Bon Appetit

Last week we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was a standalone restaurant and not one of those multi-restaurant chains that exist. I visited that place after a few years and the food quality was really good. I could remember the taste from 5 years ago. The couple who had accompanied us to this place, used to frequent the place when they were dating. The signature dishes maintained their flavour

The conversation slowly moved to other Chinese restaurants in the vicinity and the subject matter of discussion, was clearly two big chains. The first one of discussion, existed as a standalone restaurant for quite a few years and was an iconic place in the city, similar to the one which we were visiting. Then slowly it expanded, came up with an Initial Public Offer, set up restaurants across the country as well as internationally. Basically it tried to milk its brand.

Though I am no stock picker, I bought shares of this brand. Five years after investment, I have lost 50% of my money. Which brought me back to the question, was it a wrong investment? I went back to my premise for investing in the stock, and they were basically three. 

1. They had good food
2. The Brand had a strong recall 
3. Incomes in India are going to grow, and people are going to eat out more frequently

All the assumptions were valid, but where did I go wrong? The question was answered by the choice of restaurant I went to. Why did I not go to that branded Chinese restaurant? 

1. It had become expensive
2. The taste of food was no longer great

Somewhere in milking the brand and expansion, it lost focus on what it was offering - good food.

While biting my Chilli Chicken, I wondered what made the place tick. It was a simple place, with nice ambience, no extravagance. It still had a paper based menu, no app based or tab based ordering system, which is supposed to reduce turnaround times. The service was good, the waiters pampered and handled my 5 year brat. And importantly the food was good. First lesson for me – you can get all the technology you want, your product needs to be good. People come back for the product and not the technology.  At 10 p.m. when we were exiting after a good dinner, we saw a huge number of people waiting to get in. Clearly the place was doing very well. In the car we had a conversation wondering why the owner was not spreading his wings, creating new outlets and cashing in on his brand. We ended up branding him unambitous, contented and even saying he was a loser. Is that really true?

There is a lot of management and personal development speak on being ambitious, moving ahead in life, growth in both individual as well as corporate life, one thought strikes me hard, is lack of ambition bad?

In a situation, where I am doing good and happy, do I need to lose sleep by chasing a dream? And once I achieve that dream, should I chase the next dream? And when does this chase end?

Who is more successful, the well run standalone restaurant or the chain owner who runs multiple branches and now chases profits rather than ensuring food quality?

Depends how we define success. Is it measured by the brand of car, phone, watch, villa, exotic vacation? Are these societal parameters or our parameters of success? What is more important, cracking that one additional deal, or that one hour of playing cricket with your five year old in the corridor?

Should I be content, have time to pursue my hobbies, spend time with my children and family, sometimes simply laze and do nothing, watch that cricket match, play on the beach or chase that additional revenue?

At the start of my entrepreneurial journey, I was told that if I replicate the effort I put in corporate life, I will earn at least thrice the money that a corporate job gives.  But isn’t entrepreneurship also about finding time for yourself while earning money? Why should rigorous hard work be accompanied by the stress of earning money? Should my mind be focused on putting my best foot forward or worrying where the next piece of revenue come in from?

I really am confused and don’t have any answers. Maybe I have got it all wrong and hence failed as an entrepreneur.

I think it all depends on your hunger… and taste. Bon Appetit

The Cheese is Moving

11^th March 2017 will be a watershed day in Indian electoral history. The Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the single largest part with a 3/4^th majority in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. People haven’t been surprised by the victory, but by the margin of victory.

However there is one narrative which has played itself out and needs a mention. The BJP has secured victories in Muslim dominated areas.  From all six constituencies of riot-hit Muzaffarnagar to Deoband in Saharanpur, Bareilly, Bijnor and Moradabad where Muslims dominate the demography, the BJP swept the polls. If one takes the case of Deoband, it has a 70% Muslim population. Now there is a common ‘perception’ that Muslims vote en bloc and are strongly against the BJP.  A Deoband win was not possible without Muslims voting for the BJP.

Clearly the cheese has moved and a people are slowly moving away from voting purely on casteist and religious lines. The BJP made no excuses about being a Hindutva party, at the same time, tried to woo the other religions not from a populist agenda, but from a developmental agenda.

The opposing parties have underestimated the value of Swach Bharat, Kaushal Bharat, Electrification and other announcements of the BJP Government, even though the actual progress on the ground may be limited. The so called ‘Jumlas’ are positive as compared to the promises of the other political parties, who have focused only on belittling the Prime Minister and catering to vote banks.

Clearly Vote Banks are beginning to evaporate and people are going to vote on the caliber of the candidate or vision of party irrespective of caste. The importance of Law and Order cannot be emphasized. In the past 5 years Uttar Pradesh saw 44 riots, and the so called ‘protectors of minorities’ were in power.  .

The writing has been on the wall since 2014, when Modi launched his campaign on a Developmental agenda than a divisive one. While the entire country is waiting for “Ächche Din” and the opposition is mocking the Prime Minister, what is their narrative? The political narratives of non BJP parties have been stuck in a time warp –“We are Secular, BJP is communal, Democracy is under threat etc.” 

If you look deep they actually have no narrative. If the opposition does not reinvent itself, it will be irrelevant. The Cheese has started moving, or maybe it has even moved.

There is a lesson in this for Corporate India. The way the BJP has seen what will work in the future and moved away from the once successful ‘Ram Mandir’ agenda, companies need to think about relevance of products / jobs in the next 5 year. The way technology is progressing, one cannot predict beyond five years.

A month back Capgemini came out with a statement that 65% of the work force is not trainable. A lot of people would have dismissed this statement with a pinch of salt. And then there are a lot of people who would have believed the statement, but said, “I fall within the 35%”. Either they are right, or hiding from the truth.

In my interaction with different corporates, the hushed narrative is that IT and IT enabled services people are going to lose 25 % of jobs to automation. It is time to listen to this narrative and act on the same. And this message of mine, is not to Corporates, but Corporate employees.

A lot of them function from one appraisal cycle to another trying to ensure a good pay hike. A lot of them have got promoted and have effectively no work and appear busy. If some of my readers think the above is an instigating statement, it is right. I want to instigate you to think whether it applies to your job.

It is time for all of us to smell the coffee. How do I know, whether I am a dinosaur or going to become one? First step is to write your CV today, and your CV as it will look 6 months from now. If there is no change other than the size of your pay packet, time to pack up.

I know of a friend who started her career in one of the best banks in the world. She kept on getting offers from multiple banks, offering her a better salary (sometimes hikes as high as 70%) but the same work profile. She was clear that if she moved, she would do so only to an industry and work profile which kept her relevant. Such maturity at a young age is rare.

Now if my future CV is not going to make sense, what do I do?

Please, please, look at what is going to keep you employable for the next five years. Look at the skills that will be in demand in the next decade and start acquiring them. If it means quitting your job and doing a course, so be it. Family and well-wishers will say it is a foolish move, but your elders haven’t been through the times you have and don’t understand your industry.

Time for you to disrupt your life for the better, before technology does the same. Remember when the ages change, some species become extinct.