Entrepreneurship lessons from Band Baaja Baarat

“Some people make things happen, some watch things happen, while others wonder

what has happened.”

Band Baaja Baarat is a real inspiration for people looking to take up entrepreneurship. Its a story about two ambitious people coming together and creating a successful venture. But the journey was not as smooth as it seems and that's what make it worth learning.

What entrepreneurship lessons can we grab from the movie?

1) Degree is irrelevant: No business has its foundation laid on the qualification degree of its founder, all that's needed to start and to be successful is passion. If you are passionate enough, nothing can get in your way.

If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.” - Mark Zuckerberg, 

"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." -Ayn Rand

2) Climb the ladder, don't jump: There is no shortcut to success and if by chance you get success by shortcut, it won't stay for long. So the best thing to do is go slow, step by step and climb the ladder. Whatever mistake you are bound to make, make it when you are small and growing, so that when you want to go big, you have already learnt your lessons.

"There is no secret ingredient." -Po, Kung-fu panda

3) First time comes only once: There's always a first time when you do a thing, but that first time comes only once. Don't hesitate to take risk because even in the worst case scenario, you'll end up learning something. When you meet your customer make sure you are confident and you have done your homework properly to make him believe in you.

“Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.”

Stan Smith

4) Get your customers on their knees: Monopoly is a myth and there are always hundreds of others that are doing the same thing that you're doing or planning to do, but what's important is that what is that one factor that differentiates you from others. In BBB, they take up one job at a time, no cheating, no price cuts, low budget high entertainment and infuse creativity and entertainment which makes them different from other wedding planners who charge exorbitant amount for average services.

“Always deliver more than expected.” —Larry Page, co-founder of Google.

“The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but

how to get old ones out.”

Dee Hock, Founder of Visa

“If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong.”
Charles Kettering, Engineer

5) Competition matters, but not that much: When you start-up, you always have the choice of imitating the already established and successful big players, but that won't take you far. what is important is you do the right thing and eventually you will be rewarded for your uniqueness.

"The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average efforts."

“When you compete with a person, you only have to be as good or better than the

person to win. If you compete with yourself, there is no limitation to how good

you can be.”

Chu Chin-Ning

6) Suppliers are family: No doubt that customers are prime focus in any business but so are suppliers. Without suppliers you will be crippled. The movie beautifully shows how the protagonists include their suppliers (DJ/Caterer/Decorator) in their success and celebration and as against it the supplier works with 100% dedication and loyalty. Don't take suppliers lightly or intend to manipulate them, treat them as family and they will never leave you.

7) Ethics will take you a long way: Ethics is an important part of foundation of any business. There has to be some basic do's and don'ts in any business. In the movie when the actor tries to steal electricity during their first project, the actress reminds him that there business won't be built on cheating and fraud. If you start weak, you will grow weaker. 

"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do."

8) KYC: Knowing your customer is by all means the most important part of any business. Until you understand the needs of your customers, how will you decide what to serve to your customers? Branding, marketing, promotion will not help you grow as much as knowing your customers will. History has proven that the most successful business have always been customer-focused.

To quote Gandhiji: "A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him any favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so."

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."

 – Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft.

“The customer is a rear-view mirror, not a guide to the future.”

George Colony, Forrester Research

9) Getting the right mix: Business is not a one man job. To be successful in any venture you need skilled people who are expert in their field. A right mix is the one where everyone brings something unique to the table. This helps avoiding overlapping of work as well as makes the accounting and responsibility clear. 

10) Keep a trick up your sleeve: In a business you will come across situations where things go haywire and all your plans fall flat on their faces, but that's the time to rise and not to panic. If everything goes smooth and as per plan, it means you are not going fast enough. In the movie when during the first sainik farm wedding, the motor doesn't work, they don't panic (Though it started in typical bollywood fashion). In another instance, when Shahrukh khan is unavailable to perform, instead of panicking, the protagonists decides to perform themselves, thereby winning the customer as well as saving the day for them. 

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most

intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

Charles Darwin

      The myth: "I want to do job for learning and then i will start my own venture" Its like first i will pet a dog and then i will learn how to ride a horse. In my personal opinion, jobs cannot teach anything about entrepreneurship unless your boss wants to make you his son-in-law. A fresher starts with a desk job and by the time he "thinks" he has learned everything, he is already exhausted. If we have to get our ass kicked, why not do it for ourselves? Start small, take less risk initially and grow slowly. Even if you earn 100 Rupees everyday, you will end up earning a tad bit more than your placement package. 

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.”

Sven Goran Eriksson

“To any entrepreneur: if you want to do it, do it now. If you don’t, you’re going to regret it.” - Catherine Cook, co-founder of MyYearbook.