Entrepreneur

A companion of mine once described his brain as a washing machine, hurling and tumbling the solicitations and information that hit him at workplace from all directions. Numerous people I came across in my training programs also feel the same way – overwhelmed by the assault of information and to do list that goes with dependability on smart phone period.

The circumstances are not that diverse for most of the kids these days, with exclusive standards in the classroom and an apparently boundless supply of extracurricular exercises, such as robotics and circus arts that were not accessible to past eras. That is lamentable, in light of the fact that a research demonstrates that time-off-assignments are imperative for right and proper functioning of brain and our overall health.

Sleep

All creatures rest in some or other form, even plants and microorganism frequently have torpid or dormant state; because sleep in quintessential form of downtime for our brain. In numerous studies and research, Sleep has been considered and shown to be a noteworthy part in consolidation and memory formation.

Latest studies have also demonstrated that when human mind flips to sit still or idle mode, the neurons that work so hard while we are on taks settle down and encompassing glial cells expand their activity significantly, tidying up the waste items gathered by the neurons and moving them out through the lymphatic system of our body. According to researchers, Napping for at least 10 to 30 minutes has been shown to build readiness and enhance productivity level.

Educators should seriously mull over helping guardians to remind the significance of adequate sleep for learning in the classroom – particularly if learners are visibly drowsy or have perceptible trouble focusing in the class.

Going Offline

Due to massive energy consumption of the brain – utilizing nearly about 20% of body vitality consumption while on assignment or any task – most researchers expected that the organ would default to an economical, vitality sparing mode when given the possibility.

Recently set of scattered brain regions have found in a research that fire synchronizes when individuals switch to a state on mental rest; such as day dreaming. The state of mind helps us reinforce our memories, consolidate our learning, process our experiences, regulate our emotions, and keep us effective and production while performing tasks, judgments, etc. Default mode Network, or DMN which is a part of our brain that prattles on persistently when we’re off task can well describe this state of mind.

Most of us are socially adapted and conditioned to consider time off-assignments as “of no use” and an indication of sluggishness and inefficiency. Yet instructors and learners can profit by perceiving how downtime can offer assistance. Giving our brain a chance to comprehend what it has quite recently learned, shifting off task can help learners rejuvenate their minds when baffled, so they can come back to an issue and concentrate better to resolve.

Sitting idle and doing nothing

Sitting idle and doing nothing is often viewed as a bad habit, yet researchers have shown that there are several advantages of “doing nothing”. Electrical activity in the brain that seems to set certain sorts of memories is more continuous and frequent amid downtime, while lying in the dark than it is amid sleep.

Meditation is another method of offering your brain a reprieve from work without completely surrendering cognizance. Meditation can indeed revive our capacity to think, help us take care of undertakings the tasks more productively and fortifying connections between DMN regions.

Evidences have also shown that our brain profits by going offline or disconnected for even the short intervals of time – as when we blink. Each time we blink, our DMN starts up and our consciousness take rest for a minute, giving our conscious mind a relief.

Entrepreneur Media recently organized the 6^th Annual Convention for entrepreneurs and startups on 23rd-24th August at, Hotel Pullman, Aerocity, New Delhi. This two-day conference saw some of the brightest minds of India – veterans and young ones alike, sharing their experience in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, also to draw attention towards some of the best practices that they follow, in order to capture the consumers’ interest and get a successful business plan running smoothly. The conference included 5 distinct summits, keynotes and panel discussion, ignite talks, pitch stage, mentoring, and networking sessions aimed to give participants tailored opportunities to gain some valuable experience and build further a professional relationship with other brands that could help their ventures grow.

Within the Summit there were demo zones, experiential exhibitions, media interaction space and opportunities to connect with industry thought leaders and mentors, besides Entrepreneur’ Startup Kickoff; a platform where startups can come and pitch their business plans to investors/ VC’s/accelerators.

The event also witnessed the 6^th Annual Entrepreneur India Awards 2016, the most prestigious awards in the entrepreneurship arena, where Entrepreneur Media recognizes and felicitates achievers, innovators, and suppliers, who have contributed significantly towards the development of entrepreneurship in India.

Here is the list of the winners (in no specific order), who were felicitated for their outstanding work in the entrepreneurial ecosystem:

Tech Startup of the Year – Sandeep Aggarwal, CEO and Founder, Droom

Creating disruption through technology and adding great value to the online automobile buying experience for our users, Sandeep Aggarwal was honoured by the Tech Startup of the Year Award. Aggarwal is an angel investor, serial entrepreneur, philanthropist and Internet visionary. He is the founder of two marketplaces in India, Droom, an automobile marketplace and ShopClues, the largest managed marketplace and is also CEO of the former.

In April 2014, Aggarwal started Droom, which is a completely disruptive business that is creating unparallel trust and pricing advantage for buyers. Prior to Droom, Aggarwal founded ShopClues.com in California in late 2010 and moved to India to launch it as, India’s first managed marketplace, to empower 15 million SME sellers and unstructured categories e.g. fashion, home/kitchen etc. online. Sandeep founded ShopClues in an era when all the other eCommerce companies in India were inventory-led models.

Home or Craft – based Startup- Sonal Gupta and. Rajarshi Guha, Co-founders, Navrang, Colours of India

Sonal, being a first generation entrepreneur  Co-founded Navrang, a startup conceived to create awareness about the rich handloom culture of India and rejuvenate the lost glory of Indian handloom, thereby, showcasing the magical creations made by the faceless weavers and artisans of our country who are unaware of the real worth of their products, especially in a marketplace cluttered with mass produced replicas.

Digital/Online Start-up- Ashish Sirohi, Director, Eduwizards Infosolutions Private Limited

This platform employs cutting-edge technologies and is on track to being the home tuitions and online tuitions leader in India, as well as, the app-based online tutoring leader in both India and USA.

Emerging Startup- Jayaa Singh and Pradeep Singh, Co-founding Directors, Salokaya Healthcare

Jayaa and Pradeep Singh’s Salokaya is a medical home offering you reliable, comprehensive and clinically sound healthcare services and education.

Mobiity Start up of the Year- Satyajeet Mohanty and Ronak Kumar Samantray, Co-founders, Bolt Auto Technologies Private Limited

Satyajeet Mohanty and Ronak Kumar Samantray co-founded Bolt Auto Technologies Private Limited with the aim to build technology that impacts lives and to give it a form that gets easily adopted in the market.

Logistics/Fulfilment Startup of the Year- Dhruvil Sanghvi, CEO, LogiNext Solutions Private Limited

A perfect integration of technology, logistics and data analytics, LogiNext is a logistics service optimizer that leverages the power of Big Data and Data analytics to improve the performance of the supply chain and logistics functions across different segments. Their emphasis on the Internet of Things, Big Data and Automation enhances operations by allowing businesses to track their shipments in real-time and minimize losses occurring due to high logistics cost and operational uncertainties. It also serves as LogiNext’s USP.

Energy Start -up of the Year- Sachin G Jain, Co-founder and CEO, Oriano Clean Energy Private Limited      

Founded in 2015, Oriano Solar supplies clean solar power to corporates and industries while assisting them in reducing their energy bills. This in turn helps corporates to adopt clean energy. Till now Oriano has installed solar projects at more than 25 customer sites in 6 states and is installing over 40 MW of solar projects.

Young Entrepreneur of the Year – Deepak Sahni, Founder and CEO, Healthians.com

A self taught serial entrepreneur who loves disruption for good and has passion for Healthcare and Food Industry. Healthians.com aims to be India’s largest diagnostic and Wellness Company.

Social Entrepreneur of the Year- Deep Bajaj, Founder and Director, First Step Digital Private Limited (PeeBuddy)      

A product innovation social company, their unique intimate hygiene products solve myriad issues faced by Women. Using their solutions over 90 million women in India will feel empowered

Creative Entrepreneur of the Year – Sachin Bhatia, CEO, TrulyMadly

It’s 10% Luck, 20% Skill, 15% Concentrated power of Will, 5% Pleasure, 50% pain and a 100% reason to remember the name. Describes me, the brand and our organisation, says Sachin Bhatia.

Dynamic Entrepreneur of the Year ( Business Transformation )- Rohit M.A, Co-founder and Managing Director, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals

To be the kind of leader in the space of women and health that India has not witnessed yet, by providing premier quality healthcare to women and children

Acharya / Business Mentor of the Year- Parag Shah, Chief Mentor, MIDAS, Author, Antar Prerna an Entrepreneurs journey; Founder Director and Former Chairman, FLAME University; Managing Director,Oxford Golf & Country Club

Started with the course in Entrepreneurship at MIDAS, Parag Shah’s MIDAS is the first Institute in India, which has integrated 4 crucibles of entrepreneurship viz. effectuation, product development and innovation, critical thinking and writing and incubation. Till now they have tied up with 8 incubation centres all over the world.

Woman Entrepreneur of the Year- Radhika Ghai Aggarwal, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer, ShopClues.com          

Radhika is the first Indian woman founder to enter into the prestigious echelons of the unicorn club. As a Co-founder of ShopClues and the driving force behind its go-to-market initiatives, she has carefully nurtured the brand to make it a house-hold name in less than 5 years.

Entrepreneur of the Year- Dr. Rana Kapoor, Co-founder, Managing Director and CEO, Yes Bank      

Being an entrepreneur since 2003, Rana Kapoor is the man behind the Yes Bank, the fifth largest private sector bank in India.  Under the leadership of Kapoor, the bank has steadily evolved as the “Professionals’ Bank of India” with exemplary business and financial outcomes.

Life Time Achievement Award- Radhe Shyam Agarwal, Co- founder and Executive Chairman; Emami

Listed in top 100 richest Indian, R S Agarwal is known for founding Emami, a global group of company engaged in the business of FMCG, paper, real estate, edible oils, healthcare and cement. He was also listed by Forbes as having a net worth of $1.43 billion in 2015.

Apart from these, other awardees were, Hironmoy Gogoi, Founder and CEO, MCH Technologies received Student Entrepreneur of the Year; Raman Bhatia, Managing Director, Servotech Power Systems Private Limited gain the title of Green Entrepreneur of the Year; Family Entrepreneur of the Year title goes to Sankar Sen, Chairman and Managing Director, Senco Gold Limited;  Serial Entrepreneur of the Year was given to Bhavin Turakhia, CEO and Co-founder, Directi Private Limited and Professional Entrepreneur of the Year was awarded to Subbiah PL, Managing Director, Colorful Creations.

The show witnessed the presence of industry leaders like Sanjay Nath of Blume Venture Advisors Pvt. Ltd, Ravi Gururaj of NASSCOM Product Council, Priyank Kharge, Minister of State for IT & BT and Tourism, Government of Karnataka and Rajeev Chitrabhanu, CEO and Managing Director, JM Financial Services Ltd to name a few.

Following graduation from Mr. Rasheed began his professional career as a Technical Officer with a large corporate business. After four months he received promotion to become a District Extension Officer. Following a period of six months working in this job function, the interviewee became a Marketing Research Manager. As head of this department his duties were divided between project work and on-going provision of sales analysis, market forecasts, business trends and other budgetary information.

He also supervised a small team of staff who assisted him with these duties. After three years his work was changing to become largely product development and planning under the direction of the Corporate Planning Manager and it was this work that he found Particularly stimulating. Mr. Rasheed was also exposed to his first sales training and activities, largely developing sales of new products or new applications for old ones. At this time, Mr. Rasheed had the opportunity to move into his own property development business.

Before the age of twenty one, the interviewee knew nobody in business except for local shopkeepers in his area, he does not believe they influenced him in any way. After the age of twenty one, he still knew nobody in business apart from one friend who had begun a PR business, and another man who was father of a girl he knew, who owned a logistics business. He asked both of them some questions before starting on his own, nobody in his family or friends was at all entrepreneurial and he had no role models. During his youth, Mr. Rasheed had no business or self employment.

Initially the interviewee thought he would not like sales, but really his lack of marketing and sales was irrelevant, he learnt some marketing during his early employment and this provided a very good grounding when he began his own business. Mr. Rasheed feels that his early interest in horse racing, investing, stock markets and avoiding tax were his reasons for becoming interested in entrepreneurship. No individual nurtured this and he felt that his critical lessons did not begin until he had started his business, learning by experience and “jumping in at the deep end”. Mr.

Rasheed stated that prior to beginning his own business he had achieved a successful corporate career start, a nice house he bought at a good price, supportive parents, no fears, great self-confidence and a love of the business world he was in and no real personal requirements. He felt that because everything was so comfortable he needed to stretch himself. The opportunity Mr. Rasheed found the ideal starting point for him was an existing property development business advertised for sale in the classifieds of a news paper. He stated that he carried out no evaluation in terms of required elements for success, the competition or the market.

His driving forces were to get rich and to take control of his own destiny. He had no partners in the business, says he made some plans in his head and that his parents helped him by guaranteeing a loan that he took with the bank. Mr. Rasheed had no start up business loan and decided that he was just going to build on the existing business of the prior owner. From the initial idea that he wanted to work for himself, he says when he when he realized that some bosses were morons, he decided to take control of his own destiny, it was about two to three years from conception. He spent no time other than thinking about it in his daily routines.

Mr. Rasheed paid the equivalent of US$90,000 for the business and felt that this was too much, but did not know that at the time. He says that positive cash flow probably started after a few months but after a continuation of set backs, it was after he won some local government contracts that the business started to get ahead, perhaps two and a half years. The business suffered no real crises other than the usual cash flow that every new or growing business has to face. Fortunately the interviewee had an understanding bank. Apart from his parents, who came to help in his business to answer phones and help keep figures he got no outside help.

He always did his own tax, and tried to learn new technology to give him an edge. Mr. Rasheed said that no outside advisors really made any significant difference to his company. His family grew from one child born just as he began work for himself to three children after four and a half years. The major strength of his business was initially that it was relatively small and therefore able to react quickly in terms of taking and completing projects. His focus on details and the professionalism of the staff he employed helped to differentiate himself from the other businesses in the same area.

The major weakness in the early days was lack of money or the fact that all profit was sunk back into the business. In the initial growth phase of the business, their must triumphant moment was the winning of their first local government contract. The worst moment was after two months when a local contract was cancelled due to the change in ownership of the business and therefore halved the value of the business good will. Mr. Rasheed wanted to operate the business solo because he could then develop the business as he wanted without discussion with other partners. Growth phase Once the business was beginning to develop Mr.

Rasheed struggled with staffing, stating that good people are very hard to find. With regard to traits that he actively avoided in both employees and advisors, he would not employ complainers, people with a lack of common sense or people with poor health. The interviewee feels that the business has now become a lot less predictable than it was in the early days and that he probably spends as much time in the business now as he did in the early days. He still feels entrepreneurial due to the nature of the business, but he added that he is probably more cautious with risk now than he was at the outset, partly due to family commitments.

However, it is his intention to continue to build and expand the business. In an ideal world he would prefer to work less and spend more time with his family, however he accepts that this is unlikely to happen in the near future, partly because of his drive to grow the business. He does not plan to retire and claimed to not understand what the word meant. Mr. Rasheed re-evaluates and adapts his goals regularly, they have undoubtedly changed over the years, but this allows him to keep focused on what is important. When asked what the most demanding trade-offs he faced were, Mr.

Rasheed answered that this was undoubtedly choosing what he should spend his time doing, ensuring that it was the thing that adds most value to the business. He does not see the loss of time for personal hobbies as an issue, his business is both hobby and work. Mr. Rasheed described a time in the initial phase of the business when he ran out of money. A large customer defaulted on a final payment, leaving his next project vulnerable. It took a court order and a lengthy period to get the money, in the meantime he had to sell personal possessions (car etc. ) in order to make a director’s loan to the business and keep on trading.

The lesson that it taught him was not to be too trusting of customers and to try and build a cash reserve for the business at the earliest opportunity. Mr. Rasheed says he has learnt that the world is very corrupt and you might need to pay big bribes to win jobs in certain parts of the world. People taking bribes don’t care about your skills, technology, motives or the impact of their corruption on their own country or the environment. Summary Mr. Rasheed feels that his most valuable assets and the things that allowed him to ‘make it’ are the support of his parents and the knowledge he has gained in this journey.

If he had to do it all over again he would and in a similar way, but he feels that he would probably be less trusting of the people that he was doing business with. Over the next five years, Mr. Rasheed feels that the most critical element needed to grow entrepreneurial businesses will be cash. He feels that cash for working capital for new businesses will be difficult, if not impossible for new entrepreneurs to obtain. This will lead to a stagnation in the growth of entrepreneurial business throughout the world.

He does not feel that there is anything that can be learned to offset these issues. With regard to stress, Mr. Rasheed said that he experiences stress when he cannot control things, for example, government corruption, interference in methodology by new laws and when it appears he cannot do what he promises. He thinks this is the same for all jobs, all activities and responsibilities. Personally he finds working for what he believes in and the ability to have free time when he wants it the most personally rewarding and satisfying thing as an entrepreneur.

That and being able to personally build a business that he is proud of. Mr. Rasheed feels that the main rewards for him are knowledge and the ability to look his children in the eye and say he is proud to do what he does and give them the reasons for this. The risks are that he is wasting his life and has no other life to try again. The trade offs are that he spends too much time and money on his beliefs and not enough on enjoyment and he doesn’t have enough time with friends and family and for “me” things. When asked who should be an entrepreneur and who should not, Mr.

Rasheed answered that someone who is able to adapt to change should be one, someone afraid of change should not. The advice he would give to any aspiring entrepreneur would be to take it easy and work for a big company, the world will become uninhabitable in a hundred years so enjoy it while you can and remain in ignorance. He added that he had learned three important lessons, which would stand a budding entrepreneur in good stead. 1. Know yourself and what is important to you 2. Don’t trust people to do the sensible or correct thing 3.

Never stop trying to learn For many of these lessons you cannot minimise the tuition, you must make your own way in life and make your own mistakes and discoveries. Do not be afraid of mistakes, there is nothing bad about mistakes unless you fail to learn from them. A good life must be lived and there are no shortcuts, we all die so live each day to the fullest and be prepared and willing to have a go. Conclusion Mr. Rasheed did not do very much planning when he began his business and looking back he felt this was wrong, he is more cautious with risk now.

His business has grown strongly over the past few years but he advises that everyone must be planning for future bad times when the good times are here, and the reverse is also true. It is important to have a good support network, whether this is family, friends, business associates or a combination of all of these. Working as an entrepreneur is very demanding and can be very stressful, but the rewards seem to be the knowledge that you can create something yourself that you are proud of. There are downsides, but the feedback from the interviewee is that the plusses outweigh the negatives.

I’ve been labeled compulsive, a work addict, obsessive, out of balance and impossible to work with. People have told me I’m unreasonably demanding and have unrealistic expectations for myself and others. Solutions have been proposed to “cure” me of this problem. Doctors throw labels at me  like ADD, ADHD, OCD and more. Friends and family have asked me to chill out, relax, calm down, take it easy.

The problem I discovered is not with me, but them. What is killing America is the disorder of being obsessively-compulsively average.

Even if I have ADD or ADHD, this isn’t a “disease” that is abnormal, nor is it something that requires medication. As kids, we all are obsessive. It’s only when society teaches us to tone it down that we give up on the things we crave. My success started when I gave myself permission to fully own my obsession and harness it for good.

Denying my obsession nearly killed me when I was a young man, trading in my dreams of being super successful for a daily drug habit. I spent a month at a treatment center. When I was leaving the counselor told me, “You have an addictive personality. You have a disease you can never recover from. You have no control over your disease or your life, and the chances of you never using drugs again are next to nothing.”

While the treatment center gave me the opportunity to get off drugs, it didn’t fully rehabilitate me or address the reasons I started drugs in the first place. I left the place fragile and broken, just as I had come in. Since I was no longer under the influence of drugs, my uncertainty about life and my abilities were heightened, but I understood that denying my obsession caused my problems because drugs became an alternative.

It was then I commited to using my “addictive personality” for success. Thirty-plus 30 years, five companies and hundreds of millions of dollars later, I can attest that you must embrace your obsessions to be a great entrepreneur.

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Here are two tips I want to pass along today:

Stop blaming others.

In the late 1990s, it became popular to explore your to figure out the cause of your problems. A huge industry had grown around the idea that your parents gave you either too little attention or too much. The focus became your so-called dysfunctional family and your eternal search for your “inner child.” People were constantly talking about how broken they were and how their parents had messed them up.

Everything was labeled an addiction and a disease: work, sex, love, pets, drugs — there was even “addiction to addicts.” Since I have always been interested in improving myself, for some time I went to group meetings and looked for counselors who could help me find the root cause of my “problems.” This industry, regardless of your label, teaches that you are powerless and you were destined to never get over it.

This is a myth. Assigning blame to parents and factors outside your “control” and being focused on how broken you are will never improve your life. Stop blaming and making excuses for your life.

You have control.

When I started to turn my life around, I was surrounded by what seemed to be the whole world telling me I was powerless because I was an addict. People told me my obsessive nature was part of my genetics. If it’s part of my DNA, then what can I do? Luckily, this is false. Everyone has the ability to control things in their life.

My friend, —as if to be a great entrepreneur you have to have the right DNA. I completely disagree with this. Being a great entrepreneur is about giving yourself permission to be obsessed, something that every child has but is squashed by well-meaning but misinformed teachers and parents. I have control, and you can too. Choose to be addicted to success.

Realize that you have control in life, stop blaming others, and simply give yourself permission to become obsessed with the right things in life. Every great entrepreneur is an addict—and this isn’t a bad thing at all. People turn to destructive addictions when they give up on their hopes and dreams of being super successful.

If you have been labeled or drugged or are addicted to the wrong kind of obsessions, I recommend checking out my new book and get addicted to success! I will be donating 100 percent of my author’s proceeds to two non-profit charities that empower youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free. Pre-order .

Encouraging entrepreneurship is in vogue nowadays, particularly on the campaign trail. We know our economy needs more entrepreneurs, but the way many policymakers frame the debate may not be doing much good.

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Grants? Government-backed loans? Programs to encourage people to start a business (while glossing over the pitfalls and high likelihood of failure)? All play well to voters, but could be hindering success.

At least that’s the view of Anthony Scaramucci, the founder and co-managing partner of , the investment firm best known for the annual SALT conference in Las Vegas, which is itself a who’s-who of finance, culture and government policy. Entrepreneur contributor Scaramucci, who says he was “scared sh-t 90 percent of the time” back when he was building Skybridge, believes that much of the current dialogue about the power of entrepreneurship misses the point. 

“We need to have an honest conversation about it,” Scaramucci told me.

In fact, while everyone gives lip service to helping support new businesses, “The current environment has almost discouraged entrepreneurship over the last 10 years, thanks to onerous taxes and regulations,” Scaramucci said. We were having lunch recently at his Hunt & Fish Club restaurant in New York. “If we don’t become more self-advocating, it’s going to get worse,” added Scaramucci (who — full disclosure — is an old friend).

He then listed three realities about American entrepreneurship that need to be acknowledged . . . and fixed. Here they are:

1. The reality: No entrepreneur is an island.

Scaramucci recalled being a “smug 23-year-old Harvard Law grad thinking, ‘I’m going to own my own business and be my own boss.’”  But, then, he said he realized, you’re really never your own boss. You have customers that always come first. You have people that work for you that you need to keep happy. “Your company is a social organism,” he says. “It has its own vital signs.”

The fix, according to Scaramucci: “There’s not enough Undercover Bossing going on,” he said, referring to the CBS show that follows executives who go undercover to learn about their businesses. “We need to create more small-business councils to promote peer networking, he said. “And, ask entrepreneurs where they need help. Start mentorship programs. Match entrepreneurs from the same field. Let them and learn from each other.”

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2. The reality: There’s no financial safety net.

Tons of ambitious entrepreneurs are so fired up about their new business idea that they just dive in. They put their heads down and work 24/7 to get their product out there. But many don’t think through the financials. They have no real savings and no safety net in case of emergencies.

The fix, according to Scaramucci: Start with policies that, on the surface, seem unrelated to entrepreneurship: healthcare and the tax code. Many companies find that a bulk of their profits go toward paying for healthcare, particularly under Obamacare, and complying with an outdated tax structure, he said.

The costs under Obamacare are likely to increase, as more and more large insurers back out of the plans; and that, in turn, will increase the potential tax burden on businesses, Scaramucci said.

So, the fix is that someone should find the political spine to reform the whole tax code, he said, which “hurts small businesses way more than it helps them.”

3. The reality: You can’t control your own destiny.

The reality is, there are so many other outside influences that are completely out of your control, Scaramucci told me.

“There was very little I could have done to control the global financial crisis,” he said, noting that his fund went from $460 million to $220 million during that time. (It had $12.3 billion in assets under management, as of this past July 31.) “There were times I had to project confidence, but it was much like I was waist-high in a pool,” he said. “From my chest up, you couldn’t tell my knees were knocking.”

The fix, according to Scaramucci: Regulations are out of our control these days — and they shouldn’t be. And while we can’t control the price of oil or the possibility of a terrorist attack, we can help make regulations more reasonable so that entrepreneurs can find a little more stability in their businesses.

Scaramucci referred to a 2012 by the late South Dakota senator (and 1972 Democratic presidential candidate) George McGovern, who wrote: “Too often . . . public policy does not consider whether we are choking off those opportunities.” Because that’s what burdensome regulations do, Scaramucci said. They cost business owners tons of money and prohibit growth.

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Instead, entrepreneurship should be seen as an journey, Scaramucci said. “I have learned more about myself and others through the process,” he said, arguing for honesty. Only honesty, he said, will enable us to encourage others to take the entrepreneurial journey and ultimately help our economy flourish.

Sometimes, it just seems like we have far more tasks on our to-do lists than we can reasonably accomplish.

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That’s why I’ve compiled this giant list of “efficiency hacks” busy entrepreneurs can use to improve their long-term productivity, in each of five main categories:

• Routine hacks, to improve your daily processes.
• Mental and emotional hacks, to improve your mental state and emotional health.
• Communication hacks, to increase your communicative efficiency.
• Team hacks, to ensure you have the best people working for and with you.
• Analysis and improvement hacks, to help you better understand how you work.

Go ahead and dig in:

Routine hacks

1. Say no. Your bosses, clients, peers and employees are all going to be asking you for things, pretty much all the time. The more often you say yes, the more indispensable you’ll feel, but the bigger your task list will grow. Learn to feel confident in saying no every once in a while — I promise it won’t kill your reputation.

2. Take breaks more frequently. We’ve all felt “too busy to take a break” before, but the reality is . They help you feel better rested, improve your focus and boost your mood, all at the same time. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, take a break from what you’re doing more frequently; and, weirdly enough, you’ll get more done.

3. Wake up iteratively earlier. We all wish we had more time in the morning, but setting an alarm three hours early seems like an insurmountable challenge. Instead, set it back a minute or two further each day to gradually adapt yourself to earlier mornings.

4. Set a schedule for the day, the night before. Mornings are busy, and by the time you’re in the middle of your day, you’re already in the thick of things. Take 10 minutes every night to set a loose agenda for how your day’s going to go. It may not be perfect, but it will keep you on task.

5. Establish a priority hierarchy. Learn to establish priorities for yourself (and hold yourself to them). For example, you could set “A,” “B” and “C” priorities, where A is urgent, B is important, and C is not immediately important. Focus on A tasks first, and don’t worry about C.

6. Set a timer for each task. Setting a timer for your tasks . It gives you a sense of urgency, forcing you to work a little faster. It helps you keep track of time. And it rewards you with the promise of a mental break when the timer’s up.

7. Start with something challenging. Though this may not be the same for every person, most of us benefit from doing a challenging task first thing in the morning — something we don’t want to do. When you do do this, you feel accomplished, and everything else seems to be easier.

8. Turn off all communication for “focus time.” Communication is one of our biggest distractions as entrepreneurs, so when you really need to get something done, turn off everything—your phone, your email, and any of your chat programs — and dedicate some time to focus.

9. Play moderate-volume music. There are conflicting reports of whether music enhances or stifles productivity, but the empirical evidence suggests that moderate-volume music that you actually want to hear (genre doesn’t matter) . Make it too soft and you won’t hear it — too loud, and it will be distracting.

10. Listen to audiobooks and podcasts. Let’s face it: We don’t always have time to read. But there’s almost always time to fit in a short section of an audiobook or podcast, especially during your commute. This can help you relax, clear your mind and also teach you something new you can use in your daily life.

11. Keep note-taking tools on you at all times. You never know when inspiration is going to strike, or when you’ll meet someone important, so keep note-taking tools on you at all times. Fortunately, having a smartphone makes this easier — you can just use an or one of the default tools on your device.

12. Set goals for yourself and publicly disclose them. Whether they’re big-picture goals, like getting a promotion in a few years, or just getting through Monday without having a panic attack, yours should be set and firm; and something you tell people about. Publicly disclosing your goals helps keep you accountable, and simply having goals in the first place can go a long way toward your accomplishing them.

13. Let someone else do the driving on your commute. Why are you driving to work when you could be taking public transportation, or an Uber or Lyft ride? Depending on your city, it might be a bit more crowded, a bit less reliable, or a bit slower, but you’ll have your hands free to do work, essentially ridding yourself of the dead space that’s usually associated with commuting.

14. Stop reading the news. Reading the news is important for entrepreneurs, but stop doing it as a way to distract yourself. It’s too easy to log into social media or visit your favorite news site for “just a few quick headlines.” We’re , and you need to start breaking the habit to free up more time for actual productivity.

15. Stop multitasking. Seriously. Multitasking “feels” like you’re getting more done in the same amount of time, but it’s wrecking your ability to complete tasks efficiently. In fact, it can be credited for an .

16. Do batches of short tasks at once. We all have those little tasks that pile up on our desks; these are usually administrative things like signing off on paperwork or catching up on an email. Try to “batch” these short tasks together so you accomplish them all at once and don’t have to worry about them nagging at you.

17. Start working from home. Some studies suggest that . Provided you’re in an authoritative enough position to make the call, consider adopting this for your own work. You can always go back if it doesn’t work out.

18. Eliminate perfectionist tendencies. Entrepreneurs tend to be creative and driven by analytics, and in our high-paced industry, these characteristics of the job bring in a lot of perfectionists. Ordinarily, this is a good thing — it means our work is of a higher caliber, on average — but it can also interfere with your ability to complete tasks. Try not to over-stress about the little things. Perfection is often the enemy of progress.

19. Use automation software when possible. Marketing automation isn’t always a good idea, but there are plenty of opportunities to use it effectively. For example, you can schedule social media posts, schedule marketing emails, or update your calendar all automatically — .

20. Try the two-minute rule. The colloquially named “two-minute rule” is this; if it takes two minutes or less to accomplish a task, just do it. Otherwise, it will take you more time to write it down and recall it in the future than it takes to actually do the task. Silly, right?

21. Slowly replace your bad habits. Bad habits are nasty, and you know you have some — checking your email too often, checking Facebook, and so on — but how can you break them easily without losing your mind? One of the best ways is to gradually replace them with “good” habits as variants. .

22. Use more pen and paper. Though this may seem obsolete to you and make you feel that you came from a forgotten era, try using more pen and paper. It will help you concentrate, improve your memory of whatever you’re writing and best of all: There are no distractions on a blank piece of paper, as opposed to a screen connected to the internet.

23. Break big tasks down into smaller ones. When you’re staring at a massive, time-consuming project, it’s easy to feel intimidated—sometimes too intimidated to start it. But instead of trying to tackle that behemoth, break it up into smaller, more manageable sub-tasks.

24. Always give yourself more time than you need. Most of us are bad at estimating time, . If you always estimate that you’ll need more time than you think, you’ll always be ahead of the game.

Related:

25. Get coffee or tea in the afternoon. It’s traditional to have a cup of coffee (or tea) in the morning to perk yourself up, but it might actually be more effective in the afternoon, when you’re hitting a midday slump. A bit of caffeine here can kick you back into action.

26. Make faster decisions. You need to intelligently consider your decisions, but you can’t dwell on them or you’ll waste time. Come to final decisions faster, and you’ll be able to move forward faster.

27. Cleanup your computer’s desktop. Does your desktop look like the image below? It’s easy for clutter to fill up your background if you don’t tidy it up regularly, and just seeing it can interfere with your productivity. Take a few minutes to get it back in order.

28. Organize your digital files. In a similar vein, take the time to organize all your digital files, whether they’re in cloud storage or on your desktop. Establish a clear hierarchy of folders and directories, and adhere to a standard naming convention to reduce confusion for yourself and everyone else on your team.

29. Find a distraction-blocking browser plugin. There are tons of browser plugins developed specifically to keep you from your most tempting distraction websites. There’s a .

Mental and emotional well-being hacks

30. Make your bed in the morning. Making your bed won’t instantly give you new ideas or help you do your work faster, but it will give you a chance to slow down and clear your head after you wake up. It also sets a standard for organization and completeness, which you can carry throughout your day.

31. Take a vacation. Earlier, I mentioned how important it was to take breaks on a daily basis. But it’s also important to take vacations and get away from everything (from time to time). Otherwise, you could end up .

32. Get plenty of sleep. It may seem that you don’t have enough time, but you have to make time. you should be getting seven to eight hours of sleep a night. If you aren’t, you’re going to suffer from impaired cognitive abilities.

33. Exercise regularly. Exercise has innumerable benefits, so try to squeeze some in every day. You’ll get a short-term boost from the adrenaline, and you’ll feel better mentally and emotionally from the endorphin release. You’ll also have more energy and be able to focus longer.

34. Meditate each morning (or each evening).  will help you reduce your stress load, improve your cognitive functions and boost your mood. It’s challenging to develop it as a habit, but once you do, you won’t regret it.

35. Drink more water. It’s a simple hack, so why not take advantage of it immediately? Our brains and bodies are made mostly of water, so staying hydrated can keep them functioning as they should. Keep a glass of water by your desk throughout the day.

36. Eat healthier foods. It’s no secret that junk food is bad for you, but it can actually impair your work performance by leaving you feeling groggy, unsettled or without energy. Instead, rely on proteins, complex carbohydrates and good standbys like fruits and vegetables.

37. Keep prepared snacks ready at your desk. When you need a quick boost of energy, the vending machine and fast food restaurants are tempting, so keep healthy snacks at your desk to keep you plowing through. Nuts, dried fruits and whole grains are good ideas here.

38. Keep a blog or journal. Keeping a journal (or blog, if you feel like making it public — just be careful) can help you organize your thoughts for the day, reflecting on what you did well or poorly, and expressing your feelings. It’s a in one.

39. Take a break from the screen. When you stare at a screen for eight hours a day, you’re bound to get headaches (or at least have that buggy-eyed feeling). Step away from the screen — and your desk — to get some fresh air; or at least walk around the office. You’ll come back feeling renewed.

40. Find something to be excited about. It doesn’t much matter what it is, but you need something to feel excited about throughout the workday to keep you going. An upcoming concert? A date? A Netflix binge? Whatever it is, remind yourself it exists when you hit a wall.

41. Reward yourself for finishing major tasks. It’s much easier to hit a good momentum when you feel like your effort is worth it. Reward yourself when you finish big projects, with a break or splurge.

42. Get a pet (or look at animal pictures). Physical affection and “cute things” can have . If you can’t have a pet at the office, at least look up some cute animal pictures.

43. Call someone you love. Talking to a loved one , a feel-good chemical associated with social contact. It will help reenergize you if you feel that your productivity is slipping.

44. Declutter your desk and office. Though it’s said that geniuses often have messier spaces, dealing with a cluttered desk and office is the last thing you need on a busy day. Take a few moments to organize your belongings.

45. Enjoy your weekends. Weekends are like miniature vacations, and they’re important for you to use. If you’re trying to work through your weekend or you’re pulled into work conversations, you’re not relaxing.

46. But do a bit of work on Sunday. That being said, Sunday is a perfect day to get ahead for the week. You won’t be distracted by communication or incoming assignments, and you’ll have plenty of time to get things done. Build a runway for yourself, and start Monday more efficiently.

47. Look at the positive side. A simple adjustment to your perspective — namely, thinking more positively — can have a huge effect on your . Try to correct negative thinking and look at the positive side of everything.

48. Surround yourself with color. Being in a monotone work environment can make you feel bored or trapped. Instead, try surrounding yourself with more color in any way you can; it will stimulate your thinking and relieve stress.

49. Include more art in your workspace. Along these lines, include more abstract art in your workplace. Not only will it help you destress; it can prime your creativity to help you find better solutions.

50. Add plants to your workspace. For reasons we haven’t quite figured out yet, . Perhaps it’s be the “natural” sense they give, or an extra boost of oxygen; or else people may just generally like plants.

51. Get creative on your breaks. Exercise your creative muscles when you’re on breaks by doodling, singing or writing. Creative exercises relieve stress and can encourage you to come up with more creative solutions.

52. Keep something inspiring close. Keep things at your desk that inspire you, whether they’re small reminders of a goal, a picture of a loved one or a motivational book. You’ll need something to turn to on those rough days to keep yourself going.

Communication Hacks

53. Keep meetings to 15 minutes. It’s generally agreed upon but rarely enforced that . You’re forced to get to the crux of your issues and waste less time with fluff. Try to keep meetings to 15 minutes — 30 at most.  

54. Announce meeting agendas proactively and assign homework. When you need to call a meeting, schedule it in advance, and assign homework so your participants are ready for it. That way, you can all hit the ground running.

55. Reduce your number of meeting participants. There’s no reason to invite the entire department. Stop yourself from clicking all those recommended email addresses and stick to only the most important participants.

56. Maintain focus in meetings. You have an agenda for your meeting, so do your best to stick to it. If people start veering off course, it’s your responsibility to bring them back to the issue at hand.

57. Play to the strengths of each medium. There are dozens of communication mediums to choose from, so use them to their greatest strengths. For example, texts are good for fast, short messages, while email is better for extended batches of information; and phone calls are better for a back-and-forth conversation.

58. Cut off unproductive email chains. Email chains can get unwieldy, especially with multiple recipients. If they start deviating from the main subject or fail to make progress, cut them off and opt for a meeting instead.

59. Always use subject lines. Subject lines exist for a reason: Use them. Nobody likes getting an email with a blank subject line.

60. Batch emails. When you’re trying to sort your emails or declutter an inbox, try batching your emails together. Delete them en masse, or move them to specific folders. Speaking of which . . . 

61. Organize your emails. Take the time to organize your emails into folders or use . It only takes a few clicks to create a new folder or label, and you can start sorting your emails accordingly. Use it to group your messages by category or to mark them as tasks getting completed.

62. Unsubscribe from those annoying lists. Like most entrepreneurs, you probably get at least a dozen marketing emails a day that you never pay attention to. These waste your time and attention, so be proactive and unsubscribe from them.

63. Keep teleconferences to a minimum. Phone calls are still a decent way to have a conversation, even in this modern era of technological advancement. However, multi-way calls, where people speak over one other, can be nightmarish in complexity. Keep teleconferences to a minimum.

64. Establish running threads of communication. Try to keep as much conversation “on the record” as possible. This holds people accountable to what they’ve said, and serves as a reference point for anyone confused about what was said, when and by whom.

65. Reduce everything to bullet points. Bullet points are an easy way to (and more skimmable). Try to include them as often as possible to help improve comprehension of your messages.

66. Focus on action items. No matter how you communicate, you should turn your ultimate focus to action items. Why are you communicating? What do you and the other participants need to do once you leave here?

67. Don’t interrupt anyone unless absolutely necessary. Interruptions distract you and break your train of thought; they’re productivity killers. Set a standard of non-interruption by interrupting people only when it’s an emergency.

68. Keep all your notes in one place. Earlier, I recommended having a note-taking app for on-the-go needs. Here, you’ll need to make sure your entire team’s notes are all centrally located and (possibly) publicly available.

69. Learn to speed read. Speed reading will enable you to consume more content at a faster rate and comprehension level. There are , including apps to guide you in the right direction.

70. Reduce alerts. Alerts, such as new email, text or tweet notifications, serve as minor interruptions that disrupt your thinking and demand your attention. Try to reduce or eliminate them wherever you can, even for communication apps relevant to your team.

71. Get feedback on everything. Feedback is your . Try to get feedback wherever you can, from workers, from bosses, peers and clients. The more you learn about yourself, the better.

72. Give feedback on everything. Similarly, you’ll want to give feedback to everyone you work with to build a better overall working environment. Everyone can benefit from this, and you’ll establish an atmosphere where feedback is expected and encouraged.

73. Ask for help before you need it. You can’t be a superhero 100 percent of the time. As an entrepreneur, you’ll be pushed to your limits, and you’ll need to ask for help. So swallow your pride and do this sooner rather than later.

74. Be concise. Concise communication is almost universally better communication; you waste less time and are forced to get to your central point faster. There’s also less ambiguity. Practice conciseness in your daily life and all forms of communication, and you’ll naturally improve in your abilities.

75. Listen more.

No matter what your position is, you can . Listening attentively increases your understanding, teaches you more and even makes you appear more intelligent to the other party. Commit yourself to listening more and listening better.

Team Hacks

76. Hire on potential. If you’re in a position to hire, consider hiring based on potential, rather than past experience. Experience is good, but it also demands a higher cost up-front, and it tells you nothing about where a person could be going. Ask about the future, and you’ll learn more about a person’s potential path.

77. Learn to delegate effectively. Delegation is key to keeping your plate clear and helping your organization operate smoothly. , delegating to the right people and being as clear as possible in your communications can all help you out here.

78. Know your outsourcing options. Sometimes, your team just won’t be enough to handle a specific project or execute your workload. In these cases, it pays to know your outsourcing options, which may include a network of contractors, a corporate partner or even a freelancer marketplace like .

79. Find a good mentor. A good mentor can help you in a number of different ways, giving you advice, providing feedback on your work, finding your direction and even just bonding. Mentors are everywhere if you attend networking events regularly and stay plugged into your community.

80. Share time-saving strategies. If you find a strategy that helps you save time, share it with the rest of your team. There’s no reason to keep it a secret. Encourage them to do the same.

81. Use better coordination and project management software. If you’re like most entrepreneurs, your team relies on some kind of central force for the bulk of its collaboration — something like project management software. There are , so do your research and choose the best fit for your brand.

82. Set better standards for communication. If you’re a team leader, you’ll be in charge of setting the standards for how your team communicates. Don’t be afraid to formally document some guidelines for communication, including how to structure emails, and follow those guidelines to set a good example.

83. Hold one other accountable. Foster an atmosphere of mutual accountability among your team members. Encourage your teammates to call each other out when they’re doing something inefficiently, and embrace that criticism when you encounter it. This will help you maintain a more consistent environment without resorting to micromanagement.

84. Facilitate open dialogue. Make your employees and peers feel comfortable talking to you about anything; this takes a while, but can be done through mutual trust, building your approachability, and active listening. Open dialogue will help you gather more feedback, address problems more proactively and get to know your team better.

85. Get a white board. This may seem simple, or even obsolete, but you won’t believe how effective a physical white board can be at improving team collaboration. It’s a great tool for team-based brainstorming and demonstration, or you could use it as a long-term institution for and similar approaches to project management.

86. Make everyone participate. Your team is just that — a team. There are individuals, sure, but the true power here comes from everyone participating as actively and as consistently as possible. When you have team meetings or brainstorming sessions, force everyone to participate in some way. Everyone’s voice is valuable.

87. Make time for team bonding. Bonds can’t be artificially created, nor can they be forced, but they’re still important for your team members to work together effectively. You can make time for team bonding by going out to lunch together, playing games together or scheduling outside-work activities.

88. Use cloud software for file sharing and storage. By now, you’re already using cloud software to back up your files and share them with one other. This software is relatively inexpensive, ensures the safety of your files and keeps everyone on the same page. Even simple setups, with things like and , can improve your collaborative performance.

Analysis and improvement hacks

89. Learn to type faster. This may seem like you’re going back to high school, but think about it: How much time do you spend per day typing? If you’re an entrepreneur wearing many hats, this should be especially high priority. Improving your typing speed by even 10 or 20 percent could result in massive time savings.

90. Read books and high-authority articles (on anything — no, really). Anything you read can and will be valuable to you as an entrepreneur. You might learn a new skill or get a briefer on a new industry, or you might venture into a magical world. Whatever you do, you’ll be improving your memory, focus and vocabulary, and opening your mind to new worlds and perspectives.

91. Time how long it takes you to do certain things. Use time-tracking software or even a simple timer at your desk to figure out how long it takes you to do each of your usual daily tasks. Then, evaluate any surprises. What takes you longer than you thought? How can you reduce this time?

92. Learn when you’re most productive. Everyone is different. Some people work best in the morning. Others work best at night. Most are all over the place. Pay close attention to your concentration and productivity levels, and see what you can do to optimize your schedule and cater to those peaks and valleys.

93. Note distractions and eliminate them. Distractions are the enemy of productivity, but they’re notoriously difficult to remove. The first and  — so stay conscious of when you’re being distracted, and note what’s doing the distracting.

94. Remove your least-productive apps. Take a look at your phone and any other devices you have and take inventory of all the apps you have on there. How many of these are actually useful? How many just drain your time? It might be a hard move to make, but try deleting some of your most time-consuming, least-productive apps. You can always re-download if you really miss them.

95. Keep your devices and software up-to-date. The technology you use plays a major role in how productive you can be — you can only go so fast with an older machine. That’s why it’s important to make sure you’re using the latest devices and software to keep you and your team operating at full capacity.

96. Organize a list of your best news sources. Rather than hunt and peck for the latest news stories on the topic of your choice, create and organize lists of news sources you can access faster in the future. You can use a for this.

97. Keep in contact with at least two peer sources. Try to maintain at least two contacts within your industry, and keep in contact with them once or twice per month. You can hold each other accountable for your goals, exchange information and build off one other’s ideas.

98. Attend a new class or workshop once a month. There’s always more to learn as an entrepreneur, so try to attend at least one new class or workshop every month. It’s a great learning opportunity, it’s usually fun and you’ll probably get the chance to meet lots of interesting new people.

99. Get used to root-cause analysis. Root-cause analysis will be your best friend in . So you’re distracted — how did you get here? Your assignment wasn’t done on time; why not?

100. Accept your failures and move on. You’re not perfect, and you’re never going to be. You’ll procrastinate, get distracted and take more time on projects than you should. It happens, so don’t beat yourself up about it. Accept your failures, and move past them.

101. Keep reading productivity and efficiency articles. This is my cheeky piece of meta-advice, encouraging you to read more articles like this one. Though you might have found this article in an effort to procrastinate on a tougher assignment, you’ve probably learned something valuable here; and that will likely reoccur with every new productivity article you read.

The term “hack” is always dubious when it’s applied to real life, but I hope these strategies, habits and ideas have been helpful for you. With such a vast quantity of potential ways to improve your performance (not to mention your health), you can be guaranteed that there’s at least one thing here you haven’t heard before, and that can improve your life as a busy entrepreneur in some meaningful way.

Related:

So, give them a shot! You’ve got nothing to lose, and hours of time and productivity to gain. For more help on starting a successful business, see .

Diwali is the most celebrated festival in India and even today everyone celebrates this occasion keeping all the traditions in mind.

Though most of us today have busy schedules and extensive work load on our heads, we manage to juggle between work and home to light diyas (lamps), make rangolis and prepare our delicacies during the festival. We at Entrepreneur India asked entrepreneurs to share memories of this festival from childhood.

Sachin Jaiswal, CEO, niki.ai : “For me, childhood Diwali celebrations were about having a family get together and spending quality time with my closed ones. We continue this ritual in our company too. Niki team is a family, and we celebrate Diwali together in the office, with sweets, snacks, games and laughter.”

CLIO Retail Founder Hema Vinothini

Back in the 90’s, Diwali was one big festival. In some ways it still is but the magnitude is much lesser. You can blame our busy lives, visiting our relatives are replaced with  Facebook wishes , whatsapp forwards  & Tweets. I still remember the excitement we had when we bought our  new dresses for Diwali, surfing all the shops much satisfying than online shopping. During that period Deepavali is synonymous with movie releases and TV programs .Booking First day show for Rajnikanth s movie was epic With Rajinikanth and Kamalhassan battling for supremacy. The another traditional part was our mother waking us up at the wee hours in the morning to take oil bath.For the entire week before Diwali, my mother assembled all the sugar and ghee to make a mountain load of sweets and Kai Murukku (south indian savories)for us and to be shared with family and friends.

In short Diwali meant the following things – crackers, sweets, and new movie releases.Bursting 10000 walas back then was a matter of cheap pride and thrill .But nothing can hold a candle to what it was back then, I miss it all. A lot.

Talking about the cultural nuances, CEO of Newspatrolling, Pankaj Bansal said “For our families, Diwali, in my childhood days, was a lot about socializing. Relatives, friends and acquaintances from the city and neighborhood used to come together to exchange Diwali greetings and have fun lighting diyas, bursting crackers and gorging on tasty food. That culture still exists, but the involved numbers have come down, as a significant chunk has moved onto the web, instant messaging and social media platforms. I certainly miss the bonhomie and unrestrained, joyful celebrations of those days.”

Mr Rohit Pansari, Co-Founder, DoneThing linked his memories to the pristine glory of festival in the past and his gourmet experience. He said “Diwali has always been much more than just a festival, it has a taste of nostalgia. As children, we grew up celebrating Diwali at our ancestral home, where we would be reunited with cousins and extended family. The best memories I had was that of storytelling sessions by our grandfather, while the delicacies were being prepared and the house being decorated with sparkling diyas and rangolis. We looked forward to that break from school to enjoy week-long festivities. We would often have guests over during the week, and my mother would send me off with some money to get samosas and jalebis from the local sweet shop. I would save myself some extra money to buy some patakas on my way back. Life was so easy then. Now, Diwali is different. I have to worry about house cleaning, plan my week in advance if I am hosting a Diwali cards party, find a caterer, worry about dinner menu, plan the gifts to be exchanged and stock up the snacks to entertain unexpected guests.”

A childhood Diwali memory as shared by Mr. Digendra Singh Rathore, Co-Founder and CEO at Fella Homes – “Just like Lord Rama, Diwali was my homecoming; either from the boarding school or college. Catching up with my family relatives, childhood buddies after the Diwali Puja was an open opportunity that I sought every time and continue to do the same even today. Scrumptious Sweets. Caring Family. Gleaming Markets. Delightful Celebrations. Alluring Homes. Godly Love. This is my recipe to the happiest nostalgic moments of Diwali celebrations I had . Happy Diwali.”

Mr Gaurav Garg, Co-Founder, Kloseby says “Diwali during my childhood was like a fairy tale, where you could get all the good things you liked. Those were the times when we used to accompany our parents to buy clay diyas in hundreds along with sweets, firecrackers, decorations and other souvenirs. The energy was clearly evident, as our home used to buzz with various activities such as house cleaning & beautification, puja preparations, and welcoming and looking after guests. I always waited with great excitement to open the gifts that relatives and friends used to bring, and it was a very pleasurable experience. As school kids, we used to visit all our friends and teachers, which was great fun, especially when the Diwali treats were served. The days leading up to Diwali, the festivities, and then the days after that – everything put together makes a complete package that has no substitute.”