‘Think Rahul Dravid’: Suniel Shetty’s advice for early-stage companies as Byju’s fires 2,500 employees

Shetty called the layoff “tough one to swallow” in his latest LinkedIn post. He said he is praying that the impacted ones will soon be able to get back on their feet at the earliest, and he would like to think that it was not an easy decision for the company to make.

While valuations and fundraising activity saw a sharp rise over the last few years, Shetty said that the current global sentiment has turned somewhat conservative.

However, Shetty affirmed India still presents good businesses and there is a huge opportunity for them to grow even at a slower rate.

“The severity of a global slowdown may or may not impact India to the same extent as some of the other major economies,” the actor wrote.

Further, he stated that it is a good time for early-stage, small and mid-size businesses to establish a few operating principles, at least until the sentiment starts to improve.

Shetty shared some vital business lessons for companies to survive in these tough times such as:

STAY ALIVE

Assuming no one can predict how bad the global slowdown will get, plan for the worst. If you’re not seeing growth, switch to a survival mindset. Even if it means just hitting salaries & basic profits. The opportunities will return if you stay alive.

FIND YOUR COURSE

It’s easy to be pressured into a direction based on what we see around us. Because X company did it a certain way, raised money, grew at a certain rate, or hired 30 folks, doesn’t mean it needs to be your journey too. Identify a pace that suits your story. Don’t be in a rush to scale.

IGNORE UNI/SOONI/MINI-CORN STATUS

It’s scary when every other startup you come across claims it’s going to be a unicorn in 3 years. Don’t let that be the goal. Apple, Google, Disney etc were focused on doing what they did, really well. Just build a solid business, and valuations will follow.

Most importantly, switch to the bootstrapping mindset.

• Rely on your cash flow to fund growth. Find ways to optimise cash flow. Investing more than you earn, on growth, or overleveraging is a bet that could wait.
• Focus on profitability. Long-term growth can come from reinvesting profits. That’s how we ran our restaurants. Profits & savings from one, were put into building the next.
• Prioritise customers. Imagine the delight of a customer when the team of a startup he decided to buy from, is genuinely interested in taking and adapting the feedback he might have to offer.

“Think long term. Think sprint vs marathon. Think Rahul Dravid. Stable and slow is just as great,” Shetty concluded.