Book Releases
Unmet Needs of Entrepreneurship
Author : S Parthasarathy, PGP 92-94, Head – Alumni Relations, IIMB, published by Rupa Publications
What is the book about?
The book is centred around the idea of “needs” and its impact on various aspects of entrepreneurship. It explores ideas around what motivates/stops people from getting into entrepreneurship, what needs of a business gets met by getting into business, what needs of entrepreneurs get met be getting into entrepreneurship, do market conditions attract people to do biz or is there something in a person that attracts him/her to a business opportunity, process on how to discover customer needs (introduces the idea of the structure of a met/unmet needs statement), empathy/EI (introduces NVC and ABCDE framework from REBT), congruence between long term and short term needs, new ideas generation, goal setting, motivation, decision making patterns of pioneers/followers, coping with business failures, etc.
What motivated you to write book?
I have been an entrepreneur for over 20 years and the journey has been exciting – literally a roller coaster ride. I wanted to condense some of my observations and share my thoughts with others. I had posted some articles on Linkedin and some of my friends suggested I explore writing a book. I realized writing a linkedin article was very different from writing a book!
How easy or difficult is it to get a book published?
After writing my manuscript, I thought my job was done! I quickly realized that getting it published was a huge challenge. It is very difficult to get noticed by one of the large publishers. Most traditional publishing houses publish around 180 titles across genres in a year and they receive thousands of manuscripts. I received many declines and learnt through experience (the hard way) about some cardinal mistakes that one must avoid while submitting manuscripts.
Did you consider self publishing?
Yes. Self publishing is empowering. You can get a book published in two months time. Traditional publishing can take more than a year from the time you submit the manuscript. But there are downsides too. Especially with respect to distribution and pricing. Self published books are expensive and could be a barrier to sales. Traditional publishers are strong in distribution. Also, since the print runs are larger, traditional publishers manage to keep the pricing reasonable.
Any tips for wanna be authors?
Sure. First mistake I made was not to gave got my manuscript edited by a copy editor. In retrospection, it seems obvious but I realized its importance only after I received my first set of edited chapters! It is important to have the reader in mind when you write a book wrt style, content, flow and presentation. I prefer keeping the language simple. Content is king. If it is non-fiction, it is important to have a central theme for the book.
How long did it take to write the book?
Since I had already written some linkedin articles, I knew the broad contours of the structure of the contents of the book. Also, many of the high level ideas were already there in my mind. I just needed to put it down on paper. It took me 3-4 months of focused effort to complete the first draft of my manuscript.
Who will benefit from the book?
Entrepreneurs, wanna be entrepreneurs , business leaders, students and perhaps academicians too. There are some interesting frameworks that have been introduced that could catch the attention of a discerning reader/academician!
When can we expect the next book from you?
That is a long way to go! I am more focused on getting more people to read this book and derive value out of it. Sales and Marketing requires focused efforts from the author. Publishers are not going to do the marketing. Authors have to do it.
Where can one buy the book?
It will be available on eCommerce websites from 10th Feb. It is expected to hit book stores by 20th Feb 2018.
All the best! Hope your book is a best seller!!
