New Delhi Times

Gaurav Bhatnagar reporting from New Delhi, India

Idle entrepreneurs are successful entrepreneurs!

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Five years ago, when I was a newbie entrepreneur (and in mid-20s as against in early 30s!), I thrived in “being busy”. Late nights in office used to be a benchmark of how well we must be doing as a company. I think I might have even sneered at some of the more wisened business owner friends who actually went home by 7 and didn’t shy away from delegating work. But for the cowboy entrepreneur inside me, “delegating” was a four letter word. “Those who can do, those who can’t delegate”, went the saying.

Well, five years down the road, I have a lot more grey hair and I hope a little more insight. Between all our businesses, there are over 300 people. We operate in two geographies (Middle-east being the the other one) and work on a very diverse set of technologies (travel technology, web 2.0, publishing workflows, mobile applications, .NET, php etc). I guess TBO doesn’t even qualify as a startup anymore!

That sounds exciting, and it is! So where is the problem? Well, my problem is that I have no time to think. As our businesses have grown, I have ended up with so much operational clutter on my desk, that each day is a constant battle against time. On any given day, I get over 300 genuine emails (over 2500 notification and system alert emails excluded) which require almost immediate response. I run out the battery on my blackberry with out fail by 6 PM. I go and up down approximately 600 stairs during the day (the only exercise I get, by the way). I clock about 200 KM of travel for meetings (excluding home to office and back) within the city in a week. I travel domestically about once a month and internationally about once in 45 days.

So, when I say I have no time to think, I mean it very literally. All my working hours go in reacting to email, answering the phone, handling crises, meeting customers and managing employees. All of this is important work and in a way this is what has contributed to our growth and success so far. But over the last few months I have realized that genuine innovation or groundbreaking stuff can not happen if the promoters of the company are just heads down in work all the time. I have been fortunate to have closely observed a few very successful and experienced entrepreneurs. All of them have a common trait – they have time! It sounds counter-intuitive but the fact is that these people have plenty of open slots on their calendar. They actually spend this time thinking, reading, observing and meeting new people. I am quite sure this is in fact the reason that they have been so successful in their businesses!

Time management is perhaps the most important factor building a successful enterprise. It is essential for leaders in a company to be able to set aside time to just stop, observe and see where the company is heading. Strategic decisions can be made only when day to day distractions are taken away. While I have realized this fact, I am still grappling with how to get out of the rut. Any thoughts or suggestions on how you manage your time would be most welcome!

Written by gaurav

September 12th, 2010 at 12:51 am

Posted in Entrepreneurship

Tagged with , ,

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  • Dinesh Wadhawan

    Buy a book – Getting things done by David Allan…read it and implement it. Second download the software (paid app) it integrates will with outlook. By doing thoth the exercises you will be able to manage your offline & online life quite well.

  • Dinesh Wadhawan

    Buy a book – Getting things done by David Allan…read it and implement it. Second download the software (paid app) it integrates will with outlook. By doing thoth the exercises you will be able to manage your offline & online life quite well.

  • http://strat.in Shubham Singal

    First of all congratulations for the success! The place where you have reached is also phenomenal and probably because you have put a lot of time and thought behind your companies and products.

    I might be wrong but think the solution lies in the word which you used in the post “delegating”. I know it is very difficult to find your own replacement but hiring few managers can simplify the situation. Though finding good managers can be very difficult and seem as a new time consuming task till you find them :)

  • http://strat.in Shubham Singal

    First of all congratulations for the success! The place where you have reached is also phenomenal and probably because you have put a lot of time and thought behind your companies and products.

    I might be wrong but think the solution lies in the word which you used in the post “delegating”. I know it is very difficult to find your own replacement but hiring few managers can simplify the situation. Though finding good managers can be very difficult and seem as a new time consuming task till you find them :)

  • pushpabhatnagar

    Waking up one hour early is the only solution to doing things you want to. Make it a point to read something light and humourous before you sleep.The best solution to declutter your mind .

  • pushpabhatnagar

    Waking up one hour early is the only solution to doing things you want to. Make it a point to read something light and humourous before you sleep.The best solution to declutter your mind .

  • gaurav

    Dinesh, I will buy the book today itself. Should have thought of it earlier myself!

  • gaurav

    Dinesh, I will buy the book today itself. Should have thought of it earlier myself!

  • gaurav

    Shubham, you are right and I realize that delegation is the key. But it does require building up the right org chart, setting up correct processes and empowering people before making them accountable. I guess all that is part of growing up as a comapny!

  • gaurav

    will keep in mind, mom!

  • gaurav

    Shubham, you are right and I realize that delegation is the key. But it does require building up the right org chart, setting up correct processes and empowering people before making them accountable. I guess all that is part of growing up as a comapny!

  • gaurav

    will keep in mind, mom!

  • http://www.mayanksingh.com Mayank Singh

    Gaurav, I was fortunate enough to have a working opportunity with you in past. I have observed your working style closely and tried to grab maximum from your experience. You have been my idol when it comes to time management, I have not seen anyone else giving so much importance to time in this era. I would say you have the best time management skill.

    One of my learning while PG in Entrepreneurship was “Entrepreneur is the costliest employee of any organisation”. So would say get right people at right place to get your work done and try to delegate all your work accordingly. Find and Trust opportunist around you, give them opportunity in form of appreciation as I feel hunger of self esteem is bit higher sometimes than money. :)

    All the very best.

  • http://www.mayanksingh.com Mayank Singh

    Gaurav, I was fortunate enough to have a working opportunity with you in past. I have observed your working style closely and tried to grab maximum from your experience. You have been my idol when it comes to time management, I have not seen anyone else giving so much importance to time in this era. I would say you have the best time management skill.

    One of my learning while PG in Entrepreneurship was “Entrepreneur is the costliest employee of any organisation”. So would say get right people at right place to get your work done and try to delegate all your work accordingly. Find and Trust opportunist around you, give them opportunity in form of appreciation as I feel hunger of self esteem is bit higher sometimes than money. :)

    All the very best.

  • http://thoughtbubbles.wordpress.com Tushar Malhotra

    Well, I’d say getting back to blogging is a good sign :)

  • http://thoughtbubbles.wordpress.com Tushar Malhotra

    Well, I’d say getting back to blogging is a good sign :)

  • http://tarunkohli.blogspot.com Tarun Kohli

    I couldn’t agree more – I grapple with the same sort of challenge every day albeit not being successful as you are.

    I think some of it comes with the territory – we signed up for it. I’m not sure if you would ever be in a position to relax – If you were, you would be an investor not an entrepreneur or a CEO :)

    I think you have already got some good suggestions of delegating, waking up early and reading execution related books and somewhere along the line you would discover your own optimized process to handle the clutter.

    The only thing that I could add is to divide the time between urgent and important(something that I learned from 7 habits of highly successful people). Make sure you always focus on the important things and not let them become urgent. You would be fine if you do that successfully.

    On a side note, good to see you blogging again. Please keep your thoughts rolling – that would definitely help you de-clutter your mind :)

  • http://tarunkohli.blogspot.com Tarun Kohli

    I couldn’t agree more – I grapple with the same sort of challenge every day albeit not being successful as you are.

    I think some of it comes with the territory – we signed up for it. I’m not sure if you would ever be in a position to relax – If you were, you would be an investor not an entrepreneur or a CEO :)

    I think you have already got some good suggestions of delegating, waking up early and reading execution related books and somewhere along the line you would discover your own optimized process to handle the clutter.

    The only thing that I could add is to divide the time between urgent and important(something that I learned from 7 habits of highly successful people). Make sure you always focus on the important things and not let them become urgent. You would be fine if you do that successfully.

    On a side note, good to see you blogging again. Please keep your thoughts rolling – that would definitely help you de-clutter your mind :)

  • gaurav

    Mayank – I totally realize and agree that the entrepreneur is the costliest employee of the organization. Which is exactly why it is so critical to free up time to be able to make sure that critical decisions are not made in haste!

    Tarun – I dont necessarily agree that being busy all the time is part of the job. Most really successful entrepreneurs definitely look relaxed and un-stressed! They have time to think and pick and choose what they really must action on themselves. That is the situation we ought to aim for! I know I am quite a distance away from it!

  • gaurav

    Mayank – I totally realize and agree that the entrepreneur is the costliest employee of the organization. Which is exactly why it is so critical to free up time to be able to make sure that critical decisions are not made in haste!

    Tarun – I dont necessarily agree that being busy all the time is part of the job. Most really successful entrepreneurs definitely look relaxed and un-stressed! They have time to think and pick and choose what they really must action on themselves. That is the situation we ought to aim for! I know I am quite a distance away from it!

  • http://www.deskaway.com Sahil Parikh

    Good one! It reminds me of what I read a while back in a book called eMyth – “work on your business and not in it”.

    Especially in a tech biz, I think we all fall prey to working long hours and doing some of the stuff because we can do it better than say someone else. Having the right people in your team, delegating and time managment are crucial and you have rightly mentioned those. Another thing thats important is knowing when to say “no” – whether its a new client, idea or a decision.

  • Rajesh Moorjani

    a good manager is one who works to make himself dispensable :)

  • Amit Gupta

    Hi Gaurav,

    I couldn’t agree you more. Had a great chance to listen to you in Proto previously at our college, and it was really inspiring. Although we are not a big company yet, still I am trying to detach myself from day to day work by bringing a process into the system. Also, trying to learn the art of delegation. It is actually freeing up lots of time which is helping us to envision the bigger picture.

    The article was really useful. Please keep writing.

  • Anonymous

    Sahil, I have also read eMyth and I totally understand why techie entrepreneurs fall in to this trap of getting too involved with operation stuff. Sometimes it is good to just not understand certain aspects of your business so you can let others manage it for you!

  • Anonymous

    Yes, but cant say the same for a good entrepreneur!

  • Anonymous

    Amit, thanks for your comment and congrats on having figured this out much earlier in the game!

  • http://www.deskaway.com Sahil Parikh

    Absolutely! Getting involved is not bad initially but can really eat up all of your time :-(

  • http://twitter.com/snarayan Satya Narayan

    Agree with you.. One of the issues I’ve faced earlier is I tend to over rely on myself and that could also be a reason for over working. In the longer run, the whole team has to improve as a whole and that is the reason the entrepreneur should be working hard for, not on tasks that are more individual focussed. Work on the team, hand hold them (in case of freshers) and empower them to make decisions.. allow few mistakes (difficult but necessary..). Get in the mode of mentorship to your employees.. Well.. I’ll stop here. Thanks for sharing.

  • http://twitter.com/snarayan Satya Narayan

    Agree with you.. One of the issues I’ve faced earlier is I tend to over rely on myself and that could also be a reason for over working. In the longer run, the whole team has to improve as a whole and that is the reason the entrepreneur should be working hard for, not on tasks that are more individual focussed. Work on the team, hand hold them (in case of freshers) and empower them to make decisions.. allow few mistakes (difficult but necessary..). Get in the mode of mentorship to your employees.. Well.. I’ll stop here. Thanks for sharing.

  • http://www.newdelhitimes.org Gaurav Bhatnagar

    Satya, agree with your completely. This realization dawns a little slowly for first time entrepreneurs! And even when you do realize it, its easier said than done!

  • http://www.newdelhitimes.org Gaurav Bhatnagar

    Satya, agree with your completely. This realization dawns a little slowly for first time entrepreneurs! And even when you do realize it, its easier said than done!

  • Abhisek Rathi

    While reading this post, I remember Arun Karn saying to me “Considering the amount of work Gaurav sir has, even 5 Gaurav Sirs will fall short of completing it.”
    So much you do, still so much to do.

  • Abhisek Rahti

    and that was 2 years back…

  • http://www.newdelhitimes.org Gaurav Bhatnagar

    hehe when I think about it, I was practically idle 2 years back compared to now! :)

  • http://kuchtohai.blogspot.com/ Amit Goyal

    May be giving half an hour daily to ourselves only, will help us to better manage, think and plan the life. Whenever I do this in the form of walking alone, it helps me a lot!

  • http://www.greentechdelhi.com Green Delhi Admin

    Delegation depends on Trust and Trust Depends on Self-Confidence. By Self-Confidence i mean I am confident that i have chosen the right people.

  • http://profiles.google.com/aditiarora.85 aditi arora

    Very late a reaction .. but hey, I came across this interesting piece today only!
    Lets connect in case you are still grappling with how to get out of go-to-office-come-back-home-rut!

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