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Editor's Note THEIR STARTUPS ARE BOOMING BECAUSE THEY CHOSE NOT TO QUIT

ndia has become a hub of entrepreneurs in less than a decade. These entrepreneurs have been topping the global business map from a country that was once labelled as a third-world country. Suddenly, the world is looking up to Indian businesses, including ﬁnancers. Startups have changed the way India and the world had perceived her. Though the government of India announced its startup campaign in 2015, India’s startup story dates back to the 1980s. Startups have unleashed the entrepreneurial potential of many and have given rise to several industries, thus augmenting the Indian economy. The government’s startup initiative sparked the entrepreneurial spirit among many, defying the age-old perception that entrepreneurship was not everyone’s cup of tea. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) has been coordinating the Startup India Initiative with other government departments since January 2016. Though we can trace trade and business from the ancient period in India, people generally perceived entrepreneurship as the knack of few and the moneyed. After the government’s initiative, entrepreneurship suddenly became the tact of many. The initiative includes - simpliﬁcation and handholding, funding support and incentives, and industry-academia partnership and incubation. The incubation facility has encouraged more entrepreneurs to experiment with new concepts and ideas. This unearthed the hidden talent of many young people who had a platter full of feasible ideas. Unless a concept is translated into a product/service, it is as good as redundant. The startup initiative gave a vent to ideas or concepts. In less than a decade, India’s startup ecosystem became the focal point of attraction because of the whopping number and variety of entrepreneurial initiatives coupled

with a robust angel investor network. Venture capitalists or private equity firms have the lion’s share in the startup business. In the past few years, India’s dramatic transformation in the startup sector has left everyone stunned. It is counted among the top five countries making waves in the startup landscape. India is a country of youth, which is the most significant advantage for the startup landscape. This pool of entrepreneurial and technology talent comes majorly from IITs and IIMs. Earlier, these students mainly sought big companies or went overseas. But with the startup initiative, they are using their knowledge and skills to start their ventures. A massive increase in online consumers and equally enterprising individuals have balanced the demand and supply scale. Unlike the popular perception of the yore, it is not just good luck that helps businesses succeed. It is much more than that; as they say – an idea can change the whole world. One needs to conceive the correct notion and be persistent. Having a feasible idea, anticipating future market trends and changes, efficient management that builds a conducive environment for employees contribute to the success ratio. Startups promote the ease of doing business, thus preventing brain drain and encouraging reverse brain drain. Thousands of startups emerged, but a few have been able to stand out and help in sustaining this rapid growth. We bring you the success stories of such startups in our latest edition of CIOLOOK, Booming Startups to Wach Out For. Read to find more about the illustrious journey of these startups.

Company Name

Donatekart

Genid Shipping and Logistics

GraﬀersID

Innover

MyRx

StoryMirror

TalentSurabhi

Featuring Anil Kumar Reddy CEO & Co-founder

Dr T Johnson MD and CEO

Sidharth Jain Founder

Sakshi Gehani Creative Director Surjit Das Co-founder, COO

Mr. Bibhu Datta Rout Founder and CEO

Gayathri Arumugam COO

Brief Donatekart is ﬁrst of a kind platform that enables donors to directly donate products to NGOs/Charities online instead of money. Genid Shipping and Logistics, a business conglomerate headquartered in India, is pioneered by stalwarts in the industry with a vision to provide a wide array of shipping and logistics solutions to its global client base under a single roof.

GraffersID is an Award Winning IT Company with a tailored process for Mission-Driven Startups. Its aim is to increase the success rate of the startups by developing user-centric products. Since 2013 Innover has been creating original spaces that are interesting, comfortable, and deeply personal. MyRx enables Healthcare and Pharma Industry Digitally, with its wide range of Products, Solutions and Consulting. StoryMirror is a tech start-up focussed towards building a creative ecosystem that offers everyone a platform to launch themselves in the field of literature.

TalentSurabhi is a start-up ﬁrm, with a vision to inﬂuence and drive the changing needs of Indian recruitment ecosystem through talent pool landscape analytics.

COVER STORY

08 TalentSurabhi

Unlock The Potential...

Articles

Strategic Approach Strategies to apply while starting up any business

Tech-Advantages How is technology proving to be an advantage to start-ups?

CONTENTS 26

Genid Shipping and Logistics Pvt Ltd

Providing Tailor-made and Creative Logistics Solutions throughout India

32 Gra ersID

Creating Success Stories with Innovative Solutions

Story Mirror

Connecting Readers with Writers

Sumita Sarkar Editor-in-Chief

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Research Analyst Amol Wadekar

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December, 2021

Gayathri Arumugam Chief Operating Ofﬁcer

C o v e r

S t o r y

Unlock The Potenti l...

W We strive to break barriers, forego tradition, and move beyond what is expected to deliver outstanding results for every client

ith a constant increase in unmet needs of patients suffering from various diseases and health conditions, there is a need for fostering innovation in drug discovery and development process to address this public health issue. There are already millions of clinical trials being conducted globally which, paves the way for multiple potential business opportunities for the clients across verticals like CRO, Pharma, Life Sciences Service providers, ITES, and KPO with strong business pipeline.

As the global clinical research sector is exploring India by increasingly outsourcing clinical trials. Also, based on Market Research analytics, it is projected that the total clinical research industry will grow at an exponential rate especially after post COVID-19 era. With such positive trend, the current and the future recruitment and stafﬁng environment in clinical research sector looks very promising with limitless business opportunities and growth.

“The future of talent acquisition lies in reskilling, rather than finding someone better in the market. If you need to hire today, you need to reskill yesterday,” says Gayathri Arumugam, Chief Operating Officer of TalentSurabhi (TS). She is passionate about creating impact with best mix of people, process and product in a rapidly increasing scope, scale, and speedy ecosystem. Gayathri has over fifteen years of recruitment experience in the industry having served some of the world's best CRO and IT companies. She is highly competent and versatile professional with more than a decade of expertise in the Intersection of areas of Entrepreneurship, Business Development, Strategy and Market Research. She is a self-motivated result-oriented professional having cultivated an impressive track record of serving clients and candidates in Recruitment Services for various Industrial sectors. Gayathri has demonstrated experience in CXOs and leadership level hiring and proven track record in upselling and cross selling the leadership profiles. Her prime focus is always to partner with the clients and candidates to provide them strategic and advisory consulting, branding and market intelligence to ensure the unique match that makes individuals, companies, and industries flourish. She is seasoned in negotiating and influencing skills. She possesses extensive client engagement and

relationship management experience. She is Proﬁcient in understanding the ‘People’s Mind Set’. Gayathri is also specialized in reading between the lines to understand the expectations of both clients and candidates in serving their needs.

an exciting journey. Founded by the board of directors the idea for TalentSurabhi is a ﬁrst born of innovation and an appetite to help companies address their unmet need in a rapid increase of hiring demand in CRO, Pharma and IT industries.

The ‘Talent’ Behind TalentSurabhi Gayathri’s deep recruitment expertise, profound knowledge in domains and market demands, rapid

Purpose of TS is rooted from her extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Gayathri got an opportunity to serve the CRO client way back in 2015, when she was associated with the reputed Recruitment ﬁrm as a Business Development Manager, she got an opportunity to sign-up with a CRO client which was a new vertical to her organization by itself. She had a meeting with the ‘Country Head’ of the established US based CRO ﬁrm in Bangalore, she was then assigned to search for a leadership role ‘Director of Biostatistics’, which was a burning requirement in a very rare talent pool, the client was in need to close the position on a very crucial basis.

Passion is the path to peak performance

increase, and unmet need of Stafﬁng in Pharma, CRO and IT Industries paved way to the setting up of TalentSurabhi in 2020. Like many great inventions, the founding of TalentSurabhi has been

By understanding the clients need. “Gayathri says”, The requirement shared by the CRO client was something unique and niche skill to work for the very first time. She deep dived by doing a market analysis and research to learn more about the new skill set and competencies expectations and identified the best suitable talents from the Clinical Research Industry. She went back to the client with set of 3 profiles out of which, the client was very impressed with the first profile submitted, the candidate was interviewed and offered the best

talent within 30 days of the assignment signed.

culture, objectives, and key success factors to ensure the perfect ﬁt.

Though Gayathri had a decade of experience in recruiting for IT leadership positions, she was very excited and motivated to close the ‘Director of Biostatistics’ role. When she experienced this successful closure happened in a quickest possible turnaround time, she loved to learn and explore more in the clinical domain. This unique experience and highest level of satisfaction had triggered her passion and commitment towards solving the unmet need of staffing problems in Clinical Research Industry. She built a good rapport and networked with the industry leaders and met with them in person to understand the gaps of hiring in the Clinical Research industry.

TalentSurabhi is a start-up firm, with a vision to influence and drive the changing needs of Indian recruitment ecosystem through talent pool landscape analytics. At TS we are dedicated to provide every client with talent solutions that meet the needs of their specific industry and search assignment. TalentSurabhi with its service offerings developed over a decade of industry experience are uniquely positioned to address wide range of scope in an increasing speed to provide scalable staffing solutions ‘that are tailored to meet customers resources needs’. At TS we provide a full range of solutions including temporary, Consulting-as-a-Service (CaaS), Ready to Resource (R2R), permanent staffing and other workforce solutions in the areas of Life Sciences and Healthcare, CROs, Pharmaceuticals, Nutraceuticals, and Information Technology.

“The year 2020 has been an odd and very tough for businesses. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, a natio wide lockdown, and social distancing measures did not devastate our conﬁdence and commitment to set up our new venture TalentSurabhi, we perceived challenges as opportunities by pivoting at the face of COVID – 19 Pandemic,” conveys Gayathri. A Service to the Talent Search The company’s customized process, coupled with effective communication and a commitment to each best talent hiring, produces long-term relationships and highly successful partnerships. Its approach is simple and is deﬁned by the ability to thoroughly understand the clients’

“We truly understand the importance of building strong relationship with clients and candidates alike, allowing us to fully understand hiring needs and never compromising on quality. We assure our clients and candidates are mutually beneﬁted,” says Gayathri. “We exhibit a moral and ethical responsibility to both our clients and candidates; by meeting their needs, we create meaningful opportunities for best talents and long-term value for businesses,” adds the team at TalentSurabhi.

Ultimately, we are committed to conduct first-class business in a unique way and determined to be the most preferred strategic recruitment partner. Bridging the ‘Talent Gaps’ Amidst the Pandemic The biggest challenge during the pandemic was quitting the job due to uncertainty and venturing into a new start up immediately despite knowing the high risk and benefits in the business for Gayathri. Every crisis comes with myriad of challenges and opportunities for transformation. Her team at TalentSurabhi leveraged opportunities to blended learning approach to address the accelerated increasing rate of Scope, Scale and Speed of the business, especially as the competitive landscape of its business nature was disrupted by radically different business models, newly emerging and dynamically changing business demands. Another tough challenge was setting up of a new office space during the pandemic and convincing clients during BD pitch and client vendor qualification audit. The pandemic has disrupted a major sector of the workforce in ways Gayathri didn’t anticipate. In response to COVID-19 pandemic, she urged all necessary control measures, that have made remote work as new norm. Staff members were transforming living rooms into workspaces, facing difficult decisions about how to adapt and survive this seismic shift, surprisingly hiring practices have changed

overnight. The change was uncomfortable at ﬁrst, but TalentSurabhi’s team of professionals were up for the task. Initial phone screenings remained the same, but the face-toface interview has been moved to online mode. “We invited candidates to take up the interview from our ofﬁce premises with all precautionary measures. To speed up time-to-hire, we offered candidates the option of video interviewing as soon as possible,” shares the team of TalentSurabhi. Virtual interviews not only aided to accelerate the hiring pipeline moving, but it also enhanced the candidate experience and boosted employer brand. Long

delay in every aspect of the company’s operations depended on multiple stakeholders, which affected its operations during the pandemic. “We observed that job seekers were adaptive and ﬂexible when organizations put safety protocols in place, which resulted in highly interactive virtual interviews. It was evident that recruitment professionals could assess candidate’s gestures, expressions, engagement, and body language as easily through online as in person. Also, handshake greeting, which is a part of in-person interview process were missing in the virtual one,” states Gayathri.

We provide our services for Life Science, Healthcare and Information Technology space

The company adapted to a new strategy and deep dived in consulting and preparing its candidates with focused areas including but not limited to, demonstration of professional behaviours/etiquettes, Client Background briefing, Backup plan for any technological interruptions, client working culture, time zone and importance of impressive presentation to crack the interview in best possible ways, which ultimately resulted in higher likelihood of interview clearance. Its hiring team were in constant touch with clients and candidates to make sure they feel comfortable during the entire interview process and ultimately build better relationships with client and candidate. Beyond the Strides On a long run Gayathri envisions TalentSurabhi to be one of the top recruitment firms in serving Clinical Research Industry and to be one among the top five recruitment firms serving other sectors in India. The company is committed to expand its footprints in different major cities in India and to have global footprints in other APAC countries. “We envision to scale our team up to 50 in five years down the line,” adds Gayathri. Given the current events, businesses have been forced to reevaluate many of their processes, procedures, being adaptive and flexible to confront the challenges and restrictions the world is facing. One of the most daunting tasks for many organizations during this time has been talent planning and assessment.

Identifying the ideal candidate to fill a vacant position is difficult enough, but now businesses must do so without in-person interaction. So, the company embraces this new reality of talent assessment, that are as follows: Ÿ Influence and drive the change Ÿ Enhance digital capabilities Ÿ Strengthen clear communication with set expectations to client and candidates Ÿ To reduce time to hire Ÿ Assess and develop leadership Ÿ Contribute significantly to the industries it serves by preparing ready to resource workforce and impart training to reskill and upskill to meet the dynamically changing industry demands. “We at TalentSurabhi help our client and candidate redefine the ‘NEW NORMAL’ it has always been our mission to break barriers, forego tradition, and move beyond what’s expected to find best talent. Now, likely more than ever, this continues to reign true,” conveys the team at TalentSurabhi. Its team is no stranger to the challenges that businesses face when assessing new talent. Virtual talent assessment has been an integral part of the company’s process since day one of its business, and they have not only found a way to harness its capabilities, but also use it to their client’s advantage. TalentSurabhi delivers frequent virtual webinars through

Delivering superior results is our top priority

industry thought-leaders, that build and develop cutting edge solutions in addressing high demand skills and competencies.

Sharing some of the details of how I failed as a Mompreneur, what I learnt, and how it brought me to where I am now.

Its objective of hosting webinars is to create awareness about the clinical research industry among fresh graduates. It is to create future work force and highlight the bigger picture of various role to experienced candidates showing the way to align industry expectations with their career progression plan and to expand its network and bridge the Talent Pool Gap. “We see a huge challenge in identifying the talents with niche skillsets in this particular domain, hence we are keen to inspire and prepare more talents by organizing such webinars in the future,” concludes Gayathri and her team at TalentSurabhi.

Back in 2011 – I was a ﬁrst time Mompreneur, a new mother who wished to stay back home for a better upbringing of my child. When I turned 25 my entrepreneurial spirit began. It was as if someone turned on a faucet, and ideas started ﬂowing into my mind one after another.

Valuable Words by Gayathri Arumugam “Don’t Let Failure Stop You from Succeeding”

In 2010, I embarked on the most fantastic, nerve-wracking journey of my life. On November 6, 2010, I became the mother to a beautiful, baby girl. Before the idea could even get materialised, I jumped and ventured into a new day care business on August 5, 2011, which was an amazing accomplishment for me. That entrepreneurial ﬂame that had sparked inside me ﬂickered in and out as I tried to balance my family and my desire to be a successful entrepreneur.

The truth is, I simply was not prepared for the long-haul with my business, and I most definitely underestimated how completely exhausting motherhood would be. Eventually, my business model was not sustainable because I was not ready to take up any challenges and I failed. My hopes of being a workat-home Mom, running my own business, and building independent wealth and security for my family seemed like a distant and unattainable task. In 2012, my ex-boss reached me out and asked if I was available to join her start-up leadership recruitment firm as a sourcing specialist. I decided to move ahead with her offer and joined immediately, with all my love and passion towards work, one year down the lane, I got promoted as a Business Development Manager. The entrepreneurial flame that had sparked inside me flickered once again in 2016, I tapped into my creative side of my passion towards greens and did market research for six months and ventured into my second entity ‘Gift My Plants’ on March 12, 2017. The business was at peak and saw huge success as second time entrepreneur. On November 19, 2019, I was featured in ‘Your Story’ for creating a new business model, a one stop destination for gifting plants,

corporate gifting, and garden set ups, which had presence in Inorbit Mall, Whiteﬁeld at Bangalore. Due to the pandemic crises, we moved our business from a physical store to online and we still see potential customers seeking our services and we still exist.

to make a proﬁtable business, stay focused, have a growth strategy, ask for help within your network who can uplift your ideas. Ÿ

I know with all my heart that success is nothing, but failure turned inside out. Equipped with this belief, I have set myself on a trajectory to accomplish the happy life I desire, and to help those inspired souls around me to do the same. It has been a process to learn how to balance being a mom who is both active and present in personal lives, and also be true to myself and pursue my creative passions. Now, I know how to fail fast. I know how to pick-up the pieces and create again and again. My advice to the young generation of entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts based on my pragmatic learning from all those tough lessons in my life. Be a Passionpreneur, think out of the box, have a clear vision, and objective with apprentice mind set. Be innovative and think creatively, stay curious to learn new things every day, set a strong foundation during the initial stages of setting up the business. Have a clear pathway

You must have a plan for sustainability and a solid promotional strategy. You need to believe in the product. Just because you have experience on a topic, doesn’t mean you should start a business around it. For me, it has to be something I am passionate about. I love helping to spread positivity in the community I live in, it is a passion and a talent that I have. I had to ﬁnd a common bond between my passions and create a brand that allowed me to set up new ventures.

Being Courageous is better, ‘Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.’

T lent from TS Spe ks I am Geffrey Manuel, working as a Client Relationship Manager (CRM) at TalentSurabhi (TS). I have joined TS sixteen months ago as a Talent Search Analyst and in the span of 6 months of time I got promoted to CRM, I am proud to say that I am the ﬁrst employee of TS, my potential and performance are very well recognised till date. Being part of the founding team, TS has been very generous in considering my opinions to any major changes that are made. The biggest asset of TS is the people who work here and Gayathri a strong leader who provides the best of opportunities and exposure for an employee to explore their skills and talent. She unlocks the potential of employees and helps them to nurture it and turns it into a skillset/competency. The team at TS is more like a close-knit family than just co-workers, we work together and help each other to achieve our targets and company goals. Although it is a start-up company with a small pool of mix of talents, I am very much conﬁdent and strongly believe that TS has high potential to grow bigger, because of the deep domain expertise and the people who work here are passionate, committed and focused on their goals.

Follower Spe ks bout T lentSur bhi “As a keen observer of market trends in the space of human resources behavior and talent management. I find ‘Talent Surabhi’ a breath of fresh air. Their approach towards connecting available talent to the requirements of the industry is simple, time-bound, and result-oriented. A start-up with a decade-long experience, they bring a matured strategy to their business. The breath of industries they have covered so far bears testimony to their pledge, ‘To provide every client with talent solutions that meet the needs of their specific industry and search assignments.’ As a company, their time-tested, old-school permanent staffing solutions, blended with flexible solutions like Consulting as a Service (CaaS), Ready to Resource (R2R) address the needs of changing times in industries that have seen states of constant flux and increasing growth. In my personal interactions with the Talent Surabhi team, I found them to be pleasant, professional, providing real-time responses with clear timelines for the next steps. They are available all through the way. This attribute builds confidence in both parties i.e., the Client company and potential candidate, leading to less ambiguity, more transparency, and successful closure of positions in the shortest possible time. In my observation Talent Surabhi believes in Win-Win-Win for all involved.” - Dr. Deepak L Joseph

From the D iry of G y thri Arumug m An Undervalued Talent Pool

Did you know many companies are missing out on a large, untouched pool of talent? It’s true, and too often it’s due to misconceived perceptions about something employers never take the time to ask questions about a resume gap that keeps these women distant from getting back to work. This talented group of individuals is primarily made up of women re-entering the workforce after taking a break from their professional careers. Unfortunately, there is a massive bias against these candidates because of the employment gap due to the time spent raising their children. However, they should not be ignored or classified as unqualified because of time away from their careers. After all, you may unknowingly pass up on critical talent hidden in this undervalued talent pool. Instead of rejecting or otherwise qualified profiles because of the ‘Career Gap’. At TalentSurabhi, we discover the undiscovered talents and directly reach to the candidate. When we source candidates such as women re-entering the workforce — we get to know who they are, along with their strengths and weaknesses. In our eyes, a resume gap due to being a stay-at-home mom is never a weakness. Women re-entering the workforce offer a level of talent and aptitude that can greatly benefit any company. As with any hire, specifically an executive hire, we always encourage companies to focus on the fit rather than just the find. By asking strategic questions, like the ones above, you can learn more about these women while discerning their potential and fit within the culture. You can count on our dedicated team to be there every step of the way to support companies and guarantee the successful recruitment and integration in every hire. Most of the closures we made for the last one year was 50% of women’s who were on a career break due to various reasons, our candidates were extremely happy with our service for placing them in multinational CRO companies in India, despite high challenging & tough time during the pandemic. We just not support connecting right opportunities with our candidates, we also impact their career with great turning points.

Candidates Talk about

TalentSurabhi “The team of TalentSurabhi has a great understanding of job requirements and identifying different eligible talents for ﬁlling up the job openings. They represent a great communication between clients or candidates. Their way of work is truly appreciated. The best way to thank a business consultant is to refer them to other businesses or friends, when you really think the consultant did a great job. I would like to thank the TalentSurabhi team for providing me with an opportunity, help, support and encouragement due to which I am working with a great company now. I have had two breaks in my career due to personal reasons, but keeping them at par, they have given great opportunities to interact with great organizations. This team works with so much energy and dedication that they have given me a great career start after my breaks. They have been great go-getters for me, glad that I have contacted them at the right juncture of my career, so that I have a smooth career path. Even during the pandemic when it’s difﬁcult to communicate with the company HR's. Really like to appreciate the entire team of TalentSurabhi for being so supportive and also guiding me in making the right decision on choosing this job, which I am enjoying the most in my career so far. Thank you, team, and wishes for many more businesses.”

-Nina N Premier Research

“My experience with TalentSurabhi has been nothing short of excellent. They are extremely friendly and highly involved throughout the whole process, with feedback from the employer being communicated to me almost immediately. I was lucky enough to get the job offer from them after a break in my career. I am extremely grateful to the team for making the process very straightforward. I highly recommend TalentSurabhi for their professionalism, as well as for their very friendly approach to recruitment. Not but the least I would like to thank regarding the motivation given by the team during the process. They were incredibly responsive, supportive, and helpful. It felt like a personal service which can be rare. Thank you so much, I’ve really enjoyed my experience with TalentSurabhi and the job you have found me ticks all the boxes I was looking for.”

-Dr. Amanpreet Agati Clinical Informatics

The Most Promising Words from the Clients

We value our relationship with TalentSurabhi team. “TalentSurabhi possesses a deep knowledge of the life sciences sector and works with a wide network of well-qualified individuals across a range of job disciplines. What I value the most is that Gayathri always listens but she is never afraid to push back when she feels that someone is the right fit for our business. Having a vendor partnership with Gayathri and TalentSurabhi has significantly improved our time-to-hire on several key roles over the past 2 yrs.”

-Neha Kapoor HR Manager at Emmes

It was a great pleasure working with TalentSurabhi (TS) for multiple positions of Senior to Principal Biostatistician’s role. Their efforts in identifying right talents meeting Job Descriptions and hiring manager requirements were exceptional. TalentSurabhi turned back very quickly with the right set of candidate proﬁles including immediate joiners that was so impressive and saved us from a very crucial resourcing situation. I found that they were very diligent in every stage from CV circulation to ensuring no offer dropouts till the last moment. Among other recruitment agencies I have worked with, I strongly believe that TalentSurabhi services are superior to other agencies about their value-added services. My Overall impression and experience with TS are above and beyond my expectations. I have experienced their profound knowledge and expertise in CRO/Pharma Industry recruitment on various interactions. I thank the entire TS team for their extraordinary support, and I highly recommend their services.

-Dr. Sakthivel Sivam, PhD Director of Biostatistics, Quartesian

Case Studies by

Virtual Hiring Success Story – I ‘TalentSurabhi’ was recommended to fastest growing multinational CRO to help them fill their ongoing multiple open positions for Biostatisticians and Statistical Programmers roles in India to overcome their crucial resourcing needs. During our initial search process, we have understood that lack of visibility and branding of our client was seemed to be the bottlenecks. As a strategic recruitment partner, we went above and beyond and helped our client with our market intelligence insights which lead to create a new role for HR Leadership. As a solution to our client existing problems, we upsold a profile for the position of “CHRO”, at first, things went smooth with the interviews concluding in a week, but we ran into another difficulty as the CTC of the candidate was beyond client budget. We put our best step forward and convinced the candidate to join this fastest growing CRO by detailing her the impact that she would be creating with this opportunity and grow significantly with our client organization. TalentSurabhi worked closely with the client and candidate to bring the search to a successful conclusion, we were able to close the position with 1:1:1 ratio and 100% closure happened within 20 days of assignment signed.

Virtual Hiring Success Story II We approached our client who is a mid-size Multinational CRO company; they were searching for a high demanding role of ‘Principal Biostatistician’ for more than three months. We met with the hiring manager virtually to understand the gaps they saw in the variety of candidates they had interviewed. Once we captured the pain points from the hiring manager, we have surprised our client with some immediate joiners’ proﬁle and rescued them from crucial resourcing situation and were able to close the position with 4:2:1 (4CV’s:2Offers:1Joinee) ratio and candidate joined after 30 days of notice period. 100% closure happened within 35 days of assignment signed.

Virtual Hiring Success Story III ‘TalentSurabhi’ worked with a multinational CRO to identify a technical expert on high demanding role of ‘Lead Statistical Programmer’ Position in India. We had a difﬁcult task to close this position as the number of candidates who would qualify were few in number and the candidate who we found was a strong candidate, an immediate joiner. But the candidate was a difﬁcult person to deal with, so we treated the ground cautiously and took extra care to ensure she felt comfortable with us and the client. With the submission of 6CV’s, this position was closed with 6:2:1 ratio and 100% closure happened within 30 days of receiving the requirements.

small seed of a new idea creates the tree of a novel business. It will bear fruits in due course if nurtured with love, passion, patience, perseverance, intelligence, and innovation. On the road of a new business venture, taking that ﬁrst step is winning half of the battle, while the other half can be won with sheer planning, keen monitoring, and deep resilience to keep going on, even in the face of adversity. Planning will help you in the short term. But to succeed in the long-term what you need is a full-proof business strategy.

The quest of questions begins: The journey for answers starts. The idea might have come from entrepreneurs who need to be her/his own boss. Or due to unavailability of any product/service which the entrepreneur has detected in the existing market. Whatever the case, starting and running a new business from the scratch is time, effort, and money consuming. The investment required may run from some thousands of bucks to millions. Thus, the ﬁrst aspect for a soon-to-be entrepreneur to consider, is a careful analysis of numerous questions, about the idea of business.

December 2021 | 22 | www.ciolookindia.com

Strategic Approach

- Is my business knowledge, education enough to start this endeavour? Or should I upskill myself? - Why, how, and when to begin this venture? Where will my startup be located? Should I start online at first and then set up a physical office? - Who will be my ideal customer? What kind of products or/and services I will provide to them? What kind of nature my firm will have, private/partnership/LLC or something else? - How much investment in terms of time-efforts-money will this startup need?

- Should I go to a Venture Capitalist (VC) or a Bank or Private Investor or are online options available? Or should I go to governmental agencies which helps MSMEs? - How much loan will be needed for initial startup costs, taxes, and fees etc.? - Should I need to insure my business? - Who are going to be my competitors? - How will I run, operate, manage, market, and advertise this business? What kind of people and how many of them will be needed to execute the business properly?

December 2021 | 23 | www.ciolookindia.com

- What types of technology I will be using to make my business accessible and competitive? - Should I go to a business advisor or consultant? The above list is not exhaustive. There are many more questions, based on the type of entrepreneur, her/his situation, and the kind of enterprise she/he is going to setup. In short, there is a lot to consider before even beginning the business venture. To tackle all these and many more such questions, what the entrepreneur need, is a detailed and thorough strategic game plan. The Strategic Game Plan: In case of VC, or a bank, or a government agency, or even a private investor, a detailed business plan is mandatory. A business plan contains the title and type of your business, followed by your profile/resume and an executive summary. Then it will have a business description agenda, which will state your startup's mission, vision, goals, short and long-term objectives, and an approximate break-even-point date (the date your business will be profit-making). Then it will have a detailed outline of funding, investment and finance your startup is going to consume in the short as well as in the long run. Most loan providers look for three yearly projections. And many of the legitimate finding sources ask for your personal income tax returns or ITR's for the past three years.

Marketing will give your startup introduction, visibility, recognition, reach, and identity to your prospective customers, clients, consumers, and your backers. A great marketing plan will have effective communication and advertising strategies. It will understand your target market and its patterns of demographic, geographic, and psychographics, showcasing the actual and perceived benefits of your products and services to the customers. A meticulous market analysis will define your market strategy, your standing and your position in the market. It will also contain the type and kind of competition you are going to face in the market. The aim of design and development is to provide a description of the product/service design, chart its developmental graph in the context of manufacturing/production and delivery. While operation and management will describe the actual day-to-day functioning of the startup. And ultimately financial strategy will give you inputs about all the financial data which will make sure the smooth running of your business startup. Careful consideration of all the above-mentioned aspects and plans will lead to a successful business startup blossoming from the scratch. Always remember that due diligence, confidence, love, and passion will make you accomplish the starting and growing of your startup a reality. Best of Luck! - Gaurav PR Wankhade

Now, you can either prepare such a business plan all by yourself, or you can go to an advisor or a consulting ﬁrm. They will charge you fees. If they are asking for too much, you can go online and save your money with customized business plan software. There is a variety of such software available. There are many packages of software that will not only help you in making your business plan but also plans for your marketing and market strategy analysis, competitive analysis, design and development, operations and management, and ﬁnancial strategy.

December 2021 | 24 | www.ciolookindia.com

Genid Shipping and Logistics Pvt. Ltd. Providing Tailor-made and Creative Logistics Solutions throughout India

Dr. T. Johnson

Managing Director and CEO

Booming Startups to Watch Out For

he objective is to provide customers with tailored, high-quality, large-scale comprehensive Logistics solutions that will give them a distinct competitive edge, which is rarely found. Looking for a team dedicated to attaining the greatest levels of productivity and efﬁciency in all its shipments is hard to ﬁnd.

Ms.Sneha Britto Investor - Genid Shipping & Logistics

There is a clear demand for quicker, more efﬁcient, and cost-effective transportation options in today's competitive climate. One company providing all necessary solutions related to shipping and logistic space is Genid Shipping and Logistics Pvt Ltd (GENID). GENID was founded, just about when COVID-19 was creating headlines and global supply chain scenario looked gloomy. Nevertheless, nothing stopped Genid from adding several prestigious clients to its growing list and to be one of the best door-to-door logistics service provider in India within a short span of time. GENID is ably steered under the dynamic leadership of Dr T Johnson, CEO & Managing Director, a stalwart with over three decades of experience in the logistics industry. He founded the ﬁrm in early 2020 with support from Ms. Sneha Britto, daughter of Dr. S. Xavier Britto, Chairman, Kerry Indev Logistics, a 35year-old logistics company. Combining Ms. Sneha’s business acumen and Dr Johnson’s vast industry expertise, Genid offers extensive range of logistics services backed by impeccable infrastructure.

Timely pickup and delivery of goods is the intricacy of the logistics industry. Ensuring adherence to the schedule, GENID provides a comprehensive package of door-to-door services which begin with shipment being picked up from the warehouse or factory, surface transport, custom clearance, sea transport and last mile delivery. Staunch Inland Connectivity

The core activities of the organization include Integrated Logistics, International Freight Forwarding, Ship Chartering and Brokering, Global Project Cargo Logistics, Inland Transportation, Customs Clearance, Warehousing, Granite Stocking & Stufﬁng and Stevedoring.

GENID is a major transport and logistics business in India, offering value-added services in road transport, air and sea freight, integrated logistics, and customs clearing. Genid Shipping and Logistics, as a fully

Building a Global Presence

WE LEVERAGE OUR ENORMOUS GLOBAL NETWORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS TO PROVIDE THE FINEST INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS SERVICES

December 2021 | 27 | www.ciolookindia.com

“

GENID meets the logistical demands of its clients worldwide, providing full supply chain management solutions across time zones. It firmly believes that each industry has its own set of logistical requirements, which is why it has created the specialised knowledge necessary in a wide range of industries, all of which are supported by a network of specialists with well-defined process flow and logistics methodologies.

integrated transport and logistics provider, can make your logistics network more cost-effective, regardless of any industry. The company provides personalised service with highest efficacy to best serve its clients. GENID has gained a competitive edge by integrating transportation modes such as road, rail, and sea. Granite shipments – The Company's Forte Granite product stuffing has received a lot of attention at GENID. The business is primarily about aesthetics and the quality of its labour. The team at GENID oversees operations and guarantee that the quality of the goods is not compromised all over the world. The company’s technical team specializes in designing and building equipment used for safe rough block stuffing. All dunnage wood used in the shipments is chemically treated to guarantee that termites or other damage do not cause long-term harm to the wood, and all dunnage is ISPM certified. GENID’s centralised pricing desk negotiates competitive pricing with Shipping lines to provide tailored solutions for logistics needs.

December 2021 | 28 | www.ciolookindia.com

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Booming Startups to Watch Out For

e live in times when we cannot alienate ourselves from technology. Every industry is adapting tech solutions for smooth functioning and branding. And while technology keeps evolving every day, Web and App development are growing with more incredible speed. Every industry is keen on creating its app. Web development can make product branding and company branding happen smoothly. Therefore, it is no surprise to see several start-ups shifting their attention towards web development and venturing into this robust tech field. One such solid company that counts in giving ace-level web and app developing solutions for every industry is GraffersID. It also provides organizations with the option of hiring remote dedicated developers from India on a contractual basis based on their project requirements. In an exclusive interview with CIO Look India, Sidharth Jain, the proud Founder of GraffersID, shares some insights about his tech-savvy firm. Following are the highlights of the interview. Describe us about GraffersID in detail. GraffersID is an award-winning website and mobile app development company founded in 2017 to increase start-up success rates. The current start-up success rate is 10-20%, yet 80 percent of the businesses we have worked with have been successful and have obtained capital within one month. Some are incubated by YCombinator, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Harvard's Incubation, and other well-known venture capital firms. As a development partner, we have worked with over 25 unicorns to date. We have received several awards for our services. Some of them are: • • •

Global Business Awards 2021 – Best IT Company for start-ups Asia innovation Congress – Premium Product Development IT Company World HRD Conference US – Most Trusted Software Development Company

• • • •

Zoom TV Awards India – Impactful IT Company Design Conclave Australia – Premium UI/UX Experience Clutch – Top Web Developers India 2020 Mobile App Daily – Fastest Growing App Development Companies in 2021

Mr Sidharth Jain please brief us about your journey and shed some light on your professional tenure. I am the proud founder of GraffersID, a website and mobile app development ﬁrm. I founded GraffersID intending to increase start-up success rates via the development of user-centric solutions. I am from Barwaha, which is 60 kilometers from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. I completed my education in Indore before enrolling in a Mumbai Top College for higher studies. I had a passion for coding and was keen to learn about new technologies since my undergraduate days. Only because of my perseverance I had the opportunity to work for India’s largest IT company at the time. Because of my competence and love for my profession, I was blessed with a signiﬁcant opportunity to work on

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the company’s most valued project. I also had a chance to be trained in a foreign nation and work on the clientside. After a few years on the job, I decided to leave and establish my own business. I hired a co-working space and began working as an IT consultant using the money I had set up. I started writing articles on Quora, Medium, and LinkedIn to gain more business, to answer people’s questions. Within a few days, I rose to the most famous writer position in the start-up category. People began to approach me for business consultation and development assistance. I was rewarded as one of the "Most Influential 50 Youth Marketing Leaders" by World HRD Congress in 2018 for my marketing abilities. What made you venture into the industry web and app development space? When individuals started coming to me for advice for their businesses, I realised that this is what I want and love to do. I began talking with people about their projects and realised that they were frustrated because their businesses were not producing the desired results. The difficulties that start-ups and entrepreneurs confront encouraged me to launch my firm.

What kind of offerings does GraffersID provide to its clients? We are a software development ﬁrm with a strong emphasis on website and mobile application development. In addition, businesses can employ a devoted remote developer from India on a contract basis based on the project's needs. As well, if our clients desire it, we provide SEO and maintenance services. We are well-known for developing marketingoptimized customer-centric Websites and Mobile Apps. We work in four steps: Step 1: Requirement Gathering Step 2: UI/UX Step 3: Development Step 4: Maintenance and SEO What kind of challenges have you faced while entering the web and app development industry? A handful of our early start-up clients failed, but we didn’t give up. We examined the errors and interpreted them as lessons to be avoided in the future. We realised that the customer and GraffersID suffered as a result of these errors. GraffersID lost its customer because the client lost hope. If we provide customers with valuable services, they will be more interested in developing long-term relationships with GraffersID. With a few tweaks, we

December 2021 | 34 | www.ciolookindia.com

are already receiving excellent feedback from our clientele. How was GraffersID affected during the pandemic? What steps did you take to curb the damages while helping your clients and maintaining the safety of your employees? During COVID-19, all individuals and companies were severely harmed, and many entrepreneurs were forced to close their doors. Every other day, we lost a loved one. When I realised this, I took two key steps: a) In collaboration with other prominent IT businesses in MP, I established a helpline number via which patients could connect directly with doctors for TeleConsultation. To combat the spreading of disinformation, we even launched a chatbot to dispel misconceptions and raise awareness. b) In order for businesses to thrive, I formed many WhatsApp groups of company owners. People may openly seek counseling, talk, network, and exchange business requirements in these gatherings. We even held many live seminars with industry leaders that provided members with practical tips and hacks. Almost 90% of the members of the group survived the pandemic and continued to expand.

We begin as consultants in a co-working environment to increase start-up success rates. We are currently a well-known IT firm. Our long-term goal is to become a successful incubator so that we can finance and support start-up concepts financially as well as technologically. The main reason for this is that it boosts the success rate of start-ups and assists them in achieving long-term goals. What is the current industrial scenario of the web and app development space? Businesses and customers are increasingly moving online as technology advances. Businesses that want to engage with their internet clients must have an online presence. As a result, they are having software built for their company to address this need. According to research, barely 30-40% of organisations have business software. As a result, we believe the software business will have several opportunities in the future.

What would you like to advise the young generation of entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts? In my interviews and talks, I often bring up this remark “If you enjoy doing something, you will subconsciously improve. As a result, you should constantly work on something that you are enthusiastic about. And your learning should always be motivated by a sense of interest or a necessity.” Any degree or education will not help you succeed; nevertheless, your attitude, enthusiasm, and desire for your profession will. So, constantly keep your aim in mind and do things that make you happy. Where do you envision GraffersID to be in the long run, and what are your future goals? How do you plan to embrace the changes happening in web and app development space? December 2021 | 35 | www.ciolookindia.com

y g o l o n h c e t How is n a e b o t g provin s p u t r a t s o t advantage

December 2021 | 36 | www.ciolookindia.com

Tech-Advantages

echnology saved the world from drowning in the cesspool of a pandemic. It also pulled out the world economies ashore and is still keeping them on track. It gave a breath of fresh air to those businesses, that otherwise, were gasping for breath. And it certainly rekindled that flame in the freezing hearts (with horror at the utter despair the pandemic brought) of those startups, who were looking aghast, at the situation, unfolding in front of their eyes. Today, technology is that immunity firewall, without which a business (especially startups) will be seriously ill. And it will die an unknown death, too, if unable to adapt to the change and adopt the technological advantages into their core functional systems. In short, they must develop a tech mindset, which will give them that competitive advantage to come out on top of any crisis. Thus, technology is a blessing in innumerable ways for a startup. In fact, its very existence depends on it, whatever be the nature of the startup. Even a completely non-technical startup will require technology even to commence, forget becoming operational afterwards. So, what are those amazing advantages technology will bring to a startup? Let us find out. Beyond Conventions: Reshaping the Startup's Present At a conceptual level, technology may mean different things to each one of us, and our businesses. But at a practical level, we cannot imagine surviving without it, personally and professionally. From smartphones to artificial intelligence (AI) based smart televisions, we are surrounded in our personal lives by modern technological smartness. No wonder, it has surrounded us in our professional life, too. Today, every business, irrespective of

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its sector, trusts technology (sometimes more than it trusts people) to not only do the business but also to bring in more business and expand its reach to new markets and newer customers and that also quickly. Even traditionally tech-averse sectors like logistics and manufacturing have seen their fastest growth thanks to tech innovation. In other industries like banking, finance, stock exchange, insurance, and trade (BFSIT) and retail, pharmaceuticals, medicine and healthcare, technology is penetrating deeper and evolving faster than ever. Due to this constant evolution, conventional business models are getting redefined. So much so that many entrepreneurs, startups, and big businesses alike are finding it difficult to simply keep up with the pace. From technology as an enabler, entire business processes are getting either outdated or completely transformed. The old corporate world's buzzwords like ERP, SCM, CRM etc. etc., had now been revamped. While many other concepts like big investment – huge profits, old consumer delivery models, physical experience is best, and many more are completely obsolete. Automation and Process Integration have allowed small and tiny businesses to reduce costs and increase profit at the same time. #Key Tech Focus Areas: •

•

• • • • •

• •

Look beyond conventional business tricks and use technology as a market disrupter to stay in the game and outpace the competition. Automation equals a personalized customer experience. Thus, integrate artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and analytics into the heart of your business functions. Budget allocation and asset sharing based on scalable platforms. Granular pricing models (pay for what you use or use now-pay later) Analytics and decision making on the top management level Smartphones, IIOT, robotics, sensors, machine learning (ML), 3D printing on shop level Artificial Intelligence (AI), analytics, machine learning (ML), chatbots, and auto-bots on front office-level Data and info sharing platforms at the back-office level Integrating all the levels into a single business ecosystem using smart techs like cloud, IoT, and digitalization

#Embrace New-age Tech: Startups have many advantages over big, established businesses like agility, adaptability, and capability and capacity to disrupt. These advantages come naturally if a startup allows the tech to take the lead and present its image as a techno-driven product/service innovator to the consumer/customer. • Appreciate and embrace the latest tech in the business model • Recruit and develop a tech-savvy team of professionals with an ability to adapt fast • Learn and unlearn the implications of new tech on the business processes • Willingly look at modifying existing rigid structures and replacing them with disruptive technologies to keep the competitive edge • Develop B2B networks and peer-to-peer knowledge and experience sharing platforms #Tech-driven startups: Pandemic pushed each and every business to think outof-the-box. And those who took tech assistance evolved fast and remained in the market. The change was in the mindset and approach rather than only in theory. • Assess all and select that technology that is intrinsic to the core business model • Look beyond the geographical boundaries with the scope of IT and IoT • Map and tap the existing and potential markets with the help of a third-party tech service provider • Outsource costly business processes rather than allocating too many funds to digitalize them • Problem-solving using tech-based solutions instead of traditional business consultancy • Reskill and upskill the workforce to adapt to the changing expectations from the market, consumers, and business management • Use hybrid (in-ofﬁce and remote) workforce management, model • Keep innovating and utilizing technology to do it If a startup does all of this, then just like that tennis match where the referee says, 'advantage new-player', the business market match referee will be forced to say, 'Tech-advantage, Startups'.

December 2021 | 38 | www.ciolookindia.com

- Gaurav PR Wankhade

Connecting Readers with Writers

iterature of the Indian subcontinent has been characterized by an exuberant diversity of languages throughout its history and has been enriched by evershifting dialogues among these languages, the region, and the culture they represent. People read almost everything they are interested in. Whether modern or classic, literature is the best way to comprehend knowledge.

In an exclusive interview with Insights Success, Mr. Hitesh Jain, Cofounder, and COO of StoryMirror shed light on the company’s journey, the current industry scenario, and his vision on the future of the company.

A few years back, people used to visit libraries or search for speciﬁc topics according to their requirements, but it was a time-consuming process. The introduction of online reading platforms changed this scenario by providing knowledge on relevant topics by identifying readers’ interests and also offering them widespread information.

Please describe our audience about StoryMirror in detail and how it is currently positioned as a trusted literature platform in India? If we have to introduce StoryMirror in one sentence, it is YouTube for writers and Netﬂix for readers. We are not only giving just a platform to writers to highlight their writings on a global level but also making it possible for them to earn through their writings. From a reader’s perspective, we provide them with an option to read as per their reading preference of content in language and genre.

The online reading platforms are becoming one-stop knowledge providers at the ﬁngertips, and a major advantage of that is – It is easily accessible on whichever electronic gadget is available to the readers. These platforms created opportunities for the writers as well; to create appropriate content on numerous topics and share it with the readers. This is where StoryMirror comes into the picture.

StoryMirror was conceptualised to solve a problem in the book publishing industry and that was “to bring transparency for authors.” However, as we started to work towards it, we realised that we have a much bigger problem to solve and that was “to bring literature to the mainstream in India.” We all know, a country becomes progressive when more focus is put on imagination and literature is the best way to do so.

StoryMirror nurtures a community of millions of readers and writers. Story mirror is a platform for the writers to showcase their writing and they are offering reading material for the readers as per their reading preference of content in language and genre.

Books have always been part of our life, but literature and writers have never been given due importance. We want our children to read books, but we do not want them to take literature as a career. In India, we have more than 70 EdTech start-ups for IIT exams, robotics, coding, etc., but no one talks about literature. We

want writers and writing as a profession to be accommodated with the same respect and remuneration as any other profession like doctor, engineer, chartered accountant, etc. What started as a single page website, has grown to become the largest literature tech platform in India. Today, StoryMirror has the highest number of content creators, the highest number of young writers, the highest number of translators, the highest number of original literature content and we receive more than 30,000 content pieces a month. Since ancient times, stories remain an integral part of human civilisations. Some research papers say an average human being generates ten unique stories a day. So, in a 70-year life span, one person generates more than 250K stories. So, we are talking about close to 200 trillion stories if all stories of one generation are collated into one place. Imagine how the world will look like with all stories in one place? And no one ignores stories. You might like it or dislike it, but you cannot ignore it. On your deathbed, if someone asks you about the formula around coordinate geometry, calculus, organic chemistry, you might have forgotten them all. But you would have never forgotten the stories even before you started schooling. Every day we experience so many stories. If these stories are not catalogued, they will end with the person. We believe that every story has an emotion, and every emotion

December 2021 | 40 | www.ciolookindia.com

has the power to impact someone. StoryMirror is about millions of such stories impacting billions of lives. What made you venture into the publishing industry? Mr. Bibhu Datta Rout is the Founder and CEO of StoryMirror, also, an author of a national best-seller “Wheels of Wish.” He wrote the novel while working for an investment bank (Credit Suisse). However, publishing happened to be the toughest work. Consistent denial by publishing companies forced him to start a company. The original idea was just to publish his book through the company. But as he discussed with fellow authors and co-founder, Hitesh Jain, they could understand why a country like India has never produced authors like Leo Tolstoy, Jane Austin, and J.K Rowling. Both of them thought of solving this problem by bridging the gap between readers and writers. Rest is history. Today StoryMirror has become one of the best literature tech platforms of India serving readers and writers in ten different languages What kind of offerings does Story Mirror provide to its clients? StoryMirror caters to the entire literary journey of a writer. Whether you are looking to publish a single story or poem online to start your literary journey or want to publish a book and make it available globally, Story Mirror caters to all.

colour, font etc., before uploading. All stories and poems are moderated, and many are edited as relevant. Editors rate the content, check genre, and tags, etc. during the moderation process. The moderation process is partly automated and partly manual. With the passage of time, we plan to automate the content approval process. Once content gets published on Story Mirror, it can be shared, liked, rated, and commented on by the readers. In order to improve the skills of writers, we have a module called “contests”. We have conducted 300+ writing challenges for writers and they enjoy the most when challenged through creativity. Every week an Author of Week is chosen for writers to motivate them further. There are few gamiﬁcation modules in place, and many are coming up. Through author dashboard and other marketing and distribution tools, we bring complete transparency to the literature ecosystem. With time, StoryMirror has also emerged as the most reliable, innovative, and ﬂexible publisher for writers who are looking to publish

their book and get a reach to millions of readers. With international distribution collaborations and innovative marketing initiatives, StoryMirror has created 25+ national bestsellers. When a reader lands on the platform, he sees a lot of powerful Usergenerated, but curated stories and poems on the platform. They are carefully crafted based on editor scores and user ratings to provide an amazing reading experience. There are short stories, long stories, poetry, quotes, audio stories segregated into various genres and lengths. The reading experience is the same seamlessly across Android, IOS, and Web. Due to our design and quality of content and SEO optimisation, almost 50% of the entire trafﬁc is from organic search, which is the highest among peers and competing companies. The experience of the readers helps them to become writers eventually and we have observed almost 23% of writers in StoryMirror were readers when they joined the platform and after several months of reading, they started contributing as a writer as well.

When a writer lands on our platform, it appeals to her/him instantly as there are not many platforms where creative content is appreciated. S/he can submit content in multiple formats (story/poem/quote/audio). There is also a small blog section, where s/he can submit opinions. Writers can write in multiple languages, they can select cover images from a library of millions of cover images, can crop, change

Mr. Hitesh Jain, Founder and COO Mr. Bibhu Datta Rout, Founder and CEO

“

Our long-term vision is to capture all human stories under one platform

“

What kind of challenges have you faced while entering the publishing industry? There was not one but many challenges which we encountered while commencing the business and also while running the day-to-day operations of the company.

How was StoryMirror affected in these pandemic times and what were the steps taken by you to curb the damages all the while helping your clients and maintaining the safety of your employees? Human beings are destined to face problems, and all problems provide us with an opportunity to stand against all odds. During the pandemic, we worked hard and observed a lot of opportunities. We were able to see signiﬁcant growth of StoryMirror within our readers and writers base, and our revenue numbers were on the rise as well.

We come from a society where parents want children to become engineers or doctors or designated MBA’s. Art, as a stream has always been looked down on. It was always like one pursue arts only if science and commerce options are not available.

More importantly, we didn’t lay off any employees during the pandemic time, which boosted the morale of the team to perform best to their levels and clients were also happy for getting the same quality services, that they mandatorily expect from StoryMirror.

Many of us would have wanted to probably take arts as a stream but due to parental or peer pressure ended up taking some other career option. We want our children to read books, but we do not want them to take writing as an education stream and as a career. Being in a society, with this mindset we realised that our journey is not going to be easy. We believe that we are on the right path, and we are constantly being told who reads books these days and how will you make money. With our innovative marketing strategies, we are not only looking at increasing revenues, but also an expansion of StoryMirror.

What would you like to advise the young generation of entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts? Any entrepreneur journey is not an easy one. It is always a roller coaster ride. Dealing with the creative domain is quite difﬁcult. The only advice to young minds is to work hard in a focused way and don’t think of the outcome. Where do you envision your Story Mirror to be in the long run and what

are your future goals? How do you plan to embrace the changes happening in the publishing industry? We are always rewarded for good works. There are delays in God’s world, but never reward is denied. And your business should add value to people’s life. We have built a set of products, which helps writers to augment their skills, check their revenues through StoryMirror, build their aspirations to become national best-sellers. When intentions are good and efforts are in the right direction, the journey becomes an interesting one. Passions and support from the entire team are what kept us alive. Probably it’s the best team we could have ever asked for. The passion that the team carries is unparalleled. We strongly believe we are on the path to making India read and write again. Our longterm vision is to capture all human stories under one platform - seven billion people, seven billion stories, and one platform, alive through our breath-taking and success stories. What is the current industrial scenario of the publishing industry? The industry is too big to have dozens of unicorns in the space. Content once created can be monetised in multiple formats. Everything put together is a multibillion-dollar opportunity. The creator economy is the next big thing. It’s over $500Bn globally and over $100Bn in India alone. You will see a new era where creative people make more money than technical people. The windows of opportunities are opening very fast, and we are conﬁdent the industry we are into is expected to upscale with exponential speed. And then add to that the Bharat or the vernacular market that’s opening up.

December 2021 | 42 | www.ciolookindia.com