Reflections from Vantage Point in Himalayas.

 NEERAJ MAHAJAN

SCOT ADAMS

Over this weekend I drove 400 km solo in my 4X4 to a friend's resort located in the quiet and obscure village of Satbonga in Kumaon, Uttarakhand. Reflecting at 7000 ft. in the lap of the Himalayas, affords a vantage point where most of one's problems can be looked down upon. Although the great Ralph Waldo Emerson said, the choice of your place has no bearing on your emotional state, I somehow feel it works for me at least. Most of the noise one is tormented with, in the daily grind of work, is cut off here. One can see more clearly what's going on. I read about the American artist and businessman SCOTT ADAMS after Naval discussed him in his Podcast and was very inspired by his career ideas. He advises combining 2 or three subsets of skills where you are really good at and better than 75% of the people you know. Then, build your career around it. You need not be the best coz that may never happen. Reflect, productize and get traction. Don't give up. He did exactly the same when he launched the famous Dilbert comic strip in America in the 1990s leveraging his comedy, drawing, and business acumen. I really wonder how many of us actually do that? My guess is very few.

Trading Uncertainty for Averages

I got a shocker upon reaching the friends' resort. He had recently done up the property and spent a huge amount doing so. The idea was to make the resort a money-spinner which it surely can be in a few years from now given its pristine location. But instead, he leased it out for a monthly rental which is not even 50% of what the business could earn if he ran the business himself. And he has all the time in the world to do it. But he settled for averages. He thinks he has a certain income now but what if corona induces another lockdown? Or the lessee is not so creditworthy and defaults on the lease rentals? One has no control over it. But if he ran the business himself he surely had a lot of aces up his sleeves. He has control over what he manages. I really wonder if we could fathom how much this human bias towards certainty costs us in terms of opportunity lost?

MR. YUMMY CAN WAIT

Before Corona struck, our team was gearing up to launch our next venture Cloud Kitchen, Mr. Yummy. Since WeCarePG had a running kitchen for Its students, guest house, this expansion was a no-brainer. But the delay has not harmed our purpose. Rather it is convex. Countless families lost their jobs and ventured into Cloud Kitchens. As the business has very low entry barriers, it was easy. But I remember reading Peter Thiel in ZERO TO ONE that Competition destroys Capital and refrained myself from taking the plunge. Time is the best judge though. 

I remember the famous quote of the great American entrepreneur OF Universal Electric GEORGE WARREN HODDYwhich probably morphed into General Electric, that a true entrepreneur is one who is frugal even in times of abundance. It resonates within me. While the covid times are tough for most, we will launch Mr. Yummy when the time is ripe. Hoddy will always be the guiding light. 

As Always many thanks for reading me.

 

PHOTO CREDIT BY Mike Palmowski on Unsplash