Adam Azim on Entrepreneurship: Dreams, Setbacks, and Authenticity

Article Overview

Business Upside [BU]: How did your background and upbringing influence your entrepreneurial journey?

Adam Azim [AA]: My background didn’t simply influence or impact the entrepreneurial journey and trajectory. It completely determined it and shaped it. In a sense, we are all ‘groping for identity’ more than anything else and at an unconscious or subconscious level. And as a result of it all, the entire entrepreneurial journey and trajectory is shaped by this ‘groping’ for identity. A lot of is unconscious or subconscious as a matter of fact. And can you really be something that you’re not? Will others buy into what you are selling if you are being something you are not, with the exception of perhaps bureaucrats and media in Britain and Europe who would seemingly prefer to die rather than to be authentic and truthful or to entertain anyone or anything that is authentic and truthful. After all, there are only two modes of being and existence, as Sartre argued, with one being authentic and the other being inauthentic.

[BU]: Did you always dream of starting your own business, or did life take an unexpected turn?

[AA]: I was always dreaming and thinking big, but I was never certain as to how dreaming and thinking big would actually manifest into reality. There were always moments when I considered lowering my expectations out of life. I had to humble myself at times. I felt as though I was deluding myself into dreaming or thinking big at certain points in time. But as one philosopher suggested, the idea of an ‘ordinary life’ is actually an illusion. When we consider such extraordinary phenomena and occurrences which seem to be taking place regularly now, perhaps the argument or the suggestion that an “ordinary life” is an illusion might not be that insane or cuckoo. Everyone is entitled to dreaming a little bit, regardless of who they are, even the common man can dream a little and in turn project their dreams onto the world, and everyone is perhaps entitled to a fantasy or two as well.

[BU]: What was your backup plan if the business didn’t work out?

[AA]: My backup plan is to stay out of it because it’s not worth it. I always consider the way out. I always consider the fallback option. The way out of all of this crosses my mind more than anything else in all honesty. But if we are involved in all of it in a very important and instrumental way, which we are, we are more important than all the garbage as a matter of fact, then we remain involved in it in a very level-headed way and on our own terms. At least we try our best to negotiate the conditions and terms in our own favor. After all, it is better to stay out of it, and especially when it’s not worth it either. In essence, it is best to stay out of it, and it is not worth it on top of it all. But if you are involved somehow, which we are, we are involved heavily now, then your involvement has to be strategic and thoughtful.

[BU]: How do you define success for your business beyond profits?

[AA]: When they are all actually listening to you quietly as opposed to arguing with you or getting in your way, that is perhaps a reliable indicator that you’re doing something right. Nor would anyone listen if your discourse or ‘stream’ had no resemblance towards reality whatsoever. If my discourse or ‘stream’ had no resemblance towards reality whatsoever, then I would demand that others shut me down one way or another. I would rather be shut down by the authorities and the state than to go on and on like all the others did and then be proven wrong and made to look like idiots and imbeciles. As a matter of fact, for what many of them did over these past few years, they would be executed or hanged in other countries. America is the exception after all. But despite what they did, a lot of them took advantage of the great perks and privileges this great country of ours has afforded to all of us, namely, pre-emptive pardoning and all the rest.

[BU]: How important is timing in launching a business?

[AA]: Either timing or trade-offs are the most important factor when we pursue a business endeavour or initiative. In my humble opinion, I believe trade-offs end up being much more important than timing. Time is perhaps relative compared to when we actually settle into making a trade-off at certain points in time. Time will in fact wait itself off or stretch itself until we make the decisions and trade-offs which we must end up making.

[BU]: How do you build an emotional connection between your brand and customers?

[AA]: By giving everything I have in terms of both content and life experiences to anyone who is interested in listening and learning. I don’t withhold anything or hold back when it comes to giving people the content and the life experience which they deserve to have from a content producer.

[BU]: How did you manage business growth without compromising quality?

[AA]: I believe the two are intertwined. I believe business growth and quality are intertwined. I am sure there are those who have managed business growth without a focus on quality. We see such people everywhere we turn. I have dealt with them all my life. I have given an earful to a lot of them as well. I have sought retribution against a lot of them. But in my case, I could never manage growth without a focus on quality. I would get exposed or I would be in lots of trouble by now if I tried pulling off the kind of stunt that others have been pulling off all these years and decades. The kind of stunt where they all managed to grow based on a farce and lie. I have no room or space to pull off such a stunt. I am not afforded the kind of room or space to pull off that kind of stunt, even if others were afforded the room or space to pull off such stunts in recent years and decades.

[BU]: How do you stay motivated on bad days?

[AA]: By knowing in my heart of hearts that none of this is even really worth it like we said before, the ideal course of action would be to stay out of it, and that it is all a mere game or pastime in the very end. If you play a game of pool with a friend or a sibling and you lose, will you brood over it for the rest of your life? Unless you’re a psychopath, you won’t brood over it for very long. Such an approach should be taken to this “Great Game” of ours as well.

[BU]: How do you mentally recover from business setbacks?

[AA]: You have to let go of what eluded your grasp first and foremost, and then you have to endure both the ups and the downs. Ride the wave, as they say. One of my relatives equated life to a constant wave and the peaks and troughs of a wave. And with the right mind work, the highs and lows become less drastic and violent over the course of time. If it eluded your grasp, then there is perhaps a very important reason for it. Even if we are unaware of the exact reason for why it eluded our grasp, we have to either accept the fact that it eluded our grasp or accept that there is some kind of wisdom behind all of it having eluded our grasp which we will perhaps find out down the road. In many cases, we in fact get the reason down the road. We get the reason sooner or later.