Keynote speech by Anumolu S. Rao
Nehru Cherukupalli:
Hi, my name is Nehru Cherukupalli. I’m part of t AAARI and I’m very happy to invite Mr. Anumolu Subbarao to give us the keynote speech. But before he does that, I would like to say a few words to introduce him to you. As a matter of fact, the keynote speech that he’ll be giving is perhaps the tribute to the next session after lunch. Mr. Subbaro has been the CEO of ASR international of New York. He has unique distinctions and the rare privilege of being the only Indian for having been cited by the US Congress in June of 2003 for his contributions to the ASR International Corporation towards providing first-rate security assistance for homeland security in the US. You can read all about him on page 12 and 13 of the brochure you have, but basically, I would like to quote Carolyn McCarthy who said that Subaro has been a shining example of what it means to be a successful businessman, a good neighbor, a caring and generous individual and certainly, a loyal and patriotic American citizen. I would like to add that he is to be noted as a good friend for being with us. I’m very proud to announce the title of his speech, which has not been announced, “How Not to Fail in Business” and I am sure I want to listen to this. (Audience applause)
Rao S. Anumolu:
Yes, I made up the title right here, sitting here. First of all, thank you, Dr. Nehru, for inviting me over here and thank you friends. I know South Asians are brilliant people, totally competent, and hard working. They do a lot of good things not only in this country but also back in their home countries—for those people who are there in India and other South Asian countries and even for those in China. Yesterday, I read that South Asians are surpassing Europe. American statistics also shows the same. You all should be proud of that. Someday we’ll get translated into productivity in terms of serving the society and creating a good business environment or offering our knowledge, technology or social or other skills to settle the humanity and in the process, you may like to start a business. Most of you who are likely to start a business might think you will fail in the business, but I hope that none of you will fail. So just to give you the statistics: out of every 100 businesses that start, in the first to one a year, 90% of them fail. Out of the balance10%, only 2 to 3 or 4 percent survive after three years. Now, these 3 to 4 or 5 percent that survive continue over the period of time in businesses, hopefully forever, but they also fail. You’ve worked too hard in your life, you’re educated very well to start with, you’re intelligent people, you are the best of the best, you have to think you are the best, and you started a business, you tried to survive, you did survive, then you don’t want to fail. So that’s my topic this afternoon. There is a relevance to this, there is an importance to this, and I thought I’d address that because that plagues every company everyday and they have to be on the guard. I want to bring up a few points for you to think. Some of them may be shooting over your head but I’ll fill some questions for you in the end. When you’re offering something I want you to always think: you are offering a value to somebody else so that the transaction can take place in a meaningful way that is profitable and economical and can do something for you. Having done that, you may have several customers doing very well but if you fail to follow the government regulations, you can lose your slot. It is not the IRS I am talking about. There are several other agencies that are monitoring you. There are eyes senior pockets, there are eyes senior walls; eyes means people are watching, so follow all the rules and regulations that are needed. It should not come to you as a surprise at a sermon but that should be, that’s the way to develop your thought processes. Only then you will succeed, or you do not allow yourself to fail. Also, one of the important things is you will be trying to solve the hardest problems and you will have to self-calibrate yourself all the time, every time, and unless you are committed to do this, don’t go into the business. That means I am asking you to do the impossible. Always try to look at what your back is. You cannot, I cannot see my back, but you have to try to see your back all the time. This comes through vision, imagination, perception, loyalty, many other attributes, and your generosity. You have to deal with these traits as you go along in business life or even in personal life in order for you to succeed. Your vision takes you a long way, your intuition gives you the real spirit to move forward, but you cannot fail if you trip here. If you do, you will trip forever. However, you’ll take the example of Microsoft, IBM, you don’t hear that much of IBM. You see some fading elements of Microsoft, you see Google coming down. It doesn’t mean they totally failed, but the maturity levels of these companies are going down. But for all of you, again, when you set your goals, set it at such a level where you can consistently succeed. Business is constant success day by day and unless you work on these things and look forward and do the forward thinking, you will not continue to – you will not constantly, continuously try and succeed. Again, tamper with your good thoughts with good feelings and generosity not only to yourself, but to all the people surrounding you so that you are a good citizen, among all things said, because being a good citizen and a good neighbor will help you to succeed too; there is a small compliment to that. Having said these little things, I don’t want to stop the nice legend. I think you are all successful people; you are all well trained, highly motivated and intelligent people. I presume if you take the attitude, “I will not fail, I should not fail,” I can say, if business is your choice, you will succeed – you will all succeed 100% and 100% of the time for the lifetime. That’s what I want you to achieve. I started the business and succeeded. I succeeded in the business – I started in the business, I continuously succeeded in the business. I request you to think about it, this is just an eye opener and I see some good students here and a lot of students here and a lot of professors and intellectuals here constantly watching yourself for the shadow of success so that the shadow is illuminated, so that you continually succeed in your universe–a little business or personal life or whatever it is. I really want to thank you for giving me this opportunity. Dr Nehru, I thank you … (audience applauds)
Nehru Cherukupalli:
Thank you Mr. Anumolu. Baruch is known as a business college of the City University and here is a gentleman who has been able to be a successful businessman and telling you how not to fail. I think that’s an interesting thing. I think we can have one or two more questions if there are any questions, Mr. Anumolu will be happy to answer.
Question:
Hi, one of the things I find really interesting is that a lot of Indian immigrants, South Asian immigrants especially, have professional jobs and there’s this notion of wanting security. You want a job, but do not want to take risks. Do you think that the next generation or the new generation of immigrants coming in are more likely to take risks rather than live with the e the attitude: “I want to get a good job and something that’s very solid and pays well but not risky.”
Rao S. Anumolu:
Excellent question. I really admire you for asking that. I will answer your question in two ways. One, we all are risk takers in real life because if you’re walking down the steps, for example, there is risk there. To be a risk taker and to try to be what you can be, you have to push yourself hard, and that’s what life is about. My father told me, when he started his own business, he never knew what he was getting into, but he jumped into it, succeeded to the level where others could not imagine and catch. You have to take the risk and you should be prepared to risk take, take anything.
Audience:
I would like to ask you about business trends changing from the West to the East. Where is the best opportunity to start a business, in the east or in the west?
Rao S. Anumolu:
OK, I thought about it actually myself. You have to calibrate this at what sectional, I mean at what level of life you are in. You migrated from the east to the west; you don’t want to migrate back to the east. However, in the process stop and think for a while what this country can offer. I predict for at least the next twenty years if you are a risk taker wanting to take advantage of opportunities which are still overwhelming right here, you don’t want to jump into there now. Regarding some youngsters that I see here, certainly they can think of doing business there, but I don’t advise you to be emotional and jump into something in Bangladesh, India or Karachi or some other places you know of. Some great opportunities really are on the other side of the fence and they look greener and greener, but see if you can succeed here where you are now. You have to always think you will succeed anyway, I don’t mean just in America. I tell the same thing to people in India. If you can succeed in New Dehli where you are, saty there. Success is within you; create wealth and that’s you.
Nehru Cherukupalli:
Well, I can see that you all are ready for lunch I would like to thank Mr. Anumolu and he, besides being a good businessman, is a big donor for our conference today. Thank you, and we would like to invite you to lunch.
