Tamil Nadu’s largest conference for entrepreneurs, this year’s TiECON was held on 24 November 2010 at the Chennai Convention Centre.
The event was inaugurated by the chief guest N Sankar, Chairman of The Sanmar Group, who was chosen unanimously by the jury for a ‘Lifetime Achievement Entrepreneur Award’. This award recognises entrepreneurs who have created enterprises that have not only created value for investors, but transformed them into enduring organisations with a deep beneficial impact on society at large.
TiE Chennai annually recognises the achievements of entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu through the “TiE Chennai Entrepreneur Awards”. The TiE Entrepreneur Awards recognises the entrepreneurial spirit – the creative spark and tenacity displayed by entrepreneurs in providing the engine of growth that propels the largest of organisations or the start-ups of yesterday. The awards are meant to celebrate the never-say-die spirit of adventure by recognising the efforts and successes of entrepreneurs. The pantheon of awardees reads like a who’s who of business.
N Sankar receiving the Lifetime achievement entrepreneur award from N Mahalingam, Chairman, Sakthi Group in the presence of R Ramaraj (left), President, TiE, Chennai and Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman of the awards Committee, TiECON Chennai 2010.
N Sankar (fifth from left) seen in the company of the other TiE Chennai entrepreneur award winners 2010 (From l to r): B Soundarajan, MD, Suguna Poultry Farm, Dr Sunil Shroff, Managing trustee, Mohan Foundation, Padmasingh Issac, Founder and Chairman, Aachi Group, Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman and MD, TVS Capital Funds and Chairman of the awards committee, TiECON Chennai 2010, N Sankar, N Mahalingam, Chairman, Sakthi Group, Rajshree Pathy, Chairman and MD, Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals, GSK Velu, Founder and MD, Trivitron Healthcare, R Ramaraj, President, TiE Chennai and Senior advisor of Sequoia Capital.
“Enjoy yourself! Entrepreneurship will not work if the fun element goes out of it”.
In his keynote, after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at TiECON Chennai 2010, N Sankar put forth four essentials of entrepreneurship: identification, organisation, management, and sustenance.
Identification
You have to identify a business to work with. Entrepreneurship cannot be learnt or inherited. Innate to the individual are vision and risk-taking ability. The great way to learn entrepreneurship is in the hard knock of real world. The relative risk taking ability is inversely proportional to returns realised in the past.
Organisation
You have to organise your business and establish a company based on sound principles. Quoting from Sanmar Group’s vision of environmental consciousness that goes beyond regulatory compliance, Sankar said liquid effluent discharge is zero from Sanmar’s chemical business. An organisation should be founded on values.
Management
You have to manage your business. There is no one answer to management. Attracting and retaining right people and giving people the right environment to work with are key. Sanmar Group has a list of do’s and don’ts that is integrated with its vision of integrity and excellence. Employees who have worked with Sanmar and who have even left the company have said that in Sanmar, you can work without compromising your conscience.
Sustenance
Sustaining the continuing need of the business as the business grows. This part is a difficult one. Sanmar’s guiding principles is the secret for its success. Sanmar follows conservative but clear accounting practices and all its managers are given free hand for decision-making. Management is nothing but common sense. Once a manager has made a decision based on sound logic, he is not blamed if the decision bears unfavourable results at Sanmar.
Enjoy yourself
Beyond the essentials, Sankar’s final piece of advice was: Enjoy yourself. Entrepreneurship will not work if the fun element goes out of it.