Saurabh Bhatia - Technology Edge for all Size Businesses

1. How did your career journey start? Or who/what inspired you to start this business/ entrepreneurship?

In 2006 me and my friend Raghav were working for MNC software companies and were not really satisfied by many things , the work environment , the way people worked, the way companies were structured. We wanted to create a workplace which is unique in the way of their structure, employees get equal opportunities to grow  personally and professionally. We always believed and still believe motivated people deliver best results.

When we started we had no idea as to how would we bring work on a regular basis , groom people, but we have been lucky to have a great supporting team all along.

In 2010 Amit Gaphade an Business Analyst from HCL joined us as a partner and Business Development head. That helped us setup an office in Vadodara and tap the market in Gujarat. We have gone from International focus to a Local Market focus for customers.

2. Please share some information about your products and services here.

Services :

We have 2 Major Services :

1. Application Development and Consulting – We help startups and small businesses in development of Web Based & Mobile Based Applications, by helping them develop requirements , realizing technical goals and helping them achieve them through execution.

2. Infrastructure Development and Consulting Services - We help companies migrate to open source infrastructure , and cut down day to day operational cost, avoid vendor lock-ins. This includes desktops , servers , mailing solution, authentication solutions for all these companies. We ensure interoperability with existing proprietary formats, so that data is moved seamlessly across different platforms from windows to linux without modifications or loss of it.

Product:

SMBTechEdge is our first product. Its a small and medium business Infrastructure suite that packages entire infrastructure required for a company in one place. It includes mailing solution, a complete data backup and recovery solution, a cloud based high performing base bundled with different utilities that are required for day to day operations of a company including an Intranet application and a CRM. It solves the problem of people looking to develop different part of infrastructure in different places, thus reducing time and effort for implementation. The overall cost of ownership of the company infrastructure reduces by a huge margin. It also provides all open sourced licensed components , so it gives peace of mind without worrying much about the licensing cost.

We have developed a home grown ERP that has some really unique features like Mobile device compatibility , modular components that can help building ERP for any industry domain in no time. Highly configurable and customizable , the ERP comes at a cost that fits the pocket of industry of any size.

3.What was your vision/ mission of the company?  

Vision  :  To become a key player in SME infrastructure segment and become leader in turnkey open source solutions.

Mission : To Help SMEs and businesses in their growth through right kind of infrastructure that would help them concentrate on their business rather than maintaining the day to day infrastructure in a cost that is accessible and in a way that is customizable yet comprehensive.

4. What kind of challenges did you face while starting/doing business?

While starting our business, the first challenge was to get appropriate people, who would agree to work with you in your initial phase of the company. This lot is specially critical because , not only do you expect them to be there for your company all the time, you also them to share your vision.
We were lucky to find some of the best people during this period.

While looking for new work, we didn't know where to look for new work and because we were a relatively new company it was difficult to get through bids with highly experienced people in race.

We then spent 25$ for 1 month of advertising on a job board and that paid off. We got one of our biggest, loyal and best clients due to that.

5. Do share with our readers about your discovery period when you were facing difficulties in your business?

The biggest problem we have faced during this period is managing motivations of people. At one end you need to work towards bringing continuous projects and drive sales, at the other hand , we need to increment salaries, make sure the work we bring matches the people's career path. It was a period of steep learning combined with fast growth, which was made it all the more difficult.

6. Share with our readers about your experiment period after the discovery period?

During this period ,we were faced with recession. At this point, the business deals became slow to convert and took months to materialize. At the same time, the work had to go on. The lean period was converted to a useful one, by conceptualizing and developing a product called SMBTechEdge . We have been successfully able to develop , launch and capitalize upon the opportunity that SMBTechEdge has to offer. Now, that we are back up on our feet in terms of services, we have a healthy product initiative too.

7. What are your future plans? Or now what is your vision for the next five years?

Our future plans are to grow SMBTechEdge and spread it to as many segments of the industry as possible. We want several SMEs to reap the benefits of open source.  We want to develop this as a consulting service too.

Apart from this we want to develop a few other product ideas which are primarily Business to Consumer and lie in e-commerce space.

8. How would you advice/suggest new entrepreneurs who want to start a new business?

People who want to start new businesses should take care of things like :

a. always bootstrap , don't rely on other's money. Start small, start humble invest your own money.

b. Be open to learning  Build a good team, treat them well, and respect them , they are the ones who are going to take you forward.
There will be times that will be difficult, stand through them, they are bound to pass

c.  make the person you trust the most as your business partner.

9. LinkedIn URL: http://www.linkedin.com/in/saurabhabhatia


10. Twitter URL : http://twitter.com/safew


11. Websites URL : http://www.safewlabs.com , http://www.smbtechedge.com 


12. Tel / Mobile – Mumbai – 9833096120 , Vadodara - +91-7600021552

Puneet Bhatnagar - Creating results with Idea Machine: Practical Creativity Training

1. How did your career journey start? Or who/what inspired you to start this business/ entrepreneurship? 

I was in advertising for about 18 years. Worked as a copywriter and then rose to the position of Creative Director at Bates advertising.

It was a creative profession. Every single day I used to crack ideas.

And then it occurred to me why not use these creative thinking skills for a larger good. As a country we have so much potential. I wanted to contribute to it and it lead to my company Creacos: The creative Commandoes.

2. Please share some information about your products and services here.

We have our unique model of creativity training. I have modeled how great creative people think. From Leonardo da Vinci to modern Silicon Valley Creatives. From ‘Jugaad’ to Nano!
We have distilled the creative thought processes in a unique model that we call: Creacos Idea Machine.
Over the years we have refined the process and now it’s a regular training programme. Our recent training saw participation from an event management company, real estate, automobiles, digital marketing, HR firms, film direction as well as an NGO.

This IDEA MACHINE helps people come up with more and better ideas on a continuous basis. An idea is not enough. It must happen in reality. That’s why this machine also helps them to develop their ideas.

This is a complete idea management system.

With this I train people a new mind-set of creativity. These people are our Creative Commandoes!

3. What is your vision/ mission of the company?

Our mission is to instill a new mind set in people. We want people to think like creative commandoes, who can make things possible. Who can rise to their true potential.

After white and green revolution in India, now I am envisioning a new kind of revolution. A creative revolution. I call this Rainbow Revolution. It’s happening right now in the minds of people.

I want to see creativity flourish in every nook and corner of this country.

I want entrepreneurs to launch real new services and products that the world can embrace.

I see our engineers creating and innovating new machines which can give us the lead in world economy and can better the quality of life in this country.

I want to see our business leaders and marketers to use creativity as a resource which can multiply productivity and gives us the leading edge.

This decade is crucial for India.

Creative revolution is here. Let us be the catalyst.

4. What kind of challenges did you face while starting/doing business?

The challenges are still there. People equate creative thinking with crazy thinking.
They ask me another crazy question themselves: “You are an advertising person, how can you train corporates”

They still have to see the big picture.

5. Do share with our readers about your discovery period when you were facing difficulties in your business?

As an entrepreneur, especially in the earlier stages, there are difficulties every single day. Every decision is a survival vs growth decision. And it’s a tough call.

During the recession period I had a difficult time. I just started and no one was willing to put money in creativity training. At the same time lucrative offers came my way through advertising world. It’s my wife who stood with me and we decided our vision is a bigger thing. Remember: Why to run the rat race when you can fly!

6. Share with our readers about your experiment period after the discovery period?

Once I discovered the entrepreneur in me, it was easy. I have flourished as a trainer.

Now I am bold and more assertive about what I do. My IDEA MACHINE is the proof of this assertiveness.

7. What are your future plans? Or now what is your vision for the next five years? 

For next 2 years I am working on putting a sound foundation to my vision.
I am creating original result oriented training modules. I am working on sharing the vision with the world (That’s why we are talking, isn’t it?)

What after that? I hope thousands of people will be flying with me. Please tell your readers to share our vision with others!

8. How would you advice/suggest new entrepreneurs who want to start a new business? 

Don’t be a ‘me too”. Create something new you can call your own. After all you are going to put your life on it.

9. LinkedIn URL – http://www.linkedin.com/in/puneetbhatnagar1


10. Twitter URL - http://twitter.com/CreativePunito


11. Websites URL - http://www.puneetbhatnagar.com


12. Tel / Mobile 09820003092

Ritambhara Agrawal - founder and Managing Partner at Intelligere

1. How did your career journey start? Or who/what inspired you to start this business/ entrepreneurship? 

The main idea behind the venture was that there are very few law firms in India specializing in the field of IP laws. Most of the law firms are multi-disciplinary firms handling all the domains and expertise of legal field. With the advent of technology, India has become a good market for different innovations and industries and corporate are becoming more aware of their IP rights and protecting and exploiting the same. So there was a need to have more law firms specializing in the field of IP laws to handle the volume of IP work generated within India. In India there is still lack of awareness in the area of IP rights. Corporate usually focus on the tangibles assets of the companies and valuable intangible assets like IP created within the company gets ignored and companies are not able to maximize the value of the same.  We want to spread awareness about different aspects of IPR issues and also to educate people in respect of their IP rights.

2. Please share some information about your products and services here.

Intelligere is a legal consultancy firm providing legal services in the area of Intellectual Property Rights. Our main practice areas include, Patents, Trademarks, Copyright, Domain name disputes, issues pertaining to Cyber Laws, Design registration, Geographical Indication matters, Design layout and Semiconductors, mobile gaming legal issues, legal issues in virtual world arena, gaming laws. We cater to the IP demands of different industries. Intelligere handles IP matters pertaining to Media & Entertainment industry, Software, Telecom, Pharmaceutical, Life Sciences, Biotechnology, Financial Institutions, Retail market, Insurance industry, Real Estate, Aviation and Infrastructure sector. Our team of experts includes lawyers, engineers, financial experts, patent agents and analysts and patent attorneys.

3. What was your vision/ mission of the company?  

To be recognized as an expert in IPR and client service across the private, corporate and community sectors and as a preferred place for rewarding careers.

Our mission is to provide quality, value-added legal services in a professional, timely, confidential manner to the business sector, community and corporate sector.

 4. What kind of challenges did you face while starting/doing business?

The biggest challenge was to restrict services of Intelligere to a single domain of legal field, i.e; IPR. It was a risky proposition in the beginning as we were providing services related to only one domain of legal services. That meant that we would be targeting a typical and restrictive set of market w.r.t. a multi-disciplinary law firm. Moreover when we started our venture in India, IPR market was at its nascent stage and there was not much requirement of legal experts in the IP market. Secondly, getting clients always remain a challenge, as legal services involve sharing of all the confidential information of the company, being new in the market it takes time to gain confidence of the clients and establish our credibility in the market.

5. Do share with our readers about your discovery period when you were facing difficulties in your business?

Intelligere was not known to anyone in the market in the initial days; therefore, it took time to establish us as a brand name. Also being a first time entrepreneur I had no knowledge of running the business and other nitty-gritty involved in it. So in many domains it was hit and trial and we learnt about many things which worked and which didn’t work in the business domain.

6. Share with our readers about your experiment period after the discovery period?

Our strong point always remained focus and persistence. We were willing to grasp, learn and adapt ourselves completely to the industry’s ways of working and this helped us carve our own niche with time. We never backed out of the challenges thrown by the industry. We base our business on long-term relationships with our clients and strive to deliver added value on a sustained basis. We acquire deep knowledge and understanding of our clients’ businesses and the sectors in which they operate. We pursue excellence and seek to innovate in everything we do. We believe client interests are at the very heart of our business, and we strive to achieve excellence in everything we do for them. We connect our people, our clients and our communities through living the values of our firm.

7. What are your future plans? Or now what is your vision for the next five years? 

We are collaborating with law firms overseas and establishing ourselves as industry experts in the IPR field. We also have plans to venture out in legal training and education in various aspects of IPR to students, industry experts and also to professionals, so that they can gain maximum value out of their assets.

8. How would you advice/suggest new entrepreneurs who want to start a new business? 

Start small dream big. Before starting up anything, always assess the market needs and ask the question-Do people require my product or services? Be critical and open to criticism as that helps in introspecting and taking corrective measures and in turn helps in growing strong and takes you in the longer run. Invest on good legal advice and ensure your venture is legally secured. At the end it’s your focus, persistence, work quality and commitment to achieve your goal that helps you in achieving your vision.

9. LinkedIn URL http://www.linkedin.com/in/intelligere

10. Twitter URL http://twitter.com/a_ritambhara

11. Websites URL http://www.intelligere.in

12. Tel / Mobile 9810854270

Anamika Joshi & Tarun Jangid Co-founders of Nailbites Advertising Agency

1. How did your career journey start? Or who/what inspired you to start this business/ entrepreneurship? 

The now managing partners of nailbites were working separately in their respective offices when once a mutually known client asked us to work together for him. We could sense the opportunity of starting a self-owned business striking hard on the door. This was how nailbites, an ad agency started in November 2009.

2. Please share some information about your products and services here.

Nailbites is an advertising agency where few heads sit down to give out services like print media advertising, branding solutions, web-based advertising, press releases, E-mailers, corporate brochures, scripting, creating online discussion groups, blogs, etc. and generating content for the same.

We provide a host of services and try to add a bit of innovation wherever we see an opportunity. We work closely with our clients and come out with ideas after thoroughly understanding and analyzing the requirements of the client side.

3. What was your vision/ mission of the company?  

As aforementioned, we didn’t began nailbites with any exact vision or mission due to the accidental birth of the firm. But over the time, we envision enjoying the process of delivering best of creative solutions to our clients and expand our reach from few cities to fewer countries.

Our mission is to be honest in our doings and delight our clients and our audience through consistent innovation and creativity in our deliverables.

4. What kind of challenges did you face while starting/doing business?

The major barrier remained fewer number of years under our experience tab which insisted our clients to cross check many a times before assigning us with some project. We were initially given projects that demanded least input from our side as no one wanted to risk it all with a newly in fact accidental entrepreneurs.

Generating belief, continuing with the same passion with which we incepted nailbites, keeping up the spirits high, making us hear amongst our peers were few challenges which we overcame with determination in real sense.

We believe that the days of struggle often leaves you with unmatched strength to fight and win over obstacles much aesthetically.

5. Do share with our readers about your discovery period when you were facing difficulties in your business?

Nailbites was apparently known to none and it took us some time in understanding the nitty-gritty of running a business. The comfort zone was no where to be seen as everyday was a challenge in itself to prove ourselves to not just to the clients whom we approached but also to our colleagues and family. But as said earlier, every hurdle came for a reason and helped us leap forward.

6. Share with our readers about your experiment period after the discovery period?

Our strong point was our confidence from the time we started. We were willing to grasp, learn and adapt ourselves completely to the industry’s ways of working and this helped us carve our own niche with time. Sometimes we agreed on severely strict deadlines being skeptical that if we refused, we could loose the client. Later, we understood the importance of demanding the reasonable time and delivering quality work instead of working hastily on the project. Thus, delivering quality on time became our main motto which we continue to follow.

7. What are your future plans? Or now what is your vision for the next five years? 

We are observing carefully the changing media and we do see an opportunity in providing a one stop solution by delivering complete range of print, online, OOH, guerilla and viral services. There are still many arenas left unexplored which we intend to take up in near future. We also aim at having a bunch of enthusiastic nailbiters as our team to give out the best to the advertising industry.

8. How would you advice/suggest new entrepreneurs who want to start a new business? 

Concentrate on your goals and give your 100%. Everything seems difficult till the time we run away from it. Step forward, take up the challenge, explore it, innovate and prove your strength. Listen to your seniors in the business, develop contacts and enjoy your work thoroughly. Hard work is the only way you can achieve your dreams. Never forget that.

9. LinkedIn URL  http://www.linkedin.com/company/nailbites


10. Twitter URL  http://twitter.com/nailbitesadvtg


11. Website URL http://www.nailbites.in


12. Tel / Mobile: +91-9911965296

Hareesh Tibrewala - Social Wavelength

1. How did your career journey start? Or who/what inspired you to start this business/ entrepreneurship? 

Started my career as an entrepreneur in 1987, soon after my return from the USA after doing by MS. The first business that I created was a management consultancy firm which specialized in management strategy planning and human assets management

 In 1997 I co-founded another business, Homeindia.com. Homeindia is a leading e-tailer of ethnic Indian fashionwear catering to NRIs and non-Indians worldwide

Social Wavelength, founded in 2009 is my third entrepreneurial venture.

I see my self as an entrepreneur. My role is to identify opportunities and then consummate the same by assembling necessary resources in the form of capital, human resources, processes and systems

2. Please share some information about your products and services here.

*** Social Wavelength, is now India’s largest social media agency. We work with brands and help them build online communities. We provide a complete 360 degree solution that includes creating strategies, crafting the content and doing social media analytics

3. What was your vision/ mission of the company?  

The vision is to be India’s largest social media agency with global footprint

4. What kind of challenges did you face while starting/doing business?

Social media being a new concept involved a lot of concept sale in the initial stages. Also being a completely new field, it was challenging to find trained human resources.

Also the business demanded certain amount of capital to be invested.

5. Do share with our readers about your discovery period when you were facing difficulties in your business?

Getting your first few customers to trust you and getting to first few team member to have faith in you, was a serious challenge.

One has to put a lot of personal equity on the line to ensure that your first few customers are willing to let you have a shot at their brand. Similarly you need to work very hard to be to convey your vision to your first few team members so that they have faith in your leadership

6. Share with our readers about your experiment period after the discovery period?

Initial few months, in any business are complete learning process. Many a times you end up picking up a project with little clue how you will actually execute the same. It is only when you are back at the office with the purchase order in your pocket, that you start working on figuring your way out and then ensuring that you don’t let your customer down. One has to be prepared to take these risks and then work very hard to live up to the promise

7. What are your future plans? Or now what is your vision for the next five years? 

We see substantial business opportunities from outside India. Five years is a very long period. But we would imagine that in the next few years, Social Wavelength would have a presence in every major city in India as well have operations in certain key markets outside India

8. How would you advice/suggest new entrepreneurs who want to start a new business? 

Success is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. Focus aggressively on execution, be prepared to put in lot of hard work (even at cost to family life) and hire the best talent that money can buy

9. LinkedIn URL  http://www.linkedin.com/in/hareeshtibrewala


10. Twitter URL http://www.twitter.com/harrytibs




11. Websites URL http://www.socialwavelength.com