As part of our quest to identify and share some of the meaningful stories from India and around the world, this week we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur Chinmoy Mishra to share his story with us. He is the founder and CEO at HooLiv. HooLiv intends to provide students across the country with hassle-free affordable housing options. Chinmoy has previously built, scaled and made successful exit from his first startup AllizHealth. Let’s learn more about his interesting journey as an entrepreneur, way forward and his advice for our community of aspiring individuals.
Excerpts from our exclusive Interview with Chinmoy:
Tell us a little bit about yourself (background) and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
Absolutely, so I love to cook and travel the world. Graduated from NIT Rourkela and then started my professional career with Infosys Technologies and post that went to Babson College, Boston for my MBA. Babson is known as the mecca of entrepreneurship and it was Babson that gave me the confidence and the chutzpah to go out and write my own destiny.
Being a passionate, high performing and determined individual, I always wanted to create something on my own and Babson ignited that spark in me.
Started my first venture, AllizHealth, in the healthcare technology space, in 2013 and took it from an idea through execution to an extremely successful exit in 2018. Now working on my 2nd startup, HooLiv, which is into student accommodation space.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
Entrepreneurship is a calling and a leap of faith. I am sure, every entrepreneur has a different story about why he or she decided to start a business rather than being in a job.
Being in the corporate world for over 12 years, you could say I was getting quite complacent and complacency is the breeding ground for mediocrity. There was a bit of stagnation and I wanted to take up something where my contribution was making a much significant impact and I could actually see the needle move as a result of my efforts.
The disenchantment with the corporate world coupled with the rebel streak in me was enough for me to take the entrepreneurial plunge and to never look back.
How do you find the industry/ niche that you’re in?
HooLiv is into the student co-living segment. Recent years have witnessed a number of start-ups entering this space and investors too are taking a keen interest in this segment.
As per a recent report by JLL, India’s co-living space is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17% in the next five years to touch nearly INR 1-trillion. I would say space is still at its infancy with no clear runaway leader or proven business models. We are all trying out different approaches and hoping a few of the strategies stick to the wall.
I believe in the next few years, we would have much clearer and evolved business models. Having said that, there are no two opinions on the difference start-ups like us can bring to this segment.
Student housing remains one of the most unorganised sectors in India. The current housing options come with their own set of challenges ranging from unhygienic living conditions and lack of privacy to bad food and limited infrastructure. This provides a huge opportunity.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
I think it is the knowledge that my efforts are making a positive impact in the lives of people, that I have the ability to create value from scratch, to live up to the expectations of my family and help my team fulfil their goals and dreams. There are several days when you hit the bed at night, bury your head in your pillow and wish there was no tomorrow. But, as entrepreneurs, we are wired to challenge the status quo, to go against the grain and dare to dream differently every hour, day in and out. This to me is the biggest source of motivation and one that pushes us to get off the bed and take on the world.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
Several. There is no fun without challenges and obstacles and that is the reason they say that start-ups are not for the faint-hearted. Right from delayed payments to client escalations, working capital constraints, investor pressure, there are several which along the way of any startup. However, if I have to pick the one which is most significant, it is with regards to managing your employee expectations. They are your most prized asset and in a start-up environment, one just cannot afford employees performing below their absolute best or coming to work demotivated. Having said that, running on limited bandwidth, at times it is a herculean task to manage those expectations. It is an extremely tough balancing act and one which possesses serious challenges to your ability to grow and manage your startup.
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
Of course both. I would be lying if I said money doesn’t matter. What it essentially comes down to is that different stages of our lives there are different things which take priority. If it is about working on your idea then it is more about emotions and the joy of creating value out of nothing. At other times, when we are looking to bring in financial stability for self and family, we prioritize the monetary aspect over emotions. Not saying that we get greedy, but, we take business decisions which are more pragmatic rather than being emotionally driven. So, I would say, both are equally important, depending on the stage.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
I would say that I am a bit fortunate in that sense. In my family, I have an amazing support system and are always ready to lift my spirits up or soak in my pressures. The best part, they do it even without you knowing about it. That is family I guess. Additionally, my team as well. We have been together for the last 7 years and have braved all struggles together and come out stronger and more resilient. Nothing better than talking to them about what’s ailing me and they have never failed to come up with suggestions on how to cope with pressure and stress. Other than that, I love to run and do yoga. Both of them are extremely amazing ways to manage pressures and rejuvenate yourself.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person?
I believe that the words passion and sacrifice etc. have been overused, abused and overhyped. The one mantra that has helped me evolve as a person is my unwavering commitment to discipline. Running a startup with several ups and even more downs, the one thing that make us resilient and impervious to setbacks is discipline. Disciplined in our operations, financial matters, interactions with co-workers, clients, investors and other stakeholders. By being disciplined enough, one never runs the risk of straying away from the goal or doing something which is entirely out of character. If we bring in that discipline to both our personal and professional lives, I believe, we would always be moving towards a better version of ourselves.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
There are so many factors. But, if I have to pick one then all we really need to do is look around at people whom we consider as successful. We would figure that one of the common virtues in all of them is ‘humility’.
With humility comes respect, respect towards your colleagues, your suppliers, collaborators, clients and respect for even your competitors. If we are humble enough, we would always be aware of our shortcomings and there would be a constant endeavour to overcome these shortcomings. This would not only make us a better person but, also surround ourselves with people who bring in complementary skillsets and possibly better than us in many ways. This ultimately is the key to building a successful venture. Surround yourself with people who are better than you.
What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
At Babson, one of our professors used to tell us, “make ambiguity your best friend”. I could never fully appreciate or comprehend the true meaning of that until I was running my startup full steam. Irrespective of the stage and scale of our ventures, ambiguity follows us like a shadow even on a cloudy day. There is just no point in fighting it or trying to tame it. It will never leave you. So, my two cents to entrepreneurs would be to choose the wiser option and make peace with ambiguity. In fact, ambiguity does go a long way in making us fleet-footed, makes us agile and builds our ability to make decisions quickly and on the fly. Don’t fret over it.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
