This letter was first published in “Dear Female Founder” edited by Lu Li.
Earlier this year, I was thrilled to be invited to be one of 66 trailblazing female entrepreneurs, writing a letter to the next generation of female founders, for the book “Dear Female Founder”. In these letters we shared our stories and lessons learnt as we venture through our entrepreneurial paths.
Together we have generated over $1 billion in revenue, and created over 2000 jobs: undeniable value to the economy and industries in which we operate. The collective wisdom we bring through these letters, for the next generation of change makers, aims to inspire and give the advice we wish we had heard when starting as seedlings ourselves.
Dear Female Founder,
Humans were made to create. We all have something special about us, and creating things is how we put that out into the world. For all of the budding entrepreneurs out there, this is the beginning of a truly heroic, creative journey, where you will take risks, discover new things, and experience the highest of highs. And, along the way, you will become transformed. Congratulations, you. I decided at a young age that I would like to work for myself, but never would have guessed that it would have been so soon in my career, nor predicted the insane journey it would have been to date. Comparing my younger self to now, my ideas have continually developed, my dreams are coming alive, and my visions for the future are soaring.
Fresh out of my postgraduate university studies, aged 22, I founded an education company called The Tutoring Team (T3), aiming to change the tutoring world, disrupting the way how private supplementary education happens, and challenging traditional learning concepts across the world; whilst raising the standards and expectations for children we work with. People always ask how I got started, at a relatively young age. After having worked for other people, always feeling frustrated when I felt things could be done better or feeling bored when the pace was too slow for me, I couldn’t bear to work like that again. Upon founding T3, I didn’t call myself an entrepreneur. In my mind, I was just a girl, who was excited about creating something new, in the name of being rebellious and avoiding a ‘proper job’ - ha! Even now, five years on, with two growing ventures, I think of myself that way, and am hoping I’ll never lose that attitude I started out with.
Succeeding in your entrepreneurial journey will involve a combination of fantastic ideas and excellent execution. Whilst it is wise to be practical and pragmatic in your work (there is always tonnes to do), I believe that it is important to strive for excellence when building your products and constructing your services. Hold yourself to the highest of standards – this approach will pay off. A product or service which is truly enchanting will be the foundation of why your customers love you and why your business grows. At T3, we are a relatively small and young firm compared to others in the industry, but I have found that we have been successful in forging exciting partnerships and securing some amazing accounts, with some of the world’s most influential people, because the services we provide are unique, and we are able to boast an incredible track record of results because of it. Our growth and impact is fundamentally fuelled by the effort that goes into making sure our services are truly fantastic.
A lot of talk happens in startup circles about “Minimum Viable Products”; but in my opinion, creating a loveable product is more important. The aesthetics (depending on your business, of course) and the superficial details don’t need to be perfect, but the crux of the product/service should be stellar for you to compete in your space and make maximum impact for your clients and customers. If building a company is like building your own utopia, then excellence should sit at the centre of your universe. Whenever I have hit my milestones for the impact we wish to make as a company, but also personally in my work, I get this buzzing feeling. It is the best feeling in the world. But you can only know that you have hit those highs, when you have carefully set your targets before and have relevant KPIs in place. Only that which gets measured, can be improved, and duly celebrated.
Entrepreneurs are often the most self-critical and it is easy to fall into the trap of feeling like your progress or performance hasn’t been enough, if you don’t have benchmarks to measure yourself against. I have certainly been guilty of this, so my advice is to set a few key metrics and be clear on how they relate to your goals as well as how they fit with the stage in which your business is in. Taking this approach has allowed me to measure and assess our own growth, set targets for the future, and most importantly, know whether we are on the right track. It is so easy to ruminate on things that don’t go to plan and to skim over things that do. Make sure to celebrate your wins! The big ones are your milestones, the little ones are the stepping stones taking you there. Both are fundamental. And when you don’t achieve your goals, remember that every successful person has failed before. Perfection is a myth, as is success without effort.
All successful entrepreneurs I know work harder than anyone else, and it should be said that that is a good thing. Nobody ever built anything incredible on a 9-5 schedule, but grant yourself time to reflect and recuperate when you need to. I find that the real magical moments of inspiration come to me in those moments when I take pause. Any innovator knows: Inspiration is the lifeline of creativity. When you feel low or depleted, remind yourself why you are doing it all, and you will put yourself back on the right path. I find it’s easy to become obsessed and workaholic, but keep a life outside of work too. Keep your social life in tact and keep doing the things you enjoy doing. You serve your business best when you are the happiest and most balanced version of yourself. Surround yourself with people who are on the same path as you, but also keep your friends and family as a part of your journey – no one will ever be as proud of you as they will. In good times, they will be the first to celebrate. In tougher times, they will be your pillars of support and most likely will surprise you with how well they know you. If you have made a commitment to uproot your life and become an entrepreneur, you are here to change the world; but your world is nothing without the people who you love and cherish.
Last year, hungry for a new challenge, I started Xarii.com with a mission to change the way people shop for Indian fashion online. At Xarii, we are still very much in our infancy, but we are making waves, working with exciting designers, and selling the most beautiful clothes. This is my first foray into tech entrepreneurship and fashion. An eCommerce venture has been a wholly different animal to building a consultancy, but I have seen how the lessons I have learnt along the way translate between the two companies. One core learning has been striking a balance between that which is fun, and that which is necessary; whilst creativity and passion keeps your business innovative and competitive, it is logistics and the ability to build systems which will allow you to scale quickly.
Keep your mind open to the lessons that can be learned, even when it is not totally obvious. Launching Xarii.com, with no background in fashion or technology, gave me a sense that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Undoubtedly, I had to go through a tougher and far steeper learning curve than if I would have had a fashion tech background, but I have made a conscious effort to really enjoy every part of the journey, particularly when I have been most challenged. So when things feel heavy, remind yourself to have a good time. Entrepreneurship should be a fun endeavour!
If you take anything away from my letter, please take this: No matter your age, gender or knowledge, if you have passion, a solid work ethic, and an incredible idea, you have an exciting path ahead as an entrepreneur. Be curious, be tenacious, and don’t ever stop making your own luck. I’ll leave you with words from my favourite poet, Rumi: “Live life like everything is rigged in your favour.”
With love,
Natasha
To read all 66 letters, you can purchase the full book here: http://amzn.to/2e8xCvP