WHY STARTING MULTIPLE BUSINESSES IS NOT A BAD IDEA

As an entrepreneur running four businesses, I often get these questions thrown at me — ‘Why are you being a jack of all trades?’, ‘You’re always so busy!’, ‘Why don’t you focus on one business’, ‘Do you have time for your family?’, ‘Why are you always seeking opportunities even outside of your expertise’. Why, Why, Why! These are some of the questions that are asked to me by even my own parents! And every time I answer these questions either patiently or with some tongue in cheek humor.

Let me answer these questions on why I do what I do and what inspires me to build business’, why I would like to think of myself as a ‘Serial entrepreneur’, how I have burnt my fingers in my initial ventures and learnt from it. But first a brief introduction about myself — I am an entrepreneur based out of Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a degree in Computer Science from Imperial College, London. I am one of the founding members of the Lankan Angel Network (which is tied up with India’s largest Angel Network — the Indian Angel Network) and a co-founder of Avantrio, a machine learning and blockchain-focused service-based company.

In addition to this I run a sector-agnostic structured fund called Argent Capital which invests across Private Equity, Listed Equity, Fixed Income Trading etc. and have also founded an analytics company called ZEPTO, a technology start-up focused on self-service data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).

Coming to the question of why people who start multiple businesses should be encouraged and why you shouldn’t ever stop at one business This is why:

1. Network Building

Speaking from my personal experience — I have been able to expand my network and even start a new venture based on the contacts/customers/ partners from my previous business’. I have got several recommendations and pieces of advice which has forced me to think about several business decisions. The sort of learning I have received from my network of close business contacts has been stupendous! I also have advisors from my financial company to help me make decisions on ZEPTO — my data analytics company.

Let me give you a basic example — a close business partner recommended for me to start reading books. I have only read newspapers and emails for 30 years of my life! However, receiving “Smarter Faster Better” by Charles Duhigg as a Christmas present compelled me to read it and the rest as they say is history. I have been hooked on to reading business books and it has helped me immensely in decision making.

2. Staying Relevant

In today’s rapidly changing world — we need to stay updated with the latest technology irrespective of the field we are in. The world is evolving with Artificial Intelligence, self-driving cars, automated payments etc. Getting expertise in different industries (even if you don’t know anything about it when you start) helps one to stay relevant. My go-to saying [from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman] is, “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” For everyone who is trying to build the perfect product in order to launch — don’t! Get your product out in the market as fast as possible. It will help you find a good product-market fit, identify any leaky buckets, and give you a quick understanding overall of where your product stands in the market and what you can do to make it better. In short — multiple ventures help you to get the know — how in various industries. I have learnt about Machine Learning in technology, how Bonds can be traded in Finance, how Housekeeping functions in the Hospitality Industry and how an educational institution is run.

3. Always having a Back Up Plan

Running multiple business’ gives you financial security and expertise in different fields. Nobody ever said that they have enough money! A widely known fact is that 90% of start-ups fail and it can take years for a start-up to taste success ( unless you are Apple or Google). Having multiples business’ also gives you the experience in different sectors — in my experience I was able to understand both the financial world as well the technology arena and try to bridge the gap between the two.

4. Learning from prior mistakes

Every time you start a new venture — you try not to repeat mistakes from the past and you get faster at the whole process. In my case I made a lot of mistakes when I founded my first company — it was a lot harder in the initial phases rather than now. But again, this helps you grow as an entrepreneur. Keith Richards, one of the UK’s Agile experts, said, “If you are going to fail, fail fast.” Mistakes will happen, things are bound to go wrong. It is how you deal with it that matters.

5. Building the right core team

It is the team that builds the core of any start-up. We all want a ‘Dream Team’ to form the core of our company. It is only when I ventured into the Tech space did, I find the right core team. We started out as a bunch of 3 team members — including myself when we first set up the data Analytics Company — Zepto. This has continued until now; your team is literally what defines the company.

In a nutshell, you should nurture your ambitions to start multiple companies — It gives you both roots and wings, trust me. Start small and dream big — you will definitely be able to successfully sustain all your ventures. All in all, you will never have a dull moment in your life and will continue to stay relevant!