Textbook - Entrepreneurial Journey, Entrepreneurship, Class 11 | Entrepreneurship Class 11 - Commerce PDF Download

 Page 1


 
46 
UNIT 3 
Entrepreneurial Journey 
Learning objectives: 
After studying this unit you will be able to: 
? Understand the concept of Business Plan 
? Identify various personality types for starting any venture  
? Understand the role of society and family in the growth of an Entrepreneur 
? Differentiate between Feasibility Study and Business Plan 
? Understand the reasons for success and failure of Business Plan 
? Understand the organisation and direction of  activities in a  business venture 
Case Study 
Nandita Bijur 
„It?s a dream come true?. People all around were saying, „There goes Malti?s daughter, the successful business 
woman?. Nandita was a brave child, a strong headed youngster who had a dream which has reaped successful 
results. She is the owner of Uma Food Products, an enterprise worth several crores of rupees today. 
How do you convert childhood pain and humiliation into ammunition for success?  How do 
you take many small negatives and turn it into a huge positive?  
Nandita Bijur is the best person to answer these questions because this is exactly what she 
did.  Tall and attractive, Nandita exudes strength, determination and drive.  She started her 
business with an investment of only Rs. 5000 from her personal savings and through sheer 
grit and hard work, turned it into a huge success.   
Nandita never had a childhood 
Nandita?s childhood was very traumatic and left many scars on her psyche.  When she and her elder brother 
were only about six and eight, their mother, Malti, fell ill. It was a long drawn illness.  Since their father was 
away at work most of the time and there was no one else to take care of her, Malti was moved to her father?s 
house (Nandita?s maternal grandfather?s house.) Malti needed a great deal of care and attention and she lived 
in her father?s house for over fifteen years.  While still a child, Nandita was thrust into the role of the “women 
of the house.”  She never had much time to go out and play like the other little girls in the neighbourhood.  She 
had to take care of her brother and father.  They seemed to lean on her for support. She shopped and cooked and 
went to school.  She was always tired and often it was a struggle to stay awake to do homework.  Sometimes 
she was so tired in school that her eyes would automatically close and her head drop on her desk.  She 
remembers wanting pretty dresses to wear and colourful ribbons in her hair like the other girls.   
But there was no one around to take her for shopping.  Her father did the best he could, but he couldn?t do 
very much.  She had two aunts who were kind and loving and she is eternally grateful to them. 
Page 2


 
46 
UNIT 3 
Entrepreneurial Journey 
Learning objectives: 
After studying this unit you will be able to: 
? Understand the concept of Business Plan 
? Identify various personality types for starting any venture  
? Understand the role of society and family in the growth of an Entrepreneur 
? Differentiate between Feasibility Study and Business Plan 
? Understand the reasons for success and failure of Business Plan 
? Understand the organisation and direction of  activities in a  business venture 
Case Study 
Nandita Bijur 
„It?s a dream come true?. People all around were saying, „There goes Malti?s daughter, the successful business 
woman?. Nandita was a brave child, a strong headed youngster who had a dream which has reaped successful 
results. She is the owner of Uma Food Products, an enterprise worth several crores of rupees today. 
How do you convert childhood pain and humiliation into ammunition for success?  How do 
you take many small negatives and turn it into a huge positive?  
Nandita Bijur is the best person to answer these questions because this is exactly what she 
did.  Tall and attractive, Nandita exudes strength, determination and drive.  She started her 
business with an investment of only Rs. 5000 from her personal savings and through sheer 
grit and hard work, turned it into a huge success.   
Nandita never had a childhood 
Nandita?s childhood was very traumatic and left many scars on her psyche.  When she and her elder brother 
were only about six and eight, their mother, Malti, fell ill. It was a long drawn illness.  Since their father was 
away at work most of the time and there was no one else to take care of her, Malti was moved to her father?s 
house (Nandita?s maternal grandfather?s house.) Malti needed a great deal of care and attention and she lived 
in her father?s house for over fifteen years.  While still a child, Nandita was thrust into the role of the “women 
of the house.”  She never had much time to go out and play like the other little girls in the neighbourhood.  She 
had to take care of her brother and father.  They seemed to lean on her for support. She shopped and cooked and 
went to school.  She was always tired and often it was a struggle to stay awake to do homework.  Sometimes 
she was so tired in school that her eyes would automatically close and her head drop on her desk.  She 
remembers wanting pretty dresses to wear and colourful ribbons in her hair like the other girls.   
But there was no one around to take her for shopping.  Her father did the best he could, but he couldn?t do 
very much.  She had two aunts who were kind and loving and she is eternally grateful to them. 
 
47 
The highlights of her life were those rare occasions when someone took her to visit her mother.  She loved her 
mother dearly and her heart ached for her and she desperately wished she could wave a magic wand and make 
her well.  But her mother?s condition did not improve. 
Nandita’s inner strength and determination surfaces 
Most relatives were not very kind and sometimes forgot she and her brother even existed.  It hurt her deeply 
when they were not invited to their first cousin?s wedding. 
Relatives frequently referred to her as „poor Nandita?, which burned her up.  Very early in her teens Nandita 
decided that she was not a „poor thing? and refused to be called that.  She would show ?them?. She decided that a 
day would come when the same people who now pointed to her and said, “There goes Malti?s daughter, poor 
thing”: would say instead, “There goes Malti?s daughter, the successful businesswoman.” 
Nandita’s husband, a good, kind man 
Nandita married in her early 20?s.  Her husband was supportive.  “He has a quiet strength that is very 
healing,? she says.  That was the beginning of her turnaround. Nandita was a school teacher and her husband, 
Pramod, a chemist.  Neither had any entrepreneurs in their families.  But they had a shared dream-to start a 
small business of their own.  However, there was one big problem.  They didn?t have the capital to invest in a 
business.  Soon they had two children and they needed both their incomes to live a comfortable life. 
The idea for an ice cream mix 
One evening, on his way back from work, Pramod felt like eating some ice cream.  He noticed an ice cream 
mix in a store and bought it.  When he got home, he asked Nandita to make some ice cream using the mix, 
which she did.  When they finished their dinner, they had the ice cream for dessert.  Nandita was disappointed.  
It just didn?t taste as good as the ice cream she had earlier made at home.  That night when everyone went to 
sleep, Nandita tossed and turned in bed thinking about the perfect ingredients that would make a great ice 
cream mix.   
At about 4 a.m she woke up, tiptoed into the dining room, and wrote down on a piece of paper the recipe for an 
ice cream mix.  Little did she know then that this recipe that she penned down on a scrap of paper in the wee 
hours of the morning, would, a few years later, make them rich. 
When Promod woke up in the morning, Nandita gave him the piece of paper with the recipe for the ice-cream 
mix and told him, „I know what our business is going to be.  We?re going to make an excellent ice-cream mix 
that people are going to love.  When she made the ice cream at home with her own recipe, her kids exclaimed, 
„Mummy, this is yummy! She decided to call it “Yummy Ice-Cream.” She took out Rs. 5000 from her savings 
account and invested it in buying the ingredients and packaging materials. 
The start of a business 
At first she made the ice cream mix at home in her own kitchen.  She packaged it and sold it to friends and 
neighbours.  She continued with her teaching job and made the ice cream mix in the evening.  The demand for 
the ice cream grew in leaps and bounds. Soon it grew so big that she had to work all night and even enlist the 
help of her children and husband to meet the demand.  She realized that she would have to quit her job and do 
this full time as she couldn?t do both.  She recognized that she would need to rent a place to make her products.  
She couldn?t continue to do it at home.  So she rented a small shed for her first factory in Jogeshwari. It covered 
an area of 550 square feet. 
Page 3


 
46 
UNIT 3 
Entrepreneurial Journey 
Learning objectives: 
After studying this unit you will be able to: 
? Understand the concept of Business Plan 
? Identify various personality types for starting any venture  
? Understand the role of society and family in the growth of an Entrepreneur 
? Differentiate between Feasibility Study and Business Plan 
? Understand the reasons for success and failure of Business Plan 
? Understand the organisation and direction of  activities in a  business venture 
Case Study 
Nandita Bijur 
„It?s a dream come true?. People all around were saying, „There goes Malti?s daughter, the successful business 
woman?. Nandita was a brave child, a strong headed youngster who had a dream which has reaped successful 
results. She is the owner of Uma Food Products, an enterprise worth several crores of rupees today. 
How do you convert childhood pain and humiliation into ammunition for success?  How do 
you take many small negatives and turn it into a huge positive?  
Nandita Bijur is the best person to answer these questions because this is exactly what she 
did.  Tall and attractive, Nandita exudes strength, determination and drive.  She started her 
business with an investment of only Rs. 5000 from her personal savings and through sheer 
grit and hard work, turned it into a huge success.   
Nandita never had a childhood 
Nandita?s childhood was very traumatic and left many scars on her psyche.  When she and her elder brother 
were only about six and eight, their mother, Malti, fell ill. It was a long drawn illness.  Since their father was 
away at work most of the time and there was no one else to take care of her, Malti was moved to her father?s 
house (Nandita?s maternal grandfather?s house.) Malti needed a great deal of care and attention and she lived 
in her father?s house for over fifteen years.  While still a child, Nandita was thrust into the role of the “women 
of the house.”  She never had much time to go out and play like the other little girls in the neighbourhood.  She 
had to take care of her brother and father.  They seemed to lean on her for support. She shopped and cooked and 
went to school.  She was always tired and often it was a struggle to stay awake to do homework.  Sometimes 
she was so tired in school that her eyes would automatically close and her head drop on her desk.  She 
remembers wanting pretty dresses to wear and colourful ribbons in her hair like the other girls.   
But there was no one around to take her for shopping.  Her father did the best he could, but he couldn?t do 
very much.  She had two aunts who were kind and loving and she is eternally grateful to them. 
 
47 
The highlights of her life were those rare occasions when someone took her to visit her mother.  She loved her 
mother dearly and her heart ached for her and she desperately wished she could wave a magic wand and make 
her well.  But her mother?s condition did not improve. 
Nandita’s inner strength and determination surfaces 
Most relatives were not very kind and sometimes forgot she and her brother even existed.  It hurt her deeply 
when they were not invited to their first cousin?s wedding. 
Relatives frequently referred to her as „poor Nandita?, which burned her up.  Very early in her teens Nandita 
decided that she was not a „poor thing? and refused to be called that.  She would show ?them?. She decided that a 
day would come when the same people who now pointed to her and said, “There goes Malti?s daughter, poor 
thing”: would say instead, “There goes Malti?s daughter, the successful businesswoman.” 
Nandita’s husband, a good, kind man 
Nandita married in her early 20?s.  Her husband was supportive.  “He has a quiet strength that is very 
healing,? she says.  That was the beginning of her turnaround. Nandita was a school teacher and her husband, 
Pramod, a chemist.  Neither had any entrepreneurs in their families.  But they had a shared dream-to start a 
small business of their own.  However, there was one big problem.  They didn?t have the capital to invest in a 
business.  Soon they had two children and they needed both their incomes to live a comfortable life. 
The idea for an ice cream mix 
One evening, on his way back from work, Pramod felt like eating some ice cream.  He noticed an ice cream 
mix in a store and bought it.  When he got home, he asked Nandita to make some ice cream using the mix, 
which she did.  When they finished their dinner, they had the ice cream for dessert.  Nandita was disappointed.  
It just didn?t taste as good as the ice cream she had earlier made at home.  That night when everyone went to 
sleep, Nandita tossed and turned in bed thinking about the perfect ingredients that would make a great ice 
cream mix.   
At about 4 a.m she woke up, tiptoed into the dining room, and wrote down on a piece of paper the recipe for an 
ice cream mix.  Little did she know then that this recipe that she penned down on a scrap of paper in the wee 
hours of the morning, would, a few years later, make them rich. 
When Promod woke up in the morning, Nandita gave him the piece of paper with the recipe for the ice-cream 
mix and told him, „I know what our business is going to be.  We?re going to make an excellent ice-cream mix 
that people are going to love.  When she made the ice cream at home with her own recipe, her kids exclaimed, 
„Mummy, this is yummy! She decided to call it “Yummy Ice-Cream.” She took out Rs. 5000 from her savings 
account and invested it in buying the ingredients and packaging materials. 
The start of a business 
At first she made the ice cream mix at home in her own kitchen.  She packaged it and sold it to friends and 
neighbours.  She continued with her teaching job and made the ice cream mix in the evening.  The demand for 
the ice cream grew in leaps and bounds. Soon it grew so big that she had to work all night and even enlist the 
help of her children and husband to meet the demand.  She realized that she would have to quit her job and do 
this full time as she couldn?t do both.  She recognized that she would need to rent a place to make her products.  
She couldn?t continue to do it at home.  So she rented a small shed for her first factory in Jogeshwari. It covered 
an area of 550 square feet. 
 
48 
Malti’s daughter becomes a businesswoman 
Nandita got a bank loan for Rs. 70,000 for the factory premises and pledged her jewellery to get an additional 
loan for Rs. 40,000.  “I was such a novice that I didn?t even know that I needed a current account to run a 
business,? she says. 
The first year was very tough. Since her business was new nobody gave her any credit.  All her 
suppliers wanted cash, yet she had to supply her retailers and customers on credit. At first, she couldn?t 
afford to hire many staff so her children helped at the factory after school.  During this whole period, the one 
thing that kept her going was the determination, “Malti?s daughter is not a „poor thing.?  
She told me,?I wanted to prove to myself and others that I could succeed and make something out of my life.  I 
wanted my children to be wealthy.  I wanted them to give salaries to others and not work to get a salary.  These 
thoughts kept me going even during the most difficult times.” 
As Nandita became more and more successful with her ice cream mix, she introduced new products such as 
Gulabjamun mix and Basundi mix.  She now has over 40 products.  Soon her sales shot up and she hired more 
employees.  Her husband still continued to work at his job. 
A crisis hits and almost wipes her out 
Nandita hired a capable distributor for her products.  Her sales quadrupled.  She hired even more employees 
and moved to a bigger factory.  The distributor suggested a major advertising blitz.  So, She invested Rs. 6 
lakhs on TV commercials, magazine and newspaper advertisements, displays, bill boards and so on. 
Then one day, disaster struck. Nandita did not know that there was already a company by the name of 
„Yummy Ice Creams” in Goa.  Nandita had not bothered to find out if the name “Yummy Ice Cream” was 
already registered and trademarked by someone else. The businessman from Goa arrived with CBI officers and 
stormed into her factory and her home. He threatened to sue her until she was ruined.  The distributor 
intervened and mediated and she also took legal advice.  They negotiated with the Goa businessman and settled 
out of court.  This proved so expensive that she almost gave up. 
Back to square one 
Now once again she had no money and nobody would give her any credit. Her accounts in the banks had been 
closed down.  Once again she had to pay cash for everything she bought yet give credit to her retailers and 
customers.  This was a very trying period.  Once again, her determination that Malti?s daughter will be a 
successful businesswoman, kept her going.  She changed the name of her company to “Uma Food Products” 
after her mother-in-law and grandmother, who were both called Uma.  Her packaged mixes were renamed 
„Eat-me”. 
Nandita and her husband save the business 
At about this time, Nandita?s husband quit his job and joined the business. He became the distributor of 
their products, thereby saving payments to the distributor. 
The first thing she did was to pay off the bank loan because she needed to have a bank account in order 
to be able to write cheques.  For this, she took a loan from a private lender at extortionate rate of 24%.  They 
worked day and night and paid off all their loans.  Since that time, things have only looked up. She learned a 
great deal from her mistakes and felt confident to run a successful business venture.  She has been successfull 
running her business now for the past 9 years.  
Page 4


 
46 
UNIT 3 
Entrepreneurial Journey 
Learning objectives: 
After studying this unit you will be able to: 
? Understand the concept of Business Plan 
? Identify various personality types for starting any venture  
? Understand the role of society and family in the growth of an Entrepreneur 
? Differentiate between Feasibility Study and Business Plan 
? Understand the reasons for success and failure of Business Plan 
? Understand the organisation and direction of  activities in a  business venture 
Case Study 
Nandita Bijur 
„It?s a dream come true?. People all around were saying, „There goes Malti?s daughter, the successful business 
woman?. Nandita was a brave child, a strong headed youngster who had a dream which has reaped successful 
results. She is the owner of Uma Food Products, an enterprise worth several crores of rupees today. 
How do you convert childhood pain and humiliation into ammunition for success?  How do 
you take many small negatives and turn it into a huge positive?  
Nandita Bijur is the best person to answer these questions because this is exactly what she 
did.  Tall and attractive, Nandita exudes strength, determination and drive.  She started her 
business with an investment of only Rs. 5000 from her personal savings and through sheer 
grit and hard work, turned it into a huge success.   
Nandita never had a childhood 
Nandita?s childhood was very traumatic and left many scars on her psyche.  When she and her elder brother 
were only about six and eight, their mother, Malti, fell ill. It was a long drawn illness.  Since their father was 
away at work most of the time and there was no one else to take care of her, Malti was moved to her father?s 
house (Nandita?s maternal grandfather?s house.) Malti needed a great deal of care and attention and she lived 
in her father?s house for over fifteen years.  While still a child, Nandita was thrust into the role of the “women 
of the house.”  She never had much time to go out and play like the other little girls in the neighbourhood.  She 
had to take care of her brother and father.  They seemed to lean on her for support. She shopped and cooked and 
went to school.  She was always tired and often it was a struggle to stay awake to do homework.  Sometimes 
she was so tired in school that her eyes would automatically close and her head drop on her desk.  She 
remembers wanting pretty dresses to wear and colourful ribbons in her hair like the other girls.   
But there was no one around to take her for shopping.  Her father did the best he could, but he couldn?t do 
very much.  She had two aunts who were kind and loving and she is eternally grateful to them. 
 
47 
The highlights of her life were those rare occasions when someone took her to visit her mother.  She loved her 
mother dearly and her heart ached for her and she desperately wished she could wave a magic wand and make 
her well.  But her mother?s condition did not improve. 
Nandita’s inner strength and determination surfaces 
Most relatives were not very kind and sometimes forgot she and her brother even existed.  It hurt her deeply 
when they were not invited to their first cousin?s wedding. 
Relatives frequently referred to her as „poor Nandita?, which burned her up.  Very early in her teens Nandita 
decided that she was not a „poor thing? and refused to be called that.  She would show ?them?. She decided that a 
day would come when the same people who now pointed to her and said, “There goes Malti?s daughter, poor 
thing”: would say instead, “There goes Malti?s daughter, the successful businesswoman.” 
Nandita’s husband, a good, kind man 
Nandita married in her early 20?s.  Her husband was supportive.  “He has a quiet strength that is very 
healing,? she says.  That was the beginning of her turnaround. Nandita was a school teacher and her husband, 
Pramod, a chemist.  Neither had any entrepreneurs in their families.  But they had a shared dream-to start a 
small business of their own.  However, there was one big problem.  They didn?t have the capital to invest in a 
business.  Soon they had two children and they needed both their incomes to live a comfortable life. 
The idea for an ice cream mix 
One evening, on his way back from work, Pramod felt like eating some ice cream.  He noticed an ice cream 
mix in a store and bought it.  When he got home, he asked Nandita to make some ice cream using the mix, 
which she did.  When they finished their dinner, they had the ice cream for dessert.  Nandita was disappointed.  
It just didn?t taste as good as the ice cream she had earlier made at home.  That night when everyone went to 
sleep, Nandita tossed and turned in bed thinking about the perfect ingredients that would make a great ice 
cream mix.   
At about 4 a.m she woke up, tiptoed into the dining room, and wrote down on a piece of paper the recipe for an 
ice cream mix.  Little did she know then that this recipe that she penned down on a scrap of paper in the wee 
hours of the morning, would, a few years later, make them rich. 
When Promod woke up in the morning, Nandita gave him the piece of paper with the recipe for the ice-cream 
mix and told him, „I know what our business is going to be.  We?re going to make an excellent ice-cream mix 
that people are going to love.  When she made the ice cream at home with her own recipe, her kids exclaimed, 
„Mummy, this is yummy! She decided to call it “Yummy Ice-Cream.” She took out Rs. 5000 from her savings 
account and invested it in buying the ingredients and packaging materials. 
The start of a business 
At first she made the ice cream mix at home in her own kitchen.  She packaged it and sold it to friends and 
neighbours.  She continued with her teaching job and made the ice cream mix in the evening.  The demand for 
the ice cream grew in leaps and bounds. Soon it grew so big that she had to work all night and even enlist the 
help of her children and husband to meet the demand.  She realized that she would have to quit her job and do 
this full time as she couldn?t do both.  She recognized that she would need to rent a place to make her products.  
She couldn?t continue to do it at home.  So she rented a small shed for her first factory in Jogeshwari. It covered 
an area of 550 square feet. 
 
48 
Malti’s daughter becomes a businesswoman 
Nandita got a bank loan for Rs. 70,000 for the factory premises and pledged her jewellery to get an additional 
loan for Rs. 40,000.  “I was such a novice that I didn?t even know that I needed a current account to run a 
business,? she says. 
The first year was very tough. Since her business was new nobody gave her any credit.  All her 
suppliers wanted cash, yet she had to supply her retailers and customers on credit. At first, she couldn?t 
afford to hire many staff so her children helped at the factory after school.  During this whole period, the one 
thing that kept her going was the determination, “Malti?s daughter is not a „poor thing.?  
She told me,?I wanted to prove to myself and others that I could succeed and make something out of my life.  I 
wanted my children to be wealthy.  I wanted them to give salaries to others and not work to get a salary.  These 
thoughts kept me going even during the most difficult times.” 
As Nandita became more and more successful with her ice cream mix, she introduced new products such as 
Gulabjamun mix and Basundi mix.  She now has over 40 products.  Soon her sales shot up and she hired more 
employees.  Her husband still continued to work at his job. 
A crisis hits and almost wipes her out 
Nandita hired a capable distributor for her products.  Her sales quadrupled.  She hired even more employees 
and moved to a bigger factory.  The distributor suggested a major advertising blitz.  So, She invested Rs. 6 
lakhs on TV commercials, magazine and newspaper advertisements, displays, bill boards and so on. 
Then one day, disaster struck. Nandita did not know that there was already a company by the name of 
„Yummy Ice Creams” in Goa.  Nandita had not bothered to find out if the name “Yummy Ice Cream” was 
already registered and trademarked by someone else. The businessman from Goa arrived with CBI officers and 
stormed into her factory and her home. He threatened to sue her until she was ruined.  The distributor 
intervened and mediated and she also took legal advice.  They negotiated with the Goa businessman and settled 
out of court.  This proved so expensive that she almost gave up. 
Back to square one 
Now once again she had no money and nobody would give her any credit. Her accounts in the banks had been 
closed down.  Once again she had to pay cash for everything she bought yet give credit to her retailers and 
customers.  This was a very trying period.  Once again, her determination that Malti?s daughter will be a 
successful businesswoman, kept her going.  She changed the name of her company to “Uma Food Products” 
after her mother-in-law and grandmother, who were both called Uma.  Her packaged mixes were renamed 
„Eat-me”. 
Nandita and her husband save the business 
At about this time, Nandita?s husband quit his job and joined the business. He became the distributor of 
their products, thereby saving payments to the distributor. 
The first thing she did was to pay off the bank loan because she needed to have a bank account in order 
to be able to write cheques.  For this, she took a loan from a private lender at extortionate rate of 24%.  They 
worked day and night and paid off all their loans.  Since that time, things have only looked up. She learned a 
great deal from her mistakes and felt confident to run a successful business venture.  She has been successfull 
running her business now for the past 9 years.  
 
49 
Self Assessment of Qualities, Skills, Resources and Dreams 
Identify your personality type before starting a business venture 
An article by Bill Wagner answers the question as to whether personality matters in becoming a 
successful entrepreneur. Recent studies say yes, successful entrepreneurs share a number of 
common personality traits, and these traits are the predominant indicators of their success. 
People, who choose business ventures that are in sync with their true personalities, tend to 
experience the greatest level of success and fulfilment. 
Every personality type, and therefore, every person, has the potential to 
grow a successful business. One just needs to determine the right 
opportunity. Self-awareness guides us in understanding what‘s needed to 
bridge the gap between who we are and what the opportunity requires. 
According to him, entrepreneurs can be divided into seven types.  
1.  Trailblazers: 
Trailblazers are very competitive, ambitious and goal-oriented—so much so that they tend to 
be aggressive and sometimes take a steamroller approach. They are restless and energetic, 
with a strong drive and a sense of urgency, regardless of the task at hand. They tend to have 
two speeds: fast and faster. Independent, persistent and decisive, they aren‘t happy unless 
they are in charge. Trailblazers are logical, analytical, practical and realistic—they tend to base 
decisions on facts rather than feelings. They are calculated risk takers. 
The trailblazers business strengths could include the medical, technology, finance, legal and 
consulting fields. Being strong strategic thinkers, they focus easily on marketing and 
operations. 
 Their challenge is likely to be working with people—they are usually better leaders than 
managers and need to surround themselves with others, who can manage the people side of 
the business. 
Trailblazers prefer being the driving force of a business. They typically wouldn‘t buy a 
franchise or distributorship, but they would start a company that competes with a franchise. 
They are highly innovative, especially when it comes to taking an idea to the next level. 
2.  Go-getters:  
They have a higher-than-average level of both dominance and sociability and 
are very driven and independent. They are competitive, but your drive to 
succeed is sometimes tempered by your interest in and concern for 
Nandita’s advice to new entrepreneurs: 
1.  Don?t give up. Keep at it to succeed.  
2.  Pay the creditors, suppliers and vendors on time. It builds credibility. 
3. Treat employees like family. If employees are happy, one?s business will be successful. 
Page 5


 
46 
UNIT 3 
Entrepreneurial Journey 
Learning objectives: 
After studying this unit you will be able to: 
? Understand the concept of Business Plan 
? Identify various personality types for starting any venture  
? Understand the role of society and family in the growth of an Entrepreneur 
? Differentiate between Feasibility Study and Business Plan 
? Understand the reasons for success and failure of Business Plan 
? Understand the organisation and direction of  activities in a  business venture 
Case Study 
Nandita Bijur 
„It?s a dream come true?. People all around were saying, „There goes Malti?s daughter, the successful business 
woman?. Nandita was a brave child, a strong headed youngster who had a dream which has reaped successful 
results. She is the owner of Uma Food Products, an enterprise worth several crores of rupees today. 
How do you convert childhood pain and humiliation into ammunition for success?  How do 
you take many small negatives and turn it into a huge positive?  
Nandita Bijur is the best person to answer these questions because this is exactly what she 
did.  Tall and attractive, Nandita exudes strength, determination and drive.  She started her 
business with an investment of only Rs. 5000 from her personal savings and through sheer 
grit and hard work, turned it into a huge success.   
Nandita never had a childhood 
Nandita?s childhood was very traumatic and left many scars on her psyche.  When she and her elder brother 
were only about six and eight, their mother, Malti, fell ill. It was a long drawn illness.  Since their father was 
away at work most of the time and there was no one else to take care of her, Malti was moved to her father?s 
house (Nandita?s maternal grandfather?s house.) Malti needed a great deal of care and attention and she lived 
in her father?s house for over fifteen years.  While still a child, Nandita was thrust into the role of the “women 
of the house.”  She never had much time to go out and play like the other little girls in the neighbourhood.  She 
had to take care of her brother and father.  They seemed to lean on her for support. She shopped and cooked and 
went to school.  She was always tired and often it was a struggle to stay awake to do homework.  Sometimes 
she was so tired in school that her eyes would automatically close and her head drop on her desk.  She 
remembers wanting pretty dresses to wear and colourful ribbons in her hair like the other girls.   
But there was no one around to take her for shopping.  Her father did the best he could, but he couldn?t do 
very much.  She had two aunts who were kind and loving and she is eternally grateful to them. 
 
47 
The highlights of her life were those rare occasions when someone took her to visit her mother.  She loved her 
mother dearly and her heart ached for her and she desperately wished she could wave a magic wand and make 
her well.  But her mother?s condition did not improve. 
Nandita’s inner strength and determination surfaces 
Most relatives were not very kind and sometimes forgot she and her brother even existed.  It hurt her deeply 
when they were not invited to their first cousin?s wedding. 
Relatives frequently referred to her as „poor Nandita?, which burned her up.  Very early in her teens Nandita 
decided that she was not a „poor thing? and refused to be called that.  She would show ?them?. She decided that a 
day would come when the same people who now pointed to her and said, “There goes Malti?s daughter, poor 
thing”: would say instead, “There goes Malti?s daughter, the successful businesswoman.” 
Nandita’s husband, a good, kind man 
Nandita married in her early 20?s.  Her husband was supportive.  “He has a quiet strength that is very 
healing,? she says.  That was the beginning of her turnaround. Nandita was a school teacher and her husband, 
Pramod, a chemist.  Neither had any entrepreneurs in their families.  But they had a shared dream-to start a 
small business of their own.  However, there was one big problem.  They didn?t have the capital to invest in a 
business.  Soon they had two children and they needed both their incomes to live a comfortable life. 
The idea for an ice cream mix 
One evening, on his way back from work, Pramod felt like eating some ice cream.  He noticed an ice cream 
mix in a store and bought it.  When he got home, he asked Nandita to make some ice cream using the mix, 
which she did.  When they finished their dinner, they had the ice cream for dessert.  Nandita was disappointed.  
It just didn?t taste as good as the ice cream she had earlier made at home.  That night when everyone went to 
sleep, Nandita tossed and turned in bed thinking about the perfect ingredients that would make a great ice 
cream mix.   
At about 4 a.m she woke up, tiptoed into the dining room, and wrote down on a piece of paper the recipe for an 
ice cream mix.  Little did she know then that this recipe that she penned down on a scrap of paper in the wee 
hours of the morning, would, a few years later, make them rich. 
When Promod woke up in the morning, Nandita gave him the piece of paper with the recipe for the ice-cream 
mix and told him, „I know what our business is going to be.  We?re going to make an excellent ice-cream mix 
that people are going to love.  When she made the ice cream at home with her own recipe, her kids exclaimed, 
„Mummy, this is yummy! She decided to call it “Yummy Ice-Cream.” She took out Rs. 5000 from her savings 
account and invested it in buying the ingredients and packaging materials. 
The start of a business 
At first she made the ice cream mix at home in her own kitchen.  She packaged it and sold it to friends and 
neighbours.  She continued with her teaching job and made the ice cream mix in the evening.  The demand for 
the ice cream grew in leaps and bounds. Soon it grew so big that she had to work all night and even enlist the 
help of her children and husband to meet the demand.  She realized that she would have to quit her job and do 
this full time as she couldn?t do both.  She recognized that she would need to rent a place to make her products.  
She couldn?t continue to do it at home.  So she rented a small shed for her first factory in Jogeshwari. It covered 
an area of 550 square feet. 
 
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Malti’s daughter becomes a businesswoman 
Nandita got a bank loan for Rs. 70,000 for the factory premises and pledged her jewellery to get an additional 
loan for Rs. 40,000.  “I was such a novice that I didn?t even know that I needed a current account to run a 
business,? she says. 
The first year was very tough. Since her business was new nobody gave her any credit.  All her 
suppliers wanted cash, yet she had to supply her retailers and customers on credit. At first, she couldn?t 
afford to hire many staff so her children helped at the factory after school.  During this whole period, the one 
thing that kept her going was the determination, “Malti?s daughter is not a „poor thing.?  
She told me,?I wanted to prove to myself and others that I could succeed and make something out of my life.  I 
wanted my children to be wealthy.  I wanted them to give salaries to others and not work to get a salary.  These 
thoughts kept me going even during the most difficult times.” 
As Nandita became more and more successful with her ice cream mix, she introduced new products such as 
Gulabjamun mix and Basundi mix.  She now has over 40 products.  Soon her sales shot up and she hired more 
employees.  Her husband still continued to work at his job. 
A crisis hits and almost wipes her out 
Nandita hired a capable distributor for her products.  Her sales quadrupled.  She hired even more employees 
and moved to a bigger factory.  The distributor suggested a major advertising blitz.  So, She invested Rs. 6 
lakhs on TV commercials, magazine and newspaper advertisements, displays, bill boards and so on. 
Then one day, disaster struck. Nandita did not know that there was already a company by the name of 
„Yummy Ice Creams” in Goa.  Nandita had not bothered to find out if the name “Yummy Ice Cream” was 
already registered and trademarked by someone else. The businessman from Goa arrived with CBI officers and 
stormed into her factory and her home. He threatened to sue her until she was ruined.  The distributor 
intervened and mediated and she also took legal advice.  They negotiated with the Goa businessman and settled 
out of court.  This proved so expensive that she almost gave up. 
Back to square one 
Now once again she had no money and nobody would give her any credit. Her accounts in the banks had been 
closed down.  Once again she had to pay cash for everything she bought yet give credit to her retailers and 
customers.  This was a very trying period.  Once again, her determination that Malti?s daughter will be a 
successful businesswoman, kept her going.  She changed the name of her company to “Uma Food Products” 
after her mother-in-law and grandmother, who were both called Uma.  Her packaged mixes were renamed 
„Eat-me”. 
Nandita and her husband save the business 
At about this time, Nandita?s husband quit his job and joined the business. He became the distributor of 
their products, thereby saving payments to the distributor. 
The first thing she did was to pay off the bank loan because she needed to have a bank account in order 
to be able to write cheques.  For this, she took a loan from a private lender at extortionate rate of 24%.  They 
worked day and night and paid off all their loans.  Since that time, things have only looked up. She learned a 
great deal from her mistakes and felt confident to run a successful business venture.  She has been successfull 
running her business now for the past 9 years.  
 
49 
Self Assessment of Qualities, Skills, Resources and Dreams 
Identify your personality type before starting a business venture 
An article by Bill Wagner answers the question as to whether personality matters in becoming a 
successful entrepreneur. Recent studies say yes, successful entrepreneurs share a number of 
common personality traits, and these traits are the predominant indicators of their success. 
People, who choose business ventures that are in sync with their true personalities, tend to 
experience the greatest level of success and fulfilment. 
Every personality type, and therefore, every person, has the potential to 
grow a successful business. One just needs to determine the right 
opportunity. Self-awareness guides us in understanding what‘s needed to 
bridge the gap between who we are and what the opportunity requires. 
According to him, entrepreneurs can be divided into seven types.  
1.  Trailblazers: 
Trailblazers are very competitive, ambitious and goal-oriented—so much so that they tend to 
be aggressive and sometimes take a steamroller approach. They are restless and energetic, 
with a strong drive and a sense of urgency, regardless of the task at hand. They tend to have 
two speeds: fast and faster. Independent, persistent and decisive, they aren‘t happy unless 
they are in charge. Trailblazers are logical, analytical, practical and realistic—they tend to base 
decisions on facts rather than feelings. They are calculated risk takers. 
The trailblazers business strengths could include the medical, technology, finance, legal and 
consulting fields. Being strong strategic thinkers, they focus easily on marketing and 
operations. 
 Their challenge is likely to be working with people—they are usually better leaders than 
managers and need to surround themselves with others, who can manage the people side of 
the business. 
Trailblazers prefer being the driving force of a business. They typically wouldn‘t buy a 
franchise or distributorship, but they would start a company that competes with a franchise. 
They are highly innovative, especially when it comes to taking an idea to the next level. 
2.  Go-getters:  
They have a higher-than-average level of both dominance and sociability and 
are very driven and independent. They are competitive, but your drive to 
succeed is sometimes tempered by your interest in and concern for 
Nandita’s advice to new entrepreneurs: 
1.  Don?t give up. Keep at it to succeed.  
2.  Pay the creditors, suppliers and vendors on time. It builds credibility. 
3. Treat employees like family. If employees are happy, one?s business will be successful. 
 
50 
others. Go-Getters represent the largest percentage of the founders. Their natural style 
lends itself to managing and leading both processes and people. 
 They show a great deal of initiative, coupled with a compelling sense of urgency to get 
things done. Go-Getters are typically good leaders and good managers, excelling at 
motivating themselves and those around them. 
 The go-getter‘s business strengths could include doing well in retail, but may prefer being 
the outside rainmaker. They work well in ambitious and unfamiliar environments. This 
means they can invest in, buy or start a business that‘s totally new to you and still make a 
success of it. They don‘t need to be an expert in the field to start the business, they are 
good collaborators and can learn as they go. 
3.  Managers:  
 They are dominant and independent. In their case, these two characteristics feed each 
other, so they can appear to be even more dominant or independent than they actually 
are. They are also very goal-oriented and can be quite analytical, focusing more on 
processes and outcomes than on people. They have a tendency to look at people as 
vehicles for helping them accomplish their goals. Consequently, they sometimes disregard 
or overlook the people part of the equation or unwittingly offend people with their 
straightforward style of communication. 
 Unlike the two previous entrepreneurial types, Managers have a 
higher-than-average level of relaxation and know that some 
projects simply take more time to complete and some goals take 
longer to achieve than others. They are loyal, sometimes to a fault, 
as they consider their employees to be an extension of their family. 
They can deal well with customers, especially repeat customers, so 
they‘ll probably be great at growing a business. 
 The manager‘s business strengths are: Doing things on their own, as great behind-the-
scene leaders who love working with systems, concepts, ideas and technologies. They 
excel at competitive selling because they enjoy overcoming rejection and achieving goals 
despite obstacles. Managers enjoy working by themselves, and managing others can be a 
challenge, so they need to hire employees who are better than them at listening and 
working well with others. 
4.  Motivators:  
They have a high level of sociability, an above-average level of 
dominance, and are both driven and independent. This also 
gives them the ability to work well under pressure and in 
autonomous situations. It also means that they will be a great 
consensus builder, a good collaborator and a driver of change. 
Just like the name suggests, they are the consummate motivator 
who does well working by, with and through others.