Business advice from Ashish [my friend]

I studied my 11-12th with Ashish & have known him for over decade. We grew up together, he got married and blessed with two kids and running a successful business in Delhi. I am  here in Bangalore, trying to figure out what is next.

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Last week I was in Delhi all for him, because we wanted to revisit our memory of  our past solo trips.  We ended up visiting, trip to Binsar in Uttrakhand. It was tiring but fun filled 10+ hour ride from Delhi included lots of food and fun filled conversation.

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Ashish is born and bought up in business family so he knows art of selling. We spoke in lengths on various topics starting from when will i get married to how he started and doing in his business.

In one of the evening while we were chatting in our hotel room, he gave me  some great advice. I had my notebook next to me & so I made note of same.

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I have added those here in much clearer form :

  1. Always keep selling.
  2. Sell cheap
  3. keep burn low
  4. try solving problem
  5. keep friction = 0, (users to product usage ability)
  6. give something which is dead simple to use and they don’t have to think.
  7. always look for being profitable
  8. spend money wisely
  9. price of product should be thought through well
  10. test product with close set of friends and iterate over it again and again. Once feedback loop is complete start selling.
  11. sell the basic version for cheap, start charging for advance features.
  12. customer is your cash cow, your  god so treat him with love/respect.
  13. Trust is very important, gaining it takes ages and breaking it takes few seconds. So ensure you work honestly and never loose trust.
  14. Money is money whether its coming from dad or a bank. Invest it wisely and treat it with care.

Bonus, tips while traveling for leisure on vacation.

  1. Always care about food, good food should get priority.
  2. Try finding great hotel, spend more. When you are out from your house ensure you get better level or equal comfort while being at home.

Ashish runs a hardware[home fitting & accessories] shop in Pahar Ganj, New Delhi.  If you happen to be around his shop, feel free to meet/talk to him.