This article is based on Mr Sunil Kanoria discussion on the entrepreneurs to grow their company and become successful. ## **Focus on work instead of its result: First Lesson for Entrepreneurs** - Entrepreneurs should work with devotion. - They should focus on work and not on its result.  - Sometimes people get hesitated by thinking about the consequences and results of work and are not able to start the work. - This is the difference between professionals and entrepreneurs. - Professionals keep on analyzing each and everything in such detail that he is not able to move further.  - On the other hand, an entrepreneur does not focus on the consequences; he starts the work if he thinks that he is doing the right thing and leaves the results on future. ## **How to motivate your employees and identify their skill and will?** Some of the ways to motivate employees are: - Keep your employees happy - Keep empathy with your employees - Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their employees - An organization is built on the strength of people and not on their weaknesses. - If you identify the strength of your employees and support their strength, they will work well and be happy. - Sometimes, leaders neither give time to their team members nor understand them.  - If leaders start understanding their team members, then work as well as organization culture will improve. ## **Uberizing of Equipment Rental Business** - In 1998-99, SREI Infrastructure observed that some contractors have machines but not projects while others have projects but not machines. - So, they started Quippo, an equipment bank, wherein they informally provide a common platform to the contractors with machines and the contractors with projects so that they can work together and get a mutual benefit. - After uberization, technology, and GST, SREI Infrastructure has started a full-fledged platform called, iQuippo, which is a website on which a company can sell its equipment, and a customer can buy equipment, take it on a lease or finance it.  ## **How to understand the future need of your customers?** - In business, empathy is vital.  - You need to understand your customers and their needs. - Mostly, customers do not know what they actually want. - As an entrepreneur, you need to anticipate the problem of your customer and provide a solution to him. - Your solution should either give efficiency benefit or cost-benefit to your customers.  - You need to adopt a Design Thinking approach to provide the desired solution to your customers. - In Design Thinking, you understand how your customer is working and solving his problems and how you can help him in providing better solutions to their problems.  - Understanding the future needs of customers today will help the organization and entrepreneur to grow further. ## **First Customer of SREI Infrastructure** - In 1989, Mr Sunil Kanoria was in talks with a salesperson of Larsen and Turbo manufacturing excavators.  - The salesperson told Mr Sunil Kanoria that they have a customer who needs excavator, but they do not have finance. - So, Mr Sunil Kanoria, along with the salesperson, went to the customer, who was a labour contractor in Barbil, Odisha.  - The labour contractor had to load iron ore in railway rack from mines. - He required 400-500 people for loading and took 24-25 days to load one railway rack. - It was a high cost and time for the labour contractor. - Mr Sunil Kanoria financed the equipment to the labour contractor. The equipment helped the contractor to finish the same work in just 5 days, and he got more work. Thus, the productivity of the labour contractor has increased. ## **Construction Mine Equipment Sale** - In 1990 – 1.25 crores - In 2012 – 35000 crores (SREI played a vital role in increasing this number) ## **The entry of SREI Infrastructure in Telecom Sector** - A mobile operator approached SREI to finance their mobile tower.  - Mr Sunil Kanoria knew that different mobile operators shared mobile towers in the USA.  - So, he told the mobile operator that he will finance the mobile tower and will give a discount to him if one more mobile operator shares the tower. The discount will increase with an increase in the number of mobile operators sharing the tower.  - SREI approached different mobile operators like Airtel, Vodafone, etc. to use their shared tower. It took time to convince these operators, but once they agreed, their CAPEX has reduced drastically, and they got high growth. - In 2008-09, SREI installed 18000 mobile towers all over India. It was a world record. So, in your business, you should try to share your risk and CAPEX through following ways: - Partnership - Refinancing model - Franchise - Distributor - Investor - Competitor  You can share your risk and CAPEX even with your competitors as done by mobile operators by sharing mobile towers.  Initially, the mobile operators were not ready to share the mobile towers with their competitors because:  - The mobile operator who was installing the tower first were getting all the customers. - However, within a period of 40-45 days, other operators were also installing the mobile towers. Thus, the customers were divided. - So, it was a short-term benefit. - On the other hand, sharing the mobile towers was a long term benefit because the CAPEX of the mobile operators was reduced drastically.  ## **How an entrepreneur gets financing?**  Storytelling is a must for an entrepreneur. Your story should be strong and tells about your products and services.  - In 1994, SREI Infrastructure brought the money from the Government of Germany - In 1996, SREI Infrastructure got money from World Bank Washington - They also brought the money from:  - Government of the Netherlands  - Government of Belgium - Government of Finland - Government of Sweden - Government of Canadian - Government of Austrian - Government of French When SREI approached these governments for funding, it was a tiny company, and they convinced these governments by: - Understanding the objective of the governments - Telling the government their dream and selling their story with conviction SREI’s story attracted the governments, and they supported the company. ## **Key Learnings:** - Focus on work and not its result - Assess the future requirement of the customer today - Keep empathy with your employees - Identify the strengths of your employees and support their strength - Make a strong story and tell your story with conviction to get finance