Attitude is everything for successful start-ups

Someone once said that ‘ your passion may determine what you can do, but your attitude redefines how far you can go while you do what you can.’

Sadly in the Sri Lankan start-up context attitude takes a back seat. So says Lanka Angel Network (LAN) founder and venture capital fund, BOV Capital partner, Prajeeth Balasubramaniam. “The greatest challenge that local start- ups face now is the entrepreneurs’ laid- back attitude," he told the Business Times. Elaborating on the challenges that local start-up entrepreneurs are dealing with in terms of the right attitude, he said that local talent is ' amazing' but their work ethic is a ' put- off'. So without that ' right attitude', you might not want to be an entrepreneur.

So what’s the right attitude?

It’s a lot more than sitting on a beach sipping a drink while watching your account accumulate money overnight. “As against India and Singapore where start- up entrepreneurs are dedicated and passionate, locals are not so much despite their initial interest,” Mr. Balasubramaniam added. If only people are aware of the truth that most start-ups fail - then they may not be so attracted to indulge their fantasy in the first place. A start-up entrepreneur agreed saying that it’s not easy to start from the ground up and become a successful business owner. Many hours of hard work, frustration, creativity and supervision are poured into a new venture and it’s a lot of time, dedication and tiredness.

People often have different notions of what start-ups are or should be. The entrepreneur said that in reality startup involves a few beanbag chairs, a laptop and few scratches of paper, but this is initially the lifestyle.

The start- up entrepreneur added that there is a need to exhibit commitment to potential investors as much as they need to show how their business model will be sustainable.

“Entrepreneurs are go- getters and will do anything it takes to beat all barriers and climb all mountains to succeed. They get very little sleep because they realise the opportunity cost in sleeping as a substitute of getting things done. Personally, I won't even go to bed until I connect with close business associates in my network. If you are not ready to get up and work hard every day, maybe seven days a week, then how can you anticipate success? No successful business is created rapidly, easily or without strife.” He said that the right attitude provides the glue, helping a company to sustain during the dynamic ups and downs of the start-up process.

Entrepreneurs do not work a standard 9- to- 5 day, nor do they log 40- hour work weeks. They are at all times working— starting new ideas, creating new products, blueprinting new processes, hiring smart and talented people, he said.

He added that managing and dealing with all the intricacies people bring to work at a start- up is a big challenge because each individual’s opinion of their work environment directly influence their emotional state and subsequent intent to work diligently and creatively for the company.