The Best Time to "Start UP" is NOW!

A true dream is not one that occurs when you’re asleep; it’s one that takes your sleep away. Such a dream then starts to possess you. It begins to run in your blood. Slowly it’s beyond your control to not think of it and then you don’t have a choice. You have to live the dream. We were 2 friends, mavericks by nature, enjoying college life at its best at that age when no one quite expects much from you. Ideas have always been free and we all have ours. And one day, probably the 100th time we were engaging in this conversation over coffee, we fell upon the idea of starting a restaurant. It appealed to both of us immensely. It could have been as futile a discussion as ever before but we decided to take the plunge. We did our groundwork and prepared a rough estimate of our capital requirements and it worked out to an exorbitant amount. The deposit for renting a suitable location was itself 1crore. We were yet to graduate and there was no way we could get funded. We had no experience or core skills to add. We almost scrapped the idea until it fell upon us that we need a business we are passionate about. In May 2008 we started “Chillams” a Party Planning Company from home. My co-founder Kunal Dharia was a natural marketer and I looked at developing vendor relationships and processes. We were a zero capital company, which is a dream for bigger companies. We took 100% advance payments and had a zero credit policy. Our client base grew quickly and we increased our product portfolio to include more services. We got a website in place and then we never looked back. We added a tagline this summer. “Parties happen, we make them Happening !!!”. We specialize in cocktail events and thematic parties. Looking back we both feel it’s taking the plunge that changes everything. All start-ups typically evolve. We believe if you have an idea it’s useless, execution is important. Get down to doing it. Nothing can be perfectly planned. And the earlier you start the easier it will be. If we did not start at 19 we would take up jobs after graduation. Your appetite for risk reduces as you age. We started when we had no lost opportunity costs. Today we attend parties and get paid for them. We know the owners of most restaurants we dine at. We got our MBA admissions because we started up. Even if you fail the learning will be worth it all. Moreover to us the elation of creating a venture gives us a high like nothing else. Times have never been better for an Indian entrepreneur. If there was ever the best time to start up, it’s NOW. Cheers, Chirag Bhatia Co-Founder Chillams