I’ve just wrapped up a 7 city speaking tour with EO & YPO in India. Crazy schedule to hit this 7 cities between Jan 8-19th – but we pulled it off.
Too many business lessons to cover in just one post, however, one that jumped out at me in every city was that Indian entrepreneurs focus differently. They almost never own or run just one company, they all seemed to run between 4-7 companies each.
They see running multiple companies as diversifying, and hedging their risk. They don’t build companies for the purpose of selling them, they build them to give themselves cash flow for better lives, and to re-invest in other business ventures.
Prior to coming to India, I’d have pushed entrepreneurs hard to only run one company at a time. Now, I truly see the value in running multiple companies at once. However, to do it right, Indian entrepreneurs put solid CEOs or Presidents in place to run each of their companies. They don’t micro manage them. And they don’t stay overly involved in each of them. They build them up, one at a time, then like children they set them free a little bit at a time, allowing each company to grow up and spin off it’s own rewards.
Focus on growing your leadership teams, and you could own multiple companies at once too…
John Herold
shiv
Cameron
January 20, 2012
Almost like a version of successful network marketing or franchising but with different products and/or services?
With the transport system they have there that was certainly an ambitious schedule! Would love to go back. I also found that everyone in the family gets involved somehow, which in turn breeds an entrepreneurial mindset from a very early age. In my travels there I even found government workers and managers with a business or two on the side.
Just my toonies worth