A few months back, I had a meeting with the higher management of one of the Sri Lankan Private banks. The agenda of the meeting was to discuss project funding as well as another business proposal. I myself and the company General manager Nivethan met them and explained everything about our project concept and functionality.
Almost instantly we were discouraged by the bank officials for some irrelevant reasons!
The reasons they gave were entirely irrelevant with respect to my business concept. I would have accepted their reasons if they were anywhere close to my project concepts. Having said so, they gave a completely different explanation from unacceptable angles.
The reasons that they gave are as follows:
- The project concept came from a Vavuniya based company and most importantly we proposed an unrivaled innovative world-class start-up concept.
- The person asking for the fund (Me) doesn’t hold any traditional Degree and yet plans to conduct the business in a professional manner.
- The third reason is totally unacceptable and most Sri Lankan Tamil entrepreneur’s start-up proposals are rejected for this reason.
We let them talk and they said lots, but none of the reasons they provided are related to our project concept. Normally, I love people who discourage me and my strength! I take their words seriously and try to work out my weaknesses.
My biggest motivation is Just to keep challenging myself! A few weeks back, I received an award from the Asian Pacific Entrepreneurship. The award was given to me for being the “Emerging Entrepreneur of The Year 2013 “and every Colombo-based Sri Lankan daily newspaper had my photo and company name on it. Today, I received a letter from the top management of the same bank; saying that “Hi Sharanyan Sharma, We wish you all the very best for your success and if you need any financial support please contact us we are ready to help beyond our boundaries “.
My Response for The Bank Who Rejected Me
But all I can say now is,” Sorry it’s too late “! Because the project is already executed and launched with a different source of funding. And YES! Still, I’m from Vavuniya, the very same uneducated guy and still having the third common reason. What has happened to you now? Why are you guys looking at me?
I’m not complaining about the Bank or the Management, I’m trying to say “To run a business or to launch a product, education and ethnicity is not important; you need to have a clear vision and confidence about your concept “ Prepare to die for your concept!
I would like to say to this Bank is, “Thank you very much for your wishes, Still, I’m living in Vavuniya and I didn’t get my degree yet, most importantly I’m still a Tamil! According to your “Bank policy”, “I am not eligible for your financial support and I’ve decided to NOT to learn more about your offers and I’m also not going to move from Vavuniya and I can’t change my ethnicity. So, the choice is yours.
“As bill Gates said ” It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure”
