Design at Start-Up

I still remember my first day at business.

Four of us, colleagues at a market leading training company, left our jobs and secured some money from a property developer to start a training company.

What was the winning idea? Back in 1997, Internet was still a new thing in India [yes, time moves fast, VSNL started offering internet access accounts only in 1995]. We were convinced of its potential, and was trying to tell our employers that we must train people on internet. But, it was a large company and we were small people - sales executives and technical executives - not the type who are expected to talk about strategy. So, no one really bothered about what we said.

And, then this chance meeting with this property guy, suave and dazzling, took place accidentally, and he blew our minds away with his receptiveness to our ideas [though he did not use computers himself, we were to find out later]. He was the first one to take us seriously. We were bowled over, completely, and felt top of the world.

So, there we go - resigned from our jobs one by one, and virtually went into hiding. Yes, hiding! Four people resigning from the same department in a span of few weeks was news inside the company, and everyone wanted to know what we plan to do. We were afraid that our employers will learn about our idea and do it themselves [illusory self-importance that catches up with every first-time entrepreneur]. And, therefore we sheltered ourselves into a furniture-less apartment owned by our financier, and cut ourselves off from the rest of the world, and started contemplating our business idea.

And, now, let me come back to the first day. We wondered where to start from, how do we get great training material and give the students a real different feel, and - ended up deciding the corporate colour. Hah! yes, corporate colour, which was to be Black and Blue - we thought that was cool and technology-centric, away from the 'vanilla' training that we were offering in our earlier company.

After that, we started working on the logo. Soon realised that we did not have a company name yet, and hence, logo was best left for a later date.

Next, we got on phone and called a stationery vendor and ordered the office stationery. He came with a brilliant catalogue and we picked up some really cool stuff - black and blue. Well, this came at a price, around Rupees three thousand!

Day-end, we met the investor and discussed what we did during the day. He was horrified to know that we blew away an awful lot of money on stationery on the first day for a company whose business, name or logo has not been decided.

We were heart-broken. We were back on the ground. We felt bound again, this time by investor expectations. We felt foolish, because we did not care for money. And, we thought to ourselves - we must build the coolest company around to tell him that this was all necessary for being 'world class'.

Of course, we were wrong. If you were looking for a morale of the story, there is none. This is only a blog, not any fable. We never could do internet training the way we wanted, and later, after making some considerable losses, adopted the same 'vanilla training' mode that we wanted to run away from.

I would not spend my first day in a new business again throwing money at buying stationery, not any more! Well, give me a break - I was a kid then :-) But I know next time I get involved in a business, I shall spend all my while to make it the coolest company in the world, in terms of design and presence to start with.

At the end, I must mention this great company that I came across, people who enable these dreams to be successful. I found their output real cool, and I guess you will find that out yourself too. Do check the company out at www.artofstart.com. Design and style are very important for a start-up, that gives it the personality it sorely needs. I believe too many people get this wrong - with the usual existentialist get-to-the-ground first mentality. I dont deny it is important to get on to the more serious aspects of business without any delay. But, like making a business plan, getting the design and personality right is equally crucial.

In the end, one advise - if you are starting off, spend your first day thinking of what how you want your company to look. It will make your customers feel comfortable, and make you feel business-like. When I get a go again in creating my own company, I would still spend the first day thinking about corporate colours. Well, the stationery vendor may have to wait a little while longer.