Story of an entrepreneur: Mr. Karna Shakya (Owner, Kathmandu Guest House )

“I feel very pleased to see so many entrepreneurial brains in Nepal these days. I find that many youngsters I find are pursuing their studies in entrepreneurship. I haven’t studied management

or economics though. I am a conservationist. I studied forestry and worked for the forestry department until 1970 when I left my job to become an entrepreneur”, said Karna Shakya sharing his experience in the latest episode of Last Thursdays, where Entrepreneurs Speak, organized by Entreprenuers for Nepal and Samriddhi Foundation, every last Thursday of the

English month.

Karna Shakya, is an accomplished tourism entrepreneur of Nepal and an accomplished writer of two hugely successful books “Soch” and “Khoj” to his credit and his third book titled “Ma sakchhu” due to be released soon.

Experience is critical for an entrepreneur, more than the academic qualification as its it’s the experience that teaches

you better on how to manage time, motivate people towards your vision, develop your human resources, get the loan approved, deal with unions etc etc. Nepali entrepreneurs have to learn more from the context of Nepal rather than from international books on entrepreneurship.

He cites examples such as, Laxmi Sharma, who has been to a school for not more than three days but became the first woman “Tempo Driver” of Nepal and has then created an internationally sprawling business of handicraft, and is now known as “the button queen on Nepal” for her unique designs of buttons made from animal bones.

“Saraswati ra pasina sittaima bechnu hundaina” (Knowledge and sweat should never be sold for free) and believes that there isn't anything called free lunch. He adds, “Selfishness is not wrong, if it does not harm others”. Selfishness is a virtue until it hurts others. He believes self-interest makes people work towards helping others to earn profit in return.Self-interest is an inevitable aspect of entrepreneurship.

In 1971, when Karna dai started the legendary Kathmandu Guest House with just 12 rooms, he didn't think it would develop into a sprawling hotel in Thamel. As one runner wouldn’t make a marathon, a single Kathmandu Guest House wouldn’t have made Thamel, the tourist hub it is today. Realizing this, he asked other entrepreneurs to put up a hotel in the vicinity of Kathmandu Guest House. Though people criticized his move calling him a naïve to ask a competitor to put up a hotel beside his, his wisdom paid off. Present day Thamel enjoys myriads of hotels and restaurants, and is always buzzing with tourists from all over the world and Thamel has become a brand in itself!

“An entrepreneur must never be scared of competition, Competition is good thing as it helps you develop your business. Competition shouldn’t be treated as a threat but as a necessity. Competition makes you more efficient and fitter for survival. Don’t think of finding success alone. ” Drive for success, not the wealth, makes a person successful. Silver spoon is a slow poison, not an advantage if you are seeking success in life. The abundance of wealth dilutes the drive to succeed which is the most vital component for success. Many once successful business houses driven to oblivion as the first generation fails to transmit this

entrepreneurial drive to the following generation.

Nepal doesn’t need any more political leaders. For every one politician produced, one hundred people become unemployed in the name of political workers. They are a burden to our society. On the other hand, we need much more entrepreneurs who are generating wealth and creating jobs for tens and hundreds of people.

Shakya talks about story of a 25 years old widow in Bhaktapur who was forced to leave her house by her in-laws after the death of her husband and had surrendered herself and her 3 small daughters to begging. She was surprised to know that one could easily earn 1000 rupees and enough rice to feed them through begging. She would have been happily continuing the profession had her ego not come in her way. Her hurt ego didn’t allow her to beg anymore whereas the acute hunger made her think and and this combination made her search for a job. She went out and asked to rent a land

for farming but was refused due to lack of any collateral. But her insistence inspired the landowner to rent her the land. And she started cultivating vegetables.

Shakya went to visit the woman to find them in dire situations. He was heart –broken to see their condition. He offered her 25,000 rupees on the condition that she grew organic vegetables. She refused the money as she said that organic vegetables didn’t need any fertilizers and that was the only reason she needed the money for. Mr. Shakya agreed to buy her organic vegetables. And today, this woman has 12 men working for her and she had been able to provide her daughters with quality education.

Mr. Shakya strongly believes that, Nepal doesn’t need any more political leaders, for every one politician produced, one hundreds of people become unemployed in the name of politics workers. They are a burden to our society. On the other

hand, we need much more entrepreneurs who are generating wealth and creating employments for multitude of people.

Tips:

“If you are serious about being a millionaire, you need to save every paisa possible by utilizing your money,” Shakya reflects back on the difficulties he faced while he was building his first hotel. “I used to make sure every lump of cement was used efficiently. I used to wake up early every morning to water the roof myself,” says Shakya. He believes being a millionaire is the tougher part of the journey in being a multi-millionaire.

“But the same resource-utilization strategy of efficient conservation doesn’t work on making you a multi-millionaire

though”, opines Shakya. After being a millionaire, Time becomes your most valuable resource rather than the money and an entrepreneur needs to think and act accordingly. Now Your goal has to be the be finding the most efficient use of your time and your networks. "

His suggestions to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Evaluate yourself. You need to be passionate to about your work, you must think about your venture 24 hours a day. A true entrepreneur needs to build his character and have the courage to be different and the enthusiasm to be consistent. A person needs to think, seek more knowledge and implement his ideas. A person must love his work to be successful. Without love for your work, you can be an employee but never an entrepreneur. Love for your work generates passion. An entrepreneur must love and get lost in his work. Entrepreneurship is similar to riding a bicycle or swimming. You won’t learn them by reading books about them. You need to experience them yourself, commit some mistakes and learn from these mistakes.

After being in the hospitality business for a long time, Mr. Shakya feels, a hotel isn’t built but created. The environment you provide to the guests is more important than the infrastructure itself.

“Tourism is a dream industry. You need to dream and sell your dreams”, Mr. Shakya sums his opinion about the trade his life has been devoted to. “And if god has given anything to Nepal, it’s its the gift for of tourism. Despite of looking like a tiny speck on the map of the world, Nepal is showcase of all the wonderful things the nature has to offer. Nepal is like the Amazon of Asia. Nepal boasts 12% of all the genetic biodiversity. Nepal enjoys abundance of lakes, caves, mountains,low lands, and species of flowers and butterflies which are exotic to most partto anybody around of the world.”

This might be the reason that Nepal has a very high rate of repetitive visitors. Most of our tourists we receive are either first timers or avid fans of Nepal. The latter class is found to be saving money with a dream of visiting Nepal one more time.

Though Nepal has a huge potential in tourism industry, conventional mindset of tourism entrepreneurs of Nepal is one of the main reasons things holding it back. Tourism entrepreneurs need to understand the human psychology which demands change with time. Tourists who visit Nepal have already had enough of hotels, rafting, mountain climbing,trekking. They want something new now. There are many hidden paradises in Nepal where tourists are yet to be taken to, many adventures tourists are yet to experience. The problem is we are not being  innovative'. “We have acted enough like Hanuman the follower, without any originality. Now it’s time to be original and lead and innovate. Maal payera chal napaune, how long?” asks Mr. Shakya.

Referring to the current situation of the country, Mr. Shakya believes Nepal these days is suffering from a contagious disease of everyone asking for their rights but forgetting about their responsibilities. The deteriorating situation of the country has concerned is a concern for Mr. Shakya. The insecure situations in the country has made people very skeptical and worried. The attitude of Nepalese of finding anyone above them a cheater and anyone below them a lazy, is hampering our development. This attitude breeds mistrust and hampers cooperation between people. We must learn from ants, ants know their destination and are committed to it which is why even formidable obstacles cannot do not deter them from their path. We should also be equally persistent in pursuing our goal. However, one man cannot achieve much, because any successful venture needs a team.

So, what does this gentleman think about “New Nepal”? “Amid the rumors of New Nepal, I have lost my My Nepal.

We’ve lost OUR Nepal. Please return me my Nepal,” pleads Mr. Shakya in a nostalgic tone.

By Surath Giri