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  • Manjiri Gokhale Joshi, Co-Founder at Maya CARE Foundation

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept to start an NGO? Manjiri Gokhale Joshi: People above 70 years of age today, comprise the first generation of Indians who are grappling with the reality of living by themselves during their sunset years. My late mother looked after both my grandmothers for decades (one with Parkinson’s and the other with dementia) while balancing a full-time career in medical education and two children. My mother’s story was like so many women and men at that time who took care of elders and led highly productive lives. But today, when it is their turn, they are faced with loneliness, helplessness and most disheartening – the absence of purpose. To offer emotional, intellectual, logistical and medical assistance to the elderly, Maya CARE was established in 2009 by my husband Abhay Joshi, my late mother Dr Vidya Gokhale and me in Pune. Today we provide free services to the elderly in 29 Indian and 4 UK cities and offer livelihood to 100 persons with disability. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Maya CARE Foundation Manjiri Gokhale Joshi: Till date, Maya CARE has provided 10,400 free visits to the elderly accompanying them for chemotherapy/radiotherapy sessions, sitting outside ICU, reading/writing for people with failing eyesight, sorting out paperwork, bank transactions, help with technical gadgets and more. During the past year, we have completed the vaccination of 1200 senior citizens across 18 cities and distributed 40,000 masks to old age homes and key workers. These projects have been managed by a team of persons with disability. Great Companies: What makes Maya CARE Foundation different from hundreds of other NGOs? Manjiri Gokhale Joshi: Maya CARE is the only organization offering such services free of charge across India for the elderly irrespective of differences. Many organizations have come up to offer this as a paid service and a few who assist the elderly free of charge are restricted to specific communities/geographical areas. Maya CARE is also the only organization which on principle, proactively recruits persons with disability only for paid positions, trains, nurtures and grooms them to build careers and take on leadership roles. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Manjiri Gokhale Joshi: The biggest challenge remains access to funding. During the first 11 years of Maya CARE’s existence, 92% of funding came from the personal incomes (salaries) of my husband Abhay Joshi and me as we pursued full time corporate careers. In March 2020, I quit my job as CEO of a training company in India and have been focussing on building the leadership team of PWDs, scaling Maya CARE and making it self-sustainable. 2021 is the first year of Maya CARE’s existence when we have received funding for projects that have been successfully completed. Now that the leadership team is growing in competence and is self-motivated, our challenge is to raise funds to be able to pay them the compensation they deserve. Unfortunately, the cause of the elderly almost never finds place in social responsibility areas of corporations. We are willing to continue making personal sacrifices in terms of time dedicated and personal funds to ensure that Maya CARE team gets on to a trajectory of being able to generate funds on its own, is completely independent and continues to serve well beyond our work lives. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Maya CARE Foundation? Manjiri Gokhale Joshi: In a work environment across industries, cities, countries, corporates, public sector units and charitable ventures, persons with disability are relegated to a tiny spot in a corner. This tiny spot often comes into existence as an effort to comply with policy, norms on diversity and inclusion and sometimes out of genuine sympathy. Even if there is sympathy, there is rarely an effort to teach the person a new skill, give them a new experience or guide them on the path of career progression. Maya CARE has dared to dream an audacious dream, of an organization in which people with no disability will form just 10% of the population and those with disability will leverage their strengths to provide a professional and highly empathetic service to the elderly. This free service to the elderly will be available in every city of the world with a helpline in every spoken language of the globe managed by a PWD in that country. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Manjiri Gokhale Joshi: Before you venture out as an entrepreneur, setting up your own charity or a profitable business, ask yourself “Why” do you want to something in this space. For instance, if you are making a product or developing service, why have you chosen this line of profitable business? Does looking at someone wearing what you have designed or eating what you have baked, make you happy? In our case, for our social venture, the “Why” was obvious. When Abhay and I have been mute spectators to the dignity, respect and sense of purpose snatched away from an elderly person or a PWD, we have felt deep sorrow and anger from within. Our venture has been an effort to address this. Once the “Why” is right for you as an entrepreneur, the rest will fall in place – “What” you will achieve, When, Where, Who will help you and HOW! Website : www.mayacare.org

  • Ashay Deshmukh, Co-Founder at RentalFurniture.in

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Ashay Deshmukh: Looking for a temporary furniture arrangement for ourselves back in 2014, we drove across the length and breadth of Pune searching for good quality furniture on rent. We did find out a few who agreed to rent furniture. But when we looked at what was offered, i.e., used and damaged furniture, we smiled back and walked away. We searched for brand new sofas, beds, wardrobes and dining set on rent for a week and found none. It was impossible to convince any dealer to rent out their new sofas straight out of the showroom into our newly rented home. That made us think. Can we work the numbers? Can we solve this problem of temporary ownership of furniture? Thus, RentalFurniture.in was born. We offer great furniture products on rent with plans to suit every customer, without the worry of ever owning it. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by RentalFurniture.in Ashay Deshmukh: We primarily provide home furniture and appliances on rent. But honestly, we are in the business of providing peace of mind to each of our customers. We always strive to deliver products and service better than that is promised. Great Companies: What makes RentalFurniture.in different from hundreds of other similar service providers? Ashay Deshmukh: Initially, we did take inspiration from some of the larger players in the rental furniture space. Also, there was a lack of standardization in the product offering by most of the organized and unorganized businesses. We started with focusing on providing standardized products which were brand new or as good as brand new and have maintained it even today. We have also focused on providing quick turnaround time from the time we receive an enquiry or the order until the delivery. We also focus on ensuring high efficiencies which enables us to provide great products at very competitive pricing, making us one of the lowest priced rental furniture service provider. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Ashay Deshmukh: Initially, we had our working capital challenges like any other startup. We have been bootstrapped from day 1 and did not have any support to put in any capital. Hence, we had to come up with a business model which supported our working capital requirements. We worked out many mathematical models and ensured it was implemented effectively. In a post pandemic world, the challenges are going to be to stay nimble and flexible when it comes to serving real customers. Today's customers want great product, great service at an even better price. This makes us focus tremendously on our efficiencies and leverage technologies to maintain our margins. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for RentalFurniture.in? Ashay Deshmukh: We have definite plans to expand to Tier 1 cities in India while maintaining our lean business model and later replicate it internationally. Even within India, there is a huge vacuum which the large rental furniture service providers have not been able to fill in. We see that as a great opportunity and gain a major market share over the next 5 years. We see ourselves are being the number 1 brand for rental furniture service in India over next few years. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Ashay Deshmukh: It is important to focus on one's strengths and build a business around it. I have met a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs asking for ideas to start a venture. I always tell them to look for problems and try and come up with solutions. It can be a good start if one can monetize the solution. Website : https://rentalfurniture.in/ Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/rentalfurniture.in/ Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/rentalfurniture.in/

  • Virendra Rathore, Founder at Udyog Paathshala

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Virendra Rathore: I have been into professional training and consulting for almost more than 8 years now. And I have found that results for any training program is high when the learner is involved in that particular training program and that training program helps them to find answers to the specific problems they are facing. We were conducting all our sessions in a class room or in-person setup before Covid . And when last year covid hit there were restrictions for any type of gathering and all our training programs were on a stand still mode. For us, the COVID situation was a blessing in disguise. Suddenly there was more acceptance towards self-learning and digital learning. Business owners were looking for new ways to review and restructure their business and so were we. We launched our brand new self-learning platform “Udyog Paathshala” where we created courses that increase business impact and helps business owners to find solutions for their burning issues. In the last four months, 1500+ business owners have benefited from our courses and sessions. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Udyog Paathshala Virendra Rathore: We provide three type of services · Self-learning courses · Consulting services for specific areas of businesses · Mentorship program : Udyog Paathshala Mentorship Program, mentors support mentee success through offering experienced advice, consulting on best practices, and educating on business topics. Udyog Paathshala mentors bring many years of business experience, many of them have been successful business owners and corporate Leaders themselves. Mentors help other entrepreneurs & Business Leaders by sharing their real-world experiences and knowledge in running successful businesses. Mentors also provide practical tools and resources for making the owners’ tasks easier. Mentoring sessions are typically scheduled for an hour and held virtually, through online meetings, phone calls, and even through email exchanges. Mentoring sessions have goals and objectives to be achieved during a specific duration of time. Minimum engagement for the mentorship program is 3 months. Mentoring relationship lasts as long as mentees need it or can also be as few meaningful sessions as required to achieve a specific goal or overcome a particular challenge. It can also be a mentoring relationship that lasts for years, when the mentee has a trusted advisor for his/her ever growing business. Great Companies: What makes Udyog Paathshala different from hundreds of other similar service providers ? Virendra Rathore: All our courses , consulting services and mentorship program have focus on solving business problems which are in context to Indian business scenarios. Also our approach is to first make participants aware of the problem and potential solution by educating him through courses then handholding them with consulting services and then helping them to scale by giving expert mentors support. This end to end approach helps us to stand out. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Virendra Rathore: I believe acceptance to digital learning has just started in our country and there is a long way to go. Most of the business owners are still not active on various social media on digital channels which makes it difficult to reach them at times and get access to the wealth of wisdom which is available for them. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Udyog Paathshala? Virendra Rathore: We plan to grow by adding more business focused courses to increase our courses offerings and making these courses in multi-language. We are aiming for adding 15000 paid users for our courses by this year and then going for external support to increase our offerings. The goal is to create India’s First Digital Business School without a Physical campus giving access to world class education to our Indian entrepreneurs. In the next 5 years, we aim to support 1 million entrepreneurs who in turn will create profitable, stable and scalable businesses. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Virendra Rathore: The journey of an entrepreneurship is continuous learning , failing, tasting success and repeating the cycle .There are no short cuts for creating a stable and success full business. You have to go through the process of exploring what works for you and what doesn’t. I would like to close by recommending that be open for mistakes but every time you make a mistake, it should always be a new one. Website : https://udyogpaathshala.com/

  • Eddie Avil, Founder at XROM

    Great Companies: What's the story behind XROM the name of your company Eddie Avil: The acronym for XR is Extended Reality which is an umbrella term for Virtual Reality,Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality, since we are a one stop shop solution for AR/VR/MR in the country, we wanted customers to identify us as a brand that they can trust, depend on. The Intention was to call ourselves "XR-Home" but later locked on to XROM - Home of Extended Reality Great Companies: How would you describe XROM Eddie Avil: We are a One Stop Shop B2B2C solution for everything related to Virtual Reality,Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality. We provide AR/VR Hardware,Software, Consulting ,Development , Content Creation to Deployment requirements, all under a single roof. Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Eddie Avil: I have been vested in the media industry for 20+ yrs in 2015, was introduced to Virtual Reality by a client & their requirement was to capture luxury resorts from all over the world in 360 degree, stereoscopic virtual reality. After finishing the job I realised the humongous potential of AR/VR/MR & the transformation it could bring to all business verticals, but sadly the industry being in its nascent stage wasn't sustainable at all. So i started with the intention of making the XR Industry sustainable and over the years have built ImmersionVR Fest - India’s 1st & largest AR/VR Film Festival & Conference held on the 1st/2nd of March at Nehru Centre-Mumbai XROM- B2B2C Marketplace/News website XROM-Podcast: India’s 1st Audio/Video Podcast for the AR/VR Industry Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by XROM Eddie Avil: We are an AR/VR focussed marketplace , we sell the latest AR/VR headsets, VR Cameras, MoCap Suits on our website plus Rent out a few products. We provide consulting & XR Content Creation Services. XROM News & Podcast also acts as a voice for the XR leaders, Developers, Startups from India & around the world. Great Companies: What makes XROM different from other similar services providers? Eddie Avil: I strongly believe that a sustainable industry will lead to a thriving industry. what makes us unique is that we are not just building a business but a community by empowering all the stakeholders of India’s AR/VR Industry Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Eddie Avil: Being an early mover brings more challenges than opportunities. from convincing people about the potential of AR/VR to finding the right talent for our company to funding support. As a team we have faced innumerable challenges but the jugadu nature that we Indians are known for and our resiliency has helped us tide through difficult times. Instead of wishing & waiting...we are working on building an ecosystem by gathering the right folks from the govt, investors, marketeers & startup community that believes in the potential of XR and the impact it could have in India. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for XROM? Eddie Avil: AR/VR is growing rapidly and we believe the next 5 yrs will be very crucial for immersive technologies, if it gets the right support from the Govt, Investors & industries. We could be seeing AR/VR being more widely adopted across education, healthcare, retail, training ,entertainment & the gaming industry. We are a 5 yr old startup and are super excited for the next 5 yrs, Our vision is to be the most relevant AR/VR one stop shop solution in the country. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Eddie Avil: Collaborate,Collaborate,Collaborate

  • Bhavin Gandhi, MD at Infintrix Global Limited

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Bhavin Gandhi : I have always been fascinated by businessmen and what difference they can bring to a society and country at large. Have always followed great industrialists like the Tatas, Birlas and innovators like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg etc. So it was always in the back of my mind to go along the path of entrepreneurship and create jobs in India. Since my background was in IT services domain, it was natural for me to start the business pertaining to what I knew. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Infintrix Global Limited Bhavin Gandhi : Infintrix is an end-to-end digital transformation company specialising in curated IT services and products across BFSI, Healthcare, Education, Capital Goods industries etc. We predominantly focus on emerging technologies like RPA, Cloud, IoT, AI/ML and Blockchain. We provide bespoke product re-engineering services, cloud transformation journey, development services and consulting across these emerging tech stacks. Great Companies: What makes Infintrix Global Limited different from hundreds of other Information Technology Firms? Bhavin Gandhi : IT services is predominantly people driven, so our strength is our human capital. Our employees have varied experience and expertise across domains and that gives our clients an added advantage because we understand their business before advising them on technology. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Bhavin Gandhi : Being a small company in the space, we are usually judged only on price points rather than our talent pool and that challenge we have had to overcome when we deal with bigger customers. Once they understand what value we bring to the table, then they treat us at par with our much bigger competitors. Also being a first generation entrepreneur, it was always a struggle against loved ones initially due to a shift in mindset that is required for you to become an entrepreneur. Over the years, family has been truly supportive and have backed me to succeed. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Infintrix Global Limited? Bhavin Gandhi : Future is truly exciting, we have started to focus on creating our own product portfolio. Since our forte is emerging tech and we understand the business side of things too, we have invested in 2 product companies in the IoT and Health-tech space using AI/ML that we truly believe will give us exponential growth in the years to come. We also have our sights on the western markets now with an office coming up in the US by end of Q3. In the next 5 years, we truly look to be a global conglomerate having 250+ employees across the world and a healthy profit margin to grow further.

  • Saurabh Vij, Founder at Testovation™

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Saurabh Vij: Having spent 11+ years in QA & Testing, I had been noticing that Testing had been a neglected realm within Software Engineering. This thought had been burning in my mind and I wanted to do something to build a community, an organization where Testing is of utmost value. That is where the idea of building a startup into Software Testing came in and Testovation™ was incepted. We started off in late 2017, and from the time of our inception, we have strongly believed in adding value to our customers. In all our actions, we look at adding value and that is what has shaped Testovation™. Whatever the customer size it be, our focus is always been to provide the value that helps our customers grow as well. We’re driven by the idea that the best work is born when we work together with diligence and craftsmanship. For anyone who joins Testovation™, besides their testing expertise, we believe in their strength of character to empower more people as they grow. We call ourselves a vibrant mix of thought leaders in the testing space, tech ninjas and entrepreneurs. Our shared values keep us together as a team. They guide how we interact with each other and also how we approach things. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Testovation™ Saurabh Vij: Software testing in an inevitable activity in the journey of delivering exceptional digital experiences and solutions to end users, today. This activity has evolved significantly in the last two decades maturing alongside changes in technologies, development methodologies and market needs. This evolution has augmented it both as a full-fledged practice that provides sustainable career opportunities to several engineers as well as brought in solid efficiencies from a software development and quality standpoint. Testovation™ has been a global player in the software testing services and quality engineering business. As a seasoned player in software testing and QA consulting, we have seen the changes in the market as well as at our end, having started off as an independent software testing company. While the importance of an unbiased quality player will always be valuable, today, QA and software testing service providers have a more important role to play. As quality enablers, a software testing company will have to balance quality amongst other business critical attributes – one has to enable everyone on the product team own quality within their scope of work. To this extent, QA and testing service providers today, will have to increasingly focus on designing and implementing solid test automation frameworks that will enhance everyone’s productivity and quality. We help our customers with our QA & Testing services for Mobile apps., Websites, Testing Performance, Security, Quality Engineering covering below mentioned – Functional Testing Automation Testing Mobile Testing Globalization Testing Performance Testing Accessibility Testing Usability Testing Security Testing Great Companies: What makes Testovation™ different from hundreds of other Technology Firms? Saurabh Vij: We started off in late 2017, and from the time of our inception, we have strongly believed in adding value to our customers. In all our actions, we look at adding value and that is what has shaped Testovation™. Fastest delivery to market is the major differentiator for us as we deliver beyond the rest in terms of timeliness & quality. We believe in Doing the Right thing, Keep things simple and Keep learning & evolving. Since the inception, we have focused on helping our clients stay competitive. We imply low failure rates in application releases and quick turnaround times for fixes and recovery. Our customers realize up to 80% efficiency gains through our services. We are humbled that 100% of our business is from repeat customers. Rather than dictating terms, we arm you with a range of comprehensive alternatives, helping you make informed decisions. Our key differentiators are – A trustworthy partner who stands the test of time for quality Experience having worked with a range of services, technologies, geographies, platforms and tool sets Enabling a balance between shift left and shift right in the ongoing journey to optimal software development We believe that when our clients succeed, we succeed. With that truism in mind, our customers are our top priority. We strive to find creative ways to make you more efficient by keeping aware of the latest trends and technologies. Global evangelists for software quality Awareness, UX Thinking and Agility Further, for our customers, Everything they need for QA, they get from us in one place. Fully-managed Co-managed Quality of Testers Transparency Augmenting In-house Complimenting Automation Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Saurabh Vij: You must have heard about the theory ‘survival of the fittest’; you must also have heard a statement: “A smooth sea never makes good sailors”. Both the ‘survival of the fittest’ theory and the statement above fit really well with the world of startups. And the world of startups is a violent one. There are 150 million startups in the world today with 50 million new startups launching every year. On average, there 137,000 startups emerging every day. These are huge numbers by any standards. That being said, there are challenges most startups face, right from Finances, Sales, Marketing to Tech, Team etc. For us, our team is most important, and Finding great testers is one of the biggest challenges for any great Software Testing company. We work really hard to find the greatest of testers and that is what makes us even stronger. Our team has the best of minds who are creative & smart enough to test the way testing should be done. Apart from this, we have built a very healthy culture and hence we don’t face much of organizational challenges per se. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Testovation™? Saurabh Vij: We have been on our growth path and have been working on team expansion, product-line setup already. I believe that a robust foundation is essential to scale into a large organisation. Being a bootstrapped start-up, we are diligently learning to amplify our services. Build, Extend and Expand are the keywords to our vision while still focusing on the basics of our business. Since past few years, the demand for Software testing has been growing year on year. The market is expected to increase at a very strong CAGR. The increasing demand for mobile applications among consumers for purchasing, money transaction, and entertainment requires continual upgrades in application to enhance the user experience, which will accelerate the software testing market growth. Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region in the software testing market with a CAGR of over 8% through 2026 driven by rising adoption of digitalization in China and India. The government initiative in India has drafted investment and schemes to encourage digitalization in the country. With all this, Testovation has set a vision to emerge as the top and leading Software Testing Services provider over next 5 years, tapping the market not only in India but also expanding beyond to the Indian Sub-continent. With team expansion, product-line setup, customer onboarding, we look forward to grow 40-45% YoY and achieve our set goals & targets. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Saurabh Vij: To start and initiate is the most difficult step one has to make. Especially when you have a high-paying job, quitting the job and starting up is even more difficult. When you’re in the early days of entrepreneurship, don’t be afraid to take risks. Even if it leads to failure at least the lesson would be crucial to walk the path. Risk, uncertainty are always going to be there, and you must learn to cope with them, evolve and grow. Be open to learning through your own mistakes and extract insights from every experience. An idea can be condemned by all but if you don't take the risk to execute, it may always remain in the book. Once you are able to pass the big hurdle of starting out, believe me, you have achieved a bit milestone on your start-up journey. Make a firm commitment to what you want to achieve and work on it with persistence!

  • Ketan Sanghvi, Founder at Body Transform By K10

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Ketan Sanghvi : In my quest for Optimal Health & Fitness,I have Personally Transformed myself due to the Certification and Knowledge of Personalised Training & Customised Nutrition i.e. I have an International Certification as A Registered Exercise Professional (REP) from REPS India as I have a Diploma In Personal Training (DPT) as well as A Certified Sports Nutritionist (CSN) from the Premier School: The K11 School Of Fitness Sciences. So I founded Body Transform By K10 as My Mission Is To Empower People By Teaching,Training & Transforming Their Bodies thereby Making them Healthier, Fitter, Stronger,Functional & ultimately Improving Their Quality Of Life. Also, ''K10'' apart from rhyming with my name Kketan is my Motto of ''Being My Best'' i.e 10/10. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Body Transform By K10 Ketan Sanghvi : Programs 1. Body Transformation = Personalised Training + Customised Nutrition 2. Personalised Training : Online & Physical 3. Customised Nutrition :Fat Loss & Muscle Gain Optimal Exercise & Nutrition Courses 4. 1 Hour Nutrition Masterclass 5. 1 Hour Exercise Masterclass Great Companies: What makes Body Transform By K10 different from hundreds of other Fitness Firms? Ketan Sanghvi : Our Motto is ''LEARN,TRAIN & TRANSFORM '' where we actually Teach our Clients the Basics of Exercise & Nutrition Science whilst Consulting,Training & Transforming themselves. So this Learning becomes a Basic Body Of Knowledge which can then be implemented by them for Life to stay Fit LifeLong! Our USP is Body Transformation via Optimal Fitness Solutions which is only possible only due to a Scientific & Integrated Solution provided by me as I have the combined knowledge & experience of Personalised Training & Customised Nutrition. In the process, you will get Healthier, Fitter, Athletic and In-Shape which is Anti-Aging leading to a Better Quality of Life ! Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Ketan Sanghvi : Knowledge & Myths about Fitness ! Our experience is that most clients want a quick fix & lose weight overnight which is unsustainable & unhealthy in the long term. We focus on Educating them that Fat Loss & Muscle Gain are Critical and that only via a Sustainable, Consistent, Lifestyle, Exercise and Nutrition program would they achieve long Lasting Results for Life ! Also most of our clients believe & focus on only 1 of the 5 components of fitness to lose weight, get fit and are therefore unable to get the desired result. The 5 Components Of Fitness are: 1) Cardiovascular Respiratory Fitness, 2) Cardiovascular Endurance, 3) Musculo-Skeletal Strength, 4) Flexibility 5) Body Composition Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Body Transform By K10? Ketan Sanghvi : We have just launched our Fitness App Body Transform By K10 where we provide Optimal Exercise & Nutrition Programs for our ever-growing client base ! It is a One Stop Shop Solution App for all your Fitness needs whether you are sedentary, beginner, intermediate or advanced in fitness ! We are exploring collaborations with corporates,clubs,gyms,fitness centres and grow in the brick and mortar space via Body Transformation Studios i.e. a combo of Personal Training Studios and Nutrition Clinics to provide Holistic and Integrated Fitness Services. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Ketan Sanghvi : It is Better to Learn from a Fitness Coach than from Life ! Appoint A Certified a) Personal Trainer And b) Nutritionist to be your Fitness Coach/Mentor/Guru and then adhere to the Program to the ''T'' for Lifelong results Fitness App: Bodytransformbyk10 http://onelink.to/cmyqjf Website : https://bodytransformbyk10.com/ Whatsapp Catalogue https://wa.me/c/917021162790 Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/BodyTransformbyK10 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bodytransformbyk10 Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/ketansanghvi Contact US : 70211 62790 / 9820141379

  • Upendra Rana, Founder at Make Your Brandz

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Upendra Rana: An entrepreneur is born when he or she discovers their zest to explore new avenues in the market. I was working in the IT background when I found an opportunity in the digital space which is on boom. I quit my job to start my own business. That’s how ‘Make Your Brandz’ was born. The idea was to create a full-fledged digital marketing agency with a vision to provide excellent and cost-effective service to customers. Treading a new path is always difficult. When I started ‘Make Your Brandz’, nobody around me was aware of the endless possibilities of digital marketing. They were reluctant to avail digital marketing services. However, I successfully convinced them about the benefits of online space and how it would help a business. Launched in 2015, ‘Make Your Brandz’ is now in the forefront to help people scale up the business. I have also written books about different aspects of digital marketing to educate people about its benefits, and the techniques involved. What was it like to build a brand in the highly competitive digital marketing landscape of India? I have spoken in length about my journey. Earlier I was a job seeker now I am a job provider. I single-handedly started this firm with an investment of INR 20,000 at Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh. I did not take any financial help from my parents. Within a short span of time, Make Your Brandz has been able to carve a distinctive niche, winning the trust of numerous clients from different industry segments. Make Your Brandz has made digital branding easy for both small and big firms. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Make Your Brandz Upendra Rana: Currently, we are offering various services like · Web development & design · Digital Marketing · SEO Services · Social Media Marketing · PPC Services · Email Marketing · Creative creation for Social Media. · YouTube Marketing · Facebook Marketing · Instagram Marketing · Content Creation and marketing. Secondly, we are also into providing training in all aspects of digital marketing like SEO Training, SMO Training and so on. Great Companies: What makes Make Your Brandz different from hundreds of other digital marketing companies? Upendra Rana: Our uniqueness lies in the quality of work & whatever we say we deliver to end users. We are cost effective as compared to others. Secondly, we have practical knowledge of the same. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Upendra Rana: Everyone learn from their mistake and I have also learn a lot. We gave our 100% at initial stage of our business towards client’s work, but lack of presentation came against us. Now we listen to all opinions & criticism and try our best to fix the loopholes. We are still learning on the way & that’s the best part about being in a startup you always learn. Learning never ends. The obstacles are way of advertising and age factor too, working on-Ground advertising & investment. We are young guns of Make Your Brandz that’s why it’s difficult to get faith from client, but we are working on it now we almost have overcome from this issue because of our quality work. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Make Your Brandz? Upendra Rana: We want to capture international market of Dubai & UK. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Upendra Rana: Do your homework: study the field in which you are going to start your work, understand the highs and lows of that industry and then get started. Focus on One Core Product: Most start-ups have a great vision and a great idea: ‘It’s going to be awesome, and we have a huge amount of ideas and features that are going to be in this start-up.’ Focus only on the core product or business, get that built, and get out there! It’s good to have a big picture of where to go, but then chop each feature or service off one by one until you’re down to the minimum core product. Be Prepared to Sacrifice: If you’re serious about building a great, enduring company, you have to be willing to sacrifice some things. Build Great Relationships: No business can survive without talented employees, eager buyers, reliable suppliers, and supportive stakeholders and communities. While building your product and looking at all the data you can collect in the digital age, don’t forget to build close relationships and expand your network. It’s all about people at the end of the day.

  • Ninad Phatarphekar, Co-Founder at Transformavens Training and Consulting LLP

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Ninad Phatarphekar : Transformavens Training and Consulting has been founded by two Indian Navy Veterans with over five decades of experience between them. After our innings with the Indian Navy ended, we decided to give entrepreneurship a shot. We created a platform where we could distil our learning, experience and intellectual capital into experiential programs that are designed to bring about lasting behavioural change. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by TRANSFORMAVENS TRAINING AND CONSULTING LLP Ninad Phatarphekar : Our primary area of work revolves around enhancing levels of Organisational Skills within enterprises; Organisational Skills being those skills that help employees function harmoniously and effectively within the structure of an enterprise. Our endeavour is to foster greater Engagement, cultivate Leadership and improve Productivity towards delivering Success, consistently. Our solutions focus on effecting attitudinal shifts in the immediate term, and behavioural change, through prolonged immersion. We employ a range of techniques which include training, facilitation, introspective reflection, role plays, discussions, case studies, management games etc., to create impact. All our solutions are needs-specific and are curated after Needs and Gaps Analysis, and all programs are experiential in nature. Our programs are delivered online or in-class (in-situ or off-site) as per our client’s requirements. We have a wide range of unique L&D solutions that we have developed which include Challenge the Status Quo – A workshop on Disruptive Thinking, ‘Shatter the Glass Ceiling – Leadership Excellence for Women Executives’, ‘Lighten your Footprint – Leadership in a VUCA World’ and ‘Make your Presence Felt – Leadership ,Presence’. We are one of a handful of enterprises that offer ‘Team Coaching’ in India. We have curated a unique facilitative intervention to transform teams into ones that deliver High Performance and High Impact. We also organise offsite programs at various national and international venues. These customised experiences are designed to take participants out of their comfort zones where they lower their guard and open themselves up to some introspection. A shift in attitude is just a matter of a moment of realisation. And this typically happens when the defences are lowered. ‘Unfurl your Sails - Beat your way to Success’ is one such program which uses a sailboat as a metaphor for an organisation; one which provides a perfect crucible for simulating an organisation. This program is conducted in Mumbai and Goa. Great Companies: What makes TRANSFORMAVENS TRAINING AND CONSULTING LLP different from hundreds of other Consulting and Training companies? Ninad Phatarphekar : Transformavens is a boutique training and consulting enterprise founded by two veterans of the Indian Navy, with over five decades of experience and expertise in Organisational and Team Development. We believe that irrespective of the arena, be it the Battle-field or the Business-field, successful outcomes are determined by a combination of Visionary Leadership and Committed, Engaged Teams. All the Mavens draw their learnings from the crucible of high-engagement, performance-driven ecosystems of the Armed Forces, Corporate world, Public and Govt. Sector Organisations and Social Entrepreneurship. Their experiential learnings are transposed into their bespoke signature solutions. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Ninad Phatarphekar: The space that we operate in is very crowded with the buyer being spoilt for choice. The challenge bore us is to establish our brand and maintain the ethos underlining it without compromising on the quality. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for TRANSFORMAVENS TRAINING AND CONSULTING LLP? Ninad Phatarphekar: We have been in the space for three years now. We have bagged pan India Clients from Kolkata, Goa, Kochi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. In the next five years we expect to be the preferred partners for Organisations to foster engagement in their teams. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Ninad Phatarphekar : ‘If you want to cross the ocean, you have to have the courage to lose sight of the shore.’ Do not be afraid to walk on the untrodden path, go where your instinct takes you.

  • Raghavendra NK, CEO at Sumadhva Technologies

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Raghavendra NK: Training has been my passion since college days and that passion for imparting training inspired me to start a business in the area of corporate training. I switched over from a large MNC to a training company in 2004 only to work in the area of my interest. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Sumadhva Technologies Raghavendra NK: Sumadhva Technologies started in 2011, is completely dedicated to software testing activities. We provide corporate training services, outsourcing software testing professionals, one time placements of software testing professionals and Testing services. We have trained more than 10,000 software testing professionals in the corporate training industry, provided testing services to mid sized IT companies in the area of functional, automation and performance testing, outsourced talented software testing professionals to large MNCs. We have also developed a very niche healthcare product in the area of Histopathology. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Raghavendra NK: Large companies do not entertain small companies, so convincing large MNCs was a struggle initially with all the necessary documentation and procedure they have. Secondly, we need a live product to train individuals on software testing. Building a product was challenging and converting all requirements into exercises for candidates was challenging. Cashflow to reinvest in the our company for marketing activities has been really challenging for the last few years especially in the post covid scenario. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Sumadhva Technologies? Raghavendra NK: We have ambitious plans for the next 5 years. Sumadhva Technologies is going to scale up its activities in the areas of retail training on software testing like any other retail majors like NIIT, APTECH etc.. We wish to continue our focus on corporate training, product development and testing services. The niche healthcare product on Histopathology is getting ported to the cloud platform, in which we see a major turnaround. The USP of Sumadhva Technologies is its capability of designing test cases for products using combination of test design techniques like BVA, ECP, Decision Tables, use case based testing, state transition testing and pair-wise testing followed by exploratory testing tours. Through this we achieve both efficiency and effectiveness in test case design resulting in reducing the testing life cycle by almost 40%. We are confident that this unique methodology is going to be embraced by leading companies. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Raghavendra NK: My primary piece of advice to someone starting is to have patience. You must develop patience to face turbulence's along the way. Have realistic goals, work towards the goals relentlessly without losing heart. Unexpected situations may occur in the process. In my case, I had to face major health problems which I was not mentally prepared for. Need a lot of conviction to resume operations. Customer centric attitude, firm determination to satisfy customers, quality delivery results in repeated business from the same clients.

  • Archana Salil, Founder at Arena Consultants

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Archana Salil: I did post-graduation in Construction Management from London South Bank University in 2005, returned to India and started my firm Arena Consultants. This was 10 years after I graduated as an architect. The aspiration to lead my own architectural practice has been there since my college days. And so to begin with, I started doing residential and commercial interior projects. But this was not engaging. We were doing the same things as any other architectural firms. I was looking for something new, which would be challenging and inspiring, some project where you have to prioritise functionality over aesthetics, look into constructability first than just design, work upon ideas wherein you have to focus on engineering and technology and blend in architecture with it, which I felt is very important as an architect. In 2007, I got an opportunity to upon a 12000 sft R&D centre project at Pune. This was my first laboratory project. I had no past experience working on such projects. And so I immersed myself completely into it. We used to have 2 days/ 3 days workshops with all stakeholders, discussing, debating and finalising things. It took about 6 months for project completion. At the end, it was a very enriching and provocative experience. I realised that this industry has been ignored considerably and there is so much one can do as a designer. These spaces need high end performance of infrastructure set-up and have to be very safe spaces as the nature of experiments is hazardous. Interactions with scientists were stimulating. They too found these discussions very satisfying and the solutions that we provided were well accepted. This further instilled the confidence in us and I decided to focus on laboratory design projects only. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Arena Consultants? Archana Salil: Arena Consultants is a laboratory architectural design firm with a niche developed specifically for the Research & Development sector. We design and plan laboratories for chemical, pharma, food, cosmetic industries, educational institutes etc. As a part of 360 degree solutions, we also provide lab MEP engineering design solutions to our clients. We initially started with laboratory interiors and have now expanded to designing large scale science research parks. Great Companies: What makes Arena Consultants different from hundreds of other Lab architects firms? Archana Salil: Deep understanding of lab user requirements & fast turnaround time is a great differentiator. Conversion of scientific requirements into technical terms and construct-able ideas is our forte. Typically any architectural firm has a diverse portfolio such as designing residential and commercial buildings, hospitality, institutional projects. But Arena Consultants is different. We focus and work only on laboratory projects. Hence, our teams and systems are aligned towards this industry which makes the design process simple with fast turnaround time. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Archana Salil: Researchers always look forward to new ideas. Since they tread on an 'unknown' platform. Their infrastructure requirements are also very dynamic. Many times we have to work upon assumptions and define the data ourselves for our design development. Companies also think that every lab is the same whereas it is quite the opposite. Like every house, every company has its own work culture, own work flow. As designers we have to understand it well, so that we can design a lab which serves the purpose well. Further, labs are energy guzzlers and highly expensive set-ups. The planning has to be very systematic and with proper calculations. Any mistake in engineering design could lead to humungous capital and operating costs. It cannot be a hasty design. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Arena Consultants? Archana Salil: Our purpose is to create a vibrant, inspiring and safe labs and work environment for all researchers. At the same time with the dark clouds of climate change looming over, our focus will be on sustainability and energy efficiency. It is achievable with technology and the new trends that are developing in the industry. 5 years down the line, we look at ourselves as a responsible team at the helm of designing & planning 'state of the art lab facilities' all over the world and creating innovative research and development facilities that support the larger goals of science and innovation. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Archana Salil: Follow 3 P's. Passion, Patience and Perseverance. Dare to start your business only if you have these 3 friends with you. And slowly and steadily things will fall in place. Know that you are on a roller coaster ride, so be prepared for everything that might pop up. Last but not the least - never give up.

  • Hardik Galaa, Founder at Impressio Events

    Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Hardik Galaa: Since my school days I was always managing different school events and cultural events. This led me to join an NGO where I organized various stage shows, dramas, marathons, sports events, and cultural events for them. Post my graduation with into Bachelors in Mass Media, I got an opportunity to get into the event industry, specifically Weddings. The happiness, the blessings which you get from the couple and their families, for making their special day a memorable one made me choose this industry and start my Business. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Impressio Events. Hardik Galaa: With personal experience of over 16 years in organizing events, we at Impressio Events provide a 360-degree solution to our clients be it Wedding Planning, Corporate Events, and other Social Events PAN India. Great Companies: What makes Impressio Events different from hundreds of other Event Management Firms? Hardik Galaa: There are 2 factors that differentiate us from other event management companies. First, we work towards making the event a memorable one, rather than focusing on our profits. We work as per clients’ budgets and get the best out of it. Second, we plan and execute everything as if it’s our own family function. This changes the equation from that of a client and vendor and makes it more like a family affair. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Hardik Galaa: In current times due to the pandemic, the biggest struggle or the challenge is a revival of the Event Industry. As everyone knows we Indians are extremely social and whether for Weddings or any other event, we prefer personal interactions rather than meeting on virtual platforms. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Impressio Events? Hardik Galaa: Taking the current conditions into consideration we are more focused on organizing budget-friendly events, be it Wedding, Corporate, or any Social Event. We intend to give the same experience to all our clients and guests. This will help us become one of the leading companies for organizing budgeted events for our clients and can be one of our core verticals, apart from luxury events. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Hardik Galaa: One piece of advice which I always give to newbies getting into events is don’t get into events just because you love Glamour and the amount of money you make out of it because reality is different. If you really have that passion for making people’s special day a memorable one and have that urge of giving that wow experience with your creativity, then go ahead. It’s an ocean of opportunities. But if you are looking for glamour, the opportunity to travel then look elsewhere. All the luxury comes much later. In the beginning, it is only hard work, and test after test of your grit and determination. Website : https://impressioevents.in/

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