Changing course with success

Shohret Gheek

While a degree is the most obvious passport to a career, it is not the only qualification to have a successful work life. Those bitten by the entrepreneurship bug often take a completely different route from the one their education would point towards and they would rather "do their own thing". 

Acknowledging the success of a few Indians who made bold career changes, it is often highlighted that they had started their career journey on a completely different track and it took a complete change of tracks to put them on the road to a successful career. Anil Kumble who went on to become one of India's greatest leg spinners is, in fact, a qualified mechanical engineer; Chetan Bhagat was as an investment banker in Hong Kong before he became a story spinner. And these are not rare exceptions as the trend of exploring fields and career beyond one's educational qualification is quite a rage now. A degree no longer sets the boundaries of one's career. Some people discover their niche at a very early stage while others take time. It's all about taking chances and aiming for it. 

Here are the stories of some such young bravehearts who dared to take the road less taken, wrote their own rules and scripted their success stories with determination:

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The design diva From commerce to fashion

It was in the third year of college when Swati Agarwal, who was pursuing an undergraduate course in Commerce (Honours) from Christ University, Bengaluru, felt that something was amiss. Though she was good in studies, she felt that the course failed to meet her expectations. So, while everyone around her was expecting her to get into a b-school, she took up a course at NIFT Mumbai, in fashion and clothing technology. from there landed up in Bombay Rayon Fashion Limited — a garment export house in Bangalore. Working in the production unit she made up her mind to start her own line of comfortable clothing and launched La Plume, an online clothing store. Currently, she has a design unit of four employees in Bangalore.   

Challenges: A career shift always comes with a bit of uncertainty and one needs dedication towards one’s start-up. Setting up an online store was the most challenging job as there was little connection with the customers and she had to work hard to win their confidence and trust.  Lessons from her mistakes have given her the confidence to expand her craft with a store in Bangalore. 

Future goals: This summer Swati is working on hiring a marketing team for her brand. She will be opening a store in Bengaluru in a year's time.

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Tickling the taste buds: From lawyer to food entrepreneur

For the five years that Ayesha Sajjan spent in a law school, she dreamt of donning the black coat and fight for justice. But soon after graduating from Symbiosis Law School, Pune, she decided to give a 'tasteful' twist to her career and launched Tryst With Taste - a gourmet food service. Though her heart was always in cooking, she never thought of taking up food as a full-time career until she met her partner Anugrah who encouraged her to take it up professionally. This was the genesis of their venture that is making waves in Jaipur. The duo has diversified into organic food products within six months of launching their start-up. Ayesha and Anugarh are focusing at reviving the lost recipes of various parts of the world. Within a short span Anugrah has captured the Jaipur market with unique marketing strategies. He plans to expand the market base to Delhi soon. They showcase their products through the Tryst With Taste blog and these are available throughout India on delivery basis and would soon be available off-the-shelf at retail stores in major cities. 

Challenges: Ayesha has no formal training in the culinary art. The major challenge was deciding to do something completely new and giving up a lucrative career to chase passion. According to Ayesha, the blog helped her and Anugrah become aware of the challenges in the trade. Focus helped them with the struggle in taking their start-up forward.

Future goals: They intend to open concept cafes in the Pink City and the NCR region. For this production scales will have to be increased and they would require a bigger production area. Tryst With Taste has taken roots in Jaipur.

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On the write road: From engineer to writer

Working in the corporate world, where she was earning a hefty package, that Nistha Tripathi realised that she was working too hard to make someone else's dream possible. While the pay was good, there was no time to spend that money. Since, she came from two of the world's Top 10 schools (University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and New York University's Stern School of Business), the expectations were to build a traditional career path and it was hard for anyone to understand why she wanted to pursue writing or get into an unfamiliar field in India. Writing was a passion for her but she needed some extra buffer to sustain her. Therefore, she began Scholar Strategy - an alternative, purely online strategic counseling service for engineers who are interested in pursuing MS/MIS/MBA in US universities. She did not know how feasible Scholar Strategy would be to counsel students and establish a trust and connection without meeting face to face. But online was the only way she would have gone because she did not want to tie herself to a physical location. She wanted to be able to work from anywhere and cater to students all over India. Meanwhile, she had an idea in mind for her first book, Seven Conversations, and she began working on it. It took her six months and couple of revisions to finish it. The harder part was to get it published. But she persevered and her hard work did bear fruit. Her book is a success and her venture Scholar Strategy has grown 700 per cent in two years. Soon she, she decided to write her second book targeted for engineers; it is called 'Smart Engineer's Complete Guide to MS in USA'.  She spent three months in Pondicherry earlier this year and is spending a month in Himachal and Kashmir now. She writes and travels. It is very close to the life she always dreamt of so yes, she feels divine happiness.

Challenges: The first thing was to accept that there was not going to be any paycheck at the end of every month. So, Nistha had to understand money management. She had to seek a way to earn money while writing because statistically, the chances of making money from writing are very low. 

Future goals: To help students make better career choices and expand Scholar Strategy. She has already started working on her third book.

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Five things to consider before making a shift 

Take your time: Develop a sound financial plan before taking the big leap. A hasty decision for a career change isn't a very good idea.

Identify your skill: More than any degree in your hands you should have the skill and determination to pursue it in a right manner.

Have savings: The purpose of saving is to have an emergency fund. Keep some funds aside for the take-off period.

Start small: It is prudent to start small and test the unfamiliar waters to avoid suffering crippling losses. Make a seed-stage investment. You can always upgrade later.

Risk factors: Whatever you may get into, just remember never to be scared or doubt your ability to succeed. Perseverance, faith and confidence in your abilities are a must.

Remember it's never over till it's over.