Five Simple Analogies of Life For Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are a strange, weird but simple species. They are driven by an unknown element in them called passion which derives its roots either from extreme desire of wealth, fame, power or something unknown. In their journey of passion, there are times they feel weak, alone, disheartened, demotivated, worthless, foolish, clueless and what not. It is those times they need motivation to continue on their path. To revive themselves from that extreme void surrounding them, most of the entrepreneurs look for anecdotes and analogies in real life which resembles their current situation and use them to overcome the current challenges. Here, I present “Five Simple Analogies of Life” we have used to overcome our challenges (both motivational and business) and remain on course on our path:

1. The Ghee Analogy: It is interesting what Ghee (Indian Clarified Butter) can teach us more than just the fact that stirring (working) constantly diligently will create Ghee (Success) eventually. To me, the most important aspect of Ghee I observed is that it suddenly starts to become Ghee while you are stirring. Success will come suddenly probably when you are almost about to quit or least expect. Ghee teaches us that – “Hang on & Keep Stirring”.

2. The Fan Analogy: What’s interesting about a Fan? It’s interesting that while we are turning on a Fan we never wonder it will turn on or not. The damn thing almost always turns on even after 40-50 years. How come a Fan lasts so long and is so reliable even though it has moving parts? That’s because a Fan is the most simple device you can think of. Even as kids we used to make fans from simple motors and batteries. The fan has a simple rotation, no friction, no brakes. What a fan teaches us is to “Keep Things Simple” if you have to last long. Simplify your Operations, Processes, Technology etc. with minimal friction in your day to day business or for customers. So if you are “Fire Fighting” every day you may want to look above at your Fan and think hard “How to Simplify”.

3. The Banyan Analogy: Banyan is an interesting tree and lot to learn from. The best thing about Banyan is that it probably is one of those rare trees which cannot be uprooted even in an earthquake. The reason is before Banyan grows above, Banyan grows below in its roots to create a solid foundation. Not only that, Banyan tree will constantly in its lifecycle create more roots in the ground building better and better foundation. Clearly what Banyan tree teaches us is that before we scale up, we need to work on our foundation and make sure that is firmed up. Also never loose sight of foundation, even when you are growing up. Be rooted on the ground always.

4. The Paneer Analogy: What Paneer teaches is just amazing – “Jab Koi Tumhe Phaad De (when someone/something splits your apart)”, you should condense, throw away the bad elements and become more valuable than what you were. When the bad times, circumstances or people hit you, throw away the things/people which are hampering your growth and come out stronger than what you were. Become Paneer from the Milk. “Become More Valuable” when something bad strikes you.

5. The “Sh*t” Analogy: Its interesting that a toddler grows up not when he/she learns to start eating cookies but when he/she starts to learn how to handle/control his/her “Sh*t”. Similarly an entrepreneur, grows up when he/she learns how to handle “Sh*t” around them which may be bad employees, financial crisis, government regulatory actions, bad PR, bad VCs etc etc. Never run away from it because every time you handle one, you grow up and get closer to success. Learn to handle “Sh*t”.

So next time you are low and need anecdotes/analogies to revive yourself, just look around and who knows what may inspire you to get back in action. Life is full of analogies, gather them as you walk on this entrepreneurial journey and juice up yourself. Hope this helps some of you to jump into action again.