
5 Lessons From Chanakya that Every Entrepreneur Must Learn
The priceless lessons from Chanakya, which date back to over 2000 years old, are still very much relevant today in the 21st Century in all walks of life. Acharya Chanakya was a comprehensive scholar who passed on an ocean of wisdom regarding all pillars of society, including economics, business and management. Applying his knowledge in today’s turbulent economic situation will lay the foundation for consistent success for any entrepreneur. No matter where you’re from, no matter which field you’re looking to launch and strengthen your business, his teachings will give you the ultimate firepower of knowledge that every entrepreneur needs.
Here are some of the finest lessons from Chanakya vis-a-vis today’s business market and trends that every aspiring, budding or established entrepreneur must learn.
People in power must always be accessible
This is a key virtue that every good leader must possess. Every entrepreneur, whether aspiring or successful, probably has dozens of important items on the agenda every single day. Their hectic schedule and absolute dedication make it virtually impossible for them to be absolutely accessible to everybody. However, this should not apply to your people, i.e., your team members, subordinates and every other member of your supporting staff. They are the ones who help you run your organisation, and you simply can’t ignore them when it comes to addressing the major and minor issues relating to your company. Some people in leadership positions also tend to remain inaccessible to their own employees out of ego.
Such behaviour will create resentment within the employees and keep the organisation divided. This mindset should never be adopted or entertained by any entrepreneur who is looking to attain and maintain success.
Your team comes first
This may come off as a preachy statement, but it is one of the important lessons from Chanakya as it carries a greater practical depth. All entrepreneurs expect their employees to be dedicated workers, which is a fair expectation, but not all of them are willing to put their team’s well-being and comfort ahead of their own. However, as a leader, you must understand your employees’ needs and concerns and put them before your own.
For example, if one has a limited budget and has to choose between an office that has more space for your employees and an office that has more space for your own office and less for the team, a good leader will always choose the first option. This attitude will make your employees more appreciative of the workplace and the team, which will, in turn, improve employee loyalty. To summarise it all, if you put your team first, your team will put your business first as well.
Hold your team and yourself accountable
Accountability is the backbone of growth for any professional or organisation. While working towards your employees’ well-being, an entrepreneur must also unapologetically demand accountability from them. But first and foremost, you must hold yourself accountable for anything that happens in the company. Taking accountability for your own actions and decisions, as well as the performance of your employees, is the first step to correcting any mistakes or avoid making them in the first place. This is perhaps one of the toughest lessons from Chanakya when it comes to actually following it, since most people have a tendency to pass on the blame rather than owning up to it.
But once you and your team habituate yourself to taking responsibility for your own actions, your company will be poised for success.
Learn from others’ mistakes
This is one of the most important lessons from Chanakya that often gets overlooked. Everybody makes mistakes at some point in their lives, and it is always good to learn from your own mistakes. But Acharya Chanakya has emphasised the need to not just learn from your own mistakes but observe others carefully and learn from their mistakes as well. He explains that life is too short to make all the mistakes yourself and learn from them. A smart entrepreneur will always try to read and learn more about other businesses and startups that have failed and succeeded. While observing something that these businesses have done right, you must look equally closely at their mistakes.
Debt is an enemy
While there is nothing wrong in taking a loan or debt from banks to launch, expand or save your business, you must be wary of debt. This is another one of the essential lessons from Chanakya – ‘Debt is an enemy.’ Banks or moneylenders will always readily offer you loans at high interest rates, but it is up to you to analyse exactly how much debt you need and whether you need it in the first place. No matter how much better interest rates you get at these loans, you must remember that at the end of the day, it is nothing but debt.
If you do think that a loan is necessary for your business, then one of your first priorities after launching the business must be to pay off your debt to completion as early as possible. Letting your loan’s interest pile up will directly affect and restrict your company’s growth and may even result in a big failure. Hence, you must treat debt as a temporary benefit that must be gotten rid of as early as possible.
These were five important lessons from Chanakya that every entrepreneur must learn.
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