The 10 Transformational Business Leaders to Look Out 2020 Vol -2

Arjun Nijhawan, Director, Nijhawan Group

THE 10 TRANSFORMATIONAL

BUSINESS LEADERS TO LOOK OUT 2020 VOL.2

Arjun Nijhawan A prominent leader charting new paths

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A transformational business leader is one who has a good vision and commitment to success and one who inspires his team as well as budding entrepreneurs and encourages them to increase their productivity. The global pandemic has highlighted the need for innovation and embracing digital ways of business processes to be relevant in the market. The one that still relies on traditional business processes might be holding the growth back. When a business adopts innovative methods, new doors of opportunity get opened for it. And the true leader is one who sees the future and inspires change.

The Enterprise Worlds special issue, The 10 Transformational Business Leaders to Look Out 2020-Vol.2 features stories of the stories of leaders that have created a unique place in the market with their dedication and inspired rising entrepreneurs with their exemplary hard and smart work.

Featuring for the cover story is Mr. Arjun Nijhawan. With over 40 years of experience in India, Nijhawan Group is one of the leading travel conglomerates and has vastly diversified entities within the Travel Industry. Nijhawan Group has a history of successful business partnerships with leading airlines and hotels.

Mr. Graham Bright is on a mission to empower businesses globally with smart trade finance services as well as comprehensive banking solutions through Euro Exim Bank. Read an interview with him in which we have talked about the current industry scenario and what Euro Exim Bank offers to its customers.

There is a crucial part every business has to play in taking care of the environment as a business not only provides products/services to the consumers, jobs to a lot of people, and much more. But the concern remains whether they are fulfilling the responsibilities they have towards the environment? Readout more in our editorial feature, Environmental Responsibilities of Business!

The logistic sector of a country plays a vital role in its development. India’s infrastructure has increased over the last few decades due to the implementation of high scientific techniques. Jay Storage Solutions’ is a market leader in the storage solutions area in India. Based in Mumbai, the company is a reliable name in providing intelligent storage solutions. Mr. Premal Karelia, MD at Jay Storage solution is transforming his client’s businesses with cutting-edge storage solutions.

Nothing we do is more important than hiring people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not strategies. Readout an article from our editor’s desk, conveying the human approach to business – ‘It’s all about the Midas touch’.

There is a lot more inside!

Happy reading!

“The role of a great leader is not to give greatness to human beings, but to help them extract the greatness they already have inside them.” J. Buchan

Rushikesh Deshpande

INNOVATION, BEYOND IMAGINATION

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Leaders in Spotlight Featuring for the cover story is Mr Arjun Nijhawan. With over 40 years of experience in India, Nijhawan Group is one of the leading travel conglomerates and has vastly diversified entities within the Travel Industry. Nijhawan Group has a history of successful business partnerships with leading airlines and hotels.

Mr. Ashok Mittal (CEO & Founder), PrestLoans is supporting this movement by providing customized solutions to support the MSME sector by understanding their financial needs which can help the businesses to sustain in this difficult time. Readout an interview with him and discover more about 'PrestLoans' and know his thoughts on the current industry scenario.

Jay Storage Solutions' is a market leader in the storage solutions area in India. Based in Mumbai, the company is a reliable name in providing intelligent storage solutions. Mr. Premal Karelia, MD at Jay Storage solution is transforming his client's businesses with cutting-edge storage solutions.

Mr. Graham Bright is on a mission to empower businesses globally with smart trade finance services as well as comprehensive banking solutions through Euro Exim Bank. Read an interview with

him in which we have talked about the current industry scenario and what Euro Exim Bank offers to its customers.

Mr. Imad A Syed is the CEO APAC & ME, Group CIO & Board Member at PiLog Group. PiLog Group is a global group of associated companies that is bringing technology and business change through their innovative & agile solutions.

In a talk with Dr. Rahul Mirchandani, Chairman and Managing Director at Aries, spoke at length about Aries strengths and his thoughts on the current agri business industry scenario. ARIES is 50. Evolving from a dream of two individuals to a thriving globalized organization of over a thousand people, the metamorphosis of Aries has been phenomenal.

Marching Sheep was founded in the year 2013, by HR veteran Ms Sonica Aron. An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, having worked with companies like Pepsico, Roche Diagnostics, Vodafone, and AkzoNobel, She was heading HR for Philips Consumer Lifestyle business in 2012.

Mr. Sudhir Panditrao and Mr. Mangesh Wagh founded

Enggenious, a strategic business unit at SAN Techno Mentors Pvt Ltd (STMPL). STMPL is a part of the SAN Group. Established in 1990 and has 6 companies in product design, electronic manufacturing, industrial automation, data connectivity solutions, instrumentation, and value engineering domains.

Mr. Uma Shankar Bhardwaj emanated iAvatarZ Digital in 2008 with a vision to transform clients’ businesses with top-notched digital advertising services. Today, the company has created a unique place in the market with the smart efforts of a high expertise team.

Providing a cutting edge in the immigration services is XIPHIAS Immigration Pvt. Ltd. Led by Mr. Varun Singh, XIPHIAS Immigration is one of the leading Immigration companies providing solutions to clients who intend to relocate to other parts of the world.

Businesses are in continuous search of the digital marketing services provider that can accelerate their growth. To cater to the digital needs of businesses, a leader Ms. Ashmita Dhingra is offering innovative and comprehensive digital marketing services through Digifish3.

CONTENTS Arjun Nijhawan A prominent leader charting new paths

Emerging technologies, crisis, revolutions currently prevailing in the current industry environment.

Enhancing Gut Health Using Probiotics.

What is a Keto diet and How does it Work Environmental Responsibilities of Business The Human Approach to Business

Ashmita Dhingra

Chintan P Mehta

Immortalizing ideas, digitally!

A pioneer of revolution in the insurance sector

PiLog Group's Innovations & Agility Transforming Digital Business!!!

Graham Bright

Ashok Mittal

Premal Karelia

Creating Future of businesses with Financial Acumen

Shaping the future of businesses with easy credit offerings

Transforming India's Logistic industry with intelligent storage solutions

Rahul Mirchandani

Sonica Aron

A leader on a mission to transform farming in India!

Creating the way of growth for businesses through Marching Sheep

Uma Shankar Bhardwaj

Sudhir Panditrao & Mangesh Wagh

XIPHIAS Immigration Pvt. Ltd

A duo setting up the new benchmarks in the knowledge sector

Smart Working for Immigrations

Creating, rejuvenating, and repositioning brands

08 November 2020

Cover Story

Arjun Nijhawan A prominent

LEADER

charting new paths

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“

“

Cover Story

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Winston S. Churchill

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ith over 40 years of experience in India, Nijhawan Group is one of the leading travel conglomerates and has vastly diversified entities within the Travel Industry.

Nijhawan Group has a history of successful business partnerships with leading airlines and hotels.

The company has successfully represented British Airways for 34 years and has three decades with an array of major international airlines (including Kingfisher Airlines, Sama Airlines, and Fly Dubai) providing them with wide-ranging services, from passengers to route management. The Group also represents top hotels chain across the world.

The Group also owns equity in TBO Group which is the largest online B2A travel portal in India.

Nijhawan Group has the means to commit dedicated resources to provide product focus and committed ownership - right from adopting our partner’s processes to enhancing the quality of service delivery with meticulous planning and foresight suited for the Indian environment.

10 November 2020

Their airline and Hotel partners depend on them to provide complete management of their business in India to International standards. The group works very closely with the representation of their relationships to maximize revenues and ensure costeffectiveness and high quality of service delivery. And in recent years, Nijhawan Group has taken bold steps in increasing the value offered to an extensive client base while broadening business horizons with new ventures.

With a workforce of 1200 employees and 47 fully automated and well-located offices across India, the Far East, Middle East, Africa, and Europe the group continues to grow and strengthen its network of services.

Nijhawan Group has a strong foothold in the travel technology, hotel representations, outbound & inbound tourism, retail, e-commerce, angel investments to many start-ups in the digital world, mobile app developing services (e.g, Dineout, InShorts), and catering industry. The group knows its responsibilities towards society very well and always strives to contribute to the well being of society through the CKRDT foundation.

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Arjun Nijhawan, Director, Nijhawan Group

12 November 2020

‘‘

YOU SHOULD COMPETE WITH YOURSELF AS AFTER WINNING THE RAT RACE; YOU STILL END UP AS A RAT. – MR. ARJUN NIJHAWAN

‘‘

Mr. Arjun Nijhawan, Director, Nijhawan Group Mr. Arjun took part in the family business in 2006 and as of now, he is in business for 14 years. He handles Nijhawan Group’s retail vertical. When he started working in the retail vertical, there were only 3 stores, and today there are 46 stores that reflect his dedication and futuristic vision towards the growth. Their customers in the retail business keep coming back because of the quality services they provide.

Mr. Arjun is also managing director and Co-founder of Fork ‘N’ Spoon catering Pvt. Ltd. After studying Economics and International business he decided to follow his passion for the art of hosting the perfect party. He used his business skills to bring together the combination of commercial, technical, and personal expertise to create delicious and innovative buffets for curating the perfect events. Mr. Arjun believes passionately in bringing great tasting foods to discerning people.

He thinks that adding a bit of soul and flavor into life is good for us

all, and that is why Fork ‘N’ Spoon was born. With no prior experience in the food sector or without having any degree in culinary arts, today Mr. Arjun and his team at Fork 'N' Spoon got tremendous success and a huge number of clients only because of his willpower and apt management skills.

Every wedding event consists of different families with different mind sets. If the food is awesome, everyone will appreciate the event.

Fork ‘N’ Spoon’s clients come to them after an event and appreciate their efforts they took to make the event successful.

Mr. Arjun admires Bill gates the most. He says, “Bill Gates does things quite differently. He researches the subject at most he is going into and he is the master of his craft”. Richard Makin’s business story has been a source of inspiration for Mr. Arjun since long.

The legacy Late Shri B L NIjhawan, Founder, Nijhawan Group.

Late Shri B L Nijhawan is popularly known as the father figure of the Indian travel industry.

The group today is blessed by his blessings. He has been to many villages in the early 70s and 80s and developed many entrepreneurs into travel agents. He founded the group as the GSA for British Airways in 1974. With his 61 years in the business he is one of the gurus and by far one of the most respected people in the booming

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travel business in India. He built his empire steadily with sheer grit and gumption. People in Punjab, India used to call British Airways as Bansilal Airways after his first name.

Nijhawan Group’s Business Verticals TBO Group TBO Group today proudly services nearly 34,000 Travel Agents across 78 Countries for their selling requirements. The TBO Group is a truly Indian multinational corporation, which focuses on providing a wide range of travel services to clients and agents the world over.

Retail With India’s economy growing year on year and with the increasing buying power of people, Nijhawan Group diversified into the retail vertical in 2009.

E-Commerce The Nijhawan Group has invested in many startups. The popular one are, InShorts, Lets Transport, Pee Buddy, Advantage Club, Dineout, My Green Box, etc Nijhawan Group – Representations Nijhawan Group- Representations is one of the leading travel representation companies and is the preferred choice for travel, tourism, and hospitality representation in India that provides sales, marketing, research, PR, and media solutions to International Hotels,

14 November 2020

Theme Parks, and Travel Related Products through a professional and motivated team in a cost-effective manner thereby increasing market share, maximizing revenue and building new markets for the clients. It aims to deliver tangible business results through strategic marketing, personalized service, innovation, quality, and commitment.

Airline Representation The Nijhawan Group represented several world's top airlines like British Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, and Fly Dubai. British Airways was represented by the group for 34 years across India.

With the travel domain expertise, Nijhawan Group worked very closely with its airline partner in its Sales, Distribution, Operations, and Marketing strategy to be successful in the fast-growing Indian economy. Nijhawan Group continues to prove that local expertise and relationships can help some of the best international airline organizations to maximize their reach, visibility, and revenue in India.

CKRDT Foundation Understanding its role as a responsible corporate responsibility, Nijhawan Group manages the CKRDT foundation from its New Delhi office.

Foundation is involved in the upliftment of poor and very poor and works towards the betterment of downtrodden women & children in different parts of the country.

The main objective of the foundation is to propagate Indian

culture. At its centers, apart from vocational training, students are trained in yoga as well. Nijhawan Group runs a home for orphan girls and provides shelter to 79 girls.

This home for orphans provides education and meets all other needs of these girls. The youngest of them is only 2 years old, who was brought to the orphanage when she was abandoned at the age of 10 days. CKRDT foundation also helps to perform marriages of many poor girls, annually.

The Driving Force The team is a true asset for any business which is a backbone behind its long-standing success.

‘Nijhawan Group’ has more than 1200 employees who always strive hard for their client's satisfaction.

The management considers their team as a family more than employees. They empower employees so they can make important decisions on their own which can boost up productivity.

The group values loyalty. People once joined the company, work in the company for more than avg. 8 years. Every promise made to an employee is very well documented and fulfilled on time which creates no chance for “Ye Kaha tha aur hua nahi”. The management respects their employees as they believe; it’s all a team that can accelerate the growth of the company and helps to overcome any obstacles they come across.

In a talk with...

Ashmita Dhingra Immortalizing ideas, digitally!

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e have seen many changes in the last few years and all these changes are universal. There was a time when the product or service was sold through barter and nowadays, everything is available online through the internet.

The Internet has given people living in the world a wonderful platform to connect, which was not possible before. Internet is one such medium that can be used to create good harmony through regular conversation between the seller and the customer.

The effectiveness of digital marketing can be seen in the form of rapid sales of products and services. Previously, manufactured products were read in warehouses for a long time and kept rotting because they could not be sold on time. The help of offline advertisements was taken to sell very expensive products and the advertisement reached only a few people. Those advertisements were not effective according to their value.

And so businesses are in continuous search of the digital marketing services provider that can accelerate their growth. In this context to cater to the digital needs of businesses, a leader Ms. Ashmita Dhingra, is offering innovative and 16 November 2020

comprehensive digital marketing services through Digifish3.

Ashmita Dhingra is a Managing Director at Digifish3. In a conversation with TEW, she shared her views on the current industry scenario and how Digifish3 is transforming businesses digitally.

Tell us about the company.

Digifish3 is a Digital Marketing Organization catering to a 360 Degree approach for a Brand Solution. It caters to marketing and branding services along with consumer engagement solutions. It was created in 2014, and since then it has been a great journey for the organization providing the brands with a better end-user experience.

Digifish3 has three core pillars of marketing; Presence, Promotion, and Engagement. Social Media Marketing, search engine optimization, and mobile advertising is something that the organization started with. And now it caters to Digital Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Brand Management, Personal Branding, and Celebrity connection to global brands. The Organization compliments today’s entrepreneurial ecosystem of India.

The government launched the Digital India campaign for its citizens, to become at ease and cater to various services with just a

click. And we would be doing the same in a small way, catering to the brands and connecting them with the consumers via the digital space.

Branding, Marketing and Creatively catering to the audience is what we do best. It is a selffunded organization catering to Global clientele’.

What were the initial challenges you faced?

Initial Challenge in 2016, was purely making people understand the importance of Digital and the impact it could make to their business and of course the funds.

The funds were required to build a team, structure, and operations.

And being a bootstrapped organization, everything had to be thought through. Digital mode of marketing was a new way of promotion for the brands and it was difficult for us to convince them of the worth for the same and make them understand the result matrix.

Like all businesses, taking the payments from the clients initially was a challenge. But gradually when the clients had long term contracts with us, that problem was also sorted.

Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

Customization for every brand is

Ashmita Dhingra, Managing Director at Digifish3 our core strength. And this was something that created a niche for us and triggered our growth in 2017. The ideation, campaigns and strategized yet different content creatives make us different from the other competitors in the Industry.

Brand Connect with Consumers is what we do digitally, and along with that train people on Digital marketing for them to independently handle their job roles or their start-ups.

Training and customization is our secret ingredient for growth.

What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

Digifish3 understands the consumer mindset, and that is the reason it has been standing strong in the market of immense competition.

We try and reach out to the right people with engaging brand content. We are chosen by brands,

as we do not enforce ideas, rather we understand the requirements and customize solutions.

What are the services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

We focus on brand solutions majorly. And we understand that every brand is different and, needs different research. We would be the only agency customizing solutions for people. We help brands connect with consumers in a way best understood by the common man.

The ideation, strategy, campaigns, content, and creative approach makes us different from the other competitors in the Industry. We just don’t provide digital solutions or brand solutions, we cater to the emotional connection of the brand with the users.

Digifish3, as an organization is not just catering to digital marketing

services. It also has a strong foothold in the Mobile VAS Marketing sector. During the pandemic, the organization has launched a web/ app service around the health domain catering to 360-degree solutions around health essentials. From nutrition to exercises, mental health, astrological health, everything has been taken care of with the association and guidance of the health experts from the respective genres. Our thought for the moment and faster execution is surely something which we are known for in the Industry.

How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your services?

As the global digital ecosystem is changing, we are planning to change our approach towards marketing as well. We plan to cater to a few products around Health and Education, which is indeed the

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need of the hour. The plan would be to showcase content and integrate consumer engagement activities in the form of a web/app and cater to the requirements of people. The content showcased would be powered by the domain experts, which would give the product credibility and authenticity in the vast ecosystem of various products in the market around the same genre. Along with the products, we would also cater services to global clientele’ and try and launch their products in India as well and execute great PR/ Branding Plans for them. This indeed would help us make the Indian market have more international brands and help us connect them to their potential users.

Is there any new addition to the list of products/services?

Anything exciting you would like to share?

The new addition would surely be building new interactive consumer platforms around health and education and promoting the same globally. These platforms would help consumers to attain the right 18 November 2020

content and connect with experts at the same time and have authentic information along with consultancy and selfevaluation.

Learning, information, fun, and attaining knowledge, all would be taken care of less than one domain.

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Never start a business just to make money.

Start a business to make a difference.

-Marie Forleo

How has technology transformed the traditional way of business?

Technology surely has been the backbone of our business and the traditional ways have taken a backseat because of the growing digital markets. For Example, E-com is a growing industry than shopping in stores, every person/brand is now looking at a website to showcase their portfolio instead of having a file showcasing their work. These are just a few examples, but the growing tech world surely is changing our lifestyle and the business promotion mechanism overall.

What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

Responsibilities of an entrepreneur are according to me are: • Be a part of a team, and not only focus on leading the team.

• Believe in yourself, only then would someone believe in your actions or your vision.

• Be a motivator

• An Entrepreneur needs to be determined, be positive, and focused.

• Follow your passion, and make dreams come true.

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

I, Ashmita Dhingra have done an MSC in Media Management and my area of interest has always been communication and marketing. I hold experience of 10 years in the field of media and marketing.

Started my journey in a PR agency, worked with a Celeb management organization, and then started working for branding and marketing in a content company known as Hungama Digital Media Pvt. Ltd. Post the same I handled the account of Airtel as a brand manager with Seven three rockers and also took care of digital campaigns of IPL and led sales in Aircel for cricket related VAS products. Post which, Ashmita and her business partner (Mr. Sandeep Banger) started a Digital organization, looking into the industry scenario and also grabbing the opportunity at the right time to thrive upon the knowledge both had around consumer behavior and requirements. Since Digifish3 started, I have a part of promoting many brands and giving them their right audience. Branding is my core forte, and strategy, content, and creative uniqueness are my strengths.

What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

Key achievements of my entrepreneurial journey are: • Connecting with the start-up

ecosystem, which is indeed vast and catering to them with customized solutions.

• Bagging awards like “ Brand of the year” and “ Entrepreneur of the year” in 2018.

• Attaining International clientele’ and taking care of their brand requisites in the very early phase of my career.

• Making a name in the Industry as brand builders or a dolphin that dives deep into a brand and nurtures the same.

• The biggest achievement has been client belief and satisfaction.

need focus: • Goal needs to be fixed, with milestones attached to achieve them.

• Keep the work environment very light and do not let stress overpower the creative mindset.

• Conceptualise and implement strategies post deep understanding and research about the client and its competition.

• Take feedbacks seriously, as that helps improve work and the outcome is better.

• Do not run behind quantity, thrive for a better quality of work.

How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

One person who you admire the most?

We work as a team and do not believe that any sort of experience is less. Everyone has their set of learnings and way to look at things.

It helps us give a broader perspective. Every employee is incentivized according to the role they are in. This keeps them thinking out of the box and chasing their goals and dreams. Regular Recreational breaks are something that we look forward to always.

Our team is unique, as they have the freedom to speak and share ideas and implement the same for growth in their career as well as the organization, which indeed is lacking in today’s professional scenario.

According to you, what are the basic factors that businesses in the digital landscape should focus on to get better results?

Businesses need to evolve with the changing work environment, and to attain better results a few things

There are many when it comes to admiring. I have always liked the working style of my father. If there was work he had to deliver, he would not hesitate to deliver that, even if it meant a lot of sleepless nights or less family time, etc.

When it comes to working, I admire the working style of my business partner Mr. Sandeep Banger. He is surely a visionary and the major motivation/ mind behind starting this business. He is a powerhouse of energy but a man of few words. His close network knows him and people acquainted envy his thoughts of working on things before time and having the knack to understand consumer behavior. He is a pure business mind with great ideas. A great human and an amazing partner to work with. I have learned a lot as a person from him. He is a person I admire along with people in my family, as I learn from them every day and the work ethics surely come from them.

Which is the most inspiring quote you have read?

Ans: I believe the words said by. I completely believe in this quote and that’s what inspires me as well.

I would want to be recalled as someone who people have worked with and are contented with what has been delivered to them. The long term association with my clients and their references is surely an inspiration for me to work harder. We would like Digifish3 to be known in the vast Digital Ocean, as a Dolphin giving great results and is brand driven catering customized and consumer-friendly solutions.

It’s a rat-race out there. How do you cope with that?

Ans: It surely is a rat race, and brands around us are in a constant dilemma of which agency to choose and who would be beneficial for the growth of their company. We @ digifish3 were never and would never want to be a part of that rat race. We have our uniqueness and strengths, and we constantly work on that and try and fine-tune them. Branding, Mobile Marketing, and Campaigns are our forte. We assist brands in conceptualizing and implementing strategies well suited for them and their consumers and do not offer the general genre-based approach like other agencies. We collaborate with brands who are looking at an edgy campaign and strategy which is different yet acceptable by the audience.

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In a talk with...

Mr. Chintan P Mehta A pioneer of revolution in the insurance sector

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Auto Hangar India (AHI). He is a superb taskmaster of bridging awareness & operational excellence in the Insurance domain.

Mr. Chintan P Mehta is one of the top names in the insurance sector that accelerated the revolution in the same sector.

Currently, as CEO of AHI (Auto Hangar India) Insurance Brokers, Chintan along with his team is a master of innovation and disruption for mass & class of society. He places his every situation right with in-depth insurance business analysis, claims management, reinsurance, and customer retention. His team manages client business through the most trained data-center and field associates.

he insurance sector is significant in any economy.

Because people and businesses keep on putting resources into new startups, innovations, and better approaches for working more to grow more. To do this, people and organizations need to take a ton of investment risks. To protect such investments and much more, insurance plays a vital role.

Chintan P. Mehta started his career in International Business Development. Developed various markets across the globe and built a successful enterprise. After working for several years in different markets like Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom as well as West Africa, Chintan decided to come back to India.

Last One and a half-decade he has built excellent domain experience from a journey with India Infoline, Way2Wealth, Shriram Group, and 20 November 2020

In a conversation with team AHI, we talked about the current industry scenario and what AHI offers to its customers.

• What inspires you to achieve the best in your endeavors? Or, who is your role model?

Life is a unique journey. On every fold, you get endless opportunities to learn and improvise. Chintan feels even after an accomplished career of Two decades he still is a student, a student of life. Being an

avid reader he is inspired by various scholars and spiritual leaders. You can find the deep impact of preachings of Shri Pandurang Shastri Athawale of Swadhyay & Swami Vivekananda during interaction with him.

Professionally his role models are business moguls like Narayanmurthy (humility), Ratan Tata (simplicity), Azim Premji (philanthropy), and R.Thyagarajan (social inclusiveness). As per Chintan, these greats are modernday sages.

• Kindly tell us about the challenges you faced throughout your entrepreneurial journey and how did you overcome the complexities of the industry.

India is a very diverse country.

Every state has its style of functioning; every geography possesses a different challenge.

Every industry has its peculiar issues. In Insurance, we as a country have very low penetration compared to similar economies.

Insurance still is a push product and awareness at large is depressing.

In-depth knowledge of insurance

Chintan P Mehta CEO AHI Insurance Brokers

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Key Achievements • 2018: 10 Most Promising Insurance Startups by Silicon India • 2019: 10 Most Recommended Insurance Solution Providers by Insight Success Review • 2019: Insurance Broker of The Year – 4th Annual Insurance India Summit & Awards, Mumbai • 2020: Chintan P. Mehta - 10 Most Inspirational Business Leaders to watch in 2020 by Insight Success Review • 2020: Chintan P. Mehta - Asia’s Most Influential Insurance Leader 2020 by Insurance alertss

and apt usage of technology needs an hour. The combination of Big Data & AI along with underwriting inputs can be a game-changer for the industry as a whole.

• Kindly describe in brief your company and its services/products.

We at AHI Insurance Brokers crafted our expertise not by selling but by imbibing our knowledge into our offerings. Our uniqueness lies in seeking to consistently execute better and perfect this recipe of Life Cycle Management for continued success.

Our thrust is on advisory and relationship building while dealing with our clientele. AHI works as a one-stop portal for all the insurance needs.

As per Chintan, Insurance is a serious long term business; you should have required patience and understanding. Also, this industry impacts the nation’s socioeconomic fabric to a great extent. It is imperative that you consciously are aware of the same and create your boundaries keeping this in mind.

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Chintan has created a company that is not in the topline seeking valuation game at all. He insists on the role of a good brokerage is to represent the customer first and not the insurer during the entire life cycle.

• Brief us about the industry scenario from your perspective.

Covid-19 pandemic disrupted every fundamental of business. While few industries are facing survival challenges the insurance industry has got a tremendous boost in a way. It is not that before Corona Insurance Industry was struggling or in deep turmoil. It was growing substantially but the uncertainty of life in pandemic times gave unimaginable upside to the health insurance industry in particular.

Q-1 of F.Y.20-21 has seen almost 40% growth even though the entire country was under lockdown.

Digital readiness of industry worked as a catalyst here.

Though Loss Ratios have been alarming, the profitability of establishments will be a great challenge. In such times I don’t think one should think about making money but what matters the most is the insurance industry will

be able to help people manage their economics in the most troubling times in several decades.

It will also help people to understand their very own need for insurance planning, which in long term will benefit the industry and country at large.

• How do you see yourself and your company shortly? Tell us about your future goals.

We are on a right track – I want to build an enterprise that takes pride in delivering every promise made to clients who value our advice.

We are creating niche segment offerings and create our “blue ocean”. Warranty solutions, specialized personal asset insurance cover, pet insurance are some of the few.

• What would you advise to the budding entrepreneurs?

There is no short-cut to success. In the service industry delivering promises is vital & in insurance moment of truth is “Claims”. If you can be true to all your sales pitches at the time of claim settlement, you have no competition.

A New Approach To Modern Living www.panchshil.com

Business Story

PiLog Group's Innovations & Agility Transforming Digital Business!!!

Imad Syed, CEO

P

iLog Group is a global group of associated companies that is bringing technology and business change through their innovative & agile solutions. Today the PiLog Group is recognized as leader providing Data Quality HUB solutions, services and content, supporting multiple domains in various industries for effective business transformation & digitalization Antecedent Challenges Organizations growth with vision, objectives transformations to meet current and futuristic demand in ethical process are ought to face challenges and overcoming them 24 November 2020

with provides the pride to stride and excel business, PiLog’s pride in taking challenges for overwhelming growth is imbibed from grassroots. One of the main challenge was rebranding the company with associated products and services and there is always a price war on the low-cost competition. As the industry was evolving, keeping up with the trends and investments was a bigger challenge. But with sheer dedication and a vision to be pioneers & leaders in Data Science, the challenges seemed easy to overcome. With actions speaking volumes, as technology innovators and early adopters of automation,

AI & ML, continual improvement in our customer process efficiencies, imbibe earn value, transparency in Return on Investment and lowered Total Cost of Ownership. Thus, enduring customer confidence and always treated as Business partner of Choice!!!

PiLog’s DNA of thinking outside of the box made it all possible.

Although the key points that triggered the growth of the company were• Enablement of Digital Marketing • Flexible and adaptive sales forecasting models

• Partnership with likeminded for geographic and industry sector deeper penetration • Product and Services Strategy with Earn Value and Business Metrics Focus • Constant recognition by Gartner and Industry Leading Analyst and of course our long standing customers Today, in these difficult times of COVID-19, it has been difficult for the companies to keep up with the changing times. Where many companies have collapsed, PiLog has still been able to pick up their growth trajectory. The reasons behind this growth are simple• Being sustainable, reliable and transparent in operations • Right and timely investment in people, process and technology to improve the Customer & Employee experiences and improve the delivery efficiencies • Having likeminded people from Board to Analyst with Zeal to learn, unlearn, perform and go that extra mile every time • More than 40 percent of revenue is generated from existing customers showcase their confidence • Early adoption, innovation and business process focussed applications, products and service lines An example not to glorify but bring essence of partnership with Major Petrochemical Industry in MiddleEast; wherein with aid of our innovative products and agile services led to roadmap to reduce their current Non Moving & elimination of duplicates has resulted in ~42 MUSD with modular and economically viable solutions like Data Health Assessment, Material Criticality

Analysis & Re-ranking, Inventory Parameters Optimization, Inventory Process Optimization and NextGen Solution The Products and ServicesPiLog’s Key Products and Services: Key Products: • DATA Quality HUB including Data Harmonization, Data Migration & Governance Solution for multi-domain master and meta data objects with impactful tools of Industry Standards (repository, glossaries, ontologies, taxonomies, pre-defined templates), ML & AI driven and IoT enabled • Business Partner Lifecycle Management (Vendors & Customers) • Business Performance Analytics Platform (Spend & Inventory Visibility) • Financial Asset Management and eSPIR solution • Master Data and Process Maturity Assessment Software Add On such as Equipment Criticality Analysis, Material Criticality Analysis, Supply Chain Maturity Assessment, Asset Life Cycle Maturity Assessment Key Services: • Management Consulting, Enterprise Process Optimization • Business Process Outsourcing (Data Management, S2P, Category Management) • Asset and Supply Chain Process Optimization • Data Quality Audits – Regulatory & Statutory • Cleansing Services covering Cleanse, Standardization, Categorization and Enrichment of multi-domain master data Master Data and Process Maturity Assessment PiLog Competition

Advantage against product and services: • Wider market penetration (Geography, Verticals, Products & Services) • Stronger financial ability • Higher professional count across geography • More aggressive GTM strategies • Faster time to market • More investment on technology, innovation and reskilling • Recognized as a 2020 Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for Master Data Management Solutions Along with this wide range of services, PiLog has also added new services to their portfolio. These includePiLog’s Data Quality HUB Strategy– IntelliSense Framework and new features to lookout for… iDataAcquisition • Pre-built data connectors with real time data acquisition & ingestion; Data discovery, modelling, mining, profiling, assessment, analysis & visualization, ETL features and data streaming iDataHarmonization [AI/ML] • Data loading & profiling with Quality Establishment & Compliance • Data cleansing, standardization, normalization, enrichment, transformation, autocorrections/updates from repositories & libraries iDataGovernance • Batch or record based data management functions such as Create, Change, Extend, Delete, Undelete, Merge, Split, Match, Validate, Archive, Unarchive, Link,

www.theenterpriseworld.com 25

T O S U C C E E D , Y O U N O T O N LY N E E D A S T R O N G , D E D I C A T E D M I N D , B U T A L S O A T E A M T H AT A L I G N S W I T H Y O U R V I E W S .

Delink as per the Business rules of the data objects compliant with Target systems • Data Quality Establishment: SLAs, KPIs, InfoGraphics iDataIntegration • Seamless Data Integration, Synchronization, Distribution, Syndication, Orchestration, MicroServices (APIs) iDataAnalytics • Business performance insights • CXO Dashboards [Spend, Performance, ROI, KPIs, SLAs] • On-demand real-time Infographics & Cockpit Views Leading the Way- Mr. Imad A Syed Mr. Imad A Syed is the CEO APAC & ME, Group CIO & Board Member at PiLog Group He has eighteen plus years of progressive career growth from Sr. Systems Engineer to today's CEO APAC & ME, Group CIO and Board Member at PiLog with overall experience spanning over Twenty years speaks volumes and beyond.

He has led organization initiatives from front for all value management initiatives for PiLog group development and its esteem customers in go to market, revenue management, innovations, profitability, product development and corporate advisor He has been the Senior Executive, 26 November 2020

Digital Advisory, Visionary Leader with vast experience in conceiving & designing business, enterprise information and data quality HUB strategies for medium to large enterprises; Expertise in designing simple yet powerful strategies for data governance, management, transformation and analytics of complex system landscapes, proven track record of excelling operational efficiency & effectiveness; revolutionized the product and solution development using innovative frameworks that are agile and sustainable from the perspective of futuristic technology evolutions.

He has also been Developing & executing business strategies be it for GTM or Product or Operational management or deep & diversified Value-Engineering solutions has been core strengths over the years; Passionate to nurture, build & lead high-performance teams resulting best of both worlds in the form of Customer & Employee experience is the principle believed and proven several times by Imad Syed.

He has helped conceive, Design & Build the architecture of Enterprise solutions with state of the art futuristic technologies, Cloud based content micro-services (web services) with subscription models.

The Work CultureTo succeed, you not only need a strong, dedicated mind, but also a team that aligns with your views.

At PiLog, they make sure that the

team is well-nurtured and aligns with the company values & strategic objectives. make sure that they• Ensure employee enjoy their work and do not drag to work • Right compensation for right people at right time and does not wait just for appraisal cycle for promotion • Equal opportunity to grow • Human touch at workplace enabling teams to talk about their personal life and problems at ease with dedicated in-house Health & Well-being Consultants • Team Uniqueness is always tricky to answer as industry is rich with knowledgeable and dedicated professional to but what make us proud: • Never Say Never Die Attitude • Ability to go that extra mile to beat all odds • High proportion of longevity with serving professionals • Open for change with least resistance Value Management & Customer Success: • Customer Success & Experience with enabled industry benchmark KRAs, KPIs • Value of Delivery and Earn Value Management with successful management of ROI, IRR and TCO • Enabled Partnership with Longevity & Progression • Leadership Endurance & Always Strive for Excellence

It’s a comprehensive orthopaedic super specialty hospital with all sub specialties of orthopaedic available under one roof Trauma Spine & Back Joint Replacement Hand and Limb Foot and Ankle Surgery Rheumatology & Arthritis Clinic Shoulder Arthroplasty Paediatric Orthopedics Orthopaedic Oncology

www.sanchetihospital.org

Health Matters

WHAT is a

KETO

DIET &

HOW

DOES it

WORK 28 November 2020

The magic is in the food The last few years have been nothing but an era of new changes and adoptions in personal and professional life. There have been new trends and practices that have come up and changed the way we live our lives and affected the overall human development and thinking. Such is the concern for our health and fitness, as everyone knows the importance of a healthy and fit body. Recently many workout routines and diets have been coming up that have a beneficial effect on the body and overall health and immunity of a person. As health and fitness are becoming a major concern among people and gaining more awareness and momentum as an issue. Also, the healthcare industry has been witnessing a major boom as the world has opened their eyes to the benefits of healthcare and fitness, and as these products and services are becoming accessible and affordable, more and more people have started consuming it. Among these new practices and methods are something we all have heard about and its benefits and results, Keto diet.

“It takes five minutes to consume 500 calories. It takes two hours to burn them off.”

Every diet has its own benefits and so does the Keto diet, following are some of the magnificent benefits.

Keto is short for 'ketogenic' which involves consuming high amounts of fat, moderate amounts of proteins and even fewer carbs, a lot of everyday foods and fruits are off the table. Keto diet was designed in the 1920s for treating patients suffering from epilepsy which helped them a lot. Later the diet was used in helping individuals following the same lose weight, as the body under this diet starts using fat as the first source of fuel as this diet involves low carbohydrate consumption. This diet not only proves beneficial for losing weight but can also help in improving heart health, may protect brain function, reduce acne and it might also reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. Keto diet proves to be extremely beneficial for individuals suffering from epilepsy. Keto diet can also benefit those who are suffering from weight problems and in some lucky cases, this diet may reverse type 2 diabetes.

Nothing in this world is foolproof, and the side effects or problems with the Keto diet are.

No matter how lucrative the benefits of keto diet sound, there is always a different side to the coin.

First of all, this diet is not easy to continue with as one has to give up a lot of food options, many of which are highly nutritious such as fruits, legumes, wheat, etc.

Moreover, the first few days are the toughest as the body gets adjusted to the change in nutrition consumption, making one feel

awful and low, this is also known as keto flu. Also, this diet is not easy to maintain, as all of us have to go out and attend social gatherings and such, this diet means one has to deprive themselves of these situations. One also has to prepare the meals in advance and carry it along with them, as this diet is not readily available at every place. Also, as the individual comes off from this diet, the weight lost comes back eventually as the body loses water weight as carbohydrate stores in the body carry water.

The final take from all the talks about food and fitness.

Keto diet is not a league apart compared to other diets; thus, it makes very less difference between choosing this diet or other diets.

Every diet, fitness regime and practice have its pros and cons, but it depends on individuals what they want to follow and adhere to. The most important takeaway is to understand that health is the only wealth that will stay with one till the very end, and it is our foremost duty to take utmost care and maintain the same. One should always have a diet that is full of nutrients and vitamins one needs but this also needs to be incorporated with a workout regime as exercise is necessary as well is very beneficial for body’s overall well-being and functioning.

“Don’t dig your grave with your own knife and fork.”

www.theenterpriseworld.com 29

Expert’s Opinion

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, CRISIS, REVOLUTIONS CURRENTLY PREVAILING IN THE CURRENT INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT

I

nnovation and modernization are the inevitable components for the progress of any economy.

India is no exception. The period after 1991 is considered as one having made progress in the emergence of newer technologies and a paradigm shift in favor of more investments. Since then, the adoption of emerging technologies has gained momentum in the sub-continent. In these sagas, the modern-day investor could be viewed as a nomad who is in search of more profits and risk-free investment opportunities.

The 21st century has seen the emergence of Fintech markets and a push for more investments in the capital markets. The Central government has been trying hard to retain the existing investors as well as attracting new ones. However, the present trends in the Capital market does not seem to be promising. If we consider the total investments only the top 1-2% of the country invests in the Capital market. This must be changed if India aims to become a developed nation one day.

Privatization is one of the ways adopted by the Central government in this regard. Many of the profit-making public-sector enterprises are being disinvested.

Moreover, the center has also allowed 74% of equity shares in the private sector banks in India which would further help to gain more investments for a struggling Banking Industry. But this alone will not help if we wish to attract more investors. In this regard, the existing atmosphere must be made more congenial for investments. One way to do this is to utilize the economic power of the Indian nationals who are settled abroad. As per the reports published 30 November 2020

www.theenterpriseworld.com 31

by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the expat population of Indian origin is more than that of any other country.

This population carries with them a huge investment potential. The amendment of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) to Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and an increase in the percentage of investments allowed in Indian companies by Non Resident Investors from 5% to 24% has been done to attract such investors.

No sector would be able to survive if they do not innovate according to changing times. The emergence of Fintech in the latter half of the decade was such an innovation that Indian Financial market needed.

But the FinTech market is not devoid from the challenges in the Indian scenario. One of the main challenges that they face is to attain credibility of the customers. The recent incidents of frauds that happened in the online marketplace has resulted in customers losing the trust in online transactions. Albeit the government had taken steps to promote digital transactions and had extensively advertised the motto “Digital India”, the tendency of the Indian consumers to depend largely on cash transactions remains. Another major roadblock for the adoption of Fintech comes in the way of the unbanked population. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna, one of the flagship programs of the Government of India, intended for more financial inclusion especially in rural India had not achieved the desired results. A World Bank report had suggested that after opening 180 billion bank accounts under the scheme, 48% of it is still dormant.

32 November 2020

Apart from these challenges in the customer segments, many hurdles faced by the FinTech startups in the form of regulatory compliances cannot be ignored. Beside developing core competence these startups need encouragement from the authorities to establish themselves.

However, if we take the overall outlook of the Fintech market; it looks very promising and moving in the right direction. It had scaled heights and Abhishek Marwah | Founder the Fintech adoption Marwah Financial Services in India had reached a value of 87 percent which is Dhan Yojna, Payment and Small much ahead of the global average Finance Banks. United Payment of 64 percent. The stats are proving interface will certainly help in this that the financial awareness in India regard. is on a rise. This means, any Flemish company coming to India Going forward India can become would have to strike a chord an economic superpower only between their product and the when they mitigate the challenges market. They also need to invest in faced by the industry and device factors like customer education and policy to attract fresh investments. develop innovative business Many companies and individuals models, so that the Fintech startup are adopting alternate ways of will become a success. funding and for them investment in stocks is not the only option We can say that the impact on the available. There were several business can be counted as twin initiatives which were taken up by fold when the market is going the government, but they are not down, the addition of new sufficient enough to make India at customers will pose a challenging par with the developed countries of task. This may also lead to the the world. existing customers stop transacting.

So, initiatives need to be taken to drive the industry forward. Jan

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In a talk with...

Mr. Graham Bright Creating Future of businesses with Financial Acumen

A

s everything is becoming smart as a benefit of the digital revolution, why should the finance and banking sector sit back relax? The coronavirus has highlighted the need for smart and remote processes that can accelerate the growth of businesses even in the hard times. Today, a trustworthy banking partner is what every business needs to sustain and plan an expansion.

In this scenario, a person, Mr. Graham Bright is on a mission to empower businesses globally with smart trade finance services as well as comprehensive banking solutions through Euro Exim Bank.

Mr. Graham Bright is the Head of Compliance and Operations at Euro Exim Bank. In a talk with him, we talked about the current industry scenario and what Euro Exim Bank offers to its customers.

• Brief us about the company.

Euro Exim Bank (EEB), regulated and supervised in St. Lucia, is an innovative financial institution serving import and export businesses around the globe, facilitating authenticated trade finance instructions.

We assist companies to fulfil their trade aspirations through the issuance of financial instruments such as Letters of Credit, Standby Letters of Credit, Performance 34 November 2020

bonds and Bank Guarantees, merchant accounts, and growing online services.

• What were the initial challenges you faced?

At the outset we were heavily paper-based, relying on manual processes with duplicated effort and tedious error-prone data entry. We needed automation to resolve these issues if we were serious about being a long term player. We looked for commercial applications able to suit our way of working rather than adapting all our processes to a particular product.

Given our size, eventually, we decided to build, maintain and refine our own architecture allowing us to ignore legacy offerings and to benefit from a platform embedded with the latest technologies such as block chain, AI, and fast API linkages.

Key learnings were to fully understand the market, find and train the right people, taking time with defining strategy and product design, doing solid research and taking a measured approach to all investments, and looking at the real benefit of developments in regulation, compliance, and IT. • Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

EEB started as a small payment provider in the UK (SPI), however, due to diminishing margins and the

crowded competitive nature of the business, it was clear that designation was no longer suitable to the company growth model.

Spotting a gap in the market, the company applied for an international regulated banking license in St. Lucia, under the strict auspices of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), enabling EEB to provide the full range of banking services. This allowed us to focus on specialist trade finance helping importers, through appropriate collateral requirements, allowing frictionless trade without compromising cash flow.

• How have the company graphs changed since the foundation?

Key changes for us include revenue growth; expansion in-country coverage, the explosive increase in staff numbers through recruitment of agents and partners, numbers of trades handles daily, industry awareness, thought leadership, and magazine readership.

• What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

Trust, leadership, experience, personal relationships, country expertise, speed of response, costeffective instruments, and above all continued contact and information sharing.

Clients appreciate speaking with representatives by name and meeting locally, all of which help

“IF YOU ARE WORKING ON SOMETHING THAT YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT, YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE PUSHED. THE VISION PULLS YOU”.

- STEVE JOBS

Graham Bright

www.euroeximbank.com

www.theenterpriseworld.com 35

maintain and grow business. We are also regularly at events in primary trade locations, where our opinions and experience are valued by the trade community and meeting face to face is vitally important.

• What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Trade Finance is the primary focus of our business model. With years of banking and specific trade finance experience and expertise, we provide an efficient and effective service facilitating crossborder trade for our global clients, with issuance and relay of Letters of Credit, Stand-By Letters of Credit, Performance Bonds, and Bank Guarantees.

With tight due diligence and security assurance, we provide our clients the safe banking facilities at competitive rates and new merchant account services, with secure account access available online with a 24x7 call centre.

• How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

With many banks pulling out of trade finance, we are focusing on filling that gap, through our core competencies and actively expanding its operational footprint to enable corporates easier payment terms, paying global suppliers both quickly and seamlessly without the need for complex payments infrastructures or fragmented correspondent bank relationships.

We are currently expanding sales operations, looking to take advantage of the changes in trade and hopeful recovery post-COVID19, between the Middle East and 36 November 2020

the Far East, and building sales resources in Africa and India as supply chains are restored.

• Is there any new addition to the list of products/services?

Anything exciting you would like to share?

One of EEB’s USP’s is participation with the Ripple xCurrent service for payments, and ODL for solving liquidity problems, switching from the local currency to digital assets (XRP), and paying out in local currency at the receiver end. This not only resolves the time issue of delivery and authenticity, but also solves the issue of switching in and out of expensive USD or EUR. This negates high costs and often wild currency fluctuations for small customers. These services are significant for economies in Africa, as cash-challenged companies no longer need to wait days for their money to traverse correspondent banks with associated funding and dispersal costs from local accounts.

The key changes seen by us among the banking community are Derisking, Mergers, Emergence of Challengers, and Technology. For EEB our key mission is to prioritize the technology opportunities, aligning the organization with their core competences, activating merchant and offshore accounts, building market share, and ensuring sustainability. The Bank is committed and well-positioned to achieve this as the pre-eminent provider and facilitator of trade finance services going forward.

• What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

We have been recognized for a number of major industry awards,

and recognized in such prestigious magazines as UK Parliamentary Review, International Finance, The European, CIO Review, World Business Review, European Business Magazine, The CEO Story CFI - with awards three years running, Silicon Review, Mirror Review, and featured in the world financial press.

We have been awarded the accolade ‘One of the 10 Best Fintech Solution Providers to Watch Out for’ in 2020. We are also working with Lord John Waverley, Member of the UK House of Lords and UK trade delegations on an exciting trade project and platform named Supplyfinder, (www.Supplyfinder.com) covering tenders, connecting opportunities and players across the entire trade ecosystem.

• How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

The motivation of staff is a key to a successful business and collaborative spirit. In our experience, praise and recognition are powerful tools in sustaining positive performance.

Other factors include leadership, accountability, trust, healthy working atmosphere, agility, and reaction to changes in market conditions. We recognize the value of recreation as a motivator. Our staff is domiciled in many locations, locally dispersed across demographics of age, family commitments, culture, and geography, so we make a point of involving them in corporate and private activities.

• Is there any special experience

with your clients you would like to highlight?

Supporting local business in local currency transactions EEB worked with companies across Africa needing to pay suppliers across the continent and across the globe, but not wishing to continually buy USD or other fluctuating currencies from a local bank.

This affected cash flow and access to liquidity where their order size would be relatively small. Working with Ripple Net, our solutions helped clients with immediate settlement in a local currency and further access to ODL (On-Demand Liquidity) offering unlimited lowcost liquidity using the XRP digital asset for settlement with certainty, trust, speed, and immutability of transactions.

We continue to serve clients in their import of a massive range of goods, including non-perishable food, metals, garments, PPE, manufacturing machinery, batteries, solar panels, etc.

By remaining specialists in our outlook, service delivery, and sector of business, we continue to build our reputation, customer base, geographic spread, and our brand is well recognized as a leading supplier.

• One person who you admire the most?

My father. He was inspirational, supportive, open-minded, practical, technically innovative, someone who would help everyone, try anything, be instantly recognized, and remembered. Despite the 20 years since he passed away, he left a wonderful legacy, thought about every day, and remains a hard act to follow.

• Whose business story do you find the most inspiring?

Steve Jobs, Why? He created new technology, and the culture of the technology itself with great entrepreneurial skill. This was not just creating a user-friendly operating system, but a legacy, with futuristic aesthetically beautifully designed functional multiple products, capable of changing lives for the able and disabled of all ages, harnessing and exploiting the potential of the internet and becoming a de-facto standard in telephones, tablets, graphics, and ease of use.

• Constant vigilance- a need or a strategy? Please share your views.

Even before the pandemic, firms were experiencing a business downturn, increased competition, lack of liquidity, a lack of access to cost effective foreign exchange, lack of trust, poor infrastructure, and rigid bank regulation stifling trade and entrepreneurial flair.

Covid-19 has cast an even greater shadow across shipping, airports, customs, general logistics, and supply chains, such that longestablished firms may never recover.

Vigilance is a need. Companies must be tactical in tackling local and national lockdowns, supply shortages, diminished access to customers, and restricted cashflow as banks tighten loans and financing facilities, and even withdraw from markets entirely.

• It’s a rat-race out there. How do you cope with that?

Survival and sustainability are crucial. By being open-minded and ready to change, keeping staff informed, remembering that no one

person knows everything nor can they control everything.

Rather than constantly racing for profit, strong CSR policy and action are more important than ever. In these unprecedented times, organizations will be judged on their actions, not their revenue.

In the current uncertain economic climate, firms must be realistic in profit and investment outlook, exercise pragmatic management, hire professionals, release the unproductive, listen and learn constantly from peers and competition, understand value and contribution, not just expenditure, and ultimately work out what customers want and keep delivering it.

Mr. Graham Bright – A leader with a revolutionary vision Graham Bright, Head of Compliance and Operations, has experience of more than 35 years in the finance industry, where his extensive experience has encompassed sales, working collaboratively with industry utilities, regulators, and Central Banks (RTGS projects), consulting and partner/channels management.

He holds a BA (Hons.) degree in Business Studies, and is a serving UK Justice of the Peace in Magistrates Court and sits on Crown Court appeals. He was a former Regional Manager at SWIFT ( or 20 years), Director of FSI Solutions and Strategy at EMC, and former Managing Director of Financial Tradeware, a subsidiary of a French Investment Bank, providing buy-side trading systems.

www.theenterpriseworld.com 37

In a talk with...

MR. SHOK MITTAL SHAPING THE FUTURE OF BUSINESSES WITH EASY CREDIT OFFERINGS

T

he Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector is the most dynamic sector which is contributing to the growth in GDP, as well as it is also providing a huge amount of employment. Due to the Corona Virus pandemic, this sector is running through its hardship and fighting with its survival. Our Govt of India has initiated the MSME sector to be within the purview of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan with the purpose of surviving its most contributed sector.

In this scenario, Mr. Ashok Mittal (CEO & Founder), PrestLoans is supporting this movement by providing customized solutions to support the MSME sector by understanding their financial needs which can help the businesses to sustain in this difficult time.

In a talk with him, let’s discover more about ‘PrestLoans’ and his thoughts on the current industry scenario.

• Tell us about the company.

'PrestLoans’ is a non-Banking Finance Company registered with RBI as Lord Krishna Financial Services Ltd. We are a new age FinTech company with the mission 38 November 2020

of providing fast, flexible, and transparent loan products to the business and MSME sector in India. The company provides easy access to credit to small businesses into the trading, manufacturing, or services sector including wholesaler (B2B) and retailers (B2C) units. We are the first “M” of “MSME”.

• What were the initial challenges you faced?

Prest Loans offer loans to MSME Sector i.e. shopkeepers, retailers, wholesalers who have no banking habit, and not maintaining proper financial documents. For these profiles, we have our expert credit team who understand alternate data and assess the MSME on a cash flow basis to help in finding them.

Also, being a digital player, we expect the maximum process to be done through technology, but the initial challenge was that our clients are not tech-savvy hence we needed to support them and assist them in completing the process. We had to put extra efforts to make the process easy for them by providing training and assistance to provide quick and easy services from application till disbursement of the loan.

• Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

“Loan disbursement in 3 days” is a trigger point in our growth where we beat our competitors on TAT and better services supported by our experienced sales team. Our approach is to services dense commercial hubs that are not serviced by other banks and NBFCs. • How have the company graphs changed since the foundation?

Can you share a few statistics?

Portfolio growth

Customer reach

ASHOK MITTAL | CEO | PREST LOANS

Cumulative disbursement

• What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

Our success stands at an easy process with minimum documents and the fastest approvals. Our quick processing and flexible repayment options make us unique in this segment.

Another important strength is analyzing the ability to pay and the intention to pay off clients without proper documents and financial history is a long-standing success for us. We have created an algorithm-based credit score called “Prest Score” which is a proprietary software tool for us.

• What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different www.theenterpriseworld.com 39

“ Business is business, that is, you must do everything promptly; delay and shufing won’t do.

- Swami Vivekanand Ji from those in the market?

Our products are designed with the requirement of the clients with flexibility in the loan amount, tenure and repayment are best featured.

Our loan products are: • Unsecured Business Loan- Upto 5 Lakh/ 3years • Short-Term Secured business loan- up to 10 Lakh/ 5 Years • Long-Term Secured Business Loan- Upto 25 Lakh/ 10 Years • How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

Prest Loans team has been very innovative, they keep going to customers to understand the 40 November 2020

customer’s needs and create new products from time to time based on customer requirements.

We have built tech strength to offer various kinds of products with a lot of flexibility in tenure, repayment method, interest rate applicability, etc. The idea is to create an impact with the help of tech.

• Is there any new addition to the list of products/services?

Anything exciting you would like to share?

To make our services easier, we have launched Prestloans mobile Application (APP) where It allows sourcing directly by the customer, sales executives, fintech partners, or any of the channel partners. The underwriter can capture a photo,

audio, and video in the same app which makes decision making instant with the help of the PREST score algorithm. The disbursements are also done digitally.

• How has technology transformed the traditional way of business?

Technology-enabled more transparency and fast processing at all levels: Each client has a unique user ID and password which enables them to check the loan status, ledger, and every information online anytime during the process and even after the disbursement throughout the loan life cycle. Everyone at Prest Loans also can access everything on the go, through a mobile APP.

We are able to do most things on the go with help of various tools available to sourcing the customers and do various verifications on the applicant.

“NBFC 100 Tech Summit” for our contribution to the MSME segment and also got an Excellence award from Micro Finance Institution Network.

• What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is not only responsible for planning and directing the operations of a company, but also to build a team who support your vision through success. He is a leader with the best manager skills to manage all areas of a company.

• How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

Our employees are family members and I do not believe in the typically employer-employee relationship.

Like any family, we genuinely care about them and back them up for all situations.

• Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

I have been in the financial industry for more than 3 decades of experience in Banking, Capital Markets, and Financial Services.

Previously I was as CEO of an Agri NBFC and leadership position of various large companies in the financial services sector supported by large marquee investors. I have met and experienced most businesses very closely across the country.

• What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

During this time, being a mediasavvy person has been regularly featured in all the business channels for the last 15 years, conducted over 200 public seminars, and received various awards. I have been on the jury for Best Market Analyst Awards conducted by Zee Business from 2012 to 2014 and got awarded by personalities like Mr. Narendara Modi and Mr. Pranab Mukherjee etc.

Prest Loans also got awarded in

Professional experience and deep industry knowledge make our team unique. Their ultimate goal to work as a team and provide the best services is add on.

customer services and should adopt a ‘customer first’ approach for the successful implementation of a digital platform or mobile App. The digital platform should be very user friendly.

• One person who you admire the most?

I was inspired by Swamy Vivekanand Ji for his life journey and inspiring thoughts. Other than religion he also has given very deep views on business as well.

• Whose business story do you find the most inspiring?

I find the story of Mr. Uday Kotak very inspiring, the way he has built a very strong organization.

• Constant vigilance- a need or a strategy? Please share your views.

Constant Vigilance is a Need of the business as we are in the business dealing with money directly. We conduct more than 30 audits in a month to keep a close watch on the processes of each department. We also get our accounts and financials audited from a third-party audit firm.

Not only market-linked compensation and performancebased incentive but we have also offered company ESOPs to topperforming team members.

• Is there any special experience with your clients you would like to highlight?

In my recent interaction with a few of our borrowers, I got to know the impact being created by us while providing financial assistance to them. These borrowers further increased their business and provided employment to more people. I was very pleased to know this.

We have also faced some difficult customers who delay or default in repayment of the loan.

• According to you, what are the basic factors that businesses in the digital landscape should focus on to get better results?

Every business should focus on

• It’s a rat-race out there. How do you cope with that?

I don’t believe that it’s a rat-race; the business is done because of the passion of the founder entrepreneur. I do what I love doing. Being passionate about creating impact in society by technology, this gives me extra energy and positive vibes. I enjoy talking to my team members and customers. It’s more about passion than rat-race.

www.theenterpriseworld.com 41

Business Story

Mr. Premal Karelia Transforming India’s Logistic industry with intelligent storage solutions

Premal Karelia, MD, Jay Storage Solutions

S

cientific discoveries and inventions have helped in the development of the nation.

Science provides a new way of looking at things and a vision to expand businesses to a new level. It broadens the scope of available goods and thus assists in the 42 November 2020

development and progress of the economy.

The logistic sector of a country plays a vital role in its development. India’s infrastructure has increased over the last few decades due to the implementation

of high scientific techniques.

Innovative and advanced storage solutions provide businesses a new and easier way of handling and storing goods, as well as newly developed modes like the Ganga National Waterway, which have been constructed to ease the

I N T H E J O U R N E Y O F E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P, E A C H D A Y I S D I F F E R E N T. E A C H D AY Y O U L E A R N S O M E T H I N G T H AT Y O U H AV E N ' T L E A R N E D I N T H E P A S T. I T I S E X C I T I N G , T H R I L L I N G & A D V E N T U R O U S . ”

process of transportation.

Some people are born to lead and take part in the growth of a nation.

They inherit such qualities or are found in their blood. They strive hard to create their own opportunities to spread the business wings. Mr. Premal Karelia, Managing director at Jay Storage Solutions is one of such business leaders who transformed the industries with their cutting edge offerings.

‘Jay Storage Solutions’ is a market leader in the storage solutions area in India. Based in Mumbai, the company is a reliable name in providing intelligent storage solutions. The company was set up in the year 1984 with a state-of-theart manufacturing plant in Vasai, Palghar is an Integrated Management System certified by ISO. The company is a leader in providing a comprehensive & wide range of warehousing & industrial storage solutions & Automated Warehouse Solutions.

Pioneering the design of Intelligent Storage Solutions Since 1984, the company has pioneered the design of Smart & Intelligent storage solutions. Jay Storage Solutions is certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) with different certifications, namely ISO

14001:2005, ISO 9001:2015, and 18001:2007.

The company is committed to delivering high-quality products and services in time and they have made it a mission to go beyond product sales. Jay Storage Solutions believes in consulting their clients and helping them make informed decisions. Every project starts with a site visit and in-depth consultation to ascertain client needs. The company then provides a solution that is customized, designed, validated, and installed to customer specifications. The company’s dedicated customer centric, problem-solving approach has ensured their continued status as market leaders. Over 85 percent of Jay Storage Solution’s clients have repeated their business with the company.

Jay Storage Solutions offers plethora of innovative solutions under one roof. The company offers Warehouse Automation, Rack Clad Warehouse, Automated Racking system, Conventional Pallet racking System, Mezzanine System, Multi-tier Racking System and Cantilever racking system curated focusing on the actual need of customers.

Charting the new paths…

Mr. Premal says, “The bar rises higher with each day in career. So

it’s difficult to define a particular moment as a High Point. But yes, you have adrenaline when you are on a mission” The company entered the storage solution business in around 2009. And then they entered the Automated Storage business in 2011. Jay Storage Solutions empowered their clients with designed, developed, manufactured & commissioned the first Automated Storage & retrieval System of INDIA. This was a challenging mission because at the time there were only about less than 10 such installations in INDIA and each one of these installations was from a developed nation namely, Japan, Germany, Austria, etc. The company’s contribution to make in India and a holistic vision to transform businesses across the nation is commendable.

Jay Storage Solutions went on the mission to develop this system indigenously, with no technical know-how or support from any established global player. The company went to several suppliers for manufacturing special components & developed each one of them in INDIA. The company’s very own manufacturing system was re-designed to achieve an extremely high degree of precision that these systems require. After breaking through with many unconventional manufacturing techniques, they observed that there was a technology vacuum in

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INDIA, which even technology MNC’s like Omron, ABB, Siemens, etc. didn’t offer in INDIA. Jay Storage Solutions was almost practically forced to go their counterparts since there was no know-how of these systems in INDIA. But, the company rejected it & after a lot of brainstorming with many of these technology suppliers Jay Storage Solutions narrowed down to Siemens, with a condition that on the backend maybe Siemens Germany may support, but they want the INDIAN engineers to understand the system, supply & service from Siemens INDIA. It was a herculean task to achieve. The project was completed within the time frame with 100% efficiency of the deliverables. The project came out well with lots of appreciation from their customers & well-wishers.

Having made sure that each of their projects is not only successful but also ensuring complete satisfaction for all stakeholders, Jay Storage Solutions have now built itself into the league of ‘the most Trusted & reliable partners’.

Mr. Premal Karelia – A leader with a futuristic vision Having more than twenty years of experience in the logistics field, Mr. Premal Karelia comprehends the integrated storage requirements of businesses. A business only can survive only if it adapts the technological advances and so Mr. Premal always keeps the company upgraded to empower its clients with cutting edge solutions. He says Mr. Ratan Tata has always been a source of motivation for him. Under the unmatched leadership of Mr. Premal, JAY’s team makes hard and smart efforts to climb new heights of success every day.

He believes in creating and focusing their path to achieve the desired, without looking at what others do. He says, “The rat –race only exists in people or companies’ minds, superficially. You can run in a race all your life? Can you? And what do you achieve after winning ‘The Race’? It’s the journey that is exciting than the destination. You have to be in your league, there is

We live in an age of global competition.

Some of our competitions are world leaders. What sets us apart is our commitment to all our stakeholders.

We live by a simple credo – commit what you can deliver & deliver what you commit.

- Premal Karelia

44 November 2020

no race there.”

Mr. Premal Karelia’s take on the current industry scenario and the market after Covid-19 “We are living in an age of continuous disruptions. We are also living in unprecedented times in human history. In today’s background & the out-break of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has affected the economics & demographics of all countries & also affected each living human being in this world, it is going to be more challenging than ever. In the immediate terms, the challenge & focus will be maintaining sufficient liquidity to ensure smooth operations, maintaining and preserving our physical & human resources. While in the medium term we expect growth trajectories to be in range, and that we start operating in the Pre-covid era, we will continue to innovate & digitalize our operations in every form that we can. We will continue, not only to innovate on our products but innovate in everything we do, in our operations & come out with solutions, that would consume less natural resource, directly & indirectly, rationalize the overall operations & the ecosystem to achieve maximum efficiency. We will also embark on a journey to partner with our customers, & offer them products & solutions that will make a positive bottom-line effect on them. We will handhold & be a valued partner in our customers’ business. The post-covid era will offer many opportunities & we will keep ourselves prepared to take the next big leap.

Go Green

T

here are a lot of responsibilities that everyone has in their lives.

These responsibilities include their own selves, their families, their workplace, surroundings, etc. But the most important responsibility of any person on this planet is towards the environment. In the hassles and race towards success, businesses and progress we tend to overlook the responsibility one holds towards the environment. The responsibility towards our environment is not supposed to be upheld by those working for or in the interest of environmental conservation but also each and every one of us no matter what our background or field of work is.

There is a crucial part every business has to play in taking care of the environment as a business not only provides products/services to the consumers, jobs to a lot of people and much more. But the concern remains whether they are fulfilling the responsibilities they have towards the environment.

A business or industry do spend on CSR activities as they know these activities have an impact on the bottom line and also the long-term success of the company. Businesses need to look a step beyond and follow the adequate measures to make sure they do not harm the environment. Business organisations should think about

46 November 2020

the risks and threats of hazardous substances and chemicals pose to the environment, whether they have adequate infrastructure to not have any gas leaks or such. Also, they need to have the required permissions to use such materials and that too in the amount that is fixed by the regulations and authorities. Organisations must comply with the restricted use of certain hazardous substances like lead, mercury, etc. These organisations must also ensure that the waste produced as a result of their operations is safely stored, appropriately treated, or recycled and disposal adhering to the regulations and with the authorized bodies. They are required to segregate the waste as per the regulations set for commercial waste for recycling plastic, paper, glass, metals, etc.

Business organisations have responsibilities that may seem large in nature but the impact they have on the population and globally is something that makes the effort worthwhile. These organisations also need to conserve and tend to biodiversity. Biodiversity refers to plants and animals, with rapid urbanization and human activities, cause a loss of biodiversity. All types of organisations near these areas should cater and tend to the conservation of the biodiversity and take responsibility for the

protection of the same. These rules not only apply to land-based industries but also to all industries, factories, offices and other business agencies who have a direct or indirect impact or influence the surroundings where the biodiversity is present. Business organisations have to take the issue of the environment seriously as if the environment isn't safe there is no point in making and offering these products and services.

Environment concern and conservation is not only a responsibility but also the duty of every individual on this planet.

This means that not only these organisations but also us have a moral duty towards our environment because in some way or the other we are harming our surroundings and the environment.

Also, if a single effort can have such a huge change and benefit the environment in any way possible, then it is a very little gesture towards the environment. Our environment has not only endowed us with fresh air, water, food, minerals, resources, etc. but also a home for us all and if we can do anything to not deteriorate it, make it better or reverse the damages caused then any price or effort is completely worth it and still less compared to the debt we owe towards our planet.

Environmental Responsibilities of

BUSINESS www.theenterpriseworld.com 47

In a talk with...

Dr. Rahul Mirchandani A leader on a mission to transform farming in India!

A

ries is an Indian Multinational Company that offers the widest range of products in the primary, secondary, and micro-fertilizer sectors, ranging from individual elements to mixed specialty plant nutrient fertilizers. Since 1969, we have pioneered several innovative concepts of farming to Indian agriculturists, including the wonder of Chelation Technology, bio-degradable complexes of plant nutrients, water-soluble NPK fertilizers, valueadded secondary nutrients, natural and biological products, and water treatment formulations. Our products provide all 16 plant nutrients required in agriculture, customized for the specific needs of 107 different crops. Aries is consistently recognized among India’s best-in-class companies with 85 brands in the niche plant nutrition industry selling at 90,000 retail outlets across India and also in several countries globally. Aries is today an Indian-born multinational with 4 manufacturing units in India.

In a talk with Dr. Rahul Mirchandani, Chairman and Managing Director at Aries, spoke at length about Aries strengths and his thoughts on the current Agri business industry scenario.

• Brief us about the company.

ARIES is 50. Evolving from a dream of two individuals to a thriving globalized organization of over a thousand people, the metamorphosis of Aries has been phenomenal. We have evolved into a strong, vibrant, and tough organization. Speed, Scale, and precision define our core, with values, trust, and unity defining our spirit.

Aries is unique. We are our people, our products, and our purpose. Each of these elements within our organization is rare and hard to easily imitate. Our people have a singular goal – to deliver the world’s best to India’s farmers – using their knowledge, skills,

48 November 2020

Rahul Mirchandani Chairman & Managing Director

www.theenterpriseworld.com 49

and enduring energy. Our products are an unparalleled, comprehensive range of specialty plant nutrition solutions, made to exacting world-class standards but customized to uniquely Indian conditions. Our purpose is clear – sustainably build farm incomes and crop productivity and provide prosperity to the Aries family and livelihoods in the markets we serve. Collectively, we are custodians of a proud legacy and creators of a brilliant future.

• What were the initial challenges you faced?

The founders, Dr. T. B. Mirchandani and Mrs.Bala Mirchandani were a team of marketing and technical experts in the area of agribusiness. They identified a gap in the specialty plant nutrition segment which was untapped at that point of time. The Company had a choice of selling commodity fertilizers which would have given larger volumes but would have failed to differentiate Aries V/s. all other companies. They took the harder but more profitable route of discarding the commodity fertilizers and selecting micronutrients and highly customized plant nutrients as the area of focus.

This required concept selling through many years of patience and hard work. However, it provided the Company with a unique niche and position of strength.

• Which was the point that triggered the growth of the company?

Wonders of Chelation Technology: All flagship brands of Aries plant nutrients are based on Chelation Technology providing millions of farmers with a costeffective, environmentally safe alternative to traditional fertilizers, compatible with modern crop management practices, new generation seeds, and high yielding crops. Since Chelates remain inert until they are absorbed into the plant system, there is zero wastage and a reduction in dosage of up to 20 times.

Despite the low dose of Chelates, yields are reported to increase by an average of 30%. The use of Chelation Technology carved a unique niche for Aries in the Indian agribusiness.

consumers. Innovative, shock-and-awe campaigns have been the primary brand-building technique.

Conceptualizing and executing the first-ever Flash Sale in Indian Agribusiness and replicating the same over the past 5 years. This earned the Company a National Limca Book of Records in 2016 for booking Rs.2.1 Billion in 30 minutes and also changed the way the Company build the order book and took control of procurement and pricing variables. This flash sale has been moved to a digital platform for the last three years, again a first in Agribusiness so that we are ahead of the curve. Despite lockdown conditions in 2020-21, for the Company’s Golden Jubilee Celebration, Aries connected 850 dealers across 26 States on to a digital platform for the Annual Dealers Convention on 19th April 2020. This was a recordbreaking first of its kind digital customer convention, followed by a 100% digital booking bazaar and flash sale. This was followed by App only bookings for the year 2020-21 with record booking of Rs. 620.51 Crores were conducted entirely online. We usually have a conversion of approximately 70% of these bookings into actual sales.

Wider Sales Network: Using our wide sales network, Aries also promotes Indian Good Agricultural Practices, teaches farming concepts in rural schools, and creates farmer celebrities to recognize their sustainable crop management practices. Aries farmers were even provided opportunities to meet with President Obama to discuss how Aries products helped double their farm incomes.

The company has also pioneered brand merchandising festivals across thousands of villages, had the first single-day launch and delivery of a nutrient brand across India and has been the first to use techniques like sensory branding and drone sprays for crop nutrition.

• How have the company graphs changed since the foundation? Can you share a few statistics?

14 year sales growth of 402%

Initial Public Offer: Aries is proud to be the first company in the micronutrient segment to be listed on both the stock exchanges viz NSE & BSE. Funding from the IPO helped with increasing our manufacturing base Digital Flash Sales in Rural India – Aries has never used mass media campaigns to reach out to its 50 November 2020

2006-07 2019-20 Year Gross Sales in Rs.(Crores) 74 372 14 years Staff numbers growth of 75%

Year Human resource in Nos.

2006-07 2019-20 525 922

Record Breaking 1st Flash Sale in Agribusiness at the BSE Mumbai • What is the reason behind your company’s longstanding success?

Aries has continuously been at the forefront of cutting edge R&D and innovative product development entirely focused on Nutrition Management. The Aries brands use Chelation Technology, which dosage is typically 20 times lower than traditional fertilizer substitutes, hence lowering the cost of cultivation on a per-acre basis. Moreover, with continuous process engineering and soil testing campaigns, the formulations are revamped every year based on the changing agronomic needs and crop requirements.

Aries products also include water-soluble fertilizers for drip irrigated and high tech farms, nutrition solutions for aquaculture including fish and prawn farms, nutrition for soil-free farming and arid area cultivation, herbal animal feed supplements for cattle, water treatment formulations, nutrients to assist postharvest management, and stress relievers for crops in harsh environmental conditions. The Aries product range is unique since it provides all the nutrition requirements for the cultivation of over 100 crops.

Aries has emerged as the brand of choice for millions of farmers with ‘Made In India, Made for the World’ brands.

• What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Our Company provides a range of products which are in the specialty plant nutrition area and can be segmented into; 1) Micronutrient fertilizers and chelates 2) Water-soluble NPK fertilizers 3) Secondary plant nutrition and soil conditioners 4) Aquaculture and fishery nutrition 5) Animal health supplements

6) Water treatment and post-harvest management solutions.

7) Bactericides and plant hormones In order to promote these products, the company’s team of dynamic professionals who possess a mix of technical expertise and business acumen also provides the following services; I) Mobile soil testing. ii) Farmers training and knowledge sharing programmes iii) Forums to farmers to discuss policy issues with Government. iv) A seat on the table at Industry associations including the Confederation of Indian Industry, Indian Micro fertilizer Manufacturers Association, Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, etc. v) Merchandising and display contests. vi) Dealers and Retailers training programmes vii) Study tours and excellence missions for farmers The Company has always remained identified as a specialty plant nutrition company and has focused on the introduction of new products in line with this philosophy. This has kept the product range distinct in the customer mind space. The Company has always maintained premium pricing for the entire range of products. This has helped build an aura of quality assurance for the Company’s products. This strategy has also helped set Aries brands distinctly apart from the competition.

• How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

The future of Aries which is on its golden jubilee year is being charted using the following focus areas i) Deeper market penetration in the Indian specialty plant nutrition segment using the Aries range of www.theenterpriseworld.com 51

chelates and water-soluble fertilizers. ii) Wider reach in every fertilizer consuming district of India and Asian countries. iii) Agricultural new products redesigned using the best in class technologies to further improve the effects of Aries range of products. iv) Nurturing a team of highly trained agribusiness professionals in all markets that Aries serves. v) Lastly, creating digital media for information delivery to farmers and ensuring that Aries customers have access to the latest information on crop management and Indian agricultural practices.

The Company has over the last three years successfully implemented several distribution initiatives including; a) Annual order booking and payments online b) Sales staff tracking in rural areas using mobile applications c) Training and development using video conferencing on a daily basis during offseason. d) Farmers training program using social media channels, Youtube channel, and video conferencing. e) Online loyalty program – khazaana for all customers. f) Global application for information delivery of cropspecific, soil specific recommendations for farmers.

• Is there any new addition to the list of products/services? Anything exciting you would like to share?

As Aries Agro celebrates its Golden Jubilee, we are proud to have emerged as the most preferred source of specialty crop nutrition solutions for Indian farmers.

As we prepare for the future, we will remain at the cutting edge of crop nutrition. Agricultural technology in the area of plant nutrition, using drones for agricultural space (reducing labour cost and time), use of cost-effective inert environmentally safe fertilizers (in place of harmful chemical fertilizers), and use of post-harvest management techniques (to reduce storage, transport, and climate stress). We will soon be introducing nano-technology for crop nutrition, artificial intelligence-based information delivery systems for our farmers, and creating a much larger global distribution footprint.

“Learn to listen to the sounds of the forest” Dr. Rahul Mirchandani – A visionary leader Rahul Mirchandani has 25 years of experience as 52 November 2020

Director of Aries Agro Limited, ranked amongst the ‘50 Most Influential Rural Marketing Professionals of India - 2019 and the ‘30 Most Innovative CEOs in India - 2014. Has pioneered several unique marketing processes and brand management tactics at Aries, which includes launching India’s first loyalty programme in agribusiness, India’s first Agribusiness flash sale (earning a Limca Book of Records), insurance-based customer retention programmes for farmers, executing the first nationwide single-day launch for a specialty fertilizer brand as well as several shock-and-awe brand-building programmes to sustain and grow 85 rural brands with zero mass media advertising. Many of these strategies are being documented and taught as case studies in customer relations management at leading Indian business schools.

Holds a Doctorate in Management Studies from NMIMS University, Mumbai and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds an MBA from the University of Canberra, Australia. Has delivered sessions on Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Oxford University, UK and has lectured at over 50 BSchools in India. A Past National Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Young Indians (CII-Yi), is the architect of Yi’s Farmers Net program and has served on the CII Agriculture, Innovation, International Policy and India@75 National Councils.

Has also been the Chairman for the Yi’s Next Practices platform and also chaired Yi’s International Relations and Partnerships and is the Founder of the Commonwealth Alliance of Young EntrepreneursAsia (CAYE-Asia). He is the recipient of the Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Yuva Shakti Award 2010 in recognition of outstanding achievements towards Youth Empowerment and Inclusive Growth.

Recognized as one of the world’s foremost achievers in the field, is listed in the Who’s Who in the World 2013 and has been invited to Receptions at Buckingham Palace, the International Labour Organisation, the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings, High Commissioners Banquets, Association of MBAs Global Deans conference, amongst many others. Was a member of the Global Jury for the UN-Habitat Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Awards 2016. Is a Fellow of the 4Sight Class of Ananta Aspen’s India Leadership Initiative and member of Aspen Global Leadership Network.

www.royalenď€ eld.com

In a talk with...

Ms Sonica Aron CREATING THE WAY OF GROWTH FOR BUSINESSES THROUGH MARCHING SHEEP

arching Sheep was founded in the year 2013, by HR veteran Ms Sonica Aron. An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, having worked with companies like Pepsico, Roche Diagnostics, Vodafone, and AkzoNobel, She was heading HR for Philips Consumer Lifestyle business in 2012. She took a sabbatical for a year and then started Marching Sheep in 2013, with a vision of delivering meaningful and impactful HR interventions that benefit both organizations and employees.

M

• What were the initial challenges you faced?

Started as a one-woman army operating out of 1 city, today Marching Sheep delivers interventions and projects not only Pan India but globally, boasts of a healthy roster of clients across sectors, has a solid team of HR professionals passionate about the work they do, and their work and opinion are often quoted and published in leading publications.

• Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

In a talk with Ms. Sonica, let’s discover more about the company and her thoughts on the current industry scenario.

54 November 2020

I knew my craft, which is HR, but not much about building and running a business. So starting from whether Marching Sheep needs to be a registered company or a proprietorship etc, so what kind of statutory registrations are required, to digital marketing, getting a website up and running, putting a business development process in place, getting passionate team members on board, were all initial challenges.

Growth has been slow and steady for Marching sheep and a lot of clients have come from word of mouth reference from happy clients. Marching Sheep portfolio has also evolved with the evolving needs of the industry. So there has been no specific point per se. What has kept us growing is that we have continued to cater to the unique needs of our clients, we have continued to research and engage with industry leaders to understand

Sonica Aron | Founder & Managing Partner Marching Sheep

Be true to what you claim or commit. www.theenterpriseworld.com 55

their needs to that we can keep ourselves updated. Once clients see results of customised and contextualised interventions, they keep coming back.

• How have the company graphs changed since the foundation?

Can you share a few statistics?

The company began humbly with one client, and over time slowly yet surely escalated in terms of business, clients, and geographical presence. Instituted by a single person, the company’s workforce strength counts up to seven today and serves about 25 to 30 clients, delivering projects and assignments Pan India and globally. We are seen as trusted advisers and a go-to person for advice from our clients.

We work with clients across sectors- FMCG, Infrastructure, manufacturing, financial sector, law firms, healthcare sector, etc.

• What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

Integrity is the core value of our organization. We only take assignments that lie within the ambit of our expertise and work closely with the client team to arrive at the scope of the project, deliverables, and milestones.

We as a team also keep upgrading ourselves on new technology and concepts to be able to deliver high impact interventions for our clients.

Every assignment has multiple consultants engaged so that balls don’t get dropped, and collective expertise is utilized.

We do not push off the shelf solutions but engage in consultative problem solving with clients, curate customized interventions, and 56 November 2020

deliver ROI driven programs.

• What are the services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

The 4 main services are: 1. Diversity & Inclusion Strategies and interventions We truly believe that inclusive organizations are more productive and we enable our client organizations to arrive at their diversity charter and strategy, executable plans, and also partner with the execution.

2. Human Resource Consulting Organizations need their HR strategy, process, and policies to enable employees to deliver on the business strategy and goals. We work closely with client organizations to streamline the HR strategy, policies, and practices, drive communication and socialization, the internal capability to enable the same.

3. Bespoke learning interventions As the socio-economic fabric is evolving, the competencies needed to succeed at work are evolving.

We work with clients to enable individual contributors, managers, and leaders to succeed by building the right competencies.

4. Health & Wellness Portfolio Wellness today includes emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing.

While policies and insurances can take care of the physical aspect, there still needs to awareness and life skill-building around dealing with issues like anxiety, stress, burnout. With programs curated after research and with the help of clinical psychologists, we enable

individuals to become emotionally resilient and hence more productive, personally, and professionally.

• How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your services?

We believe in doing meaningful work that touches and impacts the lives of the workforce, and in turn builds agile, responsive, and great organizations. We will continue to research and evolve our offerings.

We wish to enable organizations by building capability within and hence offering more certification programs. We wish to expand our geographical presence further, which due to the corona pandemic was cut short.

• Is there any new addition to the list of products/services?

Anything exciting you would like to share?

We are working on a series of certifications that will build internal capabilities in organizations that will help them to drive strategic agendas on their own in a costeffective manner.

• How has technology transformed the traditional way of business?

We are offering our interventions using various technological platforms, and this has enabled us to connect with clients globally.

• What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

As an entrepreneur and business owner, I need to ensure that my team is taken care of. It is a solid,

well-knit, motivated team, and continues to be driven by the vision of our company. I need to ensure that the pandemic and its challenges do not impact them negatively in any way, they continue to learn and grow.

At the same time. The market place is evolving, offerings that were relevant 5 years back are not relevant anymore. So we need to keep ourselves updated and keep learning and evolving.

As a business owner, we also need to collaborate and build mutually beneficial partnerships. We have partnered with a law firm for our POSH practice, for FICCI for some of our open virtual programs, with a search firm for diversity hiring for some of our clients, and so on.

• What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

Marching Sheep has gone from strength to strength in the last 7 years and boasts of a healthy roster of clients across sectors who keep coming back to us as repeat clients.

We have strong word of mouth referrals from happy clients. We are seen as a thought leader and our opinions get published regularly across leading publications like TOI, HT, Business World, The Hindu, the Statesmen, Live Mint, The Hindu business line, etc. We are invited to speak at industry forums like FICCI, Transformance, UBS, etc. and get invited by leading B-schools for guest lectures.

ongoing communication is key in our organization. People are free to share and talk to each other.

Team members also have the flexibility to work at their own pace and work on their deliverables according to their comfort during this challenging period.

During COVID, we honored our commitment to three summer trainees and onboarded 2 new team members. We conducted our appraisal process and team members got increments.

This gives the team the comfort that we stand by our values of integrity and ethics.

As the business owner, I have taken a 100% pay cut till the pandemic ends, to ensure that we have the cash flow to meet the needs of the business and team.

• Is there any special experience with your clients you would like to highlight?

We are seen as trusted advisors by our clients. We understand their problem statements and requirements and provide consultative solutions. Once the client is aligned to the solution, we curate and contextualize. That results in a high level of trust and engagement between us and our clients. And that is why they come back to us for repeated assignments.

• How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

What I personally take pride in is the fact that often, client SPOC relationships transcend into friendships, where they call me for advice on unrelated topics and they know they can trust me.

Transparency with the team and

• Constant vigilance- a need or a

strategy? Please share your views.

If we hook people to a common vision and marshal their efforts around it, there will be no need for vigilance.

• It’s a rat-race out there. How do you cope with that?

I am not competing against anyone.

I believe there is space for everyone. I take pride in doing meaningful work. I sleep well the day I deliver a session that touches lives, where people are impacted positively, organizations are benefitted.

Ms. Sonica Aron - A visionary leader Sonica’s experience in the corporate world hinged on establishing policies and processes that were sustainable and scalable and propelled organizations into the next orbit of success. She joined Pepsi as a Management Trainee where she went route riding in a truck in the lanes of Calcutta and learned the ropes in retail sales. She launched Pepsi 200 ml in Karimnagar. She then headed HR in the bottling plant in Bazpur, learning the ropes of industrial relations. She then joined Roche Diagnostics as Head HR. Roche Diagnostics had just entered India and was setting up operations.

Sonica was instrumental in setting up the HR function, articulating, documenting, and socializing the HR practices and policies for the company, and getting the broad banding exercise completed. She then joined Hutch and was part of the team that acquired the BPL and spacetel circles and led the people integration.

www.theenterpriseworld.com 57

Business Story

Mr Uma Shankar Bhardwaj Creating, rejuvenating, and repositioning brands

Uma Shankar Bhardwaj | Founder & CEO | iAvatarZ Digital

E

very business has diverse speciďŹ c objectives as a top priority; most are striving to accomplish growth by reaching out to more potential customers and persuading them to buy their products or services. To do this adequately, businesses need to exploit all the most signiďŹ cant marketing assets and advances, and 58 November 2020

in the cutting edge world, the Web best that rundown.

Today, the consumer explores items, services, and brands before making a buy. Advanced innovation is delivering advertisers a broadness of new apparatuses, permitting them to be more focused and make strategic decisions.

Digital Advertising just bodes well on the o chance that you need to get your message before your targeted crowd.

In the era of the digital economy, enterprises are consistently in pursuit to get a reliable digital advertising accomplice that can accelerate their growth. In this

N E V E R D O U B T Y O U R C A PA B I L I T Y A N D S T R I V E TO B E T H E B E S T . scenario a pioneer and a wellknown face in the Indian online area, Mr. Uma Shankar Bhardwaj is empowering businesses with exhaustive and out-of-the-box digital advertising solutions.

Mr. Uma Shankar Bhardwaj emanated iAvatarZ Digital in 2008 with a vision to transform clients’ businesses with top-notched digital advertising services. Today, the company has created a unique place in the market with the smart efforts of a high expertise team.

The Company iAvatarZ Digital is a 12+-year-old Digital Advertising company. The company began in 2008 as a little group based out of Noida.

Throughout the long term, they have transmogrified and have made distinctive digital marketing blocks that oblige the specific demands of advertisers. Today the company has comprehensively classified its solutions as –Display Advertising, Custom Rich Media Solutions, Contextual Advertising, Social Media Marketing, Mobile Marketing, and Performance advertising. iAvatarZ has now extended its business to the Middle East and Southeast Asia too. Today, the company is catering to the requests for worldwide promoters utilizing its cutting edge solutions and helping customers to accomplish their marketing objectives. iAvatarZ is arriving at a phase where its business is stabilized in these areas and they

anticipate growing tasks in new geographies like – Africa and other SAARC Countries.

Early Days Every business faces initial obstacles that make it ready for future challenges. The initial challenge iAvatarZ faced as an organization was to have a strong back end team wherein each member has self-belief and confidence in their ability to back up the demand in the market. Over the years the company has successfully built a team that has become a backbone for its longstanding success.

growth of an organization, no matter what the situation is and I am blessed enough to have such a team. The team has always been self-motivated and aspiring for themselves and the company to keep growing irrespective of the situation of the day. My role is to keep the blood flowing and encouraging each one of them irrespective of the circumstance.

We work more like a family than a business unit and each member of my team is no less than what I am and hence responsible and motivated enough. And this is why we have been successful ever since.”

Taking innovation to the table

When Mr. Uma Shankar Bhardwaj established iAvatarZ, Digital had not garnered enough roots in India.

They had to pursue clients to try the medium. Two years after they commenced business and had a well-settled team, people started believing in Digital as a medium for advertising their products and that is when the trigger actually came and since then they never looked back.

Charting new paths of success The company has grown multifolds in terms of both Revenue and Offerings perse. Today iAvatarZ is one of the top players in the market providing solutions catering to clients across every category.

Mr. Bhardwaj says, “A good team plays a very important role in the

iAvatarZ has focused a lot on the technology part and keep updating their offerings with time to keep the clients interested. Most of their ads are high engaging units which can be run directly as well as programmatically across whitelisted publications.

“We believe in evolving ourselves with time and hence keeping adding new tech-driven products to our kitty enabling us to be a step ahead in this competitive market.”

Mr. Bhardwaj commented.

The company has recently added a lot of International Publishers to their kitty like Stack OverFlow, Developer Media, etc., and also have offerings such as generating BANT leads for their various clients across categories. There are www.theenterpriseworld.com 59

also a lot many Tech-based Rich media Innovations that the expert team of iAvatarZ custom builds as per the client's requirements.

Mr Uma Shankar Bhardwaj An unmatched leadership with a 360-degree futuristic vision With more than 10 yrs of experience in technology and overall business management, Uma has achieved various success milestones in his career.

He started his career with a German MNC as a software engineer in the year 1999. Later, he worked with several software companies from big MNCs to boutique start-ups, and created many applications.

Among them, his favorite one is the application created for different states of North America’s emission departments.

Coming from a humble family background, with every task that he had done since the early days of his life, he always strived to give his best. He has served in the Advertisement domain for over 16 years now. Interestingly, he landed

up a job in the US as a software engineer in an advertising company. That motivated him and made him sure of replicating a similar model back in India, as Digital was still not much known here. He says, “I have always been motivated to experiment and challenge myself with new things.

And I feel lucky enough to be where I stand today.”

Under his visionary leadership, the company has achieved a lot.

Managing a company of this scale without any additional investments is a huge achievement. Along with this, the majority of their co-workers have a very long relationship with the company. The company still has people who are a part of the organization since its days of inception. Possibly, these would be the topmost achievements for any organization.

The driving force Mr. Uma says, “They work more like a family than a business unit and each member of my team is no less than what I am and hence responsible and motivated enough.

A bit of Vigilance is a need as it helps one keep a check and alter and better things as and when needed.

60 November 2020

This is what makes us stand out in the industry.”

Mr. Bhardwaj admires his father the most he says, “He has been someone who has never been short of motivating or inspiring me. I can go on endlessly on this and still it would not be enough.”

Each business is remarkable in its particular manners and has something to be gained from.

Mr. Uma Shankar Bhardwaj says, “I prop up through a great deal of such substance and each story encourages me to comprehend and discover some new information.”

Mr. Uma Shankar Bhardwaj's view on the current industry scenario Today technology has changed the advertising landscape altogether what it used to be a few years back.

Many new agencies/ad networks are opening up nowadays and want a share of the pie. The reality is still the majority of Advertising spends are on Google, Facebook, and YouTube, also a lot of display advertising spends has moved to Programmatic. Hence, whatever is left is not huge enough to fulfill the demands of 100’s of companies coming up. Yes, survival is tough in today’s market as compared to the old days. But going forward only those companies who can evolve themselves with new adoption of new technologies and can create disruptive ideas by bringing more effective ROI for clients shall survive in the long run. That is exactly where we have been investing in to cope up with the ratrace out there.

www.goldmansachs.com

Expert’s Opinion

ENHANCING GUT HEALTH USING

PROBIOTICS T

he human intestine is the home of trillions of microorganisms, collectively referred to as the “gut microbiome.” The gut microbiome is now widely recognized to be an organ in itself and a significant one at that. When the various gut microorganisms are in harmony and balance, i.e. when the “good bacteria” are present in the right proportion, they keep the “bad” bacteria in check, and the system functions at its best. However, when conditions arise that disrupt this balance, causing a proliferation of the “bad bacteria” and an increased output of their byproducts, the system is adversely affected. Various health issues may arise as a result. Sometimes, even taking antibiotics can upset the balance.

When one or more types of gut bacteria grow rampant, and their harmful effects begin to manifest, the resulting loss of the desired balance is referred to as “gut dysbiosis.”

It becomes vital to repopulate “good bacteria” in the gut and restore normal conditions and good health, with probiotics.

Understanding Pre- and probiotics Probiotics are food items or dietary 62 November 2020

supplements containing live microorganisms beneficial to the body. They are prescribed or taken to maintain or enhance the body’s “good” microflora. Prebiotics are (often) fiber-rich foods that are good for the proliferation of beneficial bacteria. They are found in fresh greens, whole grains, fruits, and foods belonging to the allium family such as raw onions and garlic.

Why the best probiotics supplements start with robust strains Probiotics can be found in natural food sources like curds, kimchi, kefir, tempeh, sauerkraut, and kombucha. Also, they are added as supplements to baked goods, chewable candies, or confections.

The main challenge lies in ensuring that the probiotic component remains stable throughout the shelf life of the product and that when the product is consumed, a viable amount is delivered. The minimal effective microorganism count in the product is of great importance in the context of probiotics supplementation for health benefits.

In general, the food industry has also adopted the USFDArecommended level of 106 CFU/ml at the time of consumption.

Incorporating probiotics in food,

confectionery or dietary supplements is great, but how can you ensure that they will still be viable enough to meet the required dose, even towards the end of the shelf life of the product?

To successfully deliver the benefit of probiotics to the consumer, several steps are essential: from deciding the probiotic mix, through product formulation, manufacturing, and optimal storage conditions.

Challenges in manufacturing probiotics For many new entrants in the probiotics sector, standardization of processes remains a challenge.

With manufacturing, the production process must be designed such that: • The output meets quality and quantity standards • The product is viable and can remain stable over the long term • The method is reproducible • The product is allergen-free Probiotic lactic acid bacteria and Bifidobacteria present in fermented dairy products have to be consumed quite rapidly. These products have a limited shelf life and need to be refrigerated. At present, probiotics can be added to

dry food items and dietary supplements, conferring up to 24 months of stability, provided they are stored in ambient conditions of temperature and humidity.

High temperatures during manufacturing processes may also destroy or alter some of the properties of the probiotic species.

Either way, a starter culture that is robust, gives fast and consistent results, is highly desirable. Strains that retain good viability and show high performance when reactivated even after months in storage are also desirable.

Adopting Probiotics In Daily Life Current challenges brought about by the emergence of COVID highlight the need for preventative care, particularly among the geriatric population. While there was no popular culture of taking

probiotics supplements in India, the pandemic has underlined the need for such immunity-boosting measures.

inflammatory conditions brought about by pathogens or disease states.

The Triphase Advantage

Probiotics boost immunity in the following ways:

Triphase is the world's first and only Biotech company making High Temperature Stable Probiotic strains for food, confectionary & dietary supplements.

• By maintaining optimal numbers/concentrations of “good” bacteria and curbing the proliferation of harmful microorganisms.

Triphase’s soon-to-be-trademarked Temperature Stable Probiotics (TSP) is superior to other products in the market, thanks to its ability to withstand harsh manufacturing processes and high temperatures.

Triphase’s innovative fermentation technology TSP for strains is patented. The TSP Lactobacillus spp. strains are High Temperature Stable, non-GMO, BSE/ TSE free, preservative-free, and vegan.

• Probiotics also help block the adverse effects of pathogenic bacteria by producing compounds.

They are also believed to stick to the intestinal epithelium, thus preventing pathogens or toxins from damaging the intestinal wall.

They also stimulate protective responses from intestinal epithelial cells.

• Probiotics help modulate systemic

Meet Dr Srilakshmi Desiraju, the brain behind Triphase Dr Srilakshmi Desiraju has a PhD in Chemistry and did her MBA in Technology Commercialization. She started Triphase in Mysore with a core team of 4-6 people in 2009 when probiotics were just starting to come to the fore.

Her vision for Triphase is to look at developing a scientific approach to enhance the quality of human life.

www.theenterpriseworld.com 63

In a talk with...

T

he lockdown due to the Covid19 virus has highlighted the need for internet-based learning. Today, one can get anything he needs on a single click. The education sector is also taking a major part in this digital revolution. While there are several online learning platforms available in the market, users struggle to find a trustworthy platform that can help them in a learning process.

Keeping this need of users in mind, Mr. Sudhir Panditrao and Mr. Mangesh Wagh founded Enggenious, a strategic business unit at SAN Techno Mentors Pvt Ltd (STMPL).

Mr. Sudhir Panditrao is a founder and CEO, STMPL & Enggenious and Mr. Mangesh Wagh is a Partner, STMPL, and Founder, Enggenious.

In a talk with them, we discussed the current industry scenario and how they are taking the users learning experience to the new level.

• Brief us about the company.

We are learning solutions experts in engineering and manufacturing domains. We design and deliver technology-enabled learning solutions for the said domains.

With a large pool of subject matter experts (SMEs) with strong industry and brilliant academic backgrounds, experienced instructional designers (IDs), and creative visualizers together; Enggenious creates meaningfully engaging and lasting learning experiences that are beyond books and theories.

Enggenious is a strategic business unit at SAN Techno Mentors Pvt Ltd (STMPL). Founded in 2006, STMPL has been into conventional classroom training and mentoring for the engineering and manufacturing companies. Having worked with large Indian and foreign corporations in this space, STMPL is ably equipped with the know-how of designing learning solutions for manufacturing professionals; whether they are freshers graduate engineering

trainees or senior, mid or senior engineers, managers, and leaders.

STMPL is founded & managed by a group of IIT & COEP alumnus with long years of professional experience in diverse industry verticals. Team composition – 60 plus ex-IITs, ex-COEP, PhDs subject matter experts with average 30 plus years of experience in industry & academia, digital media experts, experienced instructional designers & developers.

STMPL is a part of the SAN Group. Established in 1990 and has 6 companies in product design, electronic manufacturing, industrial automation, data connectivity solutions, instrumentation, and value engineering domains. SAN group has a presence in India & middle-east presence and works with a global clientele.

• What were the initial challenges you faced?

We always knew that we had the best possible subject matter expertise in engineering and manufacturing domains. Our

MR. SUDHIR PANDITRAO & MR. MANGESH WAGH A duo setting up the new benchmarks in the knowledge sector 64 November 2020

Mangesh Wagh | Partner

Sudhir Panditrao | Founder and CEO

The law of value: Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.

- 'The Go-Giver' www.theenterpriseworld.com 65

experts had delivered conventional training and mentoring programs for all types of profiles. However, they didn't have a feel for developing eLearning content.

While core subject expertise doesn't change, eLearning needs a different view and treatment as compared to the conventional classroom or inperson mentoring. Sometimes your 25th slide of presentation inclassroom training needs to be your 1st screen of the eLearning content package. It took some time and skillful workouts with experts to get them in the eLearning zone.

• Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

When we were deliberating initially about developing eLearning and other tech-enabled learning solutions in the context of our existing conventional training offerings, we could articulate for ourselves – “This is the opportunity to create a larger value for our clients; high-quality digital learning solutions with pay-as-you-go model”.

This ‘larger value’ statement changed our perspective and triggered the growth.

We now have a catalogue of highly effective and engaging eLearning courses. Above that, we are creating awesome blended learning solutions with a well-crafted mix of synchronous and asynchronous modes of learning.

We are working on the localization of our eLearning courses in Indian regional languages. That will add a lot of value to a large population working in engineering and 66 November 2020

manufacturing domains.

• What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success? i. In one line – we are enjoying what we are doing.

Learning is a joy. Ask anyone. You learn something new, you are happy. If you have someone who helps you learn well, makes it interesting, is not preachy but a buddy; you will have a great time learning. This is what our clients have experienced over the years.

It has been reflected in the top and bottom lines of clients as well. ii. We have been constantly looking to innovate at the very core of the learning process – andragogy. It has helped us create some exciting courses on difficult technical subjects. iii. We have adopted global technological trends well. For example, we have mastered Digital manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and created comprehensive learning solutions on those. Very large manufacturing companies have been continuously working with us to make themselves Industry 4.0 ready. Based on the target audience and learning objectives, we have created learning solutions of small duration like half-a-day to three months long championship programs. Those programs include both synchronous and asynchronous modes – eLearning, live lectures, recorded lectures, hands-on, interesting online gamified assessments, case solving, hackathons, and more.

• What are the products/services the company focuses on?

• Off-the-shelf eLearning courses – online subscription or package buying • Custom-developed eLearning and microlearning courses • Innovative blended learning courses; pre-packaged and custom • LMS based competency assessment solutions; pre-packaged and custom • How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

Our journey has only begun. We look to create an unseen value proposition for engineering and manufacturing domains. Not just a learning solutions partner but a learning culture partner for manufacturing companies, individual professionals, and even for the students preparing themselves for a profession in the engineering fields. We will impact the top lines, bottom lines of the companies with well researched and awesomely built learning offering.

One obvious feature would be the use of the latest technology and tools to enhance learners' experience and retention of knowledge. Continuous innovations on fronts of instructional design, delivery, assessments, and other aspects of learning – that’s assured. We are set to keep creating and maximizing the joy of learning.

• Is there any new addition to the list of products/services?

Anything exciting you would like to share?

We are looking to create or acquire a comprehensive learning experience platform. Our content will ride on that.

We are looking to create cluster packages of courses, for example, a pool of courses for engineering trainees, another one for the beginners in digital manufacturing/Industry 4.0 We are localizing a few of our courses in Hindi and other regional languages.

• Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

Sudhir Panditrao, Founder-CEO of SAN Techno Mentors has always been a passionate trainer with industry & academic experience of 34 years. BE Instrumentation & Control from COEP 1985 and later ME Instrumentation & Control from COEP in 2003. He brings this experience and techno-commercial acumen.

Mangesh Wagh, partner at SAN Techno Mentors and founder of the Enggenious business unit comes from the digital technology and media profession with experience of 16 years. BE in Production from COEP in 2001 and later PGDBM in Marketing from Indus Business Academy in 2005. Digital technologies as content development and delivery platforms and digital media expertise – that’s what Mangesh brings in. eLearning is the need of the hour, a cliché, absolute truth, however.

Generic benefits of eLearning like significantly low logistical

overheads and hence the lower costs, better speed of training initiatives, ease of tracking, etc and the world knows about it. One of our major turn-ons in eLearning has been the creative visualization aspect. The core eLearning quality comes from there, we think. For the learner to gain complete clarity on technological/ technical concepts or aspects, content needs to be built with excellent creative visualization. After going through our courses when the learner says, “never thought it was that easy”…that’s the kick we live for.

• One person who you admire the most?

No singling out in this case. We admire ideas that are for large value creation by benefiting a large population including the bottom of the pyramid, as they call.

• Whose business story do you find the most inspiring?

Again, nothing specific. But that business story impacted the lives of a large population positively.

• Constant vigilance- a need or a strategy? Please share your views.

• How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

Being aware, an alert is required.

Being suspicious and cautious creates harm.

The organization doesn’t look after the team. The team looks after the organization. Openness to ideas, the rewarding mindset of owning tasks, projects has helped us being a cohesive unit. We have a very healthy and happy ecosystem of internal team members, associates, and well-wishers.

• It’s a rat-race out there. How do you cope with that?

A price is a tool for rat-race.

Creating more value for your customers is the way to go.

From the book ‘The Go-Giver’ Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

• Is there any special experience with your clients you would like to highlight?

In an exceptional case, one of our clients referred us to their competitors and helped us get large assignments there. We were doing a long term mentoring assignment for a client. They appreciated our effort as it added significant value to their business. They referred us to 5 of their direct competitors; spoke to their MDs/Presidents and helped us get large assignments there. They thought of industry well-being rather than a narrow competitive mindset.

We feel this is the way to look at business and life as a whole. It wouldn’t be a rat-race then.

www.theenterpriseworld.com 67

In a talk with...

Paving Immigration for all from decades XIPHIAS Immigration

S

imply put, immigration is when one person moves from one country to another; be it for work, studies, business or any other purposes. Seems quite easy, doesn’t it? Well, it is really easy, once you have been able to provide all the necessary documentation for the process. These include the different structures of visa policies, the different immigration laws of the countries and much more. This is where an immigration consultant comes into picture, to help you get over those clichés and make your journey as easy as you had thought!

So when looking for an immigration consultant, what is important is the authenticity of the firm. To avoid difficulties in immigration processes people are always in search of trustworthy immigration service providers.

India is a super source of skilled people in every domain. For the sake of business, employment, education, investment etc. there is an increase in migration; hence need of genuine immigration consulting companies.

Providing a cutting edge in the immigration services is XIPHIAS Immigration Private Limited. Led 68 November 2020

by Mr. Varun Singh, XIPHIAS Immigration is one of the leading Immigration companies providing solutions to clients who intend to relocate to other parts of the world.

Varun has over ten years of leadership experience in the field of immigration which includes Investment Migration, Corporate Visa Services, General management, Business operations and Strategy, and has an excellent track record of thousands of customer satisfaction in resettlements.

The Journey It all started in the during Varun’s MBA studies. In 2008, he started off doing B2B immigration consulting and in 2009 XIPHIAS Immigration had its birth. The company had a 2 member staff to start off with, who had no support and infrastructure in the beginning, but with time, experts joined the team that pioneered XIPHIAS in immigration system. In 2009, they started providing B2C services.

Today the team comprises of consultants well versed in the field of Skilled Immigrations, Corporate travel and Investment immigrations. They also have

lawyers and solicitors as part of the team who are capable of handling all regulations to be followed by any corporate in any capacity.

XIPHIAS understands and accepts the importance of labour requirements satisfaction across the world. They not just help nations fill their vacancies but also the individuals who have a need to migrate looking for a better living and a better future for themselves and their loved ones. From the time of its inception, it has been the very mission of XIPHIAS Immigration to exceed the expectations of clients in whatever domain and satisfy their requirements. The team at XIPHIAS provides premier, personalized advice to clients as is needed while also trying to simplify the whole process thus empowering the clients and their families.

“We believe in becoming the backbone of our clients while trying to help them with the immigration policies.”

XIPHIAS Immigration helps and guides individuals become Global citizens, who think globally but act locally. Many individuals are

I believe in turning dreams into reality.

Varun Singh MD

www.theenterpriseworld.com 69

looking for a change in life and relocate to different part of the world, but feel left out due to lack of knowledge about the proceedings. XIPHIAS reduces this dilemma for the clients, by providing them expert counsel to empower them and their families, thus helping them bridge the gap between their dreams and ambitions.

Quality Service OfferingsXIPHIAS is an immigration firm.

They deal with corporate travel which includes helping corporates set up their branches in the country where they would want to grow along with helping their staff travel, both short term, and long term.

XIPHIAS Immigrations Is a One Stop Solution For• Investors looking for cross border real estate investment • Entrepreneurs/businessmen looking to invest in existing business or start-ups overseas • Corporates • Skilled professionals and workers • Students wanting to grow knowledge and build their career With their amazing experience, immigration skills and technological resources, XIPHIAS aims to nullify the anxiety of clients in the areas of their expertise. Their stance to help clients at the macro and micro level illustrates XIPHIAS’ long lasting client relationships. Driven by a team of attorneys specializing in the field of employment, business laws, litigation and diplomatic relations, XIPHIAS Immigration is a multi-specialty immigration service firm that brings an extremely distinctive perspective to 70 November 2020

the valued client relationships.

society.

Their registered immigration consultants comply with all the Code of Conduct of various government regulatory bodies to uphold the professional ethics and while protecting the interest of our clients.

NEW ZEALAND IMMIGRATION New Zealand’s immigration policies are rigid and are multilayered. If you are keen to relocate to New Zealand, they welcome you with all earnestness.

They also provide relocation and immigration services to private individuals who are generally skilled professionals in the fields of engineering, medicine, teaching etcetera. They provide investment and immigration solutions to High Net-worth individuals who are looking for cross border investments.

BUSINESS IMMIGRATION XIPHIAS Immigrations has tied up with many well laid organizations across the world to help its clients with their investment and business plans.

Apart from these, they provide Legal solutions for all corporate legal impediments.

Major areas of practice include• Business Immigration, InvestorEntrepreneur Immigration • Corporate Services • Skilled Professional Migrations • Study Permit • Corporate Law & Legal Process out-Sourcing.

XIPHIAS’ Popular Programs IncludeCANADA EXPRESS ENTRY XIPHIAS is an ICCRC registered firm who can help you migrate to Canada in adherence with the regulations laid down by Canada Express Entry Program.

AUSTRALIA IMMIGRATION Australia’s immigration welcomes both skilled workers and business enthusiasts into their country who can contribute to the economy and

STUDY ABROAD For students who intend to enhance their prospects while gaining more knowledge in their field of work by studying abroad, XIPHIAS is their one stop solution.

Corporate OverviewXIPHIAS Immigration is a pioneer in the field of Immigration, Residency and Citizenship consultancy services. The firm is empowering skilled professionals, high net worth individuals and families to become global citizens and realize their dreams through their expertise and solutions.

“We are one among the fastest growing immigration consultancy firms being ranked among the top five firms in India.”

Having received multiple awards and recognitions, the firm has strong foothold with its global presence in Canada, UK, UAE and Australia.

XIPHIAS is officially recognized

by ICCRC Canada and MARA, Australia. Backed by strong

processing calibre and expert consultants, each case is evaluated and processed as per updated regulatory framework.

Permanent Residency or Citizenship - The Global Citizen Way Global Mobility- Many passports are quite restrictive in their visafree mobility, forcing citizens to obtain visas whenever they need to travel abroad. Permanent residency can offer individuals from these countries increased global mobility.

The difference in global mobility equals an incredible amount of time saved filing visa applications and is priceless to business people the world over.

and their families.

purposes. This allows investors to manage their wealth more efficiently and effectively.

The company has represented thousands of applicants till date and not a single case has been rejected so far due to their strong case preparation and representation.

This gives them an edge above others.

Family Most programmes are available to the family members of the main applicant.

This means that investors can secure a better future for their spouse and children. It also offers access to world-class health care, education and an improved lifestyle.

Education is the foundation of a successful life bas a global citizen.

Investing in a suitable programme can open up access to the best schools in the world for applicants and their children by qualifying them for domestic rather than international tuition fees.

Security in a stable, peaceful country can be life-saving in the event of any kind of political unrest in one’s home country. This type of insurance is priceless for investors

XIPHIAS has helped thousands of application to visa offices and maximum applicants are not called for any interview because of the strong documents representation without any rejections. The company is associated with more than 300 colleges and Universities to process student visas. With a track record of neat and clean process and a strong reputation in market, they have got maximum number of applications only through the references and not by doing any marketing. Strong reputation and track record is not created in a day and the team involved in processing is highly qualified and knowledgeable who serve the clients on top priority.

Business- New business opportunities open up to participants in residency by investment programs as they can now do business in the host country as well as travel abroad more freely.

Tax Management may prove advantageous for tax optimization www.theenterpriseworld.com 71

A key to Business Growth

The

Human APPROACH TO

BUSINESS

72 November 2020

It’s all about the Midas touch In this new dawn of technological advancements and modernization, hardly we find any workplace or institution which does not have a part of many run by AI or algorithms. Modern techniques and automation have taken over a lot of aspects and roles played in the company, ranging from mail responses, query response to analytics and project or business forecasting. No doubt that having a computer and algorithms are a good source for finding the feasibility and success of the model or project. Do the companies/institutions miss or find the importance of a physical or human force, as they find technology and computers to be a better and efficient replacement for the same. But can automation and technology completely replace the human force, the answer is surely debatable but the fact can never be denied that human interaction and touch not only is more successful but also gives the customers a sense of involvement and care.

“Nothing we do is more important than hiring people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not strategies.”

The advantages of human interaction in business Technology, computers, AI, algorithms, do prove useful in estimating the business and its potential, responding to potential buyers or interested customers, also

provide follow up response etc. It can be agreeable that human interaction and response will be comparatively slow when compared to the above alternatives but human interaction is far more accurate and wholesome. Human interaction not only provides the interested customers with a sense of involvement but to hear a call or response from a human makes the customer feel prioritised and this relationship of a customer with the company/institution goes a long way. Human interaction and approach to business provide opportunities to a lot of businesses, companies, individuals, etc. As computers and AI forecast the feasibility and success of an idea or business by calculating the numbers and figures and if it fails to meet the criteria the business or idea no matter how much potential it holds get turned down. This can be avoided with human interaction and approach to business as there are a lot of intricate details and complexities that a human mind can far better understand and decode as compared to AI, etc.

One question that always comes up in everyone’s mind is the future of the world and the technology and its varied uses and applications in various domains and industries.

Little thought and research are being put in the development of the human mind and intellect. With new qualifications, courses and fields coming up, the human mind is evolving and grasping all these things and working on the potential and hidden opportunities at the

same time. The human mind is far more advanced and also more understanding as machines do not have emotions and sentiments which are equally important to make crucial decisions.

Will the technology take over, or humans will save the day?

Not every process or step involved in a business or company can be taken on by AI, computers, etc. we cannot forget and cut out the fact and truth that human force and the skills possessed by them are the most important and crucial resource on this planet. Whatever we are today and all the advanced technologies, top-notch equipment, latest techniques, research and methods were created by none other than humankind. Although, the use of technology and automation has its advantages and edge over humans especially in tasks which involve a large number of data involving tasks which do not hold extreme importance. It can be rightly said that machines are nothing without humans and vice versa. Thus, man and machine should work together as even machines are not and will never be 100% correct and require supervision, maintenance and sometimes correction. In the end, we should never forget that manmade machines and not the other way around.

“In order to build a rewarding employee experience, you need to understand what matters most to your people.”

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