Have you done business as a hobby ?
Once upon a time i too have ventured into "small " business ventures partly for the pocket money and partly for the thrill of it . Some of them were financial disasters (means "small " losses ) while some were successes ( "small "successes ) . But all of them , i repeat all of them including the failures were enjoyable learning experiences .
Lets start with the failures . During my student days , having enough knowledge about trivandrum and a reasonable command of english i thought why cant i be a guide to foreign tourists . . I took the bus to kovalam and stood there and called aloud "Guide " ... For a one man business/entrepreneurship isnt it the best way of advertisement . I dont know whether i looked like a thief or illiterate all the tourists said a polite and smiling No thank you .
Next week again i went to kovalam . This time with a new business idea . If last time i had zero input costs this time i spent around 50 rs from my pocket . Bought 2-3 juicy pineapples and this time my aim was to sell them to the tourists on the beach . Beach was very familiar to me cos me and my cousins used to regularly come there for swimming . "Pineapple for sale " ...Again smiles and polite no thank yous from tourists . Oh God , where is the demand-supply equation failing . That half day i learnt a lesson that there is more to sales than "demand --hungry tourists " and "supply --the pineapple man ,myself " . Though disappointed and towards the end saw some glaring from the local pineapple vendors i finished one pineapple from the beach and one from home .
Since i loved books from time immemorial my next venture was in parttime book business .Though i didnt amass a fortune this was profitable both on a financial as well as an intellectual point of view . I used to collect books from people i know , give them 3 times the rate what they get if they sell it and then sell it to book sellers of secondhand books at palayam . I used to take the bus and hence my transport costs were minimal . In the end the demand was so much that at one time vendors used to argue to get the professional college books i supplied . And to top it all there was immense intellectual satisfaction as i used to read and sometimes even keep some of the books i got . (there were even rare books ) .
While i was working as a radiologist too this hobby of entrepreneurship continued . I was earning then a handsome salary but during sparetime i used to teach computers and earn money from it also . It was a decent sum but nowhere near my radiology practice but here i was 100 percent boss and teaching was one that i 100 percent enjoyed always . Because it was a hobby i made sure that it never interfered with my other pastimes including eating around at keralas food capital Calicut in North Kerala .
I also was part of a small partnership in a radiology centre long back and that too from the outset was a hobby for me . Why because for one i worked there only for two days when our radiologist was on leave . I joined the partnership mainly because my mentor wanted me too to join and compared to the multicrore radiology partnerships of today it was a very "small " venture for me . Because our total investment was miniscule as we just had an ultrasound machine and 6 partners and place provided by one of the partner . I still remember the good old days when my employee " the radiologist " who was double my age used to discuss the days activities with the "employer : me " a fresh postgraduate . Though i havent done an MBA so far that venture also was very much a learning experience as well as enjoyable especially the staff who were my good friends .
So if you are keen this entrepreneurship can also be a hobby but make sure that you invest according to your risk appetite . For when the investment goes up the "hobby " part comes down unless you are the son of Warren Buffet ..
Once upon a time i too have ventured into "small " business ventures partly for the pocket money and partly for the thrill of it . Some of them were financial disasters (means "small " losses ) while some were successes ( "small "successes ) . But all of them , i repeat all of them including the failures were enjoyable learning experiences .
Lets start with the failures . During my student days , having enough knowledge about trivandrum and a reasonable command of english i thought why cant i be a guide to foreign tourists . . I took the bus to kovalam and stood there and called aloud "Guide " ... For a one man business/entrepreneurship isnt it the best way of advertisement . I dont know whether i looked like a thief or illiterate all the tourists said a polite and smiling No thank you .
Next week again i went to kovalam . This time with a new business idea . If last time i had zero input costs this time i spent around 50 rs from my pocket . Bought 2-3 juicy pineapples and this time my aim was to sell them to the tourists on the beach . Beach was very familiar to me cos me and my cousins used to regularly come there for swimming . "Pineapple for sale " ...Again smiles and polite no thank yous from tourists . Oh God , where is the demand-supply equation failing . That half day i learnt a lesson that there is more to sales than "demand --hungry tourists " and "supply --the pineapple man ,myself " . Though disappointed and towards the end saw some glaring from the local pineapple vendors i finished one pineapple from the beach and one from home .
Since i loved books from time immemorial my next venture was in parttime book business .Though i didnt amass a fortune this was profitable both on a financial as well as an intellectual point of view . I used to collect books from people i know , give them 3 times the rate what they get if they sell it and then sell it to book sellers of secondhand books at palayam . I used to take the bus and hence my transport costs were minimal . In the end the demand was so much that at one time vendors used to argue to get the professional college books i supplied . And to top it all there was immense intellectual satisfaction as i used to read and sometimes even keep some of the books i got . (there were even rare books ) .
While i was working as a radiologist too this hobby of entrepreneurship continued . I was earning then a handsome salary but during sparetime i used to teach computers and earn money from it also . It was a decent sum but nowhere near my radiology practice but here i was 100 percent boss and teaching was one that i 100 percent enjoyed always . Because it was a hobby i made sure that it never interfered with my other pastimes including eating around at keralas food capital Calicut in North Kerala .
I also was part of a small partnership in a radiology centre long back and that too from the outset was a hobby for me . Why because for one i worked there only for two days when our radiologist was on leave . I joined the partnership mainly because my mentor wanted me too to join and compared to the multicrore radiology partnerships of today it was a very "small " venture for me . Because our total investment was miniscule as we just had an ultrasound machine and 6 partners and place provided by one of the partner . I still remember the good old days when my employee " the radiologist " who was double my age used to discuss the days activities with the "employer : me " a fresh postgraduate . Though i havent done an MBA so far that venture also was very much a learning experience as well as enjoyable especially the staff who were my good friends .
So if you are keen this entrepreneurship can also be a hobby but make sure that you invest according to your risk appetite . For when the investment goes up the "hobby " part comes down unless you are the son of Warren Buffet ..
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