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“The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.” — Henry A. Kissinger
Photo Credit: http://10eighty.co.uk/#

I always believed that creating something meaningful is the most rewarding thing in the world and being an artist or creator is the most satisfying profession. Being a poet, I love writing poems that can touch hearts and have deeper meaning in them. And if a poem or story written by me can bring tears in my eyes as well as get love from readers then I don`t care whether it`s marketable or not.
I believe the same notion applies into entrepreneurship too. In my view, entrepreneurs are creators & artists first, followed by technocrats, geeks or visionary leaders. When I started working on the idea of Mera Medicare, I had only one motivation and that was to create something really amazing & meaningful. Something that people loved and considered a part of their lives. I didn’t care whether this idea would make money or not. The only thing I cared about was creating something amazing.
However, I`ll have to confess that I have changed now, and my motivation has changed along with it. As I moved forward in my entrepreneurial journey and started hiring more minds, I got smitten with the idea of finding and nurturing leaders within the team. I am stunned to realize how my young team members of age 18 to 22 are so passionate about the holistic idea of start- ups. I am surprised to see their amazing ideas, efforts to make a change and grow as future leaders. To be honest at the age of 20, was completely ignorant and hadn`t even heard words such as Entrepreneurship, Start-up or Venture Capital.
I still get motivated by idea of creating something new but I get more motivation from the idea of finding and nurturing next leaders in the team. These young team members are highly instrumental in my perseverance. Even if I am tired and disappointed due to some roadblocks, I still want to keep moving because I am committed to my team and its growth.
I saw journey of a young kid, who joined Mera Medicare as Social Media Marketing intern six months ago and gradually grown to higher position and role. He started with managing daily updates on Facebook Page of Mera Medicare and today he not only manages a team of 15 Student Ambassadors but also plays a vital role in customer acquisition, branding and developing overall business strategy.
I also see Student Ambassadors working really passionately for creating awareness regarding generic medicines, Mera Medicare`s role, organizing events and campaigns, and creating beautiful documentaries like ‘Truth Behind Wrinkles’. Being founder of Mera Medicare, I not only ensure a fun-filled learning experience for them but also tremendous personal and professional growth opportunities.
Today, I see user base of Mera Medicare doubling every month and that`s only possible because of hard work and passion of my team members. Obviously, this is just a modest start and we need to achieve a lot before we can even brag about it but it`s something that inspires my whole team.
It`s a journey in which you can`t really choose the destination but you can definitely choose your co-travelers, you can`t really choose the amount and sizes of the potholes in the road but you can definitely choose the type of relations you want to have with your co-travelers.
In a life of an entrepreneur, every day is a struggle not only for himself but also for his start-up. A struggle to save your face from humiliation, a struggle to keep motivating your team even when punches are blowing from all the sides, a struggle to keep thinking about the three year projections even when next day is expected to be unexpected.
I can`t see the future and don`t know for sure whether I`ll fail or succeed in my entrepreneurial journey but I am sure that I`ll keep trying my best for my team members` growth and success. Because I know there is only one thing that can turn my idea and start-up into gold and that is my team thus I`ll keep finding and nurturing leaders within my team.
About Writer: Pankaj Gupta is CEO and founder of Mera Medicare, mHealth start-up in India. Mera Medicare is an online platform that enables patients to purchase medicines online and cost-effectively. It`s currently operational in Delhi-NCR.

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