A parent’s example and advice can inexorably affect the life of his child. Here’s how five young and successful professionals say their parents advice affects their business trajectory.
[nextpage title="Binson Shrestha" ]Binson Shrestha Co-Founder, Stemp Apparel
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Binson Shrestha (Co-Founder, Stemp Apparel)[/caption]
Born and raised in Kathmandu and currently living in New York, Binson Shrestha recently completed his Masters degree in Investor Relations from Fordham University, New York, and is working as a real estate executive in Brooklyn. He is also the Co-founder of Stemp Apparel which uses hemp and other natural fibres to make stylish and eco-friendly clothes that are designed in Brooklyn, USA and made in Kathmandu.
The three business advices I have received from my dad L.B. Shrestha, Investor and CEO of NB Group are:
- Persistence and patience are keys to a successful business. Patience is the best virtue combined with your will to fight, will to survive, and will to never give up.
- Mind over matter. No matter how many times you fail, you should always stand up and try until you succeed.
- Turn negative energy into positive. Take note of the negativity in your life (negative people, haters, bad incidents) and use that to generate positive energy and fight that negativity with positivity. Receive everyone and every decision with a smile because a smile is more precious than money.
Phurba Sherpa CEO, Sherpa Brewery
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Phurba Sherpa (CEO, Sherpa Brewery)[/caption]
Phurba Sherpa is the CEO of Sherpa Brewery which was established in 2013. Phurba claims that Sherpa Brewery is the first and the only craft beer manufactured in Nepal. The brewery currently has two brands: Khumbu Kölsch and Himalayan Red.
My parents played a significant role in supporting me every step of my life. My parents - Karma Sherpa and Chhechima Sherpa -have given me the following business advices:
- Discipline in life and business draws success. As important it is for an individual to be disciplined in personal life, the same characterstic should be reflected in work as well. A company does well when there are disciplined workers. A business or a company reflects character just like a person.
- Honesty plays a crucial role in business. My opinion is that honesty in the quality of product - an attribute that the company does not want to compromise with - is more important than cheap visibilities.
- Courage starts with us. Self-courage is the strength of your vision and mission, and without courage you cannot endorse honesty and discipline in the mission.
Yazma Rajbhandary Principal Architect, Kalap Architects
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Yazma Rajbhandary (Principal Architect, Kalap Architects)[/caption]
Yazma Rajbhandary is an architect and an educator. A graduate from the Yale School of Architecture, she is the sole principal architect of Kalap Architects. The ideology imbibed by Kalap is not to typecast itself as a residential, commercial or theoretical architectural firm, but to bring a background of considered research to every endeavour undertaken, however large or small the project.
Prior to her return to Nepal, she worked with Robert A. M. Stern Architects in New York. Yazma Rajbhandary is also a lecturer at Kathmandu Engineering College, Department of Architecture.
I have had the luxury of having Bijay Rajbhandary, my father as my mentor. I feel honoured that I get this opportunity to share a few of his teachings, which has shaped not only the entrepreneur in me, but also the person that I am today.
- Be prepared: It is so tempting to ‘wing-it’ as an architect – especially when one is convinced that one knows a project through and through. After all, how badly can a presentation or a meeting go when one knows the content of the discussion? However, my father taught me that with preparation comes finesse to one’s argument and thoroughness in tow. While preparing for a presentation or a discussion, doing one’s ‘homework’ as my father often puts it, one is forced to dissect the content and look at it from every possible angle. This pre-emptive preparation more often than not allows for the management of uncertainties and proper assessment of risks, a valuable skill in a country like ours.
- Assess a problem from multiple angles: A person’s greatest flaw is one’s own ego. My father advised me to set aside vanity and look at things from another person’s perspective as well. More often than not, people point out mistakes in our work, not to be malicious, but to be helpful. By reflecting on suggestions, although it might momentarily hurt one’s pride to admit error, allows one to gain insight from another perspectives. This simple dissolution of ego can provide one with the acumen to make future tasks more error free.
- Work-life balance: It is a good thing to be driven and form a great love for one’s work. Yet, one of the greatest advices my father gave me was to maintain good work-life balance. Anyone who knows my father knows him as a frantically busy businessman. Nevertheless, when he comes back home from work every night, he completely devotes himself to his family. While we should always maintain passion for every single thing we do, it is equally important to remember that it is the family members and friends who enrich our lives.
Appa Sherpa Director, Nuwa Estate Coffee
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Appa Sherpa (Director, Nuwa Estate Coffee)[/caption]
Appa Sherpa is the Director of Nuwa Estate Coffee, a company established in 2007, which offers a wide range of roast profiles. The company also provides complete café setup from coffee machines whether semi-automatic or fully automatic to training and educating the Nepali coffee market.
He completed his accounting degree from the University of Exeter in England and has worked for some prestigious companies in London and Dubai but had always wanted to come back to Nepal.
The 3 business advices I have received from both my parents are:
- This advice was given to me by my mother when I decided to return to Nepal and start working. She told me “If you are going to start something, make sure you give it your heart and soul and be the best at it”. Taking the reins of an established company at a very young age, she wanted me to be committed, driven and certain of what I was doing.
- Not only is this a business advice but it is also a life mantra that I follow “don’t compete with others; compete with yourself”. It has been infused in us to avoid comparison with others and to always be the best version of oneself.
- In all the businesses that I have so far ventured into, the key ingredient that I have tirelessly applied is that of maintaining a consistent quality, higher than that of all other competitors. “Always go with quality over quantity”. Something my parents have continually asserted.
Vishal Singhal Managing Director, The Arbitrary Group and Director of Singhal International
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Vishal Singhal (Managing Director, The Arbitrary Group and Director of Singhal International)[/caption]
Vishal Singhal, 23, is the Managing Director of The Arbitrary Group which aims to create world-class Nepali music content and take the Nepali music industry to a global platform. He is also Director of Singhal International, a family business built by his father and uncles which deals in trading of construction materials (hardware and sanitary), water tube-well construction and highway road construction.
I have completed my BBA, but most of my life lessons come from my father, Vijay Singhal, who has guided me with his valuable lessons throughout. My father is my mentor. Here are some of the things he has taught me:
- There is no shortcut to success; you have to take the stairs of hard-work. Born in a “business-oriented” Marwari family is not easy and living up to expectations is even more difficult. I was 10 when I started helping my father in his business. I was pushed to work as a stock keeper, a delivery guy, a driver, a salesperson, an accountant, a manager until I earned my right to sit on the commanding chair.
- When you are young, work to learn, not to earn - Robert Kiyosaki. I started my first venture when I was 17. My father always told me that in business, you never lose, you either win or learn. Never think business is only about earning money, you get to learn and gain experience. And with that experience, you can make wonders happen.
- Try to be a man of value rather than a man of success. 45 years ago, my father started his first job with a basic salary of Rs 300. He has established an empire on the foundation of his ethics, values and principles. He always advised me to work for respect and to hold values highly. He always says, “A rich person is someone whose funeral gathers seas of people. Mere bank balance does not make a person rich.”
And finally, something that I have learnt from my mother is to always be supportive and patient.
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