R Sriram, founder and former CEO of Crossword, says bookish knowledge is not sufficient for success in life.
Believe it or not, a college dropout sold books to whole India. It was R Sriram who conceptualised the idea to found a bookstore with more facilities for customer. But after running the company, Crossword, for 15 years as its CEO, he exited from the company, Sriram told DNA when he visited the city for a book launch recently. Excerpts:
How is entrepreneurship without a degree?
Entrepreneurship is a mystery for people while degree such as MBA helps in converting the mystery into a puzzle. Bookish knowledge is not a sufficient condition for success, it is merely a tool.
What was your experience?
I am a college dropout and joined a bookstore, Landmark, in Chennai. Working with the bookstore I came to know the needs of customers. And so I decided to open another bookstore which will give better facilities to customers. From my working experience I got inspiration of starting an enterprise. About 70% of ideas for entrepreneurship come from personal problems or experiences.
How did you come up with ‘Crossword’?
We opened a bookstore ‘Walden’ in Hyderabad, but our investor was not interested in expanding the business. So, my wife and I migrated to Mumbai to start a new venture. But capital was a big hurdle. We tried to borrow from banks, but we failed as we did not have any collateral. After that, I met Deepak Mirchandani, a publisher in Mumbai. I told him that with the new concept of bookstore, his business would grow by 25%. At that time, his business was growing at the rate of 8%. Convinced, he provided funds and we started the business. At that time, in 1992, we started the bookstore ‘Crossword’ in Mumbai on profit and revenue-sharing basis.
Before starting a new venture, did you fear of failure?
No. We never thought of failing in business because there is no answer to failure. But, I have learnt that failure is a degree. Failure teaches ‘what not to do’ while education is a degree in ‘what to do’.
Why did you exit from Crossword? How was it for you?
It was very hard to exit from the company, which I ran for 15 years. I started this company in 1992 and sold it in 2006. It was very hard and painful for me and my wife, but I wanted to start my consultancy firm and so I exited from Crossword. At present, Next Practice Retail is my venture wherein we provide consultancy to retail companies in India.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}