Patience, confidence and faith in one’s capability is key to a successful business, said entrepreneur Vijendra Shekhawat.

He was addressing students of Banasthali Vidyapith Jaipur during a Business Line Club lecture organised jointly with energy corporation Cairn India Shekhawat started his business making handmade paper out of elephant dung. Despite constraints such as limited finances, equipment, space and other resources, he had the courage to believe in his vision and took the risk.

Shekhawat said most people with whom he shared the idea thought that he was insane but he saw the business opportunity in the stinking lumps of elephant dung.

He said, “When you start a business, have patience, confidence and faith in yourself…it may take time to launch a venture, people will pull you down but you should have faith, the zeal to pursue your vision, as for me it took 7 attempts to make paper out of elephant dung, but with each attempt I learnt and improved.”

To become a successful entrepreneur one should have an unwavering passion, open-mindedness, eagerness to take risk, a forward looking approach, then only one can compete in this dynamic business world, Shekhawat said.

Shekhawat’s idea is not only innovative but also lucrative and needs minimum investment. It is one of the most eco-friendly papers in the world, as it is made up of elephant dung which has high fibre content. According to him, when we consider cow dung to be sacred and use it for many purposes then why can’t we use elephant dung to make paper.

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