The first few days of a startup are really testing. You have just launched your startup and are eagerly waiting for the first few clients and are willing to bend over backwards to acquire and service them. It is especially common in the service industry for young startups to either yield to excessive bargaining or underquote their price extremely low just to acquire the client. It is understandable too as you are desperate to make a mark and you don’t want to let any chance go. So you quote the price you think the client will pay and not the actual cost. Well, DON’T. It is a big mistake for young startups and here is why

• *Diminishes your value/the value of your service *- if you finally close a deal at 50% the cost that you had initially quoted, you/your service lose value in the eyes of the client. No client would simply assume that you are working on zero margins or doing this just to get the budget. But they will be happy to assume that you had over quoted by a margin of 100%, were trying to rip them off and that they were able to get an awesome discount. This would mean that you would never be able to work with this client at the right price ever again.
• You lose money/confidence - trust me on this that an undervalued project is always going to be a loss making one for you. The moment you realize that your project is not going to yield anything your motivation to give your 100% will go. Simply saying, we are driven by incentives, take away the incentive and with it goes the motivation. Being confident about ourself is the biggest asset of us entrepreneurs and of we lose that we put a lot at stake.
• Any reference/repeat business would come at undervalued price - any increase in subsequent costing would be perceived as markup and no client would be happy to oblige.
• Adds more steps to getting profitable - once you have delivered a project at a low cost than it actually incurred you would take some time to slowly increase your billing to the right price and then only you can go any further. This is the time where you lose profit. Lost time, lost money.
• Support will drain you - support is proportional to the size of the project and not the cost. And you will have to provide support if you don’t want to lose face in the industry. When a client asks for support whose project was already loss making for you, you will have to do it even if you don’t want to. Maybe in the beginning you will oblige but remember with time you are going to get busier and the work of your paying clients will suffer because you are providing support to a loss making project. In this point I am simply assuming that you have also under quoted for support or worse providing support without support contract. Trust me, startups do that.
  I am the co-founder of a services firm and trust me all of these lessons come from experience. An undervalued project always ends in relationships ending with a sour note. I know we get desperate and just want to grab whatever we get. But let’s try to stay confident about ourselves and our abilities and make sure that we always get the right value of our efforts.

We all have a struggle inside us. One mans struggle varies from that of the other man but that struggle is there. Most of us consider this to be bad. That struggling is not good. Undesirable. But it is not that ways. This struggle is what takes us forward. Beyond hardships it teaches us to appreciate good times. It is the driving force being what we do, Why we do and how we do anything. Without struggling with the books no student reaches distinction. The struggle of working in a start-up is what hones an entrepreneur into a leader. Struggle is good. But the right struggle. To reach happiness find your struggle.

Keep struggling with the wrong things and you will be stuck with them forever. Learn to identify your struggle, find it, eliminate it and then find a new struggle. Or else don’t make any goals at all.

Last week there was a very nice “Ask HN” on Hacker News where the person asking had stated that he had decided to move on to a new job and to do that had to quit his job. Since it was his first job switch, he wasn’t too well aware of the whats, hows and whens of the task and hence he turned to the community to guide him. I was really happy to see that there are people who do want to go through the exit process gracefully and amicably. The response the post of extremely well and the members of the Hacker News community shared great insights and experiences and some great recommendations came out of the process. Even I shared my views on the topic as to how staying in touch with my ex-colleagues has helped me get a lot of new business for my venture when I quit my job in 2009.
Most of the comments were expressing the view points as employees but I experienced some (a few) of the recommendations were inclined towards “Screw Employer, Save Yourself”. I found it kind of disturbing to see this kind of sentiment in the community. Even though they were very few it is still disheartening to see that some people think that ways. I think it is important that an employee thinks about his employer whenever he takes a decision as crucial as quitting. This is something that is going to affect the both of you in most of the cases and hence it is important that both parties be considered when making such decisions. Here are my few points about how I expect (or would appreciate) you to quit if you were my employee

• Tell me as early as possible – This is true no matter how big or small your employer is. The scale of the company only affects how much it is going to affect the employer but the fact that the employer is going to be affected is true. The earlier you tell us the more time we get to make a proper exit plan for you and ensure that things that follow go on smoothly. Hasty exits often leave a bad taste in the mouth. Often people blame their employers that they put obstacles in their relieving process but in most of the cases it is just because they had not given enough time to the employer to process everything. If you leave a small company of 5 people, you need to realize that they are losing 20% of their workforce. They need time.
• Finish what you have started – Although this is true for everyone and everything it is exceptionally important for someone who is planning to quit. If you are at a crucial position, handling various projects and managing teams it is expected from you that you either wind up all your projects or give a complete and smooth transition to someone. I would appreciate if you can help me by recommending who you think should be given the project after you leave. If you are a programmer make sure that there is not a single line of code that only you know exists and why it exists. It can be extremely irritating to face a bug and not know where it is coming from.
• Don’t slack around – This is extremely unfortunate that some people simply turn their “work mode” off as soon as they put in their papers and just sit around doing nothing until the final day comes. This “_why should I work when I am on my notice period_” is actually a major setback to you image on your bosses and colleagues. If the transition is complete and there is nothing going on which requires you critically then instead of sitting around all day diluting the work environment of the office simply ask your employer to relieve you early. I am sure they will oblige. I know that I would.
• Complete the paperwork – Let me tell you something. Even I do not like all the paperwork and processes that I have to maintain as an employer. They irritate me as much as they irritate you. Yet it is due to compliance that these are pushed into my throat which in turn I forward to you. Please complete all the formalities. There was a suggestion in the HN thread that recommends that you do not sign exit papers as it indemnifies the employer. I find it extremely specific and harsh.
• No outbursts please - Every now and then you come across a viral video of someone quitting by making a scene or by writing a very unprofessional letter to the authorities which reaches the internet. I know bosses are not perfect. I know I am not. I am sure you could have the right reasons to be doing such a thing and try to humiliate your boss or at least express your anger but still, please don’t. You need to know this hurts you a lot more than it will hurt us. As long as an employer is offering a position and money he will always find people willing to work for him. You on the other hand could face issues with your next employer if he finds out that you have the ability and experience to do such a thing. Please don’t think that this is a threat. This is the truth and the way things work. You will be an internet hero for a few days but then you will have to go back into the job market.
• Give honest feedback - Sometime people leave because they are not happy. At that point I would want to know what I could have done to have avoided your discomfort. I run a small team and I cannot afford to neglect anyone’s comforts and concerns. I am willing to changes/update my policies and attitudes if that helps making my team happier and hence more productive. I have always mentioned in my earlier posts. I always treat you like a friend and friends are honest to each other. Don’t lie to me in the exit interview and only say nice things because people say that saying bad things in exit interviews is wrong. Tell me what you actually felt. As I said in one of my earlier posts - Employees deserve feedback.  Well so do the bosses.
• Stay in touch – Remember, I considered you a friend. And you my friend will be missed. Even if you work for a huge multinational, your teammates will miss you. Keep in touch.
  I will be honest with you. It makes me very happy when my colleagues (employees) move on to better jobs and ventures after gaining a lot of experience with me. I take pride in the fact that his association with me and my company added some value to his life and which benefited him greatly. People will come and they will leave but they time that was spent with them and the experience that was gained with them will always stay.

Sometimes you have to quit. You might not want to but you have to. Quitting might be the only option. And boy is it hard. It is extremely difficult for a self-respecting person to call it quits on anything. You will want to delay it as much as possible and try to find small reasons to keep lingering to the activity but it takes real courage to actually quit. You will not want to face the world and avoid any kind of contact. Although quitting is usually seen as a sign of giving up and accepting defeat, it is not all that bad. Sometimes it is a good thing even. If you are stuck is a rut of a life quitting is the best thing possible. If you are employed and you do not like your job, it doesn’t make sense to continue. If you are a student and you don’t think this course is the right life choice for you, moving forward is simply wasting precious time. If you are an entrepreneur and you don’t see your venture performing as you expected and don’t think that you can pivot it is better to move on. And the sooner you realize that the better it is to you. If you are a creator - ventures, products and startups will keep happening to you but for that to happen you need to quit that one venture, that one product that is not just working. As an entrepreneur I can understand that it is extremely hard to quit or abandon a product that you have so dearly envisioned and nurtured. You find it hard to come in terms with the fact that even though you did your best it did not work out. You might have the reasons in front of you but you just don’t want to believe. But you need to let go. For you need your hands and mind to be free to build something wonderful. And I believe that failures teach you a lot more than any success can do.

Remember only a winner can realize that it is the time to quit.
I tweet here : @akhilrex

Recently a friend of mine bought a designer laptop bag. The bag was expensive (quite) but since it was extremely attractive, in my opinion was worth every penny spent. Post the purchase we got into a discussion on why this bag and anything designer expensive. My response was that this bag has been made using the best quality leather and has been hand stitched entirely and hence the extra cost. A Ferrari is not expensive because of it specifications but because of its limited production and the entire machine is assembled by hand and the upholstery is hand stitched. These added man hours is what raises the cost of the product. At this he pointed out that our industry (IT) in that sense should be very well-paying considering that anything that we do is entirely done by hand. If you are a custom software developer it can easily be assumed that whatever you do is exclusive to the current project and almost exclusively done by human beings. There is minimal automation in terms of deciding, writing and checking the logic. Obviously we use tools that make our job easier but they are equivalent to the screwdriver a mechanic uses at Ferrari. You might have the top of the line pneumatic screwdriver it would still require a human being to operate. Just like a fine craftsman finishes the interiors of a super car with care and caution, so does a developer when he is transferring an idea from plan to execution. Yet the market today pays easily for the cars and designer bags and still want to haggle with the software developer over is hourly rates. They would want you to justify your rates and would not want to accept the estimate that you have provided. They would question you take more time than you had originally estimated and then get fussy about paying you for the extra time even though they got the specs changed in the process.

I think it is because they do not receive any tangible item at the end seeing which they can get the satisfaction of quality like they would have gotten from a luxury bag. They do not see the great quality of work that you have put in the back-end of the application in terms of technology, coding standards or algorithms. They are usually trying to relate the cost of the service with the end product face that they see. And with that approach posting a Facebook post requires only one textarea and a button and some (!!) coding at the back. I am not saying that all the clients are like that but we all know at least one such person. At this point it is the responsibility of the developer to be transparent about his dealing and most importantly educate his clients about the value of work that has been put in. The client will most likely never see the thousands of lines of code that you write to make one feature work and will never know that it took so much effort, so it is important that you make him aware of it. The client should respect your service and the work delivered and for that to happen it is important that he knows its true value.

There have been a few instances in recent times when some of my colleagues (employees actually, but I don’t like to use the word employee) came to me and expressed their desires to quit. Now that is nothing new. People quit/move all the time. But what is important here is the reason they gave me. Sir, I don’t think I am cut out for this. The first time I heard this I simply had no response. I had never anticipated such a thing ever and was literally not prepared for such a moment. You do not know what to say to such a person who thinks that he is not good enough for you and wants to quit. On one hand you appreciate the fact that the other person has realized his shortcomings and was man enough to accept them. On the other hand you feel confused as to what you have done wrong that such a feeling has crept into his mind. Were you not a good boss? Were you not helpful enough or were you able to make enough time for him so see where he is stuck? Was there a lack of feedback from my part or was I not clear? Hundreds of such questions would cloud your mind in that one moment and you would not know what to do. I was taken by surprise when this happened to me the first time but when it happened again I came to terms with the fact that as an entrepreneur leading a relatively big team it is my responsibility to manage and maintain the morale of my colleagues. I do not think I need to tell anyone how taxing a new entrepreneur’s life is. Yet it is important that you take out time to interact with your team and make sure that everyone is comfortable with their positions, roles and responsibilities. Just like for a car, feedback is a very important aspect of an entrepreneurial system. We usually give more importance to the customer feedback but we should pay attention the employee feedback as well. I have mentioned in my previous posts as well that a business or a venture is only as good as the team behind it. And to keep a happy team it’s important that you keep yourself aware of their individual states of minds and give constant and honest feedback. The annual appraisal feedback is simply not enough. If your team preforms good, tell them. If they suck, they need to know that as well. If someone is feeling out of place, it is your responsibility to make sure that you clear their minds of all/any doubts and my personal recommendation is that it would be better if you realize this before they come to you. Entrepreneurship is a new road for me and I know one thing for sure that if I want to go far I need my awesome colleagues with me.

As for these colleagues who came to me, I was able to talk them out of their doubts by telling them that I had faith in them and they should not feel that they are not performing. I appreciated the fact that they came up to me and was pretty vocal about it. I reassured them that I care about their growth as much, if not more, as they did and I would be the first person to let them know if I ever thought that they were not performing. I am happy that I was able to figure out a way out of this issue and proud of my teammates for their courage. If you too have a similar experience or want to share your views about mine, feel free to drop a comment here.

Shit happens. Yes it does. You will not get the job that you always wanted to. You will get reprimanded by your boss. Yes your spouse will fight with you for no reason and then blame it on you. Your colleagues will try to sabotage your career. Your pet will die. Shit will happen. But it happens for a reason. Not to make your life miserable, that is just an effect, but to prepare you for even harder challenges in life. Any problem of any field, any time or any scope comes with a lesson. Every bad experience goes away trying to teach you something. This is what the proverbial silver lining is all about. It is always up to you to rise above the problem and find a resolution and to make sure that any lesson or experience that came with the problem was absorbed and understood. Assess the problem, assess why it came, what you could have done to avoid it and what you would do to fix it. Once it is fixed, look back. What you can take from it. How it changed your life, temporarily or permanently? What you can remember so that it does not happen again and if it does you know how to tackle. Look into the finer details as all big issue are made up of smaller problems. If you are able to do all this and come out with a learning then that becomes a successful problem. A failed interview prepares for the next. A bug fix today will take you a long way. A betrayal today will improve your ability to judge people. A fight today with your spouse will be more love tomorrow. Try to make the most of the problem because the life is unfair and it will keep throwing more hurdles at you. The best you can do is dodge the ones that you can remember and try to identify the new ones. This will work. This always has and this always will.

And if all this fails stand up, dust yourself and smile because somewhere someone is having an even worse day for sure.

I don’t want to crib but it is. You might have been a subordinate your whole life and you might think that you know what it is like being a subordinate but the moment you become a boss, bam! - you are lost. I was employed for two years before Green Apple Solutions happened. And I was not a model employee. I questioned authority and argued against conventional wisdom. I did everything my way even if it meant I had to do it all over again taking the path my senior had initially prescribed. After some time you think that you know all the tricks in the book but the moment you get a team to handle you realize there is still so much more to know. It is especially difficult if you are a young guy like me. You are enthusiastic and lack patience. You tend to lose temper when you are lied to blatantly and most of the time it is confusing. All these feelings increase many times over if you are an entrepreneur and you have butt load of things that needs to be done. It is tough to keep a straight face when your teammates bombard you with excuses you can see right through. It is difficult to be calm when the output is not in proportion with the input that you put in. But like i say every experience comes with a lesson. It is very important for an entrepreneur to be a good team manager if he has to go forward as there is nothing more valuable than having a team that shares the same goals and ideas as you. A good team can make or break a startup. My team has grown to 25 people now and I too have learnt a few of tips in the past two years. I am sure most of them could be found in management books as clearly i am not the first one to be leading a team, but I think they would be helpful to someone who is a young entrepreneur like me and is new to managing a team.

Realize your comfort zone - There might be a lot of schools of thought in the market that tell you how friendly/professional your relationship should be with your team. You can choose whatever level of friendship you might want to but make sure that it is within your comfort zone. You should not be over/under doing. I personally feel that consistency in your behavior makes a great impact on your team. People usually consider being predictable to be boring but it is extremely helpful and comfortable if your team realizes and remembers or in the best scenario able to predict what you are going to expect from them. They will never be able to resonate with you if you keep changing your attitude towards them and this will mean inefficiency.