Chanakya Niti Principles in business & life – Advice for entrepreneurs

Chanakya is known as a great politician, strategist, and economist in India. Born in Takshashila (Pakistan) in 375 BC, he was also known by the name ‘Kautilya’ meaning the Master of astuteness.

Chanakya was blessed with extreme intelligence and great intellect. Chanakya was responsible for creating India’s first & biggest empire with the help of Chandragupta Maurya, who became the emperor when he was just 19 years old.

He is considered the pioneer of political science and economics in India.

He had great command in the fields of economics, ethics, philosophy, and Politics. Chanakya even acquired knowledge of medicine and astronomy. He had a mastery of “Samudra Shastra” by which he could judge and analyze what a person is thinking by only looking at the facial expressions.

He is known for his two books, Arthashastra and Chanakya Niti. Chanakya Niti is a collection of principles of life and work, man must follow to lead a good and purposeful life.

In this post, we have compiled important principles of Chanakya Niti for business in English. The principles of Chanakya Niti can be applied in both life and business.

Here are some of the principles from the book in English that serves as advice to help entrepreneurs and business owners.

1. People who divert from their planned and achievable tasks and jump to unplanned and unfeasible tasks, rarely succeed. They should attempt only tasks that they are confident of achieving.
2. While planning out or trying to get the desired outcome, if you disclose it, its success will become doubtful. So don’t disclose it to anyone till you reach a successful conclusion.
3. No work is impossible for people who are decisive, capable, and courageous. They complete whatever they set out to do. For businessmen, no place is distant.
4. Education is like a secret treasure, which no one can steal. On the contrary, the more you make use of it, the more it develops.
5. Different tasks involve a different number of people to do it. Tasks that involve meditation and learning should be done alone. Studying is better when done by two people together. For farming, five persons and for war, the largest number of people are required.
6. According to Chanakya, people must be cautious in certain important matters. How we are doing, who are our friends and enemies, what are our strengths, and how much is our income and expenditure, they must focus on all these matters to be successful.
7. It is the king’s duty to know their people’s difficulties. How do his officers behave with the people and what actions they are taking for their welfare? So, to get first-hand information, he should travel incognito.
8. How to influence different kinds of people? Chanakya says that people who are greedy by nature can be controlled by allurement only. Arrogant people can be controlled by politeness. If a brainless person’s wishes are fulfilled, they can be controlled. To mold an intelligent person, they must be made aware of the facts.
9. If a person takes responsibility for any work, then they should fulfill it with sincerity and courage. However, before taking that responsibility, they should introspect on their strengths and weaknesses.
10. Chanakya states that people who hesitate and are involved in the activities of buying-selling, teaching, eateries, and money lending, will face a lot of problems and difficulties. So, people involved in mentored trades should never hesitate.
11. A person should not be so simple that people can easily exploit them.
12. The test of your education is through your ability to create wealth and the value of money rises by using it. Any learning through which you cannot earn money is useless.
13. A person’s influence in society is very important. Because without influence, people will doubt you even if you are smart. Whereas, if you are an influential person, even an improper act will seem proper to people.
14. People must create influence in society through showmanship. The showmanship of strength and influence is like a non-poisonous hissing snake. People are not aware that the snake is not poisonous; similarly, people believe in showmanship.
15. Chanakya has compared the superiority of wisdom, cleverness, radiance, and strength over size. He says that a huge elephant is controlled by a small iron hook; a lamp’s small flame dispels darkness; a hammer can break mountains. In other words, a man who is wise, clever, radiant, and strong can overcome even the most difficult problems. The superiority is not in size but inherent in these four qualities.
16. Just like drops can fill a river, adding pennies can make a man wealthy. Similarly, if you study regularly, there is no knowledge that is unattainable.
17. Don’t think about the past and the future. You should only focus on the present. If you improve on your present, your future will also be bright.
18. Chanakya highlighted the importance of good behavior. Only through good behavior, you can impress a scholar, a gentleman, and a father. Similarly, using sweet talk, you can please friends, relations, and gurus. A person with good behavior and sweet talk can go a long way.
19. If the king in a kingdom is talented and religious, then people in that kingdom will also be talented and religious. If the king is corrupt, his people will also behave accordingly. It is said, “As the king, so are his subjects”.
20. Criticizing others is the most dreadful sin. If a man can give it up, then he can control the entire world.
21. People should refrain from earning wealth illegally. Wealth earned through unfair means lasts for a maximum of ten years. Wealth earned through honesty and hard work keeps growing and lasts forever.
22. Anything is achievable through hard work and devotion.
23. Wealth is both important and useful if it benefits the whole society and not just one person.
24. In adverse times even the most intelligent people lose their wisdom and sense. In the midst of a crisis, they lose their ability to think and understand. So, during these times you must slow down and think more carefully before making the next move.
25. A person should be aware of timing. An intelligent person speaks at the right time, shows heroism according to their strength, and, displays anger as per their capacity.