Can you please help me with the following essay? What can be added/deleted from it to make it look better?
Explain what you have learned from your experience as a member of a team whose project was not completed successfully. Word limit - 500 words
I failed, I failed miserably! But, that is not what I am when I look back, a failure. I am much more than what that word describes. I spent the better of the last one year to set up a web-based startup in the domain of e-commerce, which is at the cusp of transformation in India, but unfortunately I failed. I felt the need to address a particular customer segment, which does not mind waiting for a specific product, if it is available at an attractive price tag or substantial discount. Based on some primary research, I quickly validated the idea - a tool which can allow customers to create their own shopping cart, place an order and defer their purchases until the product is available at a desired price. With the projected growth of the e-commerce/ e-retail business in India to reach $20 billion by the year 2020 from $2 billion currently, I saw a huge potential in the idea and decided to implement it.
Equipped with the idea of my startup, I embarked on a rollercoaster ride. Assembling the right team plays a significant role in a startup and can be detrimental to its success. Changing the team formation thrice proves that I have still not learned the art of selecting the right team. The third developer we hired stopped replying to our mails or answering our phone calls, we as a team had never expected it to happen especially when we were so close to the launch of our service. To our dismay, he even moved to a different place. It was even more painful to see a couple of other websites come up with a similar idea. Being the owner and Director of operations, I was responsible for this fiasco just like a captain is responsible for his sinking ship. After devoting significant amount of time, effort and money, I felt that more than anything else I squandered a great opportunity.
Not just I learned to manage a multicultural team but also learned some of the important following lessons through the above experience:
- Well laid plans can often go haywire. It is very useful to have back-up plans.
- Team formation plays a key role in a project's success.
- Time to market is very significant; otherwise a product/service can be rendered useless.
- Be prepared to improvise and think creatively or out of the box.
- Conviction plays a key role for a leader as everyone in the team looks up to the leader during uncertain times.
The one thing I am glad about myself is that the failure that the startup tagged me with was not a thing that stopped me from following my passion. Next time I go ahead and start my own company, I want to be equipped with better managerial knowledge and capability. Though I failed, I have a lot of lessons I learnt from this failure.
BR
Sam
" I am much more than what that word describes."
This is awkward to read.
Second paragraph was well written and easy to understand.
Look over at how you started the third paragraph, there are grammatical errors.
Last paragraph is not very clear.
Though I failed, I have a lot of lessons I learnt from this failure.
(my opinion)
