I understand most of you here are

first generation college

goers/students in your families. It is
indeed a great honor to be amongst
you. That you people are here,
attending college only shows that you
and your families have recognized
the importance and value of formal
education.

Personally I feel, more than anything

else formal education gives you a
sense of discipline, a sense of routine
and the bonus is possibility to make
lifelong friendships. Most of the
friends you make here stay your
friends forever. So choose wisely and
give your commitment to making the
friendships work because today in
this world nothing works like
networking. We may not realize it
fully but we are all dependent on
each other. Make good use of the
bonus.

And today you have all participated in

an entrepreneurship seminar.
Most of what you heard throughout
today from the various hands-on
experts, I strongly believe would have
given many of you the urge to be on
your own. Which is another positive -
Nothing like being your own boss.

But make no mistake - this means

efforts, commitment and of course
rewards. In other words, when the
whole world is taking a holiday, the
entrepreneur would be working 24/7
but what makes it easy to do and
digest is the fact that you chose this
path yourself – nobody forced you do
it. This way your efforts are not
painful but more a matter of pleasure.
That in a nutshell is what
entrepreneurship is. You do what you
want to do – not what somebody tells
you to do.

An entrepreneur in a nutshell is
someone who thinks the words NO
always means THERE IS A BETTER
WAY. In other words, they do not
stop at NO / NOT POSSIBLE / NO
WAY – these things do not mean
anything to them - they continuously
keep at it till they find a way to crack
it. That is why if you look at
successful entpnrs they would have
become successful only after
numerous iterations to their original
ideas. They keep on chipping at it till
it becomes perfect and viable.

So here is a simple test – think of any

business idea – list down how you
would get it done and what can be
the potential problems – then think of
how you will manage those problems
– if you can crack atleast 80% of
those problems convincingly and
objectively – not just for the sake of
solving problems - then you can
safely conclude that you have the
traits to be an entrepreneur. This
clarity of thought process is the most
important. Keep doing this exercise
mentally whenever you have free
time, whenever you feel highly
creative, whenever you are in
positive frame of mind - this will
eventually help you the day you
become an entpnr, in reality.

So enough said before I conclude –

today you would have heard enough
about entrepreneuship – who is an
entpnr, how to become an entpnr,
what are the pros and cons of being
an entpnr, and so on and so forth. So
I will not burden you or confuse you
with more inputs on the same subject
(I am sure you will agree today our
biggest problem is information
overload!! Too much to process!!!!)

I just want to leave you all with a few

tips of what you must do before or
even while becoming an entpnr – you
need to be a SHIP – S H I P - be a
sensible, helpful, independent and
positive person.

This is critical not just for being an

entpnr but to your whole life.

Be sensible – do not take yourself

too seriously – do not think you can
solve or you have the solutions to all
the world’s problems – just stay sane
and relaxed. Remember even after
we are gone, the world will still exist.
Keep your eyes and ears open and
Listen, listen with an objective of
understanding what is being said, not
with the objective of how to counter
argue. If you don’t have the habit
already, develop reading. Nothing
helps like reading – if you know Tamil
and English, read in both – atleast
read one book a month. It improves
your knowledge, improves your
language skills, it gives you
confidence – I cannot think of even
one thing bad about reading.

Be helpful - most of us here are

gifted beyond our wildest dreams, we
have been given so much than what
we even deserve – in spite of this we
keep complaining this is not enuff
that is not enuff etc – instead if we
can focus on the less fortunate and
think of ways we can make their lives
better – nothing like it.

Be independent – let me tell you a

secret – I do not use google – you
know why? because my wife knows
everything!! Point is be resourceful,
gather useful information, for exmpl
on youtube watch useful videos like
what if or how to – point is most of
the daily things in life atleast you
should be able to handle yourself or
know someone close enough who
will help you.

Be positive – whenever you hear an

idea or a thought, anything for that
matter - think about all the positives
first. Keep doing it till it becomes your
habit. At the same time you should
also be realistic – so you have to look
at the problems too but not
straightaway – do it only after
analysing the positives. My point is
this world has enough negativity as it
is so it is our duty to overpower all
that with our positivity.

So remember - Be a SHIP and ALL

the VERY BEST for all your future
endeavours.

Thank you so much.