At BrilliantRead Media, our aim is to bring to our community some of the unique and compelling stories from the start-up ecosystem. As part of this endeavour, we invited yet another seasoned entrepreneur – M S Narayanan, for an exclusive interview with us. He is the Founder and CEO of IndSamachar. He is a proven business leader with over two decades of experience. He has successfully built and scaled many ventures for Various Corporates in his career so far. Let’s learn more about his inspirational journey and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I grew up in Conoor, Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. I finished my schooling at St Joseph’s Anglo-Indian School. I pursued an MBA in Marketing & Sales. I was always an ambitious person who dreamt big. Raised in a middle-class household instilled in me a sense of responsibility. Being the eldest of 3 siblings had its own perks in instilling, values and ideology that would go on to be the secret of my happy, health and successful care. I understood my responsibilities and chose to support my family in the initial stages of my career. Putting the entrepreneurial dreams on hold I started building a career.
I kickstarted my career with IBM computers. Throughout my 25 years in the corporate sectors, I’ve lead teams and companies like Nexus Computers, Sun Infoways, ICICI, MaxNewYork, Zee TV and Seventymm. Being part of the Top management gave me a good insight into how the business is set up, grown and navigated. The entrepreneurial dream I had put on load started stirring to life again. I consciously took the time to explore business opportunities that aligned with my ideology. It didn’t take long for the ‘aha’ moment that determined my future for the next few years.”
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
I have been fortunate to have had the best of both worlds. A corporate career gave a hands-on experience and view of how to run a business – sales, operations, finance, planning – I practically did it all across my corporate stints. Corporate career taught me discipline, result focus, being a team player, leadership in tough situations and how to nurture and establish a start-up. So, when it came to starting up on my own, I was ready.
Entrepreneurship gave me the opportunity to shape a business to my vision, work together with passionate individuals, work on innovative and often radical solutions to seemingly common problems.”
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey;
My first entrepreneurial attempt was a green tea business. It did very well for the first couple of years, but soon the growing business required huge investment to sustain – which I felt cash strapped to provide. The green tea market was nascent in the mid-2000s’ however by the beginning of 2010, several large competitors started coming in ready to engulf small players. I thought it prudent to exit the business at this point in time.
What followed was a period of intense struggle – both emotional and financial until I achieved a breakthrough in the form of IndSamachar. Digital consumption of entertainment and news was growing and I felt that there is a dearth of new channels that give just ‘new’ – most were peddling opinion and analysis that was diluting the focus on objective news.”
I started IndSamachar in 2018, rooted in Indian culture and wisdom. We believe in being constructive and serving the national interest.
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
Money is important to support the business, but I believe emotions are more important.
Passion which is a strong emotion creates innovation, which enables you to run your business in a very frugal manner
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
Stress is part of the choice of being an entrepreneur. The pressure brings about the best in me, drives execution, enables thinking out of the box and ultimately – brings about success.
What has worked well for you so far?
I am resourceful and straightforward. People find me friendly and trusting which rapidly builds a relationship – whether it is with my employees or customers/partners.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Keys to success lies in brilliant execution and strong financial management of the business.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
There is no age to be an entrepreneur. Keep scanning the environment constantly so that you can pivot and adjust your business quickly to the changing context. Hard work pays.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures we have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
The pandemic period has given us the opportunity to break all barriers, constraints, mindsets, conditioning and traditional business models. We took this opportunity to grow IndSamachar over 1000% in the last 4 months. “
Strategic alliances, product launched and brand positioning put us in the forefront in the Digital News Media Industries. As our social responsibility, IndSamachar launched serval initiatives for homemakers, freelancers, retd army personnel which translated into a win-win situation for both parties. Not only have we managed to sail through this torrid phase but also emerge stronger across all business verticals.
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.
