Today, we are going to understand the Experience rule of Second law of success. It states : To excel in life, we must learn faster than our own experience alone can teach. If we are forced to learn from our own experience, then we are doing catch-up all the time. We have to wait for failures to happen, because we are poor at learning from our own successes. We therefore have to find a way to learn from other's experience.
How can we learn from others experience? It requires a mind of a detective who is trying to find the keys to unlock the power of excellence. Because an entrepreneur has to unlock the key of entrepreneurial excellence, he has to learn from the experience of other entrepreneurs. To learn from experiences of other entrepreneurs, he must go through these four steps: Adopt an angle or a view, dig deeper in understanding the specific path of someone else's experience from that viewpoint, find what he can adapt (instead of adopt), and then dig further to find how to adapt.
Let us see understand these steps in more details by observing work-life path of Pradeep Lokhande, a successful entrepreneur who converted a business idea into an interesting company, Rural Relations. For more information, see this background of his venture in this article by Dileep Padgaonkar. From this article and his website, you will perhaps observe the following data:
Let us see understand these steps in more details by observing work-life path of Pradeep Lokhande, a successful entrepreneur who converted a business idea into an interesting company, Rural Relations. For more information, see this background of his venture in this article by Dileep Padgaonkar. From this article and his website, you will perhaps observe the following data:
Pradeep Lokhande (PL) has come from a small town, Wai, near Pune. He did his graduation and then MBA in Pune. He worked for Johnson and Johnson as a sales representative for just two years. And then he decided to use his 'rural connection' to tap rural market for FMCG companies. His journey of identifying the right villages - population of 2000 to 10000 - has been described. Wiith his innovative marketing techniques — such as providing height charts to schools and posters listing tips on health and hygiene to panchayat offices — and by recruiting young boys and girls from the village itself to reach out to potential customers, he found a business model that helped him generate a sustainable revenue.
What can you learn from this PL's story of an entrepreneur?
You will learn that PL has innovatively used his rural connections to lead FMCG companies to sell their products in this untapped rural market. You may realise for the first time, that 'rural market' can be tapped. This is just data. No useful learning happens unless you take an angle.
Angle of 'how to discover a business model' for a new business idea
Angle of 'how to discover a business model' for a new business idea
Angle in a camera is like clicking a 'hill' from a specific view. Only when one takes an angle, one can learn. In this case, when you can take an angle " What steps did PL take to convert his idea in a business model?", you are ready to learn.
However, to answer this question, you will need far more information from PL than what is available above. Here i can help you. I had listened to PL's interview in a program in Nashik. For instance, after listening to his interview, i could observe five distinct steps in his journey of converting his idea into a business proposition:
However, to answer this question, you will need far more information from PL than what is available above. Here i can help you. I had listened to PL's interview in a program in Nashik. For instance, after listening to his interview, i could observe five distinct steps in his journey of converting his idea into a business proposition:
- Step 1: PL left J&J business in 2 years. But he did not start this RURAL RELATIONS immediately. Instead he started his C&F agency with a friend which he ran for 3/4 years. In other words his idea of tapping the rural market must have come in this 3/4 years, while doing 'field work' of going to retailers and understanding the problems of selling it in rural areas, as a C&F distributor.
- Step 2. When PL decided to tap the rural market, he wrote many self-paid postcards asking people in villages ( like sarpanch and others) to send details like number of shops or brands sold in the village. This took him several failed attempts and consumed his 2 years or so.
- Step 3. With his initial data on some 100 villages in Pune district ( or it could be some other districts also), PL approached a FMCG company, which he perhaps knew from his role of C&F distributor. That company gave him some work ( i am not aware if that work was paid or unpaid !)
- Step 4. With the feedback from step 3, PL built a business proposition and approached a big FMCG company, HUL( Hindustan Unilever). He promised HUL that he will place HUL's product promotional material ( product hampers and cutouts etc) in his select list of identified villages. With this promotion, the sale of HUL products will increase. His value offering to HUL was ' By investing in placing your promotional material in the right village and place, your sales will increase'
- Step 5: This generated 'good enough revenue' increase for HUL which enabled PL to justify the cost he may be charging to deliver the promised value. PL found his business model that will deliver the promised value
On the other hand, if a would-be entrepreneur is meeting PL for an interview, his angle may be 'How do i get a business idea'. He will find his answer in Step 1. He will ask more questions to PL on step 1 to find out how PL got his idea from his customers, vendors and competitors in those 3 years. He will understand why PL spend 3/4 years in understanding the market, before entering the market. He will avoid jumping in a new venture without understanding the market, and learn from PL's experience.
Summary
When you want to learn from others experiences, you must therefore act like a detective who is meticulously finding needle in the haystack in step by step manner:
- Determine the angle of learning- In the above example, we explored only one angle of a existing entrepreneur: the angle of 'discovering a business model' for a new idea.
- Find questions that will be useful to ask; This is the most important step that is ignored. Thomas Edison used to say that ' Half the problem is solved when you ask the right question'. For an entrepreneur, who wants to ask questions to PL on 'finding a business model', he must first read on internet the typical questions entrepreneurs face, weigh them visavis his experience, and decide on the 'questions' that must be asked.
- Find the right person to ask the question : We often ask our questions to the 'available' person, not the right person. Sometimes you are asking the right question to a wrong entrepreneur, or asking a wrong question to a right entrepreneur.
- Find what you can adapt from the answers, and dig deeper until you find the right answers of how to adapt.
Now you will understand and appreciate the mechanics of learning from others experiences. If you do not understand these four steps from learning from others experience, your learnings ( Work hard, or set a goal) are so superficial and generic they are practically useless. When you fail to learn anything useful, you stop asking questions to another entrepreneur. You think that it is of no use. And once you stop asking questions, you learning completely stops. You have set yourself for 'eventual' failure !
Conclusion
Learning happens only when a clear angle is taken, because angle enables one to generate the right questions to ask. If, as an entrepreneur, you are trying to understand, how to delegate, that angle will help you generate the right questions ( from your quick research) to ask another entrepreneur and become 'better at delegating'. If you are trying to find ways to increase your business size, you will generate the right questions to ask PL on how he increased his market from 1 state to 8 states. If you are trying to attract good employees in your company, you will generate the right questions to ask PL on how he attracted the right talent to work in the village ( which is perhaps most difficult !) and learn from his experience.
Once the right question is framed, the second important bottleneck in learning is finding the right person to ask that question. Right person is the person who has gone through that experience and is willing to talk. More often, that not, entrepreneurs are action-oriented individuals. They are unable to 'articulate' their thoughts.These entrepreneurs, although rich with experience, cannot sometimes transfer their knowledge. On the other hand, business consultants are the right persons to articulate, but do not have the rich experience of an entrepreneur. Learning from other's experience therefore also involves finding the right person or persons to ask the questions !
Conclusion
Learning happens only when a clear angle is taken, because angle enables one to generate the right questions to ask. If, as an entrepreneur, you are trying to understand, how to delegate, that angle will help you generate the right questions ( from your quick research) to ask another entrepreneur and become 'better at delegating'. If you are trying to find ways to increase your business size, you will generate the right questions to ask PL on how he increased his market from 1 state to 8 states. If you are trying to attract good employees in your company, you will generate the right questions to ask PL on how he attracted the right talent to work in the village ( which is perhaps most difficult !) and learn from his experience.
Once the right question is framed, the second important bottleneck in learning is finding the right person to ask that question. Right person is the person who has gone through that experience and is willing to talk. More often, that not, entrepreneurs are action-oriented individuals. They are unable to 'articulate' their thoughts.These entrepreneurs, although rich with experience, cannot sometimes transfer their knowledge. On the other hand, business consultants are the right persons to articulate, but do not have the rich experience of an entrepreneur. Learning from other's experience therefore also involves finding the right person or persons to ask the questions !
