Loknath Agarwalla, a successful entrepreneur having entrepreneurial experience of more than seven years, he is the CEO of HM Mercantile Pvt. Ltd. He is also associated with many other organizations. Interview Times had a conversation with him, below are the answers he responded to the questionnaire of Interview Times.
Q1- What Motivated you to become an entrepreneur?
Answer- Some of the biggest motivations are Wealth, Flexibility, Leadership, establishment, and Vision. But for me the driving force is to learn various business ideas and work upon those. I always wanted to be my own boss, treated myself my own competitor and tried to improve myself in whatever assignment I took. I have been fortunate to be a part of reputed organization for 13 years that helped me to grow as a human being who cared for his teammates and earned their respects.
Q2- What is your Success Mantra?
Answer- Success Mantra is an affirmation. It is a challenge statement that a person makes to oneself. My success mantras are.
Stick to your core areas and try new things. (60% of your expectations will be fulfilled by primary/core activities and rest 40% will help you to grow and learn new trades/skills.
Aim high but always have firm feet on ground. It provides you with enough thrust to fly high and scale new heights.
Have confidence in your abilities but upgrade your knowledge and skills regularly. Learning helps you face new challenges and deal with various opportunities.
Learn from your failure but do not give up trying. Take calculative risks and keep a positive attitude.
To be successful in whatever you do, work like a team and not like a boss, people who work with you need motivation, inspiration, and respect. Always remember “to be the change you want to inspire”.
Every Challenge I faced along the path in pursuing my dreams is an opportunity to grow and improve.
Q3- What Message you want to share t people who wants to become like you?
Answer- Everyone has his/her own set of skills and attributes through which they can do wonders. People should learn from others’ success and failures and should not compare themselves and develop complex. God has a unique way of rewarding everyone who keeps trying and believing themselves. Everyone should try to stick to their core and improvise the skillset by learning and utilizing in right directions.
Q4- What Challenges have you faced during initial days of entrepreneurship and how did you overcome them?
Answer- There are various Challenges that Start-ups face, but each challenge makes you wiser and experienced. My biggest hurdle was finding right people to work with me. Everyone does not have the same mindset and vision. One should have that hunger for trying new things. Second challenge was I used to put my fingers in too many pies at any given point of time.
With time and setbacks, some financial losses, some decisions gone wrong, I learnt the hard way to set my pace and time management for all that I had before me and finally things are in motion. Even if I am not around business continues to grow.
Q5- What are your hobbies?
Answer- My biggest hobby is to explore new business ideas and work upon them. I spend good amount of my spare time on reading success stories of start-ups / entrepreneurs.
Spending time with friends, families and social media are also part of my routine.
I love listening to songs and watching reality shows on TV.
Q6- Was being an entrepreneur always there in your bucket list?
Answer- Yes. After I completed my MBA, I wanted to start something of my own, but my well-wishers guided me to get into a job, learn the corporate culture. During my 14 years tenure in Job, I had umpteen chances to quit and start my own business, but family responsibilities and financial needs did not allow me to take that call. Finally, I took the plunge of quitting at senior level and started my own.
Q7- What are your future goals?
Answer- I am in the job of creating wealth for my clients and while doing so, I myself wish to have a golden retirement life with likeminded people around me.
By creating job opportunities for people who look at me as a mentor and guide.
By giving back to the society in ways of charity and donations.
By being a good human being, whom people will admire the rest of their life.
Image Courtesy: Mr. Loknath Agarwalla
