When we provided AAP with a voice calling solution, we did it mostly because they were starting off just like we were. More than anything, it is this spirit of kinship which has driven this article. Here are 5 crucial lessons from this Delhi 2015 electionand AAP victory, for every entrepreneur, that I would like to draw attention to.
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Leverage your strength
For AAP, their major strength has been the ability to crowd source. When you make someone party to your existence, you win their support. It is these people who when correctly aligned with your agenda, work as your brand ambassadors.
MyOperator, for instance, makes call management as simple as emails for SMEs. But from the customer point of view, the major attraction is the prompt support for the product. So despite the features war which wages between the competitors, we sell our support as the pivot point to ensure that our customers chose us.
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Accept your mistakes and make amends
As a business person, you are bound to make wrong decisions at some point or the other. It is wise to own those mistakes as your own. As the owner of the business, it is our responsibility to own the wrong. Only after that, is it possible to correct course and align with the correct course.
Remember however, that it might make more sense to have a consensus of the team on major decision, before going all guns blazing. At the end of the day, you cannot sustain without the support of your core team.
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Dream big
“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”
This quote by Karen Ravn, fits amazingly well in this situation. When you go out in the market, know the highs you want to reach. With every strategy and implementation, measure how closer it takes you to your aspiration.
If you are able to create a noise loud enough to be heard, be prepared to face the responsibility you commit to deliver. While AAP delivers or not, is yet to be seen. But what remains is that their short stint of 49 days did generate significant hope in the citizens of Delhi, to give it another shot.
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Use the netizen power
In this century of the internet, it is important for any business to make digital marketing work for them. The concept of viral marketing has ensured that irrespective of how old you are in the market, if you can create a sentiment amongst your target group, which they strongly feel about, you are already a leader.
Irrespective of whether your target audience is present on social media or not, you need to be able to create just enough buzz about yourself in circles that they visit.
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Keep close to core values
The plank AAP played and won on, is transparency. There is a unified sentiment across the country where the youth wants a corruption free society, which was consolidated with the India Against Corruption Campaign back in 2012. AAP came into existence with the dream of making it a possibility.
Irrespective of all other claims, the one thing that they ensured at every point was that the remained as transparent in their operations as the possibly could. This sentiment alone maintained their credibility, even with a lot of havocs, contradictions and issues in running the political party as one unit.
This article is not so much about a particular party ensuring a big victory, as it is about being a true entrepreneur and picking up from every possible avenue to sharpen the saw. We at VoiceTree MyOperator see these as the major learning from the saga, and hope to implement them in our own pursuit to greater heights. Meanwhile, do share what you see as your lessons and opinions on this piece. Together, let’s Make In India!