1. Ramayana: The Epic of Entrepreneurial
Lessons
Ramayana, the sacred book is read at most of the
houses. This month is celebrated as Ramayana
month and Ramleela is played in the country. The
book describes the heroic efforts of Lord Rama to
kill the evil demon Ravana. Though it is a religious
book, it also teaches us management and
leadership lessons. An entrepreneur can
implement these lessons to see his startup grow as
a successful enterprise.

2. 1. Follow a code of ethics and be ready to sacrifice to
follow it
Rama brought ethical decision making
in all areas of his life. There are many
leaders who make a sacrifice once in
order to build credibility and then use
it to make unethical decisions later
relying on the knowledge that their
initial sacrifice would make them
immune to attacks. When Ravana
paraded to battle on the first day
without sufficient preparations and
was rendered weaponless by Rama,
he was allowed to return to his fort
because Rama followed the code of
loyalty that an unarmed enemy
should not be attacked.

3. 2. Have a future oriented plan
The objective of Rama was
future oriented. He was
ordered to stay away from
Ayodhya for 14 years in a
forest. This long term
actions gave Rama enough
time to plan, organize
resource and strike against
Ravana at an apt time so
that mission could be
completed without failure.

4. 3. Stand courageously in the face of great adversity
Following Sita's kidnap, Rama
wandered poor and ruined in
the forests searching for Sita.
The Ramayana is full of touching
details of Rama's sadness and
his memory of Sita. Yet this grief
did not prevent him from
searching for partners even
when the enemy was unknown.
Rama maintained his courage
even at the darkest hours and in
doing so inspired his army to not
only continue the unequal fight,
but also win it.

5. 4. Treat everyone equally
Rama was a prince who interacted
freely with the people. Rama did
not have any biases regarding
developing relationships with
people of a lower social status. Thus
he accepted the hospitality of the
chief of the fisher folk and allied
with the forest tribes who were out
of the light of normal society. In
fact, Rama gave them positions of
equality. This was not only due to
the war conditions since he
maintained the same relationship
when he won the war. Not
surprisingly, he received great
loyalty from all.

6. 5. Consult subordinates on important matters
and allow them to give their opinions freely
When Vibhishan defected, Rama
took him under his protection. He
then had a talk with the various
army chiefs some of whom
disagreed with Rama. Instead of
punishing them, Rama got them
to accept his decision. Everybody
felt that their opinions had been
heard and that their objections
had been clarified. Empowerment
of subordinates to question his
decisions was a key and unique
quality of Rama which contrasted
with Ravana who never allowed
anybody to contradict him.

7. 6. Be armed with knowledge, strategy,
intelligence, skills, commitment
These are the weapons that
helped Rama win the mammoth
battle and would help you in
this exciting and demanding
journey. Rama said to his army
before entering into the
battle, “Arm yourself with these
and no war will be lost.” After
the battle, his army—the group
of men and monkeys defeated
the heavily equipped Ravana
and his forces.

8. 7. Brand is bigger than the "owner" of the
brand
A big challenge on the way to Lanka was to cross the
southern sea. People suggested inscribing the name “Rama”
on the stone and then throwing it. Surprisingly it worked and
a construction of the bridge started by monkeys ‘Nal’ and
‘Neel’. After sometime Rama decided to help and he threw a
stone in the ocean. To everyone’s amazement, it sank.
Everyone realized that it happened because the stone was
not inscribed with “Rama”.
Lord Rama was confident that he does not need to use his
"brand" as he was THE "brand" and tried to repeat the
magic. But it did not work. It was not "branded" with
"Rama".
This explains that a brand is always bigger than the owner of
the brand. An entrepreneur should feel good when people
recognize him by the name his company. He should feel
happy that his brand is becoming bigger than him.

9. 8. Be a storehouse of
strength, energy, and passion
Rama said that the horses
of the chariot are
strength, energy, and
passion. In a battle and so
in your entrepreneurial
venture, you must have
the strength to
discriminate between the
right and wrong, and the
zeal and perseverance to
keep working towards
your goal.

10. 9. Foremost ingredients of Entrepreneurship:
Character, Courage, Ethics, Valor
Rama told to Vibhishan that the four
wheels of the chariot are character,
courage, ethics, and valor. Character
is the most essential thing for a
leader. As an entrepreneur, you must
know who you are and what you
stand for and communicate the
same to your people through actions
rather than words. Leadership and
respect doesn’t come from a
business card. It is the ethics, the
value system you embody that does
the needful. Courage is the ability to
take unpopular decisions, while valor
is the courage to defend those very
decisions.

11. Ravana’s brother
Vibhishan, who had come to
Rama’s side questioned
him, “How will you defeat this
huge army with your limited
resources?” The reply which
Rama gave is the greatest
lesson ever for a leader. He
said, “You have to make sure
you have a clear vision, and a
cause worth fighting for.” In
the case of Ramayana, Rama’s
cause was to rescue his
beloved Sita and the vision
was to defeat the evil forces.

12. Utsaaho balavaanaarya naastyutsaahaat param balam
Sotsaahasya hi lokeshu na kinchidapi durlabham.
4.1.121
Enthusiasm has great strength. There is no greater strength
than enthusiasm. There is nothing which is not attainable
in this world for the enthusiastic.