Vanakam Makkalae,
I am Sakthivel Pannerselvam. I am here to share my knowledge about Guerrilla Marketing, though I am not an expert, I have conducted over 25+ campaigns and have broad experience. I have paid programs going on, I felt the necessity to give back to the community and also inform them about the inspiring campaigns. So, here I am with the program “365 days of Marketing”.
My Journey:
I am basically from Coimbatore and my parents are from Pollachi and Anamalai. I completed my 10th grade in 1998-1999. That was a devastating year, yes! A major bomb blast in Coimbatore and most of them lost their jobs and my father was one among them. With help from cousins, I completed my 10th grade with 83%. I took up the diploma course in mechanical stream.
During my school days, my first salary was Rs.250 where I worked with a cable TV operator. Then, I also went as an invigilator for distance education course exam students that were conducted in Perks school. I earned Rs.400. In 2002, Reliance launched a low-cost phone for Rs.500 and the communication cable laying work was going on in most of the places in Coimbatore. I worked as a supervisor in excavation for cable laying for 45 days and earned Rs.750.
Then, gainfully employed in Mechanical stream – Quality control and Meteorology. The MNC job helped me travel across the world to places like the United Kingdom, China, etc. and also worked with reputable companies like Ford, Hyundai, Rolls Royce, etc. My core competency was mainly program measurements and technical teaching.
How I leapt into being an Entrepreneur?
In 2009, “The6.in – The surprise planners” brand was formed by my friend Radha Krishnan. I was working and parallelly involved in the business. During the work, I downloaded books and read and stumbled upon the book “Guerrilla Marketing”, lateral thinking methods, etc. I desperately wanted to implement it into the work. However, the workplace did not allow me to. I also attended training programs and it always left an impact. The minimalistic approach, the ability to show off my grey hair, etc was the result of the learning from the training programs to showcase my individuality.
In those programs, 2 questions made me think harder about the life I am living.
1. Do you deserve what you want to do?
2. How long can you survive if you cannot do the work that you are doing right now?
The 2nd question made me identify my real potential. In 2015, I resigned from my job and embarked on an entrepreneurial journey.
We started the business with the hope of cash flowing in. However, the expected investment turned back. Lots of lessons learnt from the experiences.