensure her progress with least of failures. Hence, this is one of the best times to become an entrepreneur in India. There are all kinds of numbers being set – 10,000 entrepreneurs by Nasscom, etc and this is an indication that this will be the future story.

After 28 yrs of dabbling in various fields including being the CEO of a NGO driven enterprise, I am mentoring individual entrepreneurs as well as handle large corporate. Corporates which have realised that pure Ph.Ds alone may not deliver REVENUE when it comes to handling Innovation. This space is very exciting as I help entrepreneurs to reduce their margin of error while they build their business. Also get an opportunity to work with highly qualified people which keeps me challenged all the time to deliver a RESULT than merely going to office. This model gives me enough freedom to pursue what I cherish and never regret a single moment of life.

A few suggestions,
I would advise that you should not jump into starting off on your own without enough planning and firm determination. Mentors/advisors are always a ‘good to go to’. Choose your business partners very carefully. If you have decided to uphold the value system and live for a cause, you will be happy to fight for what is right. Lessons learnt will be too valuable and will keep you going.

For you to be accepted for your capability, more often people look up to your education or your employment history. So if you want to be a part of the much spoken about ‘Innovation’, better get ready for a rough patch before you get accepted. There is more number of people who talk about innovation than those who have really done it.

-- Murali Cherat is a Serial Entrepreneur, presently has his venture called Innovation Results innoresmentor.com