Where am I headed?

Had started this blog over the summer so as to get me moving on my MBA journey....and the plan was to write the GMAT by June or July...... But then circumstances around me changed and I had to move....Countries and it really was a hassle this time around.

The MBA thing has been with me since about the last 4 years...... I had thought over it at the early part of my career....But it wasn't really prevalent in my Industry, so even if you had one did not help as much as experience did. Well the industry was Hospitality and I started my career as a HOMT (Hotel Operations Management Trainee) and my soul was in the kitchen, I wanted to finish my training and stick to the food production role ...that is to be a chef.

But the Beaucracy in a public sector hotel got on my nerves and I was looking at any option to jump ship...... and since no good option came...... had to create one..... and the entrepreneurship phase started. This was 1993 and we started a travel company which specialized in outdoor adventure tours.....there were hardly any operators in the sector in India at that time...... we did okay over the summer...and had great bookings for the winter season (for skiing), even hired a New Zealander for training.....and something that had never happened, happened... it didn't snow till early Feb and it all went haywire......trust me a lot went into the organization of our winter program....hiring staff, arranging fuel, supplies, food, fresh supplies and even had 2 mules on standby.....plus a zillion other things. We lost probably whatever we had and by spring were in the red.....but then suddelnly things changed and the trekking season started and we tied up with some of the biggest schools in Delhi.....we offered a 6 day trek for 800 bucks (that is a lil less than $ 20) all inclusive.... we picked the group from the school and dropped them back at the school on the 7 the day. That might not sound a lot of money but we were operating on a 40 - 50 percent margin and the volume was just crazy...over the course of the summer we had schools from as far as Gujarat as our clients.

It was demanding and tough.....but it was always fun, and between me and my partner we made almost half a million Indian Rupees.......by this time the kids who went with us were so happy that there parents wanted us to organize events for their companies and we had some of the top Indian and multinational companies in India on our client list. Life was good...and challenging..but the reward and feeling was even better.

Suddenly my partner wanted to leave.....maybe the events of last winter were comming to mind and he did not want to risk it....and he had an offer from one of the top schools in our field in the US.....this was 94 and not very many people wanted to stay back in India. Maybe I would have done the same if I was in his place....and we sold the business for about 1/4 th of our annual revenues, (that was lack of experience there).

Now I was again without anything to do...I had left my Industry and to get in at that level again was a challenge......and then I got to talk to one of the senior people from a bank who had been our client......and I was offered a position at one the biggest banks at a starting salary of 2,750 Indian rupees...but I had no option, so I thought I ll stick for some time..... I completed 5 years at this company and realized that it was the end of the ladder for me....because I had no MBA....and so the MBA bug bit me.

At this stage I got the opportunity to run a hospitality operation, with more than a 100 employees and revenues in excess of 100 million rupees....... It was one hell of a job.... I remember once I didn't get home for more than 72 hours. While at this operation I met Ravi Deol (fouder of Barista Coffee Chain in India)... Barista was small then and we were discussing the possibility of opening a outlet at our property...( It did happen, but I had left this company by that time)..but the entrepreneurship bug was catching me again.

Out of the blue my wife's cousin came over, saw the place I was working in....and liked a pool table there...and wanted to buy a similar one......It had come from a Thai supplier. I spoke to the supplier and we had it shipped over in a months time.....and now this thing was in Delhi and had to be transported and installed in a city north of Delhi...... the people who had promised to install it backed out...and I was in a fix. Eventually I found a guy who could do it, and as things are in India he wanted to do it on his terms....but I had no option, so he took a fortune but finished the job.

Thanks to him because he was billing me at such a rate......prob as if he was a big 4 consultant... I kept on standing on his head...so that he finished it quick. While he was doing it I realized that there was nothing much in a pool table.

In a month we had built up a Sample and perfected it, now we started advertising...and as soon as we got the first confirmed order I quit my job. This was around the summer of 1999.....and things started moving slowly. The first set was manufactured in our living room... and the first couple of orders even went from there....coudnt afford to put in money for a separate manufacturing facility....slowly we took a small 300 sq Ft place on rent and moved the manufacturing there.

We were up against some big names, multinational corporations like AMF and Brunswick were already in India.....then there were the established older manufacturers.....some with a history of more than 100 years.....and the Chinese imports. The first year was tough .... we managed to take out our expenses.....but trips to fancy restaurants and holidays were out. At this stage we decided to move to a city north of Delhi because that was were our market was and we wanted to be closer to our customers....and cost of operation was way less.

Things started to move now..... and we changed strategy rather that targeting Urban areas we tried to get inroads into the smaller towns and rural areas and there was no looking back.....our profit for the Financial year 01-02 was more than what I had earned in all my 9 years working till then. At this stage we sold the business, and moved to Canada, I had achieved success in a few of the things I had tried....but it was with a lot of hard work and dedication.

In Canada I was looking at options but there were not many jobs available with an Indian education......and I did not want to invest any money in a business straight away.....and so I went to School to complete my bachelors......(in my field there was only a 3 year diploma in India in the early 90's). The school offered me admission in a masters program because of my experience.... but I wanted to go to a good management school for a MBA... and I was a 30 year old student amongst kids out of high school.....but it was fun n rewarding. I worked with a Non Profit for 6 months after graduating and then started my own retail business at a major mall in the Boston area.

This venture was not very successful...and we ended up loosing about $ 60,000, learnt a few lessons.....and closed the operation this summer. I have been wondering since then as to what now....am I a serious candidate for a MBA prog...... I am 33 now .....is there still time to go to B-School.....I am struggling with GMAT......and the list goes on. But trust me it gets a little scary at this age...what if I am just rejected.....what if companies are looking for younger guys...there is so much going on in my head......I know I need to figure it out quickly......coz life is too short too waste. I am still thinking WILL IT BE WORTH IT, and DO I HAVE A CHANCE?