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Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Bharath H C: In our native Davangere, there are no IT companies. All our local people were faced to Bangalore when they required any IT services or software products. Also we have four engineering colleges in our city only, which can act as the major hub for resources/employment in different technical fields. Another major coerce is to become an entrepreneur and hence started the Acranton technologies Pvt. Ltd. by three members group of software engineers from Davangere in 2018. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Acranton Technologies Pvt. Ltd Bharath H C : Acranton Technologies provides following services: 1. It provides Internships and Technical courses for all Technical Students by which we help them to build their career goals. 2. It provides Software products required for local merchants or retail sellers like apps, websites.,. 3. Through its R&D department it provides innovative models and products in the field of machine learning , Deep learning and Internet of Things(IOT). 4. It provides services to big companies by developing their assignments in the form of outsourcing. 5. It created vast job opportunities for native people, before this all were moving to Bangalore in search of jobs leaving their home and parents. Great Companies: What makes Acranton Technologies Pvt. Ltd different from hundreds of other Information Technology firms? Bharath H C : We love people and everything about them thus, our product will simply be an extension or an expression of oneself. Our business is to change the way things work around us and not settle for anything less than revolutionary.We radically shift the global economy toward small business by empowering products to confidently grow and successfully their own ventures. Also we provide an ocean of opportunities by sharing the trending technology to the seeking personnel in their natives. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Bharath H C : In the first year of the company, when we tried to reach the people in native through our services they did not accept us. Their mindset was fixed that Bangalore companies are good in services so they did not provide any consignments/projects. Students also did not have much interest in work in our company. We struggle to pay monthly expenses for company maintenance. We approached so many banks with our innovative ideas for loans but none of them were ready to approve loans. Gradually in second and third year our business increased by mouth-to-mouth spreading of our satisfied clients and students. As we hired the employees we needed to pay them salaries which was the main challenge for us. Also in the end of third year and beginning of fourth year, Covid-19 Pandemic gave a huge blow to our business which was tending to reach success level. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Acranton Technologies Pvt. Ltd? Bharath H C : We expanded our company by starting our branches in Bangalore. Also our business is diversified by textending from technology to the design and construction domain. In five years, we want to see our company as the ACRANTON GROUPS which includes Acranton Technolgies, Acranton Interiors, Acranton Construction and Acranton Academy. Also wanted to have our branches in all over karnataka district. Then in the next 3 years all over the States. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Bharath H C : Whatever you people do in life, In business- bring value to the marketplace to win, In life- Be a person of value and humble who is always learning & growing.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Jasmine Suri: My journey with training and facilitation started with voice and accent training. I was given a batch of twenty participants for fifteen days. At the end of the stint the participants had to take a test and interview to pass and get into the process. While I was doing this I realised; when I was able to make a personal connect with each of the participants, understand their iceberg and touch their feeling space miracles happened. I also realised this a natural gift and I’m able to establish a personal connect and rapport very easily. Even someone who was slow and unable to speak made dramatic improvement and passed the test. That day I realised this is something I really want to do for the rest of my life. To help people connect with themselves and become their best version. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Jasmine Learning Solutions? Jasmine Suri: I see myself as a catalyst who works with leaders across hierarchies to overcome their fears, uncertainties and doubts and helps them become their best version in the space of confidence, presentation, trust and interpersonal skills. I’m passionate about coaching and theatre and uses these modalities extensively in the corporate space largely on topics like motivation, leadership, trust and teaming. I’ve done a lot of work with women leaders and design interventions integrated with coaching on sensitive issues. Jasmine Learning Solutions was started in 2011. The brand was primarily to help each participant touch the feeling space, break barriers and create their very own story. The methodology used in the interventions isn’t traditional. Modalities like theatre, movement, Psycho drama, Lego and coaching are adopted. The approach is to integrate facilitation with coaching and work on each individual to drive behaviour change and break barriers. All the clients we’ve acquired have found us and we’re working with them continuously over the last ten years. The relationship we have with all our clients is one of a mentor and learning partner. Great Companies: What makes Jasmine Learning Solutions different from hundreds of other corporate training and consulting firms? Jasmine Suri: Our work is primarily in the deep. We like to peel the layers of the onion to reach the core. Our focus isn’t on delivering content. Our focus is to understand each individual, their story and struggles and help them move forward. Each participant is stuck at a different place. We are of the belief once we’re able to help them, see where they are stuck; they would automatically do whatever is required to move forward. We help heighten self -awareness and contemplative conversations. Our motto is personal transformation will lead to business transformation. We have various methods like movement, theatre, Psychodrama, Lego Serious Play and Coaching which help us reach this objective. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Jasmine Suri: I started this company with a single campus to corporate assignment from one of the leading manufacturing companies. Today we are over fifty plus clients across the globe. The struggle we face is for new organisations to give us an opportunity and avail our service. The organisations where we have made inroads, we are working with them over the last ten years; however, for new people to reach us isn’t easy. However, we are working steadily and consistently in this direction. We are following the process the outcome or result is only a matter of time. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Jasmine Learning Solutions? Jasmine Suri: We are looking at doing a lot of work in the space of Women’s Leadership along with leadership coaching. We would be launching our very own leadership lab using different modalities. We would like to work with teams for longer durations of three to six months and carve learning interventions which are truly transformational. Along with this to reach out across the globe as a key note speaker and share Insights and experiences where we can touch millions of lives. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Jasmine Suri: It’s important to truly understand and find out what really makes you happy and if you could do this job with the same amount of passion and enthusiasm till the last day of your life. It’s important to keep looking if you’ve not found it. The second thought is not to depend on the intellect alone. There are different forms of intelligence. The heart and body have their very own intelligence. It’s important to connect with self and enjoy your own company. Once you’re in a place where you have a sense of deep comfort and acceptance with self; nothing is impossible. However, reaching this space of complete acceptance and connection with self is an empowering and exciting journey and involves a lot of self -work.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Ashish Dubey : Having a passion in flying and moreover training the students, made me travel to the various flying schools and aerospace engineering institutes across the globe for the last 5 years and from there I got a clarity on how the school needs to be set up. The Udan scheme by the Government of India came as a blessing and we applied and got the space at the airports to set up our school. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by BASE LLP Ashish Dubey : We provide pilot training courses from private to commercial licenses, instrument rating, ground classes and microlight pilot license. Great Companies: What makes BASE LLP different from other similar training institutes? Ashish Dubey : We are taking the minimum stipulated fee from each student and our aim is for every student to finish his/her course in minimum time required given the hourly requirements to be completed and not drag the course, so that they get employed as soon as they are out of college. We have various domestic and international airlines as our recruitment partners Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Ashish Dubey : Struggles are ongoing, it can be with the training staff, facility related or approvals for new aircraft induction, while keeping the students always upbeat about their training and keeping them motivated because it's not an easy course and for them to finish it in time is challenging. we try to overcome those for them by being there by their side. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for BASE LLP? Ashish Dubey : We have already got confirmation from a Venture capitalist to start with and as and when our students will make a marking aviation field i'm sure we would have a lot of marketing and promotions through word of mouth. We want an organic growth of the institute along with the students' secured future. 5 years down the line seems very hunky-dory with respect to the growth. We plan to have a few more airports to us where we can set up our FTO (Flying training Organization) and train more and more students while doing well financially for further growth. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Ashish Dubey : Don't be scared of failure. That is inevitable in any field and every field so might as well fail in something which is dear to you, so that you could get up and start back again with the same enthusiasm and love and passion for the dream you have always dreamt.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Kurush Khodaiji : Prior to founding Imageine Consulting, I had a long stint working in the the business development and strategy space in industries such as Hospitality and Media. All along this journey, I had always wanted to work for myself. It was nice to gain experience and be a part of esteemed organizations but somewhere deep down I had this desire to make an impact in a manner that was unique to me and that is where I zeroed on the idea of founding an enterprise that focused on people and problem solving. Before embarking on any specific plan or heading in any particular direction, I decided to ask my-self What is the HIGHEST I can offer or Where does the maximum value lie? What is it that people seek the most in a transactional society? The answer I got was Success. Society has hard wired us into buying the idea of societal Success. We talk about good people, happy people, upright people and many other kinds of people but nothing stirs us up quite like when we talk about Success. "He's made it". "You know she just bought that new expensive car". This kind of conversation really gets people going. I went back to my working days in senior management and introspected: what was expected of someone like me? The answer is straight forward; to be able to successfully get clients on board -increase profitability and to manage a team internally that could help this cause. In short, like everyone else in their walk of life, I had to be perceived as SUCCESSFUL. I had to do things that moved my organisation to the path of Success within my assigned role. Then I asked my-self another question having zeroed down on Success as possibly the highest that humans strive for in a transactional society - What exactly constitutes Success? We keep talking about it, millions of books are published every year on it, scores of videos made on it and despite all of this, we still are hazy or lack complete clarity on What really is SUCCESS? What constitutes success in its sub-text and not the generalization of it. And....therein I found my premise- the base on which I would evolve my idea, my proposition and my concept. I went back to my reference point; my working days and the several years and the varied experiences - yes the qualities of knowledge, skill, focus etc were definitely needed but more importantly how I positioned my overall proposition to the client externally and to my stake-holders internally is what eventually gave me the best chance at success. I did not stop there, I took it a step deeper. I was not convinced with just this. I hit upon what I called the critical missing link to Success; the critical missing link to Success is that atleast ONE person other than you must believe or deem you to be Successful. This is critical as you cannot label your-self as a Success by your-self -others or atleast ONE other person which is not you has to declare or deem you to be successful. No matter how good, how efficient you think you might be, no matter what your qualifications are, if the above critical missing link of the OTHER is absent, you can never be successful. In short, what is the OTHER or your relevant stake-holder thinking? I realised that just to survive or thrive, which ever way you choose to look at it, I was applying the critical missing link. I quickly realised, you cannot just put your product and service out there, one has to try and decide what is the OTHER, in this case my client/s thinking about me. What kind of approach do they like. Are they happy to hear from me? What are they noticing about me? Does how I dress make an impact? Does what I say and how I say it make a difference? If so, then how much? Is it significant for me to actually try and enhance all of this and in turn enhance my perceived value. The answer was most certainly, yes. What I did made a huge difference to the overall proposition. Subsequently, I decided to randomly ask about a hundred people from varying walks of life what does it take to be successful according to them? I got varying but rather cliched answers of hard work, focus, diligence, skill, knowledge, educational qualification, being passionate, being meticulous & a few others. The one underlying mentality that ran across all the participants was that they only spoke of qualities. They believed that either one or a combination of qualities such as focus, knowledge, skill etc were enough to pass muster. Is this really true? It immediately dawned upon me that most people had bought into the societal text book idea of Success. The idea that if you developed your-self through qualities, you were bound to find Success sometime. Sadly and has been proven time and again, this is not entirely true. This is a very linear and simplistic way to approach Success. Qualities are only a part of the Success Solution. The Problem: Qualities are intrinsic or inside a person -this means no one can actually see them at first. Success means how relevant others view you: If how others view you is so crucial to your Success, let us address this straight; How do others view you? What are they looking for? Others FIRST look at you -your visual appearance. What about the visual appearance? What are they concluding? How soon are they making this judgement -whether negative or positive? What most people like my hundred participants for my exercise miss is just this, that people unfortunately cannot see inside you. They simply cannot judge if you are focussed or hard-working or passionate unless -this is important - unless they can VISUALLY see it first and then by your body language, your non-verbal communication and then by how you speak -your verbal Communication. The Solution: In short the key to who you are -the Inside is judged on what your outside looks like. People will assume your qualities based on the perception they form of you simply looking at you and by hearing you speak. Think about this: Now do you understand that despite the thousands and lakhs of books, videos and other content, Why Success eludes us? People who should be cruising in the lap of Success, who have everything it takes are simply falling short because they have never understood this critical missing link and how to apply it. In a nutshell, this is what I do at Imageine Consulting -provide wholistic SUCCESS SOLUTIONS and then break it down to smaller sub-sets of nuanced communication, quality building, knowledge enhancement in key areas, raising awareness and a plethora of other aspects are touched upon so the individual or the group starts approaching Success as a Solution working on both the INSIDE as well as the OUTSIDE and not just on quality enhancement. This approach tremendously enhances their perceived value to stake-holders and vastly boosts their chances of Success as now they work for Success the way Success works in the real world. Universality & Relevance: An idea must have both universality and relevance. The above approach can work with people from any walk of life, any strata of society, any age group ( preferably 13 upwards), employed or unemployed. I undertake both - individual consulting sessions and group training programs. Every individual or group is treated as unique in terms of what they need in terms of goals and orientation. The degree of Success lies in how finely and how I customize the program and in working very closely with the participant/s. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Imageine Consulting Kurush Khodaiji : Our offerings include both: a. Individual Consulting b. Group workshops.training (Corporate/educational/ other organisations/ select groups). All programs are customized and highly personalized. A Success Solution cannot be effective in a template. Success Solution based Individual Consulting signature program: 1. 'I GET YOU'- Are you missing the smaller picture?? 2. Quintessentially You - arriving at a better you Success Solution based group open workshop: 1. You Turn -sometimes all you need is a change in direction Need based Customization: 2. Customized training for organisations 3. Customized Training for groups as per requirement Elaborate descriptions have been given on the website for all offerings including client profiles, case studies and other interesting content. Alternately, any interested individual can also get in touch with me for the same. Great Companies: What makes Imageine Consulting different from hundreds of other similar consulting & Training firms ? Kurush Khodaiji : This is a very good question and I wished more clients at the prospecting stage would ask me this. At the very outset, I would like to say that no two firms are the same- yes they may be similar as what we are or what we gather is simply a sum-total of our experiences. We may not be fully conscious but our minds are simply a smaller collective of the larger collective, which is the influence of people around us and society as a whole. The question is how aware one is of this very strong influence. It is only when you are aware of your mind being a gathering pit or a sum total of all you encounter, can you actually rise above it and then subsequently create something unique via inclusion and innovation. I personally know a number of individuals and firms doing or attempting to do some very good work in this space. The question is not what makes me different. There is no real merit or value in being different per se, the question I ask my-self is Am I giving a client a one dimensional consulting or training or a Solution that works holistically? This is where the real value in being different kicks in. I'd say how I am different is that I have never identified my-self to any thought, school of thought or philosophy on how to train. Let me clarify this so it is not misunderstood- this does not mean I have not undergone any formal coaching and training my-self. I have trained rigorously, have imbibed a lot of knowledge and also have domain expertise in the form of being a qualified Image Consultant. Whatever I undertook, I took in not to identify with it but simply used everything as a ladder or a medium as my obsession and my aim is to find the optimum or the highest solution I could find depending on whether it was an individual or the group that was in front of me, as simple as that. As I had mentioned, in the earlier question, that highest has been identified as Success and hence the best I can do for a client is to help him/her to find a Success Solution that works uniquely for them. I have undertaken various training sessions on various aspects of Image Management, Sales & Customer Service, Effective Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Executive Presence, Last mile programs and a variety of programs but what I realised is a lot of these programs do have some value in terms of effectiveness and have transformation potential but just undertaking a 1 or a 2 day program as a workshop for groups and organisations has its limitations, both in terms of time spent and the lack of individual attention in that limited span of time. Also, this kind of intervention lacks sustained transformation -growth and change can only take place when you have an opportunity of setting quarterly goals and then breaking them down into monthly and weekly interventions and not just with one department, these work best when every department or a majority of the departments in the said organisation are involved. This gives one the opportunity to implement Success Solutions that work and inter-department sync comes in finally facilitating how the company is perceived to outsiders which is critical to its success. It takes time, effort and a strategy to make this happen. Herein lies the difference- in such a scenario, one cannot just operate like a facilitator or a trainer. Your identification as soft-skill expert or Image expert or Sales trainer, as novel as it maybe, poses limitations if you are looking to do whatever it takes to find that optimum success solution. This is why I say I try to not identify my-self with any branch or school, thought or philosophy of training for however good a sub-set might be, it is only part of a Success solution and not a Success solution in it-self. Let me give you an example: An organisation that wanted to hire my services typically wanted me to conduct a "soft-skills" kind of training only for the Customer Service department first and then for the Sales department separately on another date. On further probing, I realised that soft-skills were just the tip of the iceberg. I got some very pertinent information that infact due to an absolute lack of inter-departmental communication systems in place, the sales department on a few instances actually went ahead and pitched new business in the form of upgrades etc to an old client when in fact there were serious maintenance issues that were not sorted from the customer service end. This resulted in not just irritating the client but pointing out the glaring communication lag. Like everyone, this company also wants Success as its highest. Is this problem not taking away their chances at optimising profitability and making them lose their positioning and Image? Certainly, yes. A soft-skills or effective sales or a templated business etiquette training won't help much here and this is not an uncommon scenario. A communication failure at any level means lack of Success eventually. A communication failure is not just lack of understanding, it is the lack of awareness, an attitudinal problem, an aptitude problem, a leadership problem and on deeper diagnosis a plethora of others problems. The solution lay in not segregating the program between sales and customer service to start with and secondly instead of just going through the motions of a soft-skills type workshop, it made far more sense to approach it like a success solution where we openly spoke about all the problem areas like intra department communication lags -we delve into the inner psychology of why this behaviour and the practical causes of this non-communication and then how we can practically set up a workable and simple system in real time to tackle this. This not only creates the required awareness amongst Individuals in the respective departments, it creates sharp clarity on the roles and most importantly one can set systems there and then that work, that solve the problem and are practised in real time after the training is over. This is where the true value of what you do comes to the fore. This is just one example. Organisations, depending on the industry type and other dynamics are full of such problems and lags which hamper success and hence the difference of approaching every new challenge in the form of a Success Solution is my way of approaching this. In the case of Individual Consulting, a SUCCESS SOLUTION approach is all the more required. The extent to which I am truly able to gauge the individual emotionally, psychologically and the awareness levels and then create a turn-key customized program spanning over 10 to 15 robust sessions and simulating a real time scenario incase there is an absence of one is the key. The idea is to have every identification like a soft-skill trainer, image consultant, Emotional intelligence expert or a Sales or a Customer relation domain specialist but only knowning what to use and when to use it with the aim of creating a real time solution -real life is not about just enhancing your soft-skill awareness of improving your image or improving communication, more often than not there is an INSIDE -qualities, emotions, psychology aspects to why things don't work and an OUTSIDE - Communication, appearance, behaviour through body language which determines positioning. More often than not both these aspects come into play and have to be addressed as per the outcome one desires. When we address every aspect, it automatically means we are in effect setting the wheels of a customized SUCCESS SOLUTION in motion. This is the difference if you would like to call it that. How exactly we go about doing this on the ground is something that requires customization and a detailed understanding of the individual or the group in question. I would love to talk to you about. Please do visit the website and/or get in touch with me. Having said that, there are organizations and individuals who only want a sub-set or a part of the Success Solution and I customize accordingly. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Kurush Khodaiji : The absolute initial struggle was what exactly to do or what kind of work I should undertake in the training and consulting space. Ten years ago when I began, it was gaining momentum but unlike the mushrooming of online enterprises, the industry had many freelance players and a few companies. How and where to fit your-self in and more importantly how to position your-self as a trusted facilitator and/or consultant were questions that needed answers back then. In the initial 2 odd years, how to pitch your business and how much budget do you allocate to business development. There were instances when clients outside of your city wanted to see a face and not just close the deal over the phone. It involved flying to several cities, expenses all now borne by you and your owned company -judgment calls on who do you meet? Who do you pass? How much of your gut do you trust? An investment in any form needs to be earned back - the buck stops with you, literally. IN 2 years this struggle became miniscule. To me the challenge was never about content creation or delivery as such but more about how do you create maximum value? I wouldn't call it a challenge as such but more an obsession. Value in this field means a whole host of things; it can mean better commercial prospects, people seeking you, greater recall and definitely some kind of X factor. Till today I ask my-self How can you optimize value - I constantly try to broaden the range of what is on offer in terms of a Success solution -for example- I am not a trained psychologist but many a times clients do suffer from certain fears and self doubts etc which are strictly not my domain expertise but we do address them and end up finding workable solutions thus enhancing the quality of the Success solution. This is a challenge that is worth taking up if you are into providing optimum value. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Imageine Consulting? Kurush Khodaiji : This is another good question. It always amuses me as very seriously most of us have no real idea of tomorrow or say the next month but we love to plan for the future. It basically stems from the "What next?" syndrome. I have often thought of this "What next?" just like we all do and I started realising it was always about being large, being bigger, expanding and in that line of thought. Yes, the same thoughts of growth trajectory, more fame and adulation certainly is a feel good factor. Funnily enough, as time went by and a lot of the frontiers so to speak were conquered -landmarks like 5000 people trained or 200 individual clients, this idea of expansion and fame started to tone itself down in my mind. I dug deeper and started realising that despite constantly learning, customisation and several thousand clients down the road I'm still short on depth -there is enough width, a whole range of topics and a plethora of content to pick from but depth is never ending. I'd like to sink my-self into this, going as deep as I can following the path of non-identification to anything. My hope is that why only 5 years, from tomorrow onwards till I am able to do this, I am able to change the very dimension of a person who gets in touch with me. I am able to open him/her out in such a way that they, them-selves go totally beyond the scope of what they came for and I surprise my-self as to how this happened- for I know one can only plan for so much but magic happens beyond the plan and the created structure. I hope someday to move even beyond the idea of Success that has us all captured in a big way to helping finding a subtler you in a cut the clutter sort of way. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Kurush Khodaiji : I'd say first ask yourself why do you want to be a trainer or a consultant? Really ask yourself? You may be a good communicator or have great presence, yes that's certainly a big plus but what is that you really want to do if you were given the opportunity. Yes, you can learn the craft from several people and places but the art here is you. One thing for sure is document the experiences you've had that have touched you or had some impact-even a small conversation here or there. You should want to keenly observe everything around you. Your take on what you experience is what makes you unique. If you can see something the way I cannot, that is when it has the possibility to impact me. This is where you create actual value. This is how you learn to customize.Try and develop that. You don't have to force it, just keep at it until it becomes second nature. Secondly, gain experience professionally. It doesnt matter where you work but before you venture into wanting to help others, you have got to put yourself through various scenarios and experiences. If you like the work place, document, observe, learn and if you don't like it, even better, you will learn much more. Try and not identify with the industry or the organisation you are currently working for, your designation or industry. Simply look at it as a role and a learning. Use everything to learn. In this category and slot obsessed world, people will want to know if you are an X type of trainer or Y trainer or X coach or Y coach, for practical purposes call your-self something but in your mind be limitless because life is not a soft-skills class, nor is it only about one's emotional quotient. If you are asked to do a workshop on emotional quotience, try and see how you can apply everything you know, marry it to the topic in question but eventually its true value will lie only and only if you are able to give it the super value of a SUCCESS SOLUTION keeping emotional quotience or soft skills or sales or whatever the assigned topic is as a medium or a tool to give the ultimate value, that of a Success Solution.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Sachin Sudhakar Birari: I am Pharmacist and Management graduate and worked for couple of Pharmaceutical Organizations, since 2002. All along I have been working in Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing for Domestic/Indian Market at Corporate level. Further, by virtue of having a lot of friends & colleagues in this sector, I also got exposed to various categories of markets like highly regulated markets (USA, EU, CA, AU and Japan), semi-regulated markets (Emerging Countries like Brazil, Russia and countries from Eastern Europe), and Rest of the Word (less stringed/less regulated countries like African counties, South East Asian countries and a few middle east countries). When I thought through how regulations and intellectual property regimen impacting operations/workings of all these markets, it became amply clear to me that in India we are having medicines of following three categories – Branded medicines (Innovated Medicines having New Patented molecules and hence very costly), Branded Generics (Once the patent is off, other companies do launch the same molecule as Me Too, but promoted through sales force as Brand and are relatively less costly than innovator/patented medicines) and Generic Generics (Same like Branded Generics, these Products are having molecules which are not patent protected and also not promoted as Branded Generics and hence not costly at all). In India a sizeable chunk of the market (approx 85%) is dominated by Branded Generics where these products are getting promoted to the doctors through sales force and hence they are costly. With this understanding at core and to have quality medicines at affordable prices, I set out to map the various stakeholders of the Indian pharmaceutical market like manufacturers, distribution channels (Stockiest/Retailers and Carrying and Forwarding Agents), regulatory authorities (Central/DCGI/MCI/IMA and State FDAs) and professional associations (PCI, AIOCD, State Associations, etc.) and zeroed on to the related inefficiencies in Indian pharmaceutical marketplace. Thus, eventually, I came out with this business model of promoting Generic Medicines in different way through the own enterprise named Generilife Private Limited. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by GENERILIFE PRIVATE LIMITED Sachin Sudhakar Birari: Generilife Private Limited, offer the franchise of Generic Medicines Store named “Swast Aushadhi Kendra” which is exclusively generic medicines store. We are partner in progress to the Franchise Owner throughout the life of a Franchise. We Guide, Coach, Assist, Mentor, Train & Help the franchisee in each and every step of Franchise building. Further, we help them in promotion of the outlet as well as we supply them Generic Medicines uninterruptedly. We at Generilife, encourage youths to come forward and become Entrepreneur (at minimal investment) with a social cause of selling Quality Generic Medicines at substantially discounted price to the all needy patients through their own franchisee of “Swast Aushadhi Kendra”. Great Companies: What makes GENERILIFE PRIVATE LIMITED different from hundreds of other Retail Pharmacy Firms? Sachin Sudhakar Birari: Generilife Swast Aushadhi Kendra are serving the society by providing Quality Medicines at Affordable Price. At Generilife Swast Aushadhi Kendra, we sell exclusively Generic Medicines from various reputed pharma companies at 30% to 80% discount on MRP to the patients. Thus, we help the common man to save their hard-earned money. Generilife Swast Aushadhi Kendra offers huge range of the medicines which gets prescribed in the treatment of Acute ailments as well as Chronic ailments. Moreover we at Generilife Swast Aushadhi Kendra are committed to “Increase the awareness of the generic medicines “ in the society through various activities such as Patient Counseling and Patient Education. At Generilife Swast Aushadhi Kendra, it’s not only the team members but Directors also closely work with the franchise, handhold them, guide them, this boosts the confidence amongst the team. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Sachin Sudhakar Birari: Inadequate knowledge, lack of awareness and lack of trust about generic medicines in Indian Society. Non-compliance of the new MCI guidelines by most of the medical practioners. Partial implementation of the government policies by government Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for GENERILIFE PRIVATE LIMITED? Sachin Sudhakar Birari: We would continue growing by having strong foothold in our home state and expanding our operations in neighboring states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Telangana. We are aiming to serve at least 2+ Crs Indians. We are also planning to launch our own generic medicines in select few therapeutic categories. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Sachin Sudhakar Birari: Entrepreneurship is like sailing in the boat, so having patience, courage and consistent efforts in the right direction, you will enjoy the bon-voyage.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Debjani Das: The entertainment industry hooked me up to do something in this industry. When I saw the cravings of an independent filmmaker for recognition, earnings, and also to create its unique position in the filmmaker community and industry, I came up with landing an idea to launch multi-sided platforms such as mentioned below. 1. Film Festival Platform 2. Digital Distribution Platform 3. Social Networking Platform, 4. OTT for Independent Films. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by METASAPIENT RESOURCES PVT. LTD Debjani Das : METASAPIENT RESOURCES PVT. LTD has emerged with 3 different platforms exclusively for the filmmakers, entertainment industry, and personnel, with the best services to remove the gap that prevails in the industry for the development of the Independent communities and their prosperity throughout the globe. The three platforms are as follows; World Film Communities Network (WFCN) Formulaboxx Acid Factory Great Companies: What makes METASAPIENT RESOURCES PVT. LTD different from hundreds of other similar service providers? Debjani Das: Yes few similar providers are providing their services all over the world, but we with our three platforms providing unique digital distribution of independent films, commercial films (Formulaboxx) with a minimum cost charged so that the Filmmakers could sustain in this global entertainment industry and can make his project recognized in the film festivals platforms (WFCN). WFCN is a unique digital platform for film professionals and film lovers to access global opportunities on research, production, co-production, publicity, festival submission, and distribution. It is one of the best and big project of METASAPIENT RESOURCES PVT. LTD, where the platform is giving an enormous scope to the independent filmmakers to showcase their independent art. Our Strategy and vision are Explore, Connect and Earn. Filmmakers make their project connecting with festivals submitting it, getting recognition, and distributing their films on different OTT (Acid Factory, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc). At last, they earn money at their best. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Debjani Das: In this global market for independent Filmmakers, there is less scope for development but we found a narrow linear gap excel in the global independent film industry, there are different struggles in different countries in their entertainment industry so we came up with a big idea to fill up this gap and generated a scope for the independent film artists to come up with their new project to showcase to different audiences geographically and earnings which gives their passion a boost. In this whole process, the basic struggle that came up is to connect with the filmmakers, and due to the less scope, some of the filmmakers lose hope due to financial condition, proper knowledge, and negligence. To value the impact of the company is to generate the best opportunities and sustainability for the filmmakers. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for METASAPIENT RESOURCES PVT. LTD? Debjani Das: We as a company are acting as Sailor and steering the whole journey right now, we will be expanding organically all over the globe. From the beginning, we have planned our journey to be: Advertising and marketing communications towards filmmakers should be clear, attractive, and knowledgeable. It will be the main pillar of strength. To bring and collaborate big house film festivals, entertainment houses, juries under one umbrella. Organic reach and promotions of independent work can bring out good earnings for the Filmmakers. To work in the multiple segments wherever we feel the gap for the betterment of the independent art culture. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Debjani Das: Research the Market, Find a gap & Opportunity, Fill up with your idea, remove the hurdle, keep hustling and the rest will follow.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Richa Bajaj : I was in school when I was introduced to palmistry from an absolute stranger. As a teenager I want to prove it all wrong –‘how could even palm lines predict whole of future?’. And over the year the subject grew on me and I realised it a vast science that can empower every being, it needed thorough research. And it has legacy in almost all countries. Found like minded people including a few scientists. That’s when decided to create a fraternity of people who are dedicate to evolving the science. And Lineology was born. Parallelly what we also found that consumers were struggling to differentiate between quacks and real subject leaders. And were also exploring solutions beyond traditional services. So we thought of starting a portal which wasn’t about being a global-local brand Lineology navigates people to be able to find answers for life Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Lineology Private Limited Richa Bajaj : As they say, life’s a journey, an uninhibited, mysterious, and at times overwhelming one. And our thoughts carve the path towards our destination, our future. Wouldn’t it help if there was someone to navigate through this adventure, like a GPS. Well, consider Lineology to be that someone. Lineology is an online platform that desires to address the burning questions in the life of millennials, Gen X and Gen Y across the globe. We offer advice relating to career/business, finances, marriage, relationships and Interpret dreams for you with the help of astrologers, numerologists, psychic readers, aura readers, palmists, face readers, tarot readers, dream readers, pendulum dowsers. We also offer one-on-one healing services like Reiki, Pranic healing, Akashic healing, past-life regression, hypnotherapy for people or children suffering with grave issues or are looking to instill success patterns in them. Also, we have recently started spiritual ecommerce (Crystals, Feng Shui, Pyramids, Incense, etc.) From a B2B2C stand point we have launched ‘Reiki for healthy maternity’. Reiki is a Japanese healing mechanism which gives tremendous results during maternity. Great Companies: What makes Lineology Private Limited different from hundreds of other Spiritual Services providers? Richa Bajaj : Lineology as a brand is focused on creating value by offering a holistic spirituality platform that offers personalized one-one service. We believe in 'No Automation policy when it comes to answering critical questions of life'. We provide personalized video readings that remain in your app inbox. Only you can access it. We maintain absolute privacy. We have readers & healers that are ‘handpicked & trained’ to suit the needs of Indian as well as international audience. At Lineology, the simplicity is in our process. All you have to do is ask your question or state your issue to a healer, choose the science that you relate with, and our respective experts will provide guidance to you in the path. There aren’t any intimidating conversations or judgments made. It is genuine astrological, psychic science & healing modalities which goes beyond therapeutic. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Richa Bajaj : The need to be seen and heard that’s driven by lack of marketing funds, Recruiting the right talent and business slow down due to COVID, are few challenges that we faced . But special thanks to our valued customers for showing trust in our products and service offering which has resulted in YOY growth. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Lineology Private Limited? Richa Bajaj: Lineology’s focus is to deliver 100 % Customer delight. The true growth is when the global becomes local and vice-versa. Indian predictive & healing sciences are well known across India, its time we get international sciences from across the globe too viz. Tasseography, coffee cup reading, i-ching, etc to India. This will make us Amazon of ‘Spirituality Sciences’ Our focus is also to launch diversified languages to make it more comforting and reassuring for consumers. Afterall it’s all about discreet problems in life that people need help with. Being colloquial would add great value We will bring the latest innovation and technology in our service offering and delivery. In terms of company growth, we will be an omnichannel service provider and reach across the globe helping customers find answers for life. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Richa Bajaj : Find a mentor in the your space. Learn from somebody who has been there. It will help you minimise mistakes. And don’t be afraid to redefine. Play the game of elimination, you will find your answers for business. Try New 1…Fail and Try 2 New…, You will fail in the beginning and Success will not look like what you thought of initially and is only achievable if you don’t give up. First priority should be to make a sustainable business model rather than scaling

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Lisa Mohapatra : The initial days of my career were spent in the technology and retail industry. And it later led to a stint in Retail Business house primarily in the furniture domain. During this period, I realized there were a lot of whitespaces & challenges in this sector - around standards, processes, use of systems etc. Essentially we were working in a highly fragmented industry with a number of inefficiencies which led me to identifying the problem areas and hence founding Huzzpa (a designer marketplace) down the lane. I suppose through Huzzpa, more learning opportunities flowed. In turn conceptualising Hofeto in 2018, as a way to streamline the processes, provide an unparalleled customer experience and hence contribute to the ecosystem. Through a lot of deep-diving & pivoting continuously, I was able to understand the loopholes in the system and create a seamless solution for both the consumer and supplier. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Hofeto Lisa Mohapatra : Hofeto is mainly an aggregator, an online community. A two-sided platform working with both customers and vendors (interior designers, architects, furnishing suppliers). Through our product platform, we want to empower suppliers to work with the right tools and resources which in turn will help them with clients. On the other end, we engage with homeowners/ clients to find their ideal suppliers. Aiming towards being B2B2C in nature, we believe in enabling the supplier community to pitch their versatility to their customers. An ideal home is what we offer for the home-owner, on the consumer side. Great Companies: What makes Hofeto different from other interior marketplace platforms? Lisa Mohapatra : Our mantra is ‘Collaborate to Scale’. We don't believe in competing and rather like to see every company as a potential collaborator. Our product enables us to support other platforms. Allowing seamless integration without loss of time or other resources is what makes our approach unique. At Hofeto, we believe every company/individual has something tangible in them that follows into greater collaborations leading to growth. This grants us chances to learn from them at the same time. Hofeto strives to be an online community providing experiences built on core values leading to strong customer service. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Lisa Mohapatra : Being a traditional industry there was some resistance to adapting to new processes and systems. And of course, the whole idea of learning to work virtually meant that all our stakeholders - our users, community, extended community would need to have their goals,processes and checklists documented. Adapting to our product did take time initially but then it worked out favourably. The new way of working did lead to some skill development challenges however due to constant effort of our internal team it was a breeze. Due to our constant experimentation there was an urge to evolve according to the industry requirements or even go beyond that to create a seamless outcome. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What do 5 years down the line look like for Hofeto? Lisa Mohapatra: 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. We are headquartered in Bangalore with services across Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, NCR, Indore, Pune, Coimbatore, Mysore, Mangalore and Kolkata. Our focus is on branching out to more tier 2 and 3 cities across the country. Hofeto’s vision is to support the livelihood of local & hyper-local communities through expansion, employ more women in the interior design and related industries by providing technology and essential skill sets. And of course, we will be ready to conquer across the continent once ready. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting, what would it be? Lisa Mohapatra : Well, 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. Be open to learning through your own mistakes and extract insights from every experience. Mentors and advisors will always be there to support, but ultimately it's your own journey. An idea can be condemned by all but if you don't take the risk to execute, it may always remain in the book. Don’t be afraid to break the rules and unlearn certain perspectives. It’s your baby and wouldn't you always look out for its best, no matter how it seems to others?

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Pooja Goswami: I was a clinical Scientist at department of Gastroenterology at A.I.I.M.S. Delhi, treating my father for cancer. I lost my father due to infection during his battle towards cancer, he won cancer but infection defeated him, and so I lost him in Oct 2014 , Since than I am trying some better solution for infection detection, So an physician can provide the exact antibiotic treatment. So we started our startup in 13 April 2018 and since than we are working on it. First of all how, to start this all together new technology was a big challenge, difficult to make it believe for others. Then funding, where BIRAC support us and further where to work is a big question, where FITT comes into picture and facilitate all possible facilities. So since 13 March 2019, we are placed in 2nd floor FITT, synergy building I.I.T. Delhi as “RAMJA Genosensor pvt. Ltd. We received 50 lakh rupees BIG grant and right now incubating at Foundation for Innovation and technology transfer ( FITT) at IIT Delhi. We also success selected for the Pfizer award for intellectual property. Our start up is got selected in University of Texas' Innovation Readiness Series TM program. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by RAMJA Genosensor Pvt Ltd Pooja Goswami : RAMJA Genosensor is an med-tech startup, which works on deep tech innovation. We are a med-tech start-up based on cutting-edge technology in terms of innovation, We developed two product, first is paper based Genosesnor to detect infection and antibiotic resistance and second innovation is where, we develop first Indian nanotechnology based multipurpose surface disinfectant spray, NANOSHOT. It kills 99.9% viruses, bacteria, fungi. It start Killing within 30 seconds and completely kill the germs in 30 minutes, and once it start, it continue to work on surface for 4 days. Great Companies: What makes Ramja Genosensor Pvt Ltd different from hundreds of other Medtech firms? Pooja Goswami : RAMJA is not involve in routine research, we are working on resolution, The solution, which we are working, is never done before in INDIA, That makes us different from existing startups. First innovation : Infection-detection, is being a critic issue in serious patient, causes several death in day to day basis (60-80% death in ICU patients), but still ignored, since last 100 of years, people depends on culture for infection and antibiotic testing, But Culture give results in 3-5 days. So without waiting result of culture Physician do prescribe immediate antibiotic treatment to the patients. Which lead to antibiotic resistance and high mortality. So, in RAMJA, we are trying to fill this gap of time, to save life, which will be useful, for both Physician and doctors too. This is very innovative and socially impactful work which makes us different from crowd.Hence, we offers smart, innovative paper-based biosensors for the detection of microbial infection and antibiotic resistance within 90 minutes. Our second innovation, is also not lesser with first-one. During covid pandemic, to prevent frequent washing of surface, we develop first Indian nanotechnology based multipurpose surface disinfectant spray, NANOSHOT. Why it is first and one in only one solution, First of all It is completely alcohol and hypochlorite-free solution. The one-shot of NANOSHOT is effective for the period of continuous 96 hours (4days). It kills 99.9% viruses, bacteria, fungi. It start Killing within 30 seconds and completely kill the germs in 30 minutes, and once it start, it continue to work on surface for 4 days, (NO NEED TO REPEAT CLEANING AGAIN) So, It will keep the surface, germ free, dirt free for continuous 4 days, just after one spray. Efficacy: NANOSHOT has an efficiency rate of 99.9% on all viruses, bacteria, and fungi, and it lasts for four days (96 hour) after a single spray. NANOSHOT has been validated in NABL accredited and ISO certified lab. NANOSHOT is also dermatological tested and we found it has no side effects on skin and it is completely safe. Its already available in market. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Pooja Goswami : We have faced several challenges, i.e., to get this technology, start from scratch to working MVP, was a difficult nut to crack, right section of employee, was a critical issue, Having continuous funding is pain point, For that, we have continuously applied in several, grand challenges, and receive almost 1 crore funding from Indian and international funding Programme, government and corporate, BIRAC-DBT-BIG-12, PFIZER, FACEBOOK, NIDHI COVID GRANT. During Nanoshot, there was a challenge, in finding right partner, for manufacturing, packaging, logistic and so on. But due to grace of god and my family (my husband, my mother and my cute son) support, I could unturned all stone, to beat the hurdles. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for RAMJA Genosensor Pvt Ltd? Pooja Goswami: As every owner, I also have a dream, to be an unicorn, but my dream, is not be an Indian unicorn only, I want to be get globally renowned Unicorn. Which I believe, one day, RAMJA will be in the top list of country, and you will be interviewing again that time to us. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Pooja Goswami: If you really have passion and want to start something new, Then my philosophy is go with your full heart and with full passion and dedication, don’t look back, give your 200%, to make it work, if you get fail, wait for some time but be persistent with smart vision. Always take opinion, with those, who help and understand your vision at initial stage. Even take opinion with you employee, who are young, it will give them confidence. This is what I follow.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Achal Jain: Well, you can say we are serial entrepreneur, we started our entrepreneurial journey in last year of out MCA in 2014 with the motive that within a year or so we get things in place and get time to test out how things our working. Initially we started as a service based company where we use to build custom Web and mobile apps. We realized we can’t grow exponentially as Web services company have their on bottleneck and its always having a liner growth. We were looking for the new ideas and we found food industry as one of 3 which will never be eliminated like health and education. In our research we found that majority of software are only used for billing and doesn’t actually add value to business, So we decided to make and end-to-end solution that will automate your F&B Business and show you all analytics and health of business in just a click. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Ambiosys Labs PVT LTD Achal Jain: We are now a SAAS Software as a Service company the product is named as Mentor POS. Mentor POS is an end-to-end complete automation solution. We provide solution for all types of F&B businesses namely: Fine Dine Restaurants Cafes Pizza shops Cloud Kitchens Ice cream Parlours QSR’s Franchises chains. Mentor POS is having 6 Pillars as a product: CRM Sales Point: (Windows 10, Android Mobile/Tab, iOS, iPad) Inventory Management: Min/Max Required, Recipe, Production management, Issue and Indents. Vendor Management: Vendor Ledgers, Price change tracker, Terms of payments. Integrations: We have deep integrations of order relay and menu management with Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo, DotPe, Amazon Foods, Magic Pin and many more… So Mentor POS is a whole suite of products for any F&B Business. Enterprises and Multichain outlets are major beneficiaries of Mentor POS. Great Companies: What makes Ambiosys Labs PVT LTD different from other similar firms? Achal Jain: There are lots of things in terms of feature and benefits like: Online order automation, Automation to maintain and increase Restaurant Health Index,Inventory Automation, Power of aggregators menu managements on your tips, Most of all independence to use Mentor POS with almost ZERO dependency on Team Mentor POS. But above all I am a firm believer that these features can be built by any competitors in span of a quarter or a year what cannot matched is the experience or service. We make our clients feel the freedom of managing the system all support docs and video are in built within the software and a click away on same screen and always we are just a call away to assist you. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Achal Jain: I can speak the whole day about it  we have our fair share of problems. Providing a sophisticated solution to an industry where people who are using it are usually not well educated. We have to made a system that must be extremely easy to use in simple steps. Continues feedback and implementation. Starting a SAAS based solution in an industry where usually its considered as one time purchase of minimum AMC based software is a challenge in itself educating about it and benefits. People/Restaurants usually have thinking in mind that for implementation and support the guy must be present physically. Which is not needed nor recommended in a SAAS based company. This also leads to lots of frictions in growth. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Ambiosys Labs PVT LTD? Achal Jain: We are planning to scale in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and other countries horizontally and adding new products vertically as well for the F&B Industries. In Next 5 years We see Ambiosys Labs as a Full stack F&B company Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Achal Jain: Don’t start-up or follow something because you are passionate about it because it’s an emotion it will fade when realty set-in. Go for solving problem for majority of people. Talk to people about their pain, survey before starting up. Listening to customer and implementation is key to growth and success. Don’t try to satisfy every customers custom requirement, you are running a company for purpose for an industry build for that not a particular client. Persistence with continues improvement is the key. Hiring great people makes company great, first 10 hires define if you are going make it or brake it. Website: https://www.mentorpos.com/ Linked In Achal Jain: https://www.linkedin.com/in/achalj09/ Linked In Ambiosys Labs PVT LTD: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mentorpos/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mentorpos/

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? I was in my early twenties. The software company I was working for shut down in 2008 due to the recession. I applied for several jobs and attended many interviews. I would either reject all the job offers or consciously give bad interviews. This pattern continued for a year. One day, I paused and questioned my actions and I realized I didn’t want to work for corporate any longer. I got clarity on what I didn’t want to do. Next question was, what do I want to do? The answer was quick. I wanted to travel all over India. I wanted to trek in the Himalayas. I wanted to start my own business (The visuals of my helplessness and my colleague's anger and grief when we were given pink slip would often bother me. I didn’t want to put myself in that position again ) I didn’t know what business to start. I had no clarity of my life ahead. I withdrew my provident fund and gathered whatever little savings I had and started traveling. There was no defined path or destination. I would go wherever my feet took me. I went everywhere with the hope of finding myself somewhere... Every day was a new journey, every moment a new experience. Journey through the unknown paths, with unknown people, their diverse cultures, and distinctive lifestyles were transforming. I backpacked for 4 years. The experiences, observations, and learning's I gathered through my inquiry during my travels gave birth to OLLIT EXPEDITIONS What makes OLLIT EXPEDITIONS different from hundreds of other Travel firms? Traveling is not an activity. It is an experience. Some experiences don’t just happen, they have to be consciously created. Something as simple as the sunrise and sunset is an enriching experience. It can be transforming. It is distinctive in each landscape. How can we miss that? At OLLIT EXPEDITIONS, We handcraft every experience. We go as minute as timing the travel experiences so our clients get exclusivity. A couple of weeks ago when we went on a biking (cycle) tour, my clients felt they were trailing through a private road meant exclusively for them. In actuality, we chose to go on that route at a time when there is less movement. If you choose any tourist destination, you can find 80% of the tours are centered around 20% of the locations. It is not balanced. The tour operators may say they are catering to the demand, but in reality clients choose from the available options. Many places are not explored. India has much more to offer than tourist spots. Each region has its own unique culture, heritage, architecture, art, and crafts. Every corner in India has a hidden gem and a unique offering. Every time I get an inquiry for a particular location, I evaluate the region and experiences it can offer. I later stitch the experiences with a fine blend of regional food, culture, history, and local experiences. Also, we do responsible tourism. We encourage our clients to promote existing home stays where a family lives and ask them to spend locally. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Every day is an adventure. Every trip throws a new challenge. My mother often asks me why are you struggling so hard? Why can’t you get a day job? As I am writing, I got a call from my client asking if we were leaving tonight for our scheduled trek because the state government has announced a night curfew. I have to now spend few hours re-scheduling the entire trip. In 2014, when I started the company I sold 2 DSLRs to fund myself. I let go of the cameras with great difficulty. My cameras were my best friends. I didn’t want to take a loan because I wanted to grow organically. Growing organically has its positives and downsides. It takes a lot of time. I have invariably developed patience in the process. One thing that keeps me going is the passion I have for my work. For many years, I struggled with pricing. I would take fewer people on my trips to give exclusivity, increase the quality and charge nominally. It just didn’t work out. It was frustrating to see my efforts were not fruitful. Another big challenge is the payment. Some institutes don’t pay on time. In the last program, my client released the bill after 6 months. I can’t keep my vendors waiting. I have to juggle around every time I take up a big project. I promote rural tourism. Many a times communication and co-ordination with the local guides becomes difficult. They don’t have a good mobile network and they don’t maintain a calendar. Recently we had a trek in the rural area. I had informed our local guide about our weekend program and asked him to be available, he happily agreed. We reached his place and I waited outside his house for an hour. Clients slowly started feeling restless. His phone was not reachable. I went to every single house in the village asking his whereabouts. Someone walked up to tell me he has a ceremony for his daughter in the nearby temple... Each time I conduct an adventure tour, I have my heart in my mouth until the program concludes. My clients' safety becomes my responsibility. Many people have an emotional outlet in the outdoors. Their behavioral patterns change. I have to be very observant. Also since March 2020, there is no business due to COVID. Though I get very short windows for business between the lock-downs, it becomes difficult to plan and execute travel programs with so much uncertainty. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for OLLIT EXPEDITIONS? Given the present situation and uncertainty, it’s difficult to plan anything. I am taking it one day at a time. However, I would like to see myself doing the following Special Interest tours : Handpick a few regions and curate experiences with local people. Contribute to the local economy while putting an effort to preserve the local art, culture, and traditions. (Instead of executing tours all over India) Adventure Tours : 10-12 curated higher altitude treks and expeditions in a year with a minimal group. Biking (cycling) expeditions Queer exclusive/friendly adventure tours Soft adventure tours for senior citizens Adventure - Camps for special children Experiential Education Tours : Work with children on outdoor and environmental education Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Start with why? While climbing the mountain, at a difficult stretch, there may come a point when you want to give up. Pause and ask why did you take up the journey. You cannot take a correspondence course for swimming. You have to enter the water. Similarly, You cannot learn business by books. Don’t stand on the edge of the cliff and waste your time, take a plunge. Website : https://www.ollit.co/ Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/ollit_expeditions/

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the NGO? Devendra Shivlal Desai : I wanted to play a game of checkers with my neighbor friend when I was 8. I could not find my board. My mom was making chapattis. I pulled her saree and cried to get me the game. She went down and bought me the game. I played. Enjoyed. That moment at that age was deeply rooted in my heart. I wanted to do something 'JARA HATKE'.While doing social work I came across Chacha Nehru Toy Library. Being chess buff was fascinated with different type of games using different skills like memory, strategy, creativity, logic etc. Also noticed that since there were just one library enthusiast’s parents were to come from distant places just for one toy once a week.In surrounding area and near my office lot of street children were loitering doing nothing so thought of inviting them to the library and after building rapport with them and streamline them to join nearby schools. That time nobody was ready to put up an institute to work for toy/game library priojects. All above factors prompted me to create such play facilities wherever possible and created Children Toy Foundation, the institute through which I could take the idea further. Great Companies: What are the various activities done by Children Toy Foundation ( NGO ) Devendra Shivlal Desai : 1)Establish/help to set up toy/game libraries: The Foundation helps those aspiring to set up toy/game library by guiding them from moment of conception to moment of delivery. To begin with, it advises on what to buy, where to buy and why to buy. We help them to acquire toys/games at concessional rates. Then we provide the necessary training to a core group of volunteers on how to run the library in professional fashion. Wherever/ whenever possible, we guide them in raising funds from individual philanthropists, charitable trusts, social organisations, etc. so that the library is in sound footing. Libraries can boast of multifarious variety. We helped put up libraries in orphanages, schools, NGOs, hospitals and even in jails and deserts.We want to see that libraries are not just renting libraries but like a play centre blooming with different activities like our Khelvigyan project described below. It can be a place of attraction also for visitors/tourists. 2)To Establish & run Static/Mobile Khelvigyan projects: Khelvigyan is our original Made in India project-an extension of toy library project and can scale up to all India level, also up to international fun & mind games event if all capitalists and other stakeholders support. As the name suggests play helps in holistic, scientific development of a child. Toys play a significant role in growth of a child right when he starts learning to walk with the help of a walker to when he starts thinking about all aspects/situations while playing a game like chess.The idea being based on the concept of ‘learns while you play’ we have added programmes to inculcate art and skill. This involves storytelling, puppetry, craft, drawing drama besides G.K.and curriculum-based games and activities.Centres operate in such a way that every class gets one hour of playtime twice a week. On sponsor’s choice, the number of visits is decided. The centre has well equipped library and trained teachers to impart necessary skill to the students. Each teacher is in charge of 8-10 students to look after the progress of the squad. In limited times of interactions with children we have achieved good results. 3)Revive old games and develop new ones: Like Bhule Bisre geet(songs), we revive old games and with our experience we device new games and new ideas. We have created games like Be 2nd to be 1st, based on our concept Guru Bina Gyan Nahin,perhaps it is the only game in the world where player who manages to remain second wins the game. Little Maths Master- a verbal maths game. Chess ‘O’ 64- with unique 64 playing card through which umpteen skilled games can be played. Musical Housie with a twist. Etc. 4)We also arrange Inter school, Inter College and family contests in fun & mind games.Children love nothing better than doing something on their own. There is nothing more fulfilling than moving forwards at one’s own initiative a drive. On the spot Games Contest is aimed at testing the skill, grasping power, instant judging and planning capacity of the young participants. The Contest, a distinguishing feature of the CHILDREN TOY FOUNDATION, has caught the imagination of people, both children and adults alike. The idea behind the contest is to generate the maximum amount of joy among the largest number of children (Which includes those who are children at heart). As an experiment, it has never failed to give a foretaste of the wonder world of toys/ games, which is normally beyond the reach of the middle and poor class of children. As the means to an end, the contest has invariably proved to be the forerunner of a fresh string of libraries / play centres which people were provoked to set up following the whetting of appetite at the contest. The games to be played are not declared in advance. They are announced just half- an- hour before the contest begins. The Element of secrecy and surprise adds flavor to the proceedings, making the actual contest a delight to watch. And the effort has always proved to be more than worth if, both in terms of intellectual delight and competitive laurels. The CONTEST provides access to a variety of games, involving children physically as well as mentally. Educational games that teach alphabets and word – building, numbers find shapes and colors, engineering skills and perceptive power, creative game that promote artistic and mechanical skills, strategy games that enhance logical and analytical powers, and help develop concentration and memory; puzzles that have the power of observation, strengthen one’s determination and boost one’s confidence the rang is unlimited and the satisfaction derived has no ceiling. Alongside, the contest has a fun games corner worked out on two principles: - one what is sauce for the goose need not be sauce for the gander, two, there is more to play than an intellectual bent of mind.We have won International acclaim on our above concept of International Olympics in fun & mind games. We feature in Limca Book of Records for our unique feat. We have got many such awards and certificates. 5)We donate few games and toys to slums and street children from time to time. 6)Now we do online activities like Kraft, stories, puppetry, game designing etc with children. All our programmes are based on our vision No child should be deprived of toys, childhood pleasure and learning tool. Motto Play together, Stay together. Great Companies: What makes Children Toy Foundation ( NGO ) different from hundreds of other NGOs? Devendra Shivlal Desai : Children Toy Foundation was established in 1982 and registered in 1984. Children Toy Foundation ‘s Toy Story is Unique, Nothing like Anything. Something different, ahead of time. We add life into the years of CHILDHOOD. In Children Toy Foundation C=Creative, T=Time and F=Fun. At Foundation children have creative time & fun. Our aim is to educate children beyond reading and writing, so as to help them acquire real skills and develop positive attitudes in their life to instil a sense of pride in them and further boost their confidence. For this we use the potential force of toys and games to mould the character and temperament of the young ones and hone their latent talents.Games give training in life skills such as decision making, time management, negotiation, critical thinking and leadership.One of the best dimensions of new-found freedom can be play-a language everyone understands, unmindful of political borders, racial differences, linguistic divides, ethnic considerations. Human contact is the name of the new game, and bridging the gaps between peoples, regions, languages, cultures and hearts, the new strategy. CHILDREN TOY FOUNDATION hopes to achieve this at both national and international levels. Articles 31 of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the child reads: “The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed to the same purposes as education. Society and public authorities shall endeavour to promote the enjoyment of this Right.” Unfortunately, most people tend to look upon toys and games as kid-stuff. They do not realize that play is a means of learning to live, not a way of passing the time. CHILDREN TOY FOUNDATION aims at destroying this myth. Toys and games not only amuse children, but also stir their imagination,stimulate creative instinct and spontaneous thinking.They also sharpen the child’s reasoning,enlarge/his/her vision,encourage free flow of thoughts,improve observation power and concentration.Some toys and games test speed and perception.Some others teach discipline,honesty,truth, courage etc;and develop the spirit of co-operative competitiveness.Till the human society realizes this basic truth,it will remain incomplete.CHILDREN TOY FOUNDATION intends filling this void. On Children’s day-1986,the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development launched Toy Bank, a unique programme under the Integrated Child Development Scheme.Its theme was ‘Give a toy,share ajoy’ . But, much before Delhi came up with its brain child, a Bombay –based(CTF) organization had launched a toy movement. Deepak Rao Moodbidri.Indian Express-29th July 1989. A Marathi writer wrote Toy library? Mr. Desai’s mind and body needs to be checked?! Everybody talks of Right of the child to education but nobody talks of right of the child to play which is natural source of a child;s growth.We have been working on the Right of the Child to Play since 1982 honouring UNOs article 31 on Right of the child to play and recreation signed by our Government but practically nothing is done. Wer have helped established 350 toy/game libraries covering 14 states and 3 Union territories. World Toy Industry is 1.7 billion dollars .Our contribution hardly 5 to 10%.We are struggling to see that under Government planning commission toy library scheme is well funded so if 6000+ villages gets a library,toy and allied industries will get a major boost and lots of foreign exchange can be saved. Two international organisastions viz. International Association for Right of the Child to Play( IPA)and International Toy Library Asssociation(ITLA) have lauded our work on right of the child to play and idea of International Children’s Olympics in Fun & Mind Games. A man’s life is full of struggle and hardship.There are organisations working on health,religion,food etc but we work to see the smiles on the faces of future citizens which is the biggest award for us. In class room one has to use brain in trained/identical manner whereas games allow to use your brain in the manner you think and bring out the best in you. Class room makes the child silent whereas games allow to mingle with each other, shout and express their feelings. At the time of earthquake in Latur dist. Maharastra,at the time of Tsunami we created play centers in Chennai which was a big boost for children to join school or study with NGOs working there. Also 12th pass candidates can very well work after training for our projects so those who have to leave studies after 1oth ,12th can also get jobs. Our driver is also trained so after parking the van he becomes educator. Now there are few NGOS who are working to establish such libraries and many more NGOS are setting up such facilities. After we donated a library to Klorfeel Foundation,Orissa,under our guidance they have created 8 such centers recently. We are trying to explore biggest gift of GOD-PLAY-JOY OF LIVING WHICH PERHAPS MAKES US DIFFERENT Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Devendra Shivlal Desai : Challenge 1 One of the biggest challenge faced by Children Toy Foundation was that to convince the municipal schools and Government regarding Khelvigyan project because it was an unique project and there was no concrete data on which we could establish the impact this project will have either on children or on educational system. Lessons Learnt It is very important to have a statistical tool in order to convince the person in front to prove the viability of the project. Now we have full details of beneficiaries and 3 studies done by SNDT Students and a third party evaluation done by Tech Mahindra Foundation. Challenge 2 To arrange funds for various project undertaken by the organization from corporate Lessons Learnt The corporate although contributing for a social cause do not leave their business minded approach and here to want to invest in a place which ensures the maximum return in a sense either publicity or service to a larger community or greater impact on society and so on. It is just like calculating profits before doing the work ,just like they set target for themselves. Hence it is always an advantage to have viable results in hand as well as the mindset of a corporate in order to convince them that the money spent in the project is investment in future(children). Challenge 3 The finances of an NGO are directly affected by the market.During the recession period it was difficult to convince the sponsor to continue supporting the organisation and although for a short period of time various projects were continued without funds. Lessons Learnt It is very important to create a substantial contingency fund in order to support the projects during difficult times as this not only helps in sustaining the project but also in a way assist the sponsors be relieving them Temporarily in the time of need which helps in strengthening the relationship in long term. It is also better to look for sponsors even if funds available is sufficient as the additional money can be used for expansion. improvement and contingency. This is true in current time also. Challenge 4 Finding good staff and training them for a long-term association Lessons Learnt Instill a sense of social responsibility among the staff and make them feel the good work they are doing. The staff in a social organization is irreplaceable and hence should be treated as the most valuable asset of the organization. We appraise their work time and again and reward their work. Challenge 5 To attract qualified graduate candidates as we are an NGO and they look for job security Lesson Learnt Try to see that our project fits into Government schemes and work in partnership with Government. It will be a permanent project if it is built in curriculum. It is possible also if we take out 5 minutes per period i.e. 5x7=35 minutes a day and 35x7=245 minutes a week and utilize it for creative and entertaining play activities. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Children Toy Foundation ( NGO )? Devendra Shivlal Desai : PLAY IS ETERNAL. Play has no boundaries. We have helped and guided to set up 350 toy/game libraries but sky is the limit. We serve 9000+ children through our static and mobile Khelvigyan project in schools,orphanages,villages etc and many more through existing net work of toy/game libraries. We aim to see that toy libraries grow like mushrooms and no child is deprived of toys ,childhood pleasure and learning tool. For this Sab Ka SAATH and sab ka PRAYAS is needed. We will take help of Government,Cos,NGOs,volunteers,toy Industries,educationists and make it a big movement. Immediately we are planning out 37 mind and educational games libraries to cover 37 states and U.T.s .We want to make it a grand event in a way that all libraries will,be inaugurated same day same time which will catch attraction of media,Government,and all stakeholders and hopefully purpose will be served. Also we want to plan National and international contest in fun & mind games which can grow into international Olympics for children , the idea we gave into a play summit and was lauded by all countries present. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Devendra Shivlal Desai : I propose: Yong men are fitter to invent than to judge; Fitter for execution than for counsel; Fitter for newer projects; Than for settled business Dedication, hard work, determination should be your assets. Never let down your guard, never compromise. Sow good seeds and you will reap rich dividends. Stay safe from all temptations of life and be prepared to serve Matrubhumi. (motherland). Website : http://www.childrentoyfoundation.org