21st August, the world marks World Entrepreneurs' Day. I am reflecting on my journey as an employee, a consultant, and an entrepreneur. It is perhaps the most exciting ride one can ever board, but that's not for everyone.

As LegalWiz.in's primary target market remains to be #smallBusinesses and #Startups, our commercial success is a direct function of how much of the youth is willing to dive into the journey of entrepreneurship. With the hope of creating the next big #innovations and #Unicorns out of #India - all Incubation Centers, Policymakers, and Motivational Speakers are aligned to project the best that is out there for us. Much like your family physician who would want you to stay healthy, but their income still depends on how often you fall sick.

However, it is almost a moral responsibility of the stakeholders in the ecosystem to discuss the unpopular side of the story. If you are planning to start a new venture, consider this before committing to the #StartupLife

You are entering a high-risk, high-reward game:

"90% of the Indian Startups fail in the first 5 years" is what most studies conclude. While we all admire the growth of a few, there is enough of the bloodbath that often goes unseen. Make sure you have the skillset and risk appetite to sustain and grow!

The founder's lifestyle is not the same as the "Silicon Valley" life seen in the movies. It comes at a cost. While you remain focused on chasing your passion, you will somehow end up sacrificing on work-life balance, social life, and at times peace of mind. Well, that's all part of what you sign up for. If you can still enjoy that, there is enough adrenaline rush in that hustle too.

Investment is not just money:

Most founders would take the cost of running a startup as the money being invested. There are enough avenues to manage those resources. In my opinion, the most substantial investment is of time. You spend the prime years of your career chasing your ambitions. It is easy to go "all in". Chasing passion often doesn't allow you to draw boundaries. Hence, keeping yourself disciplined and taking rational calls are important.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face:

The most famous quote by Mike Tyson, and how relevant it is here! We all think our products and services are the game changers. We all build exceptional plans and build fancy financial models with numbers almost too good to be true. The secret sauce of success is still in execution. The only superpower and competitive edge that startups have over large corporates is their ability to pivot. If you see yourself failing, can you fail fast?

Is my problem, the world's problem?

Most of us are obsessively in love with our products and solutions. In some cases, just to realize that the problem we are trying to solve is not even a problem of plenty. If there is one mistake that I wouldn't repeat if I were to startup again is that I wouldn't aim for a perfect product. I would rather create MVPs, roll them out in the market, seek validation, and improvise!

Your family could be your biggest strength or weakness:

Well, as a founder, you still expect yourself to be socially present for your family. Startup hustle is just a part of your life, a substantial one but still just a part. Mental health is extremely critical while you navigate through the early phase. Make sure your career goals align with the lifestyle obligations you have towards your family. You can cruise through all the difficulties if you have your family and friends by your side. Also, being part of startup communities where you find founders going through the same hustle helps a lot. It provides an exceptional comfort where you can vent out, without being worried about anyone being judgemental.

There are various career paths where you can achieve success. If you don't find yourself ready yet, please don't rush. Say, success is a function y=α+βX. Your β is a linear but comfortable reward. You may find plenty of examples where people contribute significantly to the success, without actually owning the organization - often known as "intrapreneurs". Your α is the abnormal return, positive or negative, that you are willing to create for the risk you ride.

I shared my thoughts with Rest of World sometime back and wanted to leave a link here for your reference. I believe it was an interesting read curated by Itika Sharma Punit 

https://restofworld.org/2023/3-minutes-with-shrijay-sheth/

As the founder of The Digital Leap, the biggest high as an entrepreneur is witnessing the direct impact of our work for Govt. Primary schools in rural Gujarat. Knowing that our efforts in digitizing school records and transforming administrative processes have reduced the time it takes to issue critical certificates from nearly an hour to just a few minutes is incredibly rewarding. 

Seeing the satisfaction and gratitude from school principals, the empowerment of our small team from rural backgrounds, and the tangible progress towards a digitally empowered India—these moments of real, meaningful change fuel my passion and drive to keep pushing forward. The knowledge that we started from scratch, with just an idea and a commitment to improve our community, and have now scaled to make a significant impact, is the ultimate high for me as an entrepreneur.

The biggest high I've experienced as an entrepreneur has been the opportunity to uplift blue-collar workers in the restaurant industry. Seeing the impact of introducing digital tools to improve their productivity and job satisfaction has been incredibly rewarding. It's not just about making things more efficient—it's about bringing dignity and new opportunities to the people who are the backbone of our industry.

Another highlight has been learning to navigate uncertainty, especially when we had to pivot from focusing solely on corporate cafeterias to serving broader markets. Embracing ambiguity and learning from cash flow-driven entrepreneurs has shifted my approach to building a sustainable business. These moments of growth and impact are what make the journey so fulfilling.

I get to work with the best investors, team members and bring to life a product that otherwise wouldn’t exist to help even more people and communities!

When I started my entrepreneurial journey I thought I will get my high from making a lot of money.

After this roller-coaster ride of 6 years now what gives me a high as an entrepreneur is

-Meeting amazing people, especially founders who have achieved great success.

-Learning from their experiences and gaining valuable insights.

-Contributing to the economy and creating a positive impact through my work.

The biggest high that I get as an entrepreneur is by creating large-scale impact and making people's lives better. I have seen that in action in my previous work and also now through my venture Ekatra and Vruksh Foundation.

What keeps me passionate about entrepreneurship is the thrill of solving new challenges every day. I remember when we first started Tej SolPro, we had a client who needed a complete digital overhaul, but their budget was tight. We had to think outside the box, and that's when the Sanskrit shloka 'उद्धरेदात्मनाऽऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत्' (Uddhared Atmanātmānaṃ Nātmānamavasādayet) really resonated with us — 'Lift yourself by yourself; don’t let yourself down.' We pulled through, not just delivering results, but also building a lasting relationship.

The ever-changing digital landscape keeps me excited, like the time we had to quickly pivot our strategy to adapt to a major algorithm change. It was stressful, but also exhilarating, and we came out stronger. Moments like these, where we learn, adapt, and grow, are what fuel my entrepreneurial spirit.

I started my entrepreneurial journey 10 years ago... my first project was to run Google Ads for an educational product. I did the campaign setup myself and got quite excited to see ads I wrote appear on Google Search. Till date, I feel the same excitement whenever we launch a campaign. 

When your plans converts into action and translates into clients' success - it's the best reward. That's the reason tagline of MeDigit is 'Brilliance in Action'. Wish you all a very happy entrepreneurs day.

I always believe that HR is not just a profession but it’s an emotion. As an entrepreneur, I find my biggest high in offering jobs to people, understanding that many families rely on that income. The gratitude and blessings I receive from candidates and their families drive me to work hard and create as many job opportunities for them as I can.

The greatest high I experience as an entrepreneur comes from the moments when I can genuinely serve others.

I don’t believe entrepreneurship is just about building a successful business or a brand rather it’s about:

↳ Discovering your own path.
↳ Supporting one another.
↳ Accepting your failures.
↳ Learning those lessons.
↳ Thriving and surviving.
↳ Becoming persistence.
↳ Finding your purpose.
↳ Core values & beliefs.
↳ Building resilience.
↳ Joy & Happiness.
↳ Being yourself.
↳ Perseverance.

As a founder and creative director at Ohhphish, we are your proud partners in crafting your thoughtful brand and helping you in discover what makes you, you! through our “Discover your Brand” workshop.

In this transformative workshop, we walk you through a step-by-step process to 

✓ Differentiate your business, 
✓ Discover your target audience, 
✓ Understand the challenges and pain-points and 
✓ Establish a unique position for your business in the marketplace.

Apart from this we have also created a mentorship space for early stage founders that allows them to explore, discover and craft their own way.

To be honest, knowing I can be a part of their story fuels my passion for what I do and what could be more joyful than watching them grow, overcome challenges and realise their vision.

Happy Entrepreneur’s Day!

P.S. Building something that matters, not just to you, but to those around you will make all the difference.

As an entrepreneur, there's nothing more exhilarating than the journey of building a business that stands out as the best in its segment. My biggest high comes from the pursuit of creating an HR ecosystem tailored specifically for MSMEs and SMEs. It's about more than just growth—it's about making a tangible difference in how businesses operate, compete, and thrive.

For me, the ultimate reward is knowing that we've built something that doesn't just meet industry standards but sets them. Our HR solutions are designed to be a game-changer, a true differentiator that helps businesses attract and retain top talent. In today's competitive landscape, the ability to draw in the best people and keep them engaged is what separates the good from the great. And being part of that transformation, helping businesses find their edge, is what drives me every day.

One’s biggest highs often come from old visions and manifestations becoming true, from winning over those corners of the memory where they aspired to achieve something or see themselves as someone. 

My biggest high as an entrepreneur comes from some of the very bold decisions made in past and the present impact that we keep creating on our clients.

Landing clients like Paytm, Teapost, The Laundry company, Godrej working for their IP while creating products which are extremely innovative in their own space is one of the recent highs for us.
The impact that happens to entrepreneurs because of the products that we create is another high, seeing others succeed because of our contribution to their product is a major motivation for all of us in the team. 

Solving problems through engineering and technology even for large companies that are equipped enough for themselves gives us our high moment all times.

It is the name that travels across states and countries for people to come and ask for us to assist them in building products,

The Trust they have put on us for so long,

The ability to solve the most complex issues through engineering that becomes a reason for us to keep moving and soaring high. 

While all of this is a professional high, the ability to be with any of my family and friends at any given point of time, to choose to spend my time accordingly, to expand my abilities to learn more & help budding entrepreneurs in building their business, ability to open business at newer markets is the personal high for me.

There are many highs I get as an entrepreneur:

- Executing and solving daily challenges and building accumulated confidence with validation of the vision with consistent increase in the hunger of success

- ⁠Realizing the present day with the day you started and how far have you come fighting each stage with every difficult situation

- ⁠Experiencing the support you get from the team, family, customers & investors to keep moving without looking back

I believe these are good reasons to feel high on being an entrepreneur

The thing that gives me a high is dealing with setbacks.

Setbacks across closing deals, building a team, raising capital or trying different experiments.

Entrepreneurship is one of the few professions where setbacks are often because market is a great equaliser. It doesn't care what you have accomplished previously. It only looks for how will you help it today move forward, faster.

Setbacks also help me learn a little more about myself and how I am as a person under pressure. Every setback reveals a little more about myself to me.

On the flip side, when you succeed, the joy is that much more as well.

For me, entrepreneurship is a journey of successes and set backs. The idea is to survive till the point where ultimately, your successes are a little more than set backs.

There are no endings, no credit roll, no happily ever after - just riding a wave - sometimes with it and other times against it. And that gives me a high.

As the co-founder and CTO of Insurance Samadhan, the biggest high for me comes from transforming a complex, often frustrating process into a streamlined solution that genuinely helps people. Knowing that our platform is resolving insurance grievances and bringing justice to customers who might otherwise feel helpless is incredibly fulfilling.

Seeing Insurance Samadhan grow from an idea into a trusted platform that’s making a real impact on people's lives—while challenging the traditional insurance industry—is exhilarating. Every time we solve a case or help a customer get what they deserve, it’s a reminder of why we started this journey in the first place.

Leading the technical vision and watching our innovations come to life, knowing that we're not just building a product but reshaping an industry, gives me an incredible sense of accomplishment. And, of course, seeing our team grow, evolve, and succeed alongside the platform is a huge part of what drives me every day.

As an entrepreneur in the EdTech Segment, my High on Entrepreneurship comes from occasions when we realise we were able to deliver "Value" to our end user - The Bharat Student. 

It takes a long time, in my case some years, to visualise what the "Value" should be. We are building multiple things on our platform to get a student to perceive the "Value" of right decision making after self-study and analysis primarily for the purpose of Career Selection. 

We are still a long way from constantly being on a "High", however, it feels good to be in a perpetual thought process and put in sincere efforts towards this direction.

Entrepreneurship for me is all about taking risks and making decisions. It’s about pushing boundaries and stepping into the unknown with confidence. However, the risks I take are always calculated—meaning I only take risks that I can afford. This doesn’t mean playing it safe, but rather being strategic and ensuring that even in the worst-case scenario, I’m prepared.

When it comes to decision-making, speed is essential. In the fast-paced world of business, delaying a decision can mean missed opportunities. Whether the decision turns out to be right or wrong, it’s crucial to act quickly, learn from the outcomes, and adapt as necessary. 

In my ventures, this approach has been pivotal. At Yudiz Solutions Limited, an IT and software development company, we recently launched our IPO—a decision that required both careful risk assessment and swift action. Additionally, my investment company, Fetuz Hatcher Private Limited, focuses on identifying and supporting promising startups. Here, calculated risk-taking and rapid decision-making are key to selecting the right opportunities to invest in and helping those businesses grow.

In one line - creating something truly rewarding and meaningful for YOURSELF.

Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as a high-adrenaline race to the top—full of endless possibilities. However, the thrill of the ride hides the realities of the bumpy road.

For a woman entrepreneur like me, these challenges are even more daunting. Balancing dual responsibilities of home and work is a series of never-ending hurdles.

Yet, every day I turn up to work, there’s a profound sense of fulfilment... It's the realization that you’re not just running a business—you’re living a dream that you're creating as you go!

Throughout the early years of my career, I longed for freedom—both financial freedom and the ability to control how I spent my time. This was something I couldn’t achieve while working for others. When I eventually took the leap into entrepreneurship, I was determined to create that same freedom for my employees and stakeholders.

Today, seeing Hearty Mart empower rural youth—many of whom didn’t have the opportunity to receive a good education or complete their studies—brings me immense satisfaction. These individuals, who once had no option but to work as daily wage laborers in the industrial estate near their village, now hold key managerial positions at Hearty Mart and are successfully running the show.

This transformation is, for me, the most rewarding aspect of my business. It’s a constant source of motivation to keep pushing forward and striving for even greater impact.

We turn WATTS into WOW!

As a founder at Enerlyf, my biggest high comes from the profound impact of transforming energy savings into significant benefits for both individuals and the environment. 

Enhancing comfort for those with access to air conditioning and empowering less privileged communities with reliable electricity brings immense satisfaction. 

The multifaceted benefits of my work include substantial energy efficiency gains, improved health and well-being, increased productivity, and meaningful contributions to climate change mitigation. Building a better world through innovations and inspiring change within the industry fuels a deep sense of purpose. 

The creative fulfilment of developing innovative solutions, achieving business milestones, and leading a dedicated team further amplifies this high. 

Ultimately, the joy of leaving a lasting legacy and aligning my work with personal values brings unparalleled fulfilment and reinforces the meaningful difference I'm making in the world.

Entrepreneurship is truly a fun ride with all its uncertainties, journey itself is the biggest high. 

For someone coming from a small town it's like getting a single kite and bunch of manja. Required to carefully navigate the kite, avoiding entanglements, and hoping to keep it soaring high. Some of lose their kites early on to stronger players or tough winds. 

A few of us survive. An exceptional few master the skies, their kites dancing gracefully, reflecting their determination.

As an entrepreneur, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of tackling a problem no one else has figured out, and then watching as your product, Veloxhire.AI, actually makes a difference in people’s lives. It’s that incredible moment when your team, your vision, and your product all click, and you realize you’re creating something that truly matters.

As an entrepreneur, I see that in my journey over the last 10 years, I have been able to make a difference in the IT industry and build a community of like-minded IT professionals from the ground up.

Solving problems, helping other businesses grow, and hearing customers say, "This is the best software, thank you for introducing this to me," are what give me the biggest high as an entrepreneur. Let me take you on a quick journey through my world of SaaS innovation.

It all started with PitchGround, my SaaS marketplace. I saw countless brilliant ideas struggling to find their audience, and I thought, "There has to be a better way." So, I built one. Watching start-ups flourish on our platform? That's a rush like no other.

But I didn't stop there. As I interacted with these budding businesses, I noticed a common pain point: outreach. That's how FirstSales was born. I remember the first time a client told me, "Your tool doubled our response rates!" I couldn't sleep that night – not from stress, but from sheer excitement.

Then came the pinnacle of my problem-solving addiction: TinyCheque, my AI Venture Studio. It's like being a kid in a candy store, but instead of sweets, I'm surrounded by cutting-edge AI solutions waiting to be shaped into the next big thing in SaaS.

Every day brings new challenges. Sometimes, I'm up until 3 AM, wrestling with a particularly tricky bit of code or brainstorming a new feature. But when a customer reaches out to share how our software transformed their business? That makes every sleepless night worth it.

What really keeps me going is the partnerships we build. Whether it's a start-up finding their footing on PitchGround, a sales team crushing their targets with FirstSales, or an AI enthusiast bringing their vision to life through TinyCheque – these connections fuel my passion.

Each success story pushes me to innovate further, to solve the next big problem. It's a never-ending cycle of creation and impact. And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. This journey of turning ideas into solutions that change lives – that's my entrepreneur's high, and it's one incredible ride!