GECs
Who wants to be an entrepreneur?
MUMBAI: If you think you’ve got an idea worth a million bucks, here’s something that might just help you make it a reality.
‘Built from Scratch’, founder and CEO Magnon/TBWA Vineet Bajpai’s second book, serves as a guide for aspiring entrepreneurs – handholding them through various steps and tactics of building a business ground-up.
There’s a message in the title itself for budding businessmen/women: Pick up basic tools and start building a company with whatever little you have. At the end of the day, every organisation is created out of one dominant ingredient – the human will.
Asked what made him pen the tome, Bajpai says: “The thought of writing the book came to my mind many years ago when I used to teach at MBA institutions as guest faculty. During my interactions with management students, I discovered that almost every one of them secretly nurtured the dream of becoming an entrepreneur and building his/her company. However, most were clueless on how to actually start their entrepreneurial journey.”
“More importantly, there existed a deeply entrenched belief that a business can be started only with large financial investment. Being a first-generation entrepreneur myself, who started with a few thousand rupees in my pocket, I felt compelled to offer a helping hand to perhaps millions of such people who dream of building businesses and companies, but have no practical guidance for the same. I also noticed that there were no books written by Indian authors that offered detailed and street-smart advice on enterprise building. It was then that I decided to write my second book.”
With a million self-help books on the market already, why would readers pick up one more such book? “The most important differentiator is that I am preaching only what I have practiced,” says Bajpai, recalling how he started Magnon/TBWA and Magnon E-Graphics with the rupee equivalent of just $300.
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The most important differentiator is that I am preaching only what I have practiced says Vineet Bajpai
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“Today, these are multi-million dollar global companies. So very few authors would have the real and ‘battle-field’ experience that I carry; secondly, the book is as much a motivational read as it is a management work. It speaks to the reader about his/her fears and dreams, his/her mental-barriers and his/her ambitions. The combination of a self-help approach with hard-core management content makes the book quite an intellectual asset for any aspiring entrepreneur,” he shoots.
The book busts quite a few myths associated with career management as seen through the eyes of the Indian middle class.
“It tells the reader that he can do it too! And then it educates the reader about various aspects of starting up businesses – the idea generation, market research, environment scanning, revenue model, finance raising options, go-to-market strategies, the common pitfalls, first year of survival and a lot more. It is quite a hard-hitting and real handbook for aspiring entrepreneurs,” defends Bajpai.
The book is inclusive of everyone who nurtures business ambitions, even say the aunty next door who cooks great south Indian food and could open a catering venture. “Entrepreneurship is not a restricted zone, and anyone and everyone can dream of being a successful entrepreneur. So the book aims to reach out to the student community, to working professionals, corporate executives and almost anyone who is planning to start his or her own venture,” says Bajpai.
What lies at the heart of the book is Bajpai’s own experience of founding and building his companies. “Readers will see that while I lead global companies today, I started in a tiny shed with rented computers, a tin roof and at times, even swept the floor of my first office! They will discover how a company where buying even a water cooler was a major financial decision at one time, transformed into one of Asia’s largest digital agencies. It is a fantastic yet true story that the readers will love,” says he.
Moral of the story is if you don’t hail from a business family, aren’t a Harvard dropout and don’t have a globe-changing innovation, you can still dream of making it large, with a little help from Bajpai’s book, published by Jaico and available for just Rs 299.
GECs
Sahara One reports financial results, notes director exit and business realignment
Muted revenues, steady expenses and strategic adjustments shape company’s current phase
MUMBAI: In a tale where the sands seem to be slipping faster than they can be gathered, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited has reported another quarter of wafer-thin income and widening losses, even as a boardroom exit adds to the unease.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board, in a meeting held on April 4, approved its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The numbers paint a stark picture. Total income for the quarter stood at just Rs 0.13 lakh, unchanged sequentially and sharply down from Rs 0.26 lakh a year earlier.
Losses, meanwhile, deepened. The company posted a net loss of Rs 24.16 lakh for the quarter, compared to Rs 18.81 lakh in the June quarter and Rs 39.69 lakh in the same period last year. For the six months ended September 2025, the cumulative loss stood at Rs 39.69 lakh, while the full-year loss for FY25 was reported at Rs 60.72 lakh.
Expenses continued to outweigh income by a wide margin. Total expenses for the quarter came in at Rs 24.30 lakh, led by employee benefit costs of Rs 6.51 lakh and other expenses of Rs 17.78 lakh. Earnings per share remained in the red at Rs (0.11) for the quarter.
The balance sheet reflects a company with significant assets on paper but limited operational momentum. Total assets stood at Rs 23,065.57 lakh as of September 30, 2025, broadly unchanged from March 2025. Equity share capital remained steady at Rs 2,152.50 lakh, while total equity was reported at Rs 18,004.85 lakh.
Cash and cash equivalents saw a modest uptick to Rs 6.75 lakh from Rs 4.68 lakh earlier, supported by a positive operating cash flow of Rs 180.01 lakh for the period.
Yet, beneath these numbers lies a more complex narrative. The company’s auditors flagged their inability to obtain sufficient evidence to form a conclusion on the financial statements, citing lack of access to records. They also raised concerns over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, pointing to insufficient funds, delayed recoveries, and stalled content investments.
Adding to the governance overhang, the company disclosed that Rana Zia has resigned as whole-time director, effective October 16, 2025, citing other professional commitments. The resignation, noted and accepted by the board, also brings an end to her role across company committees.
Regulatory pressures continue to loom large. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already initiated penal actions for non-compliance with listing norms, with trading in the company’s shares remaining suspended. There is also a risk of promoter demat accounts being frozen.
Legacy legal issues remain unresolved. A substantial deposit of Rs 694,027.88 thousand linked to the long-running OFCD dispute involving Sahara group entities is still under the purview of the Supreme Court of India. Restrictions on asset disposal continue to weigh on the company’s financial flexibility.
Operationally, challenges persist across multiple fronts. Advances worth Rs 1,92,916 thousand given for film content remain stuck, with delays in project completion and uncertain recoverability. The company’s YouTube channel, despite being operational, has generated no revenue for over three years due to compliance lapses. In a further twist, management has indicated that revenues may have been fraudulently diverted through unauthorised changes to its AdSense account, with a police complaint in the works.
There are also missed revenue opportunities. Television content rights continue to be used by a related party despite the expiry of the licence agreement, with fresh negotiations still underway.
For now, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited appears caught between legacy disputes and present-day operational hurdles. As losses linger and governance questions mount, the road to recovery looks less like a sprint and more like a slow trudge through shifting sands.
