We took a hard look at our company. Was it going to become a unicorn? No. Not close. Was it going to do the proverbial J curve in the near future? Not really.
I could sense the VC and the Angel instantly saying ‘Shark Tank’ style. “I’m out”.
I could sense the other entrepreneurs console us. “Don’t worry, there are other legitimate business styles out there. Nothing wrong in being a ‘lifestyle business”. The tone could be associated with ‘retire’, ‘personal savings’, ‘you’re on your own’ and almost a silent ‘are you crazy doing that when there is so many investors around?’ But the reality is that we don’t fit into a lifestyle business mode too! There must be something else to describe our business model.
A chance article on gazelle companies, gave some hope that there are alternatives. The investopedia definition of the gazelle indicated that you are a gazelle if you were over a million dollars and grew at 20% for the past 4 years. Many of the leading tech companies in the 80’s and 90’s were actually gazelles.
A closer look at our financials indicated that we were not quite a gazelle in some parts of the definition since our growth rate was more random than the 20% figure.
Another chance article on ‘cockroach’ companies being an alternative to unicorns in these days of constrained VC money, gave some hope. You are a cockroach if you can survive nuclear wars even if you don’t do the J Curve.
Inspiring, I thought. We survived 13 years as an Indian software product company despite delayed payments, a dozen form of taxes, unclear laws, order cancellations, a crowded market, a government that does not care, and other forms of nuclear warfare. But we did not like to be branded as ‘cockroaches’, do we? At different points in our life cycle we could be cockroaches, gazelles and maybe switch to a unicorn, with a delayed J Curve?
An then it dawned on us – as a bootstrapped company, the only definitions worth going after were ‘customer delight’, ‘market focus’, ‘differentiation’, ‘customer value’, ‘growth’ and other forms of real business indicators, while continuously being in the ‘profit zone’.
With 50% growth last year and head above waters in terms of profits, we’re doing something right, and yet we still don’t want to be boxed into definitions. But such definitions test you, and keeps you on your toes. So it’s still worth the time reading up on such articles because when you are an entrepreneur you keep your eyes open 360 degrees all the time even when sleeping.
Gazelles, cockroaches, unicorns and other forms of exotic animals went back to their respective places in the animal world for now, and real business stepped right back into the focus.
Guest Post by George Vettath, Founder Kallos Solutions and KServeHRMS.com
