Only 2 out of 450: My Start-up Score!
Edition 30 – Entrepreneurial Failures That Paved the Way to My Success and Purpose
In 15 years of running Be.artsy, I’ve reached out to more than 18,000 companies and serviced 450 clients. Yet, only two companies ever engaged us with projects at the resources we proposed and gave us the freedom to make a real impact, we are capable of. Yes, just two (2)!
And yet, those two wins carried me all along. They weren’t handouts or favours, they were hard-earned validations in a hyper-competitive corporate training landscape.
To put it in perspective, India’s corporate training industry was valued at ₹5,800 crore in 2023, with a projected CAGR of 16.3% through 2027 (tracedataresearch.comResearch and Markets).
Another source estimates the market at USD 10.8 billion in 2024, expected to reach USD 37.8 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 13.4%.
Regardless of the exact figures, one thing is clear: the market is booming but margins are tight, budgets are squeezed, and genuine buy-in for transformative interventions is rare.
It isn’t hard to earn basic business in training to cover your costs. The real challenge begins when you aim to build an enterprise- one that doesn’t just deliver sessions but raises the bar for how Indian workplaces use learning as a strategic lever to retain talent and drive impact. That’s the path I chose.
And here’s the paradox: while the industry is booming, only a small fraction of companies are willing to invest in long-term, high-quality interventions. Most treat training as a “tick-the-box” compliance exercise, rather than a true lever for transformation.
That reality makes those rare clients who trust your vision all the more precious.
When I began on 20 February 2010, I had no clients, no support system, no results, and zero bank balance. Just one thing: a stubborn goal.
Today, on 22 August 2025, I reflect on 5,661 days of this journey and two truths I’ve come to own:
I’ve battled negative thoughts on at least 3,661 of those days and learned that’s human, and brave.
But not once, on any of those mornings, have I woken up thinking, “I don’t want to build Be.artsy anymore.” That, I now know, is my greatest blessing.
The Last Five Years: A Turning Point
The last five years have been transformational for me. During COVID, while the world was changing and every life was being impacted, I found myself looking inward, unknowingly exploring a concept I had recently learned about: Enriched Environments.
What is an Enriched Environment?
The concept comes primarily from neuroscience and behavioural research. An enriched environment is a setting that provides stimulation, variety, challenge, and opportunities for growth - physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally. It is the opposite of a barren or deprived environment.
In animal studies (notably the classic experiments by Mark Rosenzweig and colleagues in the 1960s at UC Berkeley), rats raised in enriched environments, full of toys, running wheels, social interaction, and novelty - developed:
Thicker cerebral cortexes (the thinking part of the brain)
More synaptic connections (better neural communication)
Higher problem-solving ability, compared with rats raised in plain cages
This research proved that environment shapes the brain - a concept known as neuroplasticity.
Later human studies extended these findings, showing how enriched environments improve learning, memory, resilience, and emotional well-being.
London taxi drivers, for instance, who memorise the complex streets of the city, show measurable growth in their hippocampus, a part of the brain crucial for spatial memory.
Musicians who practice intensively exhibit structural and functional changes in brain areas related to coordination, memory, and emotion.
Even classrooms designed with variety, challenge, and social collaboration enhance children’s cognitive and emotional growth.
These findings highlight one truth I’ve lived myself: our environment shapes our minds, habits, and capacity to adapt.
Why Enriched Environments Matter to Entrepreneurs
I decided to view myself as a case study in an enriched environment. My journey at Be.artsy has been a constant exercise in mental, emotional, and professional growth:
450 clients provided complexity, challenge, and variety.
18,000 companies contacted exposed me to rejection, diverse perspectives, and resilience.
Only 2 clients fully trusted Be.artsy’s work, those rare wins gave me the validation and resources to continue building.
Daily persistence over 3,000+ days of self-doubt became enrichment in itself, stretching my problem-solving, resilience, and adaptability in ways a smooth path never could.
Every challenge, every failure, and every unconventional solution contributed to what research would call a truly enriched environment - where learning, brain development, and personal growth are inseparable from experience.
My Personal Realisation
For the last 15 years, I’ve navigated this path largely with instinct, personal research, guidance from mentors, and trial and error.
It took longer than it might have for someone with stronger financial resources, a privileged education, or a ready-made network.
What I missed, I made up for with consistent effort. By up-skilling daily and meeting new people constantly, I created my own enriched environment, deliberately designed for growth, not inherited by privilege.
In the last five years, I’ve truly seen the impact:
Greater mental agility and problem-solving
Stronger capacity to process challenges
Improved emotional resilience and adaptability
I credit this to the right mentors, guides, seniors, and a few family members and friends who opened doors, shared perspectives, and challenged me to think differently.
I’ve embraced focusing on what’s in my control and letting go of what’s not.
“Why me?” is slowly leaving my vocabulary. (I am work in progress)
Instead, I focus more on expanding my circle of influence, learning daily, and up-skilling non-negotiably, in ways that bring both growth and joy.
And this is exactly why I continue my mission: to create enriched environments for others, where learning, growth, and human potential are not limited by circumstance.
Because if enriched environments can reshape a brain, imagine what they can do for a life, a career, a workplace, or an entire society.
Niche Businesses Are Dangerous But Necessary
Early in my journey, many accomplished leaders, people managing large teams and multi-million-dollar P&Ls warned me against building a niche business. “They don’t work,” they said. And perhaps, from a conventional lens, they were right.
But when I started Be.artsy at 26, I wasn’t setting out to build a start-up. I was a young Indian woman who had been humiliated for speaking up, had faced sexual harassment at work, and refused to stay silent. Be.artsy wasn’t born from a business plan. It was born out of anger, fire, and the instinct to turn pain into purpose.
That raw passion carried me through the first eight years - years of rejection, humiliation, repeated failures, an abusive marriage, domestic violence, court cases, legal battles, and even a zero bank balance. Yet in that same period came my first jackpot client, the one that gave me the courage to keep going.
The next seven years tested me differently: struggling with three long years of COVID, navigating peri-menopause symptoms, near-total business loss, and serious doubts about survival. And then came the second jackpot client - plus a bonus: Be.artsy became a Be.artsy became a Harvard Business School case study.
That Harvard connection introduced me to the groundbreaking research of Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, which scientifically explained what I had been intuitively doing all along: using art to transform adult learning.
Today, 15 years later, Be.artsy has evolved from an art-based L&D firm into a Neuroart-based adult learning organisation. Our work now aligns with over 35 years of research practiced across leading institutions, including Johns Hopkins, where Susan Magsamen has made some of the most impactful contributions.
And this isn’t just theory. Neuroart has already proven its worth in global business. One striking case comes from Starbucks in 2008.
Keith Yamashita’s Music-Based Leadership Reset at Starbucks
When Howard Schultz returned as CEO, he invited Keith Yamashita (SYPartners) to reignite Starbucks’ core identity. Instead of a boardroom, executives were summoned to a beat-up loft in Seattle. Here’s what happened:
Each executive received an iPod with every Beatles song ever recorded and the prompt: “What’s required to reinvent an icon?”
The space was decorated with Beatles imagery, immersing leaders in a fresh creative environment.
After two hours of listening, Schultz asked: “What makes our company unique?” sparking a deep, candid reflection and some tears.
Why it worked:
The Beatles served as a metaphor, an iconic brand inspiring leaders to rethink their own.
The art (music) broke habitual patterns, reconnecting leaders to purpose and identity.
The unconventional setting encouraged honest dialogue in ways a boardroom never could.
This is the power of art and neuroscience in corporate transformation.
What’s Next
Be.artsy is now preparing a White Paper documenting 15 years of its work, featuring large-scale, high-impact Indian workplace case studies that showcase Neuroart-based adult learning- a niche approach that has been driving lasting change but has not yet been documented.
So yes - niche businesses are dangerous. But they are also transformative. The difference lies in whether you’re willing to trust your instincts, embrace vulnerability, and let intuition guide you. Because sometimes, the most unconventional paths lead to the deepest, most lasting impact.
Mentored, Not Sponsored
In India, and globally, when a woman especially a solo-preneur sets out to build a venture, mentors may be available and advice is plentiful, but sponsors are rare.
True sponsorship? When leaders putting their influence, networks, and capital behind your vision. But the is a critical missing link.
I often debate with myself: What if some of my initiatives had found sponsors? Would they have survived and scaled? A few examples stay with me:
Eqand – The Lost EQ Storytelling Platform
After formal EI training, I launched Eqand - a storytelling platform to showcase workplaces that value EQ, inspired by Humans of New York. I invested ₹25 lakh of hard-earned money into it, but with no sponsorship or industry backing, I eventually had to shut it down.For me, that ₹25 lakh felt like ₹2 crore in 2016. With a sponsor, I believe this platform could have become a voice for building happier, safer workplaces - perfectly aligned with Be.artsy’s mission.
Be Your Own Lakshmi – Financial Literacy for Women
I designed this programme in 2015; in 2020 the National Stock Exchange took it up. It was later appreciated by SEBI, and it helped Be.artsy become a Harvard Business School case study in 2022. To date it has:Reached 15,000 young women in India with free financial awareness.
Trained 450 paying students from 92 cities.
And yet, despite investing over ₹30 lakh in marketing, only three organisations - Mahindra Holidays, Indigo Airlines, and Campus Shoes -have added financial literacy to their L&D calendar in one Financial Year.
I keep pushing this program every single day because I know this: after a decade-long survey, free sessions, and continuous work, the evidence is clear - When women grow in financial confidence, organisations grow in resilience, productivity, and profitability.
But I often wonder, if even one sponsor had stood behind this initiative consistently, would it already have been in 100 companies by now, as a mandatory capacity-building program?
V4V: Be on the Street Festival
Be.artsy’s first initiative, a youth street-theatre festival using art to spark dialogue and build character before young people enter the workplace. In 15 years we’ve hosted eight festivals and are preparing for the ninth, now evolved into a Campus-to-Corporate hiring platform. But again, I reflect: with consistent sponsorship, this could have been the 16th edition, not the ninth.
The Leadership Gap
These experiences reveal a reality leaders often overlook: mentorship without sponsorship limits impact. Advice can guide but only funding, advocacy, and influence help transformative ideas scale.
Sometimes, the difference between a shut-down idea and a movement that changes industries is just one sponsor who dares to back it.
What Makes an Entrepreneur Stick to a Long, Tiring Journey?
Most people believe entrepreneurship is fuelled by passion. While passion is the spark, research shows it’s not enough to sustain the fire.
It Starts with Passion
Passion energises founders to take risks and put in long hours when returns are uncertain (Cardon et al., 2009).Passion Evolves into Purpose
Over time passion alone won’t carry you, resilient founders discover purpose and align their ventures with something larger (Stanford Centre for Social Innovation).Impact Becomes the Driver
Seeing real impact shifts you from a passionate doer to a problem-solver with scale in mind. Harvard Business Review calls this the “second mountain” of entrepreneurship where success is measured by contribution, not just profit.Purpose Replaces Passion
Eventually personal passion evolves into life purpose. The venture becomes larger than the founder. Angela Duckworth’s work on grit (passion + perseverance) shows founders who connect their effort to enduring meaning are likelier to remain the course.
Workplace Civic Sense
When I walked away from seven years of a disillusioning corporate career, I made myself a promise: if I ever returned, it would never be as just another employee. I would come back only as a catalyst for change.
My mission was - and still is - simple yet ambitious: to help workplaces become more humane, sensitive, and emotionally enriching.
Fifteen years on, I’ve learned this journey isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon.
Having traveled across 16+ countries (and countless cities within and outside India), I’ve realised one uncomfortable truth: India lags far behind in one foundational quality that shapes our progress - civic sense.
If the United Nations represents the benchmark for civic culture, India is at least 80 years behind. But it’s precisely in this gap that my purpose lies.
I started Be.artsy out of passion. Over the years, that passion transformed into purpose: to build workplace civic sense: a culture rooted in respect, responsibility, and accountability.
Why workplaces? Because workplaces are the easiest and most immediate platforms for societal change. People carry institutionalised behaviours from their education and training into the workplace. If they learn respect, responsibility, and dignity at work, they take those values back into families, communities, and society at large.
Creating such enriched environments, where people feel safe, respected, and able to thrive, will take longer than my lifetime. Even if I were given many lifetimes, the work would remain unfinished. But that’s the beauty of purpose, it is never just yours alone. It continues through every person, every workplace, every culture you influence.
Civic sense, respect, and dignity are not just “trainings.” They are capacity-building for humanity. And yet, I am just one.
But imagine if even a million of you chose to be passion-driven entrepreneurs. The world would gain a million professionals anchored in purpose. That is how change begins.
Go make big ideas happen. Not for yourself alone, but for the world.
My mission with this newsletter is simple yet ambitious: to help 100,000 professionals transition from being People Pleasers to becoming true Culture Builders.
For the past 31 weeks, I’ve been sharing insights through the People Please Newsletter, covering learning, development, OD, trainings, and everything in between that shapes workplace culture.
If you’ve read any of my previous articles and have suggestions, feedback, or ideas, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a note at shikha@be-artsy.com.
Best | Shikha Mittal | Founder, Be.artsy
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People Please is a thoughtfully crafted newsletter for professionals seeking a fresh, honest perspective on learning and development, both personal and professional.
Over the past 15 years, I’ve collaborated with 450+ organisations across 48 industries, designing and delivering culture & learning and developing programs impacting over 500,000 professionals through my enterprise, Be.artsy. which I founded in 2010 in Delhi, India.
Be.artsy’s work has been widely featured in national and international media outlets including Forbes India, BBC, DW Media.
For culture building, learning and development programs and other business inquiries, please reach out to Be.artsy’s Growth Manager.