Manish Sabharwal, Chairman and Managing Director ,TeamLease Services Private Limited

Manish, a serial entrepreneur started India Life in 1996 soon after his graduation from Wharton. Following his exit from the business through a strategic sale to Hewitt, Manish started a temporary staffing company called TeamLease, the largest such company in India.

Talking to the class of 2005, Manish called entrepreneurship a career choice and said that the sooner one makes this choice, the longer one has to be part of this exciting process. He shared his experience of taking a business enterprise from the nascent idea stage through the start-up and growth phases to its culmination as a sale to a strategic partner. India Life began as a pension / asset management company but soon converted itself into a into provident fund administrator. The move to provident fund administration opened up opportunities in payroll administration. Over a period of time India Life morphed into a full-scale Human Resources (HR) services outsourcing company. The company’s success attracted the attention of leading HR outsourcing company of the world, Hewitt, which joined the company as a strategic partner thus forming India Life-Hewitt in 2000. Later, Hewitt bought out the entire equity of Manish and his partners.

This journey, though exciting, was turbulent and taught him several lessons in the art and craft of start-up and growth management. Manish distilled a few lessons from his experiences that he shared with the students.

Here are some of Manish’s lessons on the art and craft of managing start-ups:

• Resource choices are key decisions: It is not only the quantum of resources that is important but also the additional value that resource suppliers can provide too. An investor providing access to markets is more valuable than one providing funds alone

• Surround yourself with people who know better than you: This principle has helped Manish in guiding India Life through many a tough period.

• Do not believe aggregate numbers: The devil is in the detail and attention to it can help avoid nasty surprises.

• Key skill is not analysis but synthesis: The ability to synthesise and draw conclusions from seemingly disparate information is crucial to guide the company through the turbulent start-up and growth phase.

• People don’t fail; they give up easily: Entrepreneurs must not give up despite the odds against the success of the venture appearing unfavourable.