The Editors Choice An Inspiring Entrepreneurial Journey

Vol-1 | Special Edi?on | June 2020 20 Best Habits To Have In Life The Meaning Importance Of Digital Transformation Vamsi Krishna Maramganti Founder & CEO QRC Assurance and Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Make your business more secure and safe with the help of QRC Services The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 1

Editor’s Note Vol-1 | Special Editon | June 2020 Editorial Head Abhishek Kumar Dubey “THE RESULT OF HARDWORK, LEARNING FROM FAILURE, PREPARATION AND EXECUTION IS CALLED SUCCESS” Editorial Team Indranil Roy | Kajal Dobhal Kiran Mishra | Ashwathy nair Avishek Singh “Hard work”, “dedication” and “Will to grow”, these are the guiding principles that help an entrepreneur to grow and create landmarks for others to follow. In my ongoing experience, I’ve come across numerous entrepreneurs whose journeys can be portrayed as stories every aspirer should follow. The entrepreneurial journey is a road less taken as it is filled with challenges beyond comprehension. However, some leaders have turned the odds into their favour and sailed their way to destiny. Coming from different verticals of the industry, they have devised many innovations that have added to the benefit of mankind, economy and country. Even amid the chaos caused by Covid-19 outbreak, these organisations have proved themselves as. In this edition of The CEO Story The Editors’ Choice- An Inspiring Entrepreneurial Journey, we’re giving the stage to several Entrepreneurial journeys, which has been approved as the choicest stories for inspiration, by our editorial board. Business Head Ashish kumar Corporate Team Vikas kumar| Komal Verma Priyanka gupta | Sunaina Gupta Rahul kumar Co-ordinator Sunaina Gupta Data Research & Analysis Satyam Tiwari Shubham Mehra The cover page of this edition will be featuring the entrepreneurial story of Vamsi Krishna Maramgati. He is the sole curator of QRC Assurance Pvt. Ltd., A company that provides exclusive enterprise security package to suffice all the needs of data security and privacy. QRC initiated its operations in 2015 and is a noteworthy and trusted provider of information security services for all size of organisations. In the ongoing pandemic crisis, QRC has proved its forte. By encouraging ‘Work From Home,’ it has ensured an autonomous operation in its business and is consequently protecting its employees from being affected. We urge every reader to go through this company’s story. Finance Team Gourav Singhal Circulation Team Sonia Tiwari Creative Director Ashutosh Ojha Creative Team Rajat Pathak | Chandan Sharma Reena Kumari | Rohit Kumar Apart from this, the magazine will be highlighting the stories of many noteworthy organisations who have overcome challenges to prove themselves as a force to reckon with. These stories will help you to fathom entrpreneurship as a learning ground for innovations and ways you can conquer the challenges that lie ahead. Along with this, the magazine will be featuring in-house articles that shall help you shape your lifestyle and stay updated during this pandemic crisis. Like always we hope our magazine is serving your needs and we urge you to stay safe during this harsh period. That’s all for this time. Stay home, stay safe and keep reading. Take Care! Legal Affairs Mukesh Kumar Human Resources Nivedita Basu Digital Marketing Manager Ravi kant Singh Corporate Office 502, DDA 2, District Centre, Janakpuri, New Delhi - 110058 Ph. 011-41065208 Email: corporate@theceostory.in Indranil Roy Editor | The CEO Story We are also available on: Follow us on: The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 4

What You Need to Know About Buying A Car in this Pandemic Content Cover Story Avvada 20 AXMIYAN HR SOLUTIONS PVT LTD. 16 22 In the words of Mr. Ajay Sundaram, CEO and founder of BrandBall, “We saw the strength in one another. We saw the belief we had in ourselves and all the stakeholders. And before we knew it, BrandBall was registered. Somewhere down the line, I think, it was the desire to experiment and create an agency set up which caters to client’s need differently and in the long run creates value for the society and impacts. We are just starting out. With the right people, we will grow to be an organization which takes care of every stakeholder.” “Currently our strength lies in ATL, BTL /Experiential, Digital and creative solutions for both Urban and Rural space. Our strategy towards solution approach is extremely simple. We follow the ‘media first’ model of development of message. In today’s time, it is important to customise the message as per the media, not the other way around.” Adds Mr. Snehsikt Anand, Co-founder and Head Strategy. Below is Their Brief To Execution Model The Company Shared With Us; BRANDBALL HOW DO YOU TAKE SUCH RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES TO YOUR ADVANTAGE? Technology is unavoidable. It infuses every dimension of our life. As the years go by, this will get better and better. The business techniques that were once great, may become obsolete tomorrow. If the organization doesn’t use the right tool to promote itself, the right channel of communi- cating its product to the right audience at the right time, it will surely be left behind by one of its competitors. Intrigued? Want to know more about this promising company? We had a conversation with founder to bring you some exclusive insights on who they are, how they work and what they believe in. Here’s a quick glimpse. 26 WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU SEE IN INCORPORATING AND SUS- TAINING THE BUSINESS? Challenges for an entrepreneur is never ending. It evolves with the life stage of the organisation. For a start-up like us, the top challenges we are facing are, It is all in the mind. The day you get scared of tech changes; our existence will be threatened. It is impera- tive that we exercise knowledge-sharing, keep ourselves updated about the changes in technology and understand what can be adapted in our industry. We also par- ticipate in several sessions with our partners, industry seminars and workshops ensure that we are updated and aware of the changes in the tech world. Finding the right fit is always a challenge. We are constantly on the lookout for people who think and act like entrepreneurs. And we are very strict about it. Our people are our resources, our biggest assets and the most important carriers of our philosophy. They are basically our extension. At this time, we are building the organization block by block. QRC ASSURANCE AND SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. Snehsikt Anand Co-Founder & Head Strategy Ajay Sundaram WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO WHEN FACED WITH CHALLENGES? To overcome challenges, we have margdarshaks and men- tors who have made a meaningful impact on the industry. We also look up to the failed entrepreneurs. The failed entrepreneurs are the ones who actually teach us in terms of what should not be done. We believe it is better to learn from failures than success. It will bring in grit and determination and experience in our work. Don’t think that we do not look up to the success stories, but that is from the view of what can happen. In short, we believe in Murphy’s law, ‘Nothing is as easy as it looks. Everything takes longer than you expect. If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong… and at the worst possible moment’ and we plan to be prepared for it. CEO Secondly, finding the right fit with the clients are always a struggle for a start-up. I will never blame a client for playing safe by going forward with an organization that has been in existence for some time. After all, their money and finances are always a very rare and monitored commodity, especially in the current economic scenario. The clients know us and have worked with us in the past, but BrandBall is a new en- tity for them and convincing them of our philosophy is a struggle. energetic company was born over an overzealous discussion and cups of cutting chai at the local tea stall. When we asked the founding members, what led to the idea, their answer was prompt. They were bored and bothered by the way the industry was working – cut, copy, paste. They were looking for something different. And right then, it occurred to them. Why couldn’t they be the difference? That was how it all began. Elite Recruitment MAKE YOUR BUSINESS MORE SECURE AND SAFE WITH THE HELP OF QRC SERVICES 24 Once they had decided, BrandBall immediately came into existence. However, while conceptualising an organization was relatively simple, the brass tacks needed to be put in place. Sustaining and staying true to their philosophy would take effort. BrandBall took about a year and a half to get the right partnerships. Today, they are proud of their ever-increasing clientele that ranges across turnovers as well as industries. 34 Lastly, getting the right tools as well as business and strategy models is crucial. And doing so in a short span of time is a tough task. Just as there is no fixed solution, there is also no fixed model that we can work with all the clients. We have to be sure of which model we are using to create the strategy. Does it apply to the category and the brand? “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.” We have read this somewhere and we try to imbibe this in our lives to help sail through the challenges. 28 VAMSI KRISHNA MARAMGANTI Founder & CEO 10 The Meaning Importance of Digital Transformation 20 BEST HABITS TO HAVE IN LIFE A TRUSTWORTHY NAME IN THE HERBAL HOMECARE SPACE Herbal Strategi 32 F plants and animal wastes. These herbal merchan- dises are deliberately replacing their chemical counterparts and have acquired a sustainable position in the market. rom a primordial age, plants have been one of the prime sources of crafting domestic consumable products. The core substance of many currently used products like insecticides, mosquito repellents, manures etc. are evidently found in the IN HOUSE The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 6 7 Herbal Strategi is an ISO 9001 certified brand, which produces some of the best-in-class herbal homecare products. The brand has seen the test of time and through its unconquerable experience of 7 years, has become one of the favourable brands in the segment of herbal home care products. John Thomas |Director PREVIEW OF THE BRAINCHILD Strategi was born in 1991 and company was focused in sourcing coffee beans for a reputed trade house in Europe.It was in 2011 that the company journeyed through other segments and started focusing on replacing the chemical products in the Homecare segment. With the transition in time, people are steadily shifting from chemicals to herbal products, which proves that a wide proportion of customers have shifted from negligence to awareness. This opportunity was grabbed by Mr Thomas. Through his brainchild, he has brought a wide variety of consumable products that fall under six categories namely - Herbal repellents. Herbal Cleaners. Herbal Fresheners. Herbal Hygiene. Herbal Fogging Solu- tions and Herbal Pet Care. Mr John Thomas holds an MSc(Hons) from Punjab Agriculture University in Aquaculture and an MBA from Cochin University. He has also attained an expedition of a decade in marketing across various companies. The curator confirms his entrepreneurship as a journey with multifarious challenges. He has faced daunting tasks, failures, had self-doubts and occasionally was let down by his closest. On the contrary, his journey portrays the successful small steps and strides he took towards giving his concept a structure.

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COVER STORY QRC ASSURANCE AND SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD MAKE YOUR BUSINESS MORE SECURE AND SAFE WITH THE HELP OF QRC SERVICES VAMSI KRISHNA MARAMGANTI Chief Executive Officer Mr. Vamsi Krishna Maramganti | Founder & Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs rightly said, “I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. “ Dreaming to start a venture with open eyes is quite easy that doesn’t require any effort but to embark on a journey of entrepreneurship, and turning a dream into reality demands a multitude of countless efforts and persistence. Multiple detours in the trajectory test entrepreneurs and their courage to sail through all the hardships. Perseverance is the trait that distinguishes them from all and drives them to achieve the pinnacle of success with the right vision and attitude. Vamsi Krishna Maramganti exemplifies all the traits of an empowering leader and entrepreneur who charismatically occupy a stronghold in the entrepreneurial space. He is the founder and CEO of QRC, which offers a complete enterprise security package to businesses that address all needs of their security & privacy requirements. HOW DID THE JOURNEY START? After interviewing the maestro, Vamsi Krishna Maramganti, we came to know about his engaging story of creating his business. When Mr. Vamsi started his corporate career, he always thrived towards entrepreneurship and decided in his heart somewhere that he would create something of his own. Gradually, Vamsi joined as an auditor in an organization and because of his role in the company, he visited a lot of other companies to understand the core intricacies of their business. This triggered his entrepreneurship instincts. COVER STORY INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 10 11

Going deeper into his role, then as a consultant, his job was to understand the clientele’s business and its challenges. After understanding the dynamics, he used to offer innovative ideas to improvise the business. In 2015, he incepted his company and the reasons for starting his venture were he wanted to implement his ideas into his own business and the second one was that he wanted to create employment opportunities for others. ANNUAL DAY Mr. Vamsi was into Information Security Audit, his main purpose during the inception of the Company, was to deliver his exquisite ideas to other companies without leaving the domain of Cybersecurity. WHY ONLY INFORMATION SECURITY? Nowadays, information has become one of the key components for most of the businesses. If an organization cannot protect this “critical” asset, then it may take down the entire business. Time and again we saw so many organizations facing lawsuits from their consumers and customers which resulted in exciting the market. Technology is changing very rapidly on a day to day basis and the risk for data security and privacy is also increasing at the same pace. Keeping up with it is a challenge for all organizations be it large, medium, or small. In this space, QRC plays a vital role to engage with organization to provide Cost-Effective Quality Services to protect Client Data Security and Privacy by provisioning “ We • • • • Advisory & Assessment Services Security Testing Services Certification Services Training Services. always ensure our proficiency in the three-building pillars People, Process and Technology. INSIGHTS OF THE COMPANY and project managers monitor the progress of the projects. Before releasing any deliverables, there is a strict quality control check. Moreover, there is an environment of transparency in communication with the customers and regular checks at various phases of the project. QRC Assurance and Solutions ( Earlier knows as QRC Consulting & Solutions) has pioneered the domain of Cyber Security. Incepted in the year 2015, the Company deals with Data Security and Data Privacy domain. Specifically, the categorization of the services falls into advisory, assessment, certification, and training. Information Security is the priority for any organization or business, taking 7care of it, Mr. Vamsi with his enriching experience of more than 18 years in the domain provides standardized security to big, small as well as mid-size corporations. They are trustworthy partners to a multitude of companies and with the help and support of upgraded technology, they provide impeccable solutions in the arena of cybersecurity. QRC helped organizations to meet various international standards like PCI DSS, PA DSS, SWIFT CSCF, GDPR, ISO 27001, HIPAA, SOC 1 & SOC 2, VAPT, etc. At reasonable pricing, QRC Assurance and Solutions offers world-class services. CHALLENGES ON THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PATH Roadblocks on the trajectory, when faced courageously, can be turned into multiple opportunities. Without challenges in the path, you can’t propel towards discovering something new and innovative. Detours help you to unravel the countless possibilities. The four greatest obstacles which Mr. Vamsi faced in his excursion of entrepreneurship are: RETAINING THE BEST PEOPLE How do you treat your employees reflects their stability and happiness in the company? The foremost thing for an organization is to provide a healthy work environment for the workforce so that their sustenance and productivity can be ensured and cherished. At QRC, they treat their employees just like their family members and provide them with incredible support and growth opportunities. Being the head of the family, Vamsi Krishna takes care of all the needs of the employees outright so that the Company’s success reaches the acme. Paying heed to their health, growth, and education, QRC has rendered behemoth efforts towards the upliftment of its team members. With that, great inputs are directed towards creating intensive training modules for sharpening the skills of manpower. Moreover, QRC providing Health insurance & Continue • • Winning the trust of the clientele over the Company. There were a lot of issues in the internal system, there was no subsidy, and they don’t get any financial support. Building the brand Getting the right kind of people as they were not in the position to hire the best people in the workplace. To cope with these challenges, the entrepreneur adopted brilliant strategies with great “ • • • vision. Firstly, they recruit 90 percent of freshers and after providing intensive training to them, they turn out to be more efficient ones. Secondly, whatever they are earning from the services, the same amount they invest in developing the self-sustained model. For ensuring the Quality of the services, at QRC, they adopt an effective Service Deliverable Approach in which they with the help of project coordinators The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 12 13

BOOKS THAT INSPIRE THE LEADER Professional Development facilities to all its members. Besides these basic facilities, empathizing with employees and treating them well also occupies a great space in the Company. An environment of trust, confidence, and empathy for employees is created. ATTAINING NEW HEIGHTS THROUGH R & D Good books are the sources of immense knowledge and information. An avid reader knows how to think and act. For shaping your personal and professional excursions, it is indispensable to keep an illuminating book beside you. It keeps you more focused and attentive. For a leader of any business, organization or system, it is essential to have sources of motivation. That’s why the top-notch entrepreneurs find the portals of knowledge hidden in the books of their choices. On the same notion, Mr. Vamsi loves to engage his senses in the depths of some masterpieces. The book that helped him a lot to keep his foot rolling in the business space is ‘the personal MBA’ by Josh Kaufman, which highlights the kind of systems and processes that an organization should possess. Another one is ‘Corporate Chanakya’ by Radhakrishnan Pillai, which speaks about the leaders and leadership skills that a person should have to run the organization. IN THE TIMES OF CORONAVIRUS “Research and development is the practice that helps a company to achieve new heights and stay ahead of its competitors.” HOW MR. VAMSI TAKES IMPORTANT DECISIONS? - Mr. Vamsi Krishna Maramganti Our decisions in the present, if not taken wisely can deteriorate the future. This statement is true for both personal and professional decisions. Specifically talking about entrepreneurial decisions, you cannot be unwise whilst making them. You ought to be very much conscious and informative while making any kind of decision. The ace CEO, Vamsi Krishna Maramganti looks at the details of every situation and discussing with other leading and intellectual facets of the organization, and then give his final verdict. The maestro pays great heed to the risk involved whilst deciding something. He considers reputation, money and time- related Risks before taking any decision. For him, the reputation of the Company matters the most, so considering this he takes the decisions. He believes that the sustainability and growth of a company depend on how much a company has prepared itself for the coming future requirements and expectations from its stakeholders. Over the 2 decades of his journey in the industry, he has seen the downfall of many famous organizations and according to him, it happened due to lack in proper R&D. Learning from these, QRC assures that each of its services is based on an in-depth analysis of the market and trends bound to arrive shortly. R&D has helped Mr. Vamsi to understand that consistency in present and conditioning for the future is the best way to ensure progressive sustainability in the market. The company has always ventured on contemporary developments, making QRC a subject matter expert of data security services. The melancholy that is caused by COVID-19 has disturbed the normal routine of work and life. Across the world, cities have been locked down to stop the spread of this dangerous virus. Consequently, the closing of workplaces has brought a major slow down in the global economy. When the situation seems so negative on the periphery, Mr. Vamsi and his team show quite a positive attitude towards work and life. He encourages work from home in the Company so that the work does not get affected in this pandemic. Moreover, ‘working from home‘ gives them enough time and space to create something new. Therefore, they concentrate on improvising their internal processes. Training and Knowledge sharing become the intensive parts of the work. ADVICE FOR THE ENTREPRENEURIAL WORLD WHAT MAKES THEM DIFFERENT? Quality, Delivery on Time and Knowledge sharing are three characteristics that set them apart from others. Vamsi Krishna boastfully says he never loses the customer because of not meeting the above. “Any establishment that you craft with your skills can be termed as entrepreneurship. What upgrades this establishment to the next level is what innovation and ideas you are bringing to the table. The road to success in the entrepreneurial world is challenging and full of hurdles, but if you’re prepared for them, success will knock your door.” QRC always try to customize their security services and solutions according to the organization’s fitness. Being a trustworthy security solution provider, QRC always offers various complementary services to firms who are want to secure their environment. Any organization can avail of these offers to check its current risks within their environment. Few of the services given below: 1. Health check of Networks 2. Health Check of Systems 3. Security Awareness Trainings 4. Web application security scan, etc. PCI Event Picture - Mr. Vamsi Krishna Maramganti The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 14 15

consumers. Now the real question is, how exactly will the virtual experience be different? For instance, what if you want to negotiate a lower price? Well, you can still do that thorough their official app instead of in person. Also, you don’t need to worry about paperwork at all, your valet will bring a portable printer and take care of all these worries at your home. Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Tata motors, many other companies are also increasingly ramping up online sales platform. Vehicle industries and dealerships that transition swiftly to e-communication would get more consumers. And no doubt, customers will also get benefits. What You Need to Know About Buying A Car in this Pandemic You also need to know that it may become a situation that any vehicle will become more streamlined and very few times taking. There is only one employee who is going to handle the whole purchasing process – from test drive to finalizing paperwork and new car delivery at your home. Experts believe that this summer could be a bit confusing time for those who want to buy a new vehicle. When a vehicle showroom gets going to earnest following months, there would be 3 model years of new cars or other vehicles to choose from: remaining 2019s model, 2020s model, and new intro model 2021s. You will also get surprising deals like 0% finance, for 84 months. Although, few of the companies will agree on this type of deal. For those of you are wishing to buy a new model car, and are not quite as tech-savvy or have many questions — in such kind of situation, you need more hand- holding, otherwise, it could be challenging. Although a lot of people know what kind of car they need, in such cases, you can go online. For consumers, it will be very tough to know the dealer’s bottom line, offering the many inducements and the shifting sands of the post-coronavirus landscape. In such time, there is only sound you will hear from them “It is a good deal as compare in the past.” Experts say that consumers aren’t just ones stumbling into the new world “online car buying”. The majority of car dealerships are not ready to enter into a complete online world. It may mean that customers won’t experience a perfect online service, and you may have to visit the showroom. I asked one of the showroom persons, who said that “it would be better if you buy at the end of the month,” at the time, the dealer will be in rush to move their inventory, and you can negotiate on price. In addition, there are a lot of finance & insurance products that would have been important to the customers may not be passably presented online – even offered at all. It indicates that consumers aren’t going to have a chance to consider an extended service agreement and other optional services. Seeing in such kind of condition, we would say that a vehicle dealership would be different than now. As we can see that we all have become accustomed to home deliveries for every single thing, cashless transaction, and pick up & drop-off series for taxi services. Now Online car purchasing tradition has grown so quickly, the day isn’t too far off when parts and repairing will certainly become common. As we have discussed a lot of thig about “online buying car”. But People like to visit a dealership. According to autonews.com, 83% of people cannot buy a car without seeing it physically, and 75% buyer would not want to buy a vehicle without a dealer involved. It all shows that the value of the dealership is still alive. Until it passes, the pandem ic has brought so m any questions about the new norm al for everyday life. Everything like schools, gym s, and m any others are tem porally closed all over the country except for essential services. Although, recently it has been announced by the governm ent that there are few shops and other businesses are going to open. People are still working from hom e. Before the pandem ic, a lot of people had a plan to buy a car. Now they m ight be wondering is if buying a car is still safe in the worse tim e. So, don’t worry I’m going to show you som e experts and people opinion, It m ay help you. According to Capgemini.com, “in India 70% percentage of consumer – who would prefer to avoid dealership visits to compare financing and deals due to COVID-19”. It is up from 39% before the pandemic. On April 22, 2020, Hyundai India announced to launch a program called “Click to Buy”. The company has integrated 500 dealerships under the “Click to Buy” program that is an end to end online car purchasing platform. Sure, people always want to go to the car showroom, poke around inside the car, and see the color choice. But for most people, car buying tradition will soon be almost virtual according to experts. Because of the pandemic, there are many restrictions that have forced businesses to change the way to sell the product and service to The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 16 17

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cess arrangements. The company has marquee clientele which includes office complexes, global IT companies, hotels etc. Driven by its higher purpose, Avaada has undertaken projects at remote locations like Jayapur, Kargil, Leh, La- dakh, Manipur etc. with objectives of providing energy access to villages, empowerment of women through skill development, promoting primary education etc. Apart from this, the firm runs a massive outreach program at its solar power plant sites through its CSR work. Mr. Mittal, call- ing himself a social entrepreneur, believes that his success and that of his company is a result of this good Karma. With a low-cost structure and an ability to innovate Avaada is uniquely placed in India. In its endeavor to reduce costs and increase efficiency, the company lever- ages technology advancements extensively. Aided by technology upgrading and decline in prices of components, the firm has managed to decrease its cost from Rs. 15 crores / MW to Rs. 4 crores / MW. A PROMISE OF A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE THE ENTREPRENEUR BEHIND AVAADA’S SUCCESS Mr. Vineet Mittal, who is a Harvard alumnus, has always been an inherent risk-taker. His first venture was a dot com company, which he sold off to venture into the field of BPO. His successful enterprise became a role model for all other IT entrepreneurs, being a pioneer in its field. In the clean energy industry, as Welspun Ener- gy’s Co-founder, Mr. Mittal built a solar portfolio of 1 GW and successfully exited the venture with a sale of entire portfolio to Tata Power. Avaada through a dedicated R&D and Innovation team studies and analyses the trends and technological advancements of tomorrow, so that the company stays relevant and can provide the services to the clients at the most competitive prices. At Avaada, the leadership has foresight and risk appetite to identify and adopt the latest trends and technologies which translates into making right investments for company’s future growth. “ Think so big that you get scared of your own dreams Vineet Mittal, AVAADA Group Subsequently, Mr. Mittal went on to establish Avaada, which has become one of the fastest growing renewable energy companies in India within a very short span of time. Avaada believes that team members are the heart of an organization. Without the heart functioning properly, the system might collapse. The company follows three principles to get the most out of them: • What gets measured, gets managed, gets delivered. • Inspect what you expect. • What gets rewarded, is what gets repeated. COMPANY OVERVIEW Avaada Energy is a part of AVAADA Group and is one of the largest producers of solar energy in In- dia. It was established in 2017 by Mr. Vineet Mittal (Chairman and Founder). “AVAADA” is derived from two words - Ayurveda (science of life) + Vaada (promise), and thus the enterprise stands for promise of a sustainable future. One of the pioneers in the field of renewable energy, Avaada was founded with a philosophy of making the world a better place. The spirit of entrepreneurship is inherent in Mr. Mit- tal, who believes in a purpose-driven life, and in creating and building up newer things. “I always strive to do something innovative, something that has never been done before, and could be a path-breaking thing for my country and for the industry,” he says. The organization takes pride in delivering as per the commitments. This kind of delivery has been possible due to a dedicated and well-aligned team which shares a common vision and has grit and determination for achievement of goals Mr. Mittal is passionate about the cardinal principle of “World with us and World without us”as way of life. He believes human beings must examine their actions and goals in life through the prism of impact that it will have on society and nation. Under the leadership of Mr. Mittal, the firm’s journey started as Welspun Energy in 2011 with the installation of 15 MW Solar Plant in Kutch region of Gujarat. This was followed by commissioning of the then Asia’s largest and World’s second largest solar project of 151 MW at Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh. The assets developed under Welspun Energy were monetized in 2016 through a deal with Tata Power valued at US $ 1.4 Billion. This deal created an enormous value for stakeholders and investors and it is still is one of the largest deals in field of renewable energy in India. Avaada commands wide respect from its stakeholders which includes its customers, banks, investors, regula- tory bodies and Govt. agencies. The firm has been a pre- ferred borrower for investment community because of its strong project execution capabilities, impeccable debt servicing record, and professional leadership team. As a result, the organization has got repeat investments from reputed institutional investors like ADB and DEG. He believes, “You have to work first for the goodness of the nation, then the society, then the community, and then that of yourself.” Avaada was established in July 2017, and by 2020, it is already a 1 GW company. In the next two years, Avaada will be a 5 GW company. Mr. Mittal’s aim is to make it into an 11 GW company by 2025. He believes, “Think big, and bigger things will happen to you and your organization.” At Avaada, there is a core belief that enterprises must be driven by higher purpose and has accordingly iden- tified welfare of society and development of nation as its higher purpose. The firm gives precedence to social and environment returns over financial returns which are measured through a well laid down framework. The work environment at Avaada keeps reinforcing the higher purpose of organization and motivates the team members to tap into their unlimited potential and provide exceptional results. this is translated into- accomplishment of multiple tasks which were deemed impossible. Under its new Avatar, Avaada Energy, the firm has scaled up rapidly and within 2 years of establishment, it has ~1000 MW of capacity under operation with another 3000+ MW of assets under different stages of implementation. The firm is one of the largest suppliers of green energy to government agencies like NTPC, Solar Energy Corporation of India and Discoms, which constitute 60-70% of the total business. The firm also offers renewable energy solutions to corporations by supplying energy directly to them through open ac- An inspiring, liberating message he has for everyone is, “Don’t get scared by the challenges that come your way. We are all born with unlimited potential; when we set up dreams that are big, the entire world and environment helps us achieve that dream. It has to do with a person’s own positivity: if we are positive and we believe in ourselves, nothing can stop us.” Embracing positivity and gratefulness, The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 21 20

for employers to fill their open requisitions efficiently. The business was founded as he saw an opportunity to start a recruitment consultancy specifically focused on the mid-to-senior section of the market. For clients looking for talent the market is polarised with database-driven recruitment firms supporting the lower end of the market, often working with ‘active’ talent and utilizing online advertising mediums. The more senior-end of the market is occupied with search firms, who often provide an inflexible, lengthy and costly solution. AxmiYaN HR Solutions Pvt Ltd Search & Staffing (HR Consultant) EXPERT HIRING SOLUTIONS AxmiYaN AxmiYaN is on a journey that connects their clients’ goals and the candidates’ careers. ing, Media and Entertainment, Education, etc. It provides credible and consultative resourcing solutions to mirror the ever-changing needs of the clients. COMPANY OVERVIEW AxmiYaN HR Solutions Pvt Ltd was established with the aim of providing to companies the most-suited professionals, by deeply understanding the requirements of clients across every possible functional area. No small feat to accomplish, AxmiYan nevertheless aced the challenge. Established in 2012, it is now working on a pan-India basis with leading companies with a global employee strength of 100+ - 350000+ employees. Some pointers that make them better than most and accelerate their hiring activity are: • Ramping up the client’s social media presence • Giving proper education to recruiters in their respective domain • Balancing both the candidate and client experience – the key to success • Diversity in hiring as the key focus • Mobile recruitment, which continues to rise • Working with Artificial Intelligence AxmiYaN has a unique, “human” approach to recruiting. Before hiring, the company endeavours to know each candidate thoroughly. They have an extensive screening process that includes a detailed phone screen, and an in-person interview held in their office. Exclusive to their process is the time that they take to ensure the candidate is introduced to the entire Permanent Staffing Team. More- over, they also provide comprehensive skill assessment, Client and Candidate Debrief, interview preparation etc. They continue to provide clients and candidates with professional guidance and support, and it has undoubtedly been the foundation of their success. AxmiYaN is an ISO 9001:2015 certified Search Firm based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. It is a professionally managed HR/Recruitment services firm with practices spe- cializing in IT/ ITES, BPO, PEB Industry, Automobile, Agriculture, Telecommunication, Pharma & LifeScience, Healthcare/Hospitals, Travel and Tourism, Manufactur- AxmiYaN has kept ahead of the technology curve as well, by its use of data analytics, AI-based Recruitment, use of smartphone to access candidate databases, targeted advertising, and so on. It not Sangeeta DasGupta AVP Talent Acquisition only has excelled through the use of latest technology, it also offers exclusive services that distinguish it from its competitors like providing customized recruitment solutions, a more connected and informed workforce, candidate-centered approaches, completely digital recruitment, extensive market and recruitment knowledge, employee branding, etc. market with these as there are more than thousands of established and new entrepreneurships in India and across the world, which always keep an eye out for new recruitment companies to support them in their hiring process. AxmiYan provides a myriad of relevant services to their clients, of which the core services include: • Executive/ Leadership Hiring • Contingency Search • Project Recruitment • Professional Resume Writing Solutions • Recruitments for Start-up ACHIEVEMENT AND AWARDS AxmiYaN has made its mark in the industry, and some of its achievements that prove this fact are: • It is an ISO 9001: 2015 Certified Company • Awarded by Silicon India as Best 50 Start-up to work for in 2017 • CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION from Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion as Start-up by Gov- ernment of India in 2018 • Member of Indian Chamber Of Commerce, Kolkata • Certificate of Recognition from India’s 5000 Best MSME Awards in 2018 • The Founder, Mr Abhranshu DasGupta, awarded as 30 Most Powerful Men in Business in 2018 by Insights Success • AxmiYaN HR Got Best Recruitment Partner–Lead- ership Hiring from their esteemed client Teleperfor- mance India in 2019 It is all too common for companies to be making several mistakes in their recruiting process, because of lack of efficiency during the recruitment process, inability to use data effectively, reaching passive candidates, high level of at- trition in recruiters, reactive hiring, etc, but AxmiYaN has successfully conquered these challenges inherent to the HR industry and has made quite a reputation for itself. It takes a special blend of skilled personnel, processes and technology to consistently deliver results—and that is what creates the difference between AxmiYan and other consulting firms. AxmiYaN has proficient recruiters and a culture based on teamwork. They have a huge network of candidates and an ongoing research effort that identifies talented candidates not actively involved in a job search. They have an infrastruc- ture that allows them to quickly and easily share this information with their clients. The workings of AxmiYan are intricate and detail-oriented. To cope with these challenges, AxmiYaN targets people with five to ten years of industry experience, who wish to return to their hometown, since they often have strong skills and are less likely to jump to another organization in a short time. Also, the applicant pools shift, and so the technology that shapes their hiring is upgraded and the pace gets faster and faster to keep up with a digitally-forward world by staying extremely data-centric. They focus on hiring innovators and keeping up with economy-related news. KEEPING AHEAD OF THE REST Being a company renowned for honesty & integrity, AxmiYaN thrives on long-term relationships. It takes pride in the fact that most of its clients have been with them for over eight years. The idea for AxmiYaN HR Solutions was first conceived back in 2012 by Staffing & Recruitment industry expert Abhranshu DasGupta. AxmiYaN has also been involved in CSR activities since the year 2018, by providing medicines and other useful materials to an NGO Based at Jabalpur. The future in the recruitment industry as a startup prom- ises a ‘sky is the limit’ opportunity, if a company is able to create a notable personal brand, a sophisticated network, has a strong recruitment & marketing team and uses the latest recruitment methods. It can survive very well in the After founding and growing AxmiYaN, it became clear to Abhranshu that with hundreds of thousands of search firm recruiters in India alone, it was becoming more of a challenge With a glorious success story back in India, they are now planning to expand their services to Singapore and Mid- dle East Countries. Abhranshu DasGupta Founder & CEO The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 22 23

The Meaning Importance Of Digital Transformation insight, businesses can optimize their plan and process for an even greater outcome. It can bring huge changes in two specific things which require most – costs and revenue. one new tech in a specific area may require a new system in other parts of the area. For example, A higher and faster computer a bigger server. in order to get consumer’s behavior patterns, relevancy, real-time feedback, and others, data-driven requires. This can be attained by utilizing structured (Personal customer information) and unsaturated data (Social media metrics), which can be filtered out from a large amount of data. For instance, A customer on weekends and looking for a product that you sell, if you get them and you send a message about that product, they are going to buy it. In this way, you can build a bond between you and your customer Putting new tech in the workplace is easier said than done. You need to come out of your comfort zone and change the old traditional work. There was a time when businesses, as usual, was often good enough, though, every era has its buzzwords. The era we live in is everything interconnected, equally outstanding, performance is getting perfection. There’s only one space left to innovate in you. You are the main point of the raging tornado of change fuelled by digitization, Augmentation, mobilization, Automation, and a whole lot. Today, science fiction is about to become science fact. Think about a self-driving car, the computer can learn your behavior and act. Transformative technologies are bringing major changes in many aspects of business and even entire industries, just like the 18s when steam engine and electrification innovation revolutionized whole sectors. Sound’s amazing, isn’t it? but it may create problems for a lot of businesses. As per John Chambers (CEO of Cisco System) “At least 40% of all businesses will die in the next 10 years if they don’t figure out how to change their entire company to accommodate new technologies.” Importance of Digital Transformation Of course, digital speed would be much faster than a traditional one. The digital transformation can bring success for your business largely because of the speed of accuracy, especially when digital disruptions are giving strong competition in the market. Now you might confuse about that so let’s know about their benefits. #1 offers a great and new experience to the customer Today there are so many similar products available on the market, it is very difficult to differentiating completely on prime offer. This is why customer experience alone has emerged as the new battleground for getting explicit differentiation. In fact, the consumer looks at it as the core criterion while buying stuff and making a decision to buy one. They want to know everything about the product. Many studies found that around 85 to 95 percent of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand. #3 Easier Collaboration Digital transformation makes it easy to get the exact information at the same time, which eases the work environment and productivity. Enabling businesses to overcome “us vs. them” mindset, transformative tech can become a major mover of smooth collaboration. In short word, digitalization is critical to the survival of businesses –not merely because of vitality that it offers to a company by upping its operational efficiency, but due to its capability to let a business act proactively by having the right decision as well. But, in spite of such kind of resounding affirmation from the leading lights of the market, around 34% of organizations have owned a digital transformation. So what is it? Digital transformation makes sales and marketing more operative and effective. A salesman team can get a list and the marketing team can unitize those lists of data to draw insights and make a strong plan about the targeted users. Just like CRM Tech which can track historical client data related to interaction and interest. What is Digital Transformation? Digital Transformation is a strategic planned organizational change, which begins by empowering teams with a unique technique to create a highly responsive strategy and fearless culture of innovation. Fundamentally, it is a way of changing how the business operates service and value to users or consumers. Here, digital transformation can offer a quick boost to the enhancement of consumer experience. In this way, the company can have real-time and cohesive communication with users. AI-powered chatbots can reduce consumer issues faster than ever - it can give you a positive vibe about your brand in the market. The only way to enter the unexplored market is to get new users. It starts with identifying the area and dividing it into a sperate section according to market place the new products. Moreover, if this is supported by sound data analysis and immediate access to demographic elements, the entire process of market penetration can become Hassle-free, which is great for your business Moving to new technology, implementing digital services, or even truing workload into cloud computing architectures, it isn’t that easy. Often digital transformation involves scrutiny, reinvention, and even creation of new jobs at an organization. A company must have great employees with great skill sets. Suppose that your company pivots toward data to be a big part of the business model, then you need a data protection person. Digital transformation is used as a cover term to define multiple upgrades within an organization. You may be implementing new tech in the workplace, but it could impact many different areas of your business. Adding Moreover, you can use the device or new tech to locate the consumer exactly in the shop and send the relevant marketing message base upon the service or product that is near to them. It will prove to be a millstone for businesses, and you can earn more trust from users. #4 Helping Employees To Be More Effective Workforce engagement has become a hot topic. Employers are exploring new ways to improve productivity; here digital tech is helping employees to become more effective in their own roles. Transformative technology offers a valuable opportunity for the main business function like finance and HR, to get away from manual and automate areas like payroll, offer wider business opportunities. Today a lot of employees are working remotely and giving better products rather than being at the office, it is possible because of digital transformation. #2 Data-Backed Decision Making Peter Drucker “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.” to make sure that each function is performing well at their level, you require numbers to relate with the high benchmarks. Leveraging the power of digital provide you the authority to track metrics and analyze the collected data during the time. On the basis of this precise and timely The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 24 25

In the words of Mr. Ajay Sundaram, CEO and founder of BrandBall, “We saw the strength in one another. We saw the belief we had in ourselves and all the stakeholders. And before we knew it, BrandBall was registered. Somewhere down the line, I think, it was the desire to experiment and create an agency set up which caters to client’s need differently and in the long run creates value for the society and impacts. We are just starting out. With the right people, we will grow to be an organization which takes care of every stakeholder.” When It Comes To Communications, They Never Drop The Ball “Currently our strength lies in ATL, BTL /Experiential, Digital and creative solutions for both Urban and Rural space. Our strategy towards solution approach is extremely simple. We follow the ‘media first’ model of development of message. In today’s time, it is important to customise the message as per the media, not the other way around.” Adds Mr. Snehsikt Anand, Co-founder and Head Strategy. You have an idea. You translate it into a vision-mis- sion statement. You create your company, your brand, your dream. You do the groundwork; you do the high pitches. And yet, something falls short. The engagement graph doesn’t rise, the media stats don’t really do justice. And the world hasn’t heard of what you have to offer. Yet. Below is Their Brief To Execution Model The Company Shared With Us; Does this situation sound familiar? Are you looking for a partner who will take your brand to the au- diences it deserves? Do you feel that a simple ‘cut- and-paste’ job won’t cut the clutter as far as you’re concerned? HOW DO YOU TAKE SUCH RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES TO YOUR ADVANTAGE? Technology is unavoidable. It infuses every dimension of our life. As the years go by, this will get better and better. The business techniques that were once great, may become obsolete tomorrow. If the organization doesn’t use the right tool to promote itself, the right channel of communi- cating its product to the right audience at the right time, it will surely be left behind by one of its competitors. Intrigued? Want to know more about this promising company? We had a conversation with founder to bring you some exclusive insights on who they are, how they work and what they believe in. Here’s a quick glimpse. Then it’s time to heave a sigh of relief and let Brand- Ball do the heavy lifting for your marketing communications. A team of highly creative people, bound together by industry best practices, come together in this firm to give your brand the push its been looking for. WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU SEE IN INCORPORATING AND SUS- TAINING THE BUSINESS? Challenges for an entrepreneur is never ending. It evolves with the life stage of the organisation. For a start-up like us, the top challenges we are facing are, It is all in the mind. The day you get scared of tech changes; our existence will be threatened. It is impera- tive that we exercise knowledge-sharing, keep ourselves updated about the changes in technology and understand what can be adapted in our industry. We also par- ticipate in several sessions with our partners, industry seminars and workshops ensure that we are updated and aware of the changes in the tech world. BrandBall is an omnichannel agency or in other words, an integrated agency. Headquartered at Mumbai, the company has three satellite offices taking care of North, East, and South. The 15-member strong team draws on its decades of experience in brand management. Honed over the years by working on different brands and categories, their varied skillsets complement each other, leading to communication solutions that are strong, rooted, creative and intuitive. Finding the right fit is always a challenge. We are constantly on the lookout for people who think and act like entrepreneurs. And we are very strict about it. Our people are our resources, our biggest assets and the most important carriers of our philosophy. They are basically our extension. At this time, we are building the organization block by block. Snehsikt Anand Co-Founder & Head Strategy Ajay Sundaram WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO WHEN FACED WITH CHALLENGES? To overcome challenges, we have margdarshaks and men- tors who have made a meaningful impact on the industry. We also look up to the failed entrepreneurs. The failed entrepreneurs are the ones who actually teach us in terms of what should not be done. We believe it is better to learn from failures than success. It will bring in grit and determination and experience in our work. Don’t think that we do not look up to the success stories, but that is from the view of what can happen. In short, we believe in Murphy’s law, ‘Nothing is as easy as it looks. Everything takes longer than you expect. If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong… and at the worst possible moment’ and we plan to be prepared for it. CEO Secondly, finding the right fit with the clients are always a struggle for a start-up. I will never blame a client for playing safe by going forward with an organization that has been in existence for some time. After all, their money and finances are always a very rare and monitored commodity, especially in the current economic scenario. The clients know us and have worked with us in the past, but BrandBall is a new en- tity for them and convincing them of our philosophy is a struggle. energetic company was born over an overzealous discussion and cups of cutting chai at the local tea stall. When we asked the founding members, what led to the idea, their answer was prompt. They were bored and bothered by the way the industry was working – cut, copy, paste. They were looking for something different. And right then, it occurred to them. Why couldn’t they be the difference? That was how it all began. BrandBall offers a range of services in ATL, BTL / Experiential, Digital and creative solutions for both urban and rural markets. The company, however, does not provide mass media buying and PR solutions. Their strategy is simple. Customize the message to the media, not the other way around. This enables them to come up with fresh communication while optimizing different media. BrandBall’s clientele ranges from start-up companies to large financial agencies and media houses. Once they had decided, BrandBall immediately came into existence. However, while conceptualising an organization was relatively simple, the brass tacks needed to be put in place. Sustaining and staying true to their philosophy would take effort. BrandBall took about a year and a half to get the right partnerships. Today, they are proud of their ever-increasing clientele that ranges across turnovers as well as industries. Lastly, getting the right tools as well as business and strategy models is crucial. And doing so in a short span of time is a tough task. Just as there is no fixed solution, there is also no fixed model that we can work with all the clients. We have to be sure of which model we are using to create the strategy. Does it apply to the category and the brand? “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.” We have read this somewhere and we try to imbibe this in our lives to help sail through the challenges. THEIR BELIEF? MAKE A DIFFERENCE, NOT A NICHE. The Making Of Brandball While most companies are born over conversations and cups of premium coffee, BrandBall was true to its essence of being fresh right from inception. This The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 26 27

We started in 2014 with specialization in Actuarials. Over the past 6 years, we have been working on building expertise in the other verticals in a phased manner. We do not enter a new vertical until we are prepared with knowledge and strategies to bring value to our clients. EliteRecruitments: WHAT ADVANTAGES DO ORGANIZATIONS GET IN WORKING WITH YOU? We are professional and make realistic commitments and then work hard to ensure that they are met. We use previous feedback from both the hiring organization and the professionals to find the best fit between an organization and a potential candidate. We work as an extension of the HR team of the organization and provide reliable support on market trends & competitor insights when needed. agencies, we don’t just look for relevant keywords in the resume, we try to understand the combination of technical & behavioural skills that are needed for the position. That is part of the reason why our CV screening ratio is very high. Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) has reported that recruiters led to more than 1 million permanent and temporary placements in 2017/2018. REC has further predicted that in 2019/2020 more than half of all open vacancies will be filled by recruitment agencies. We have a dedicated team of consultants, holding rich experience and expertise in their respective industry verticals. They enable us to deliver the best talent to our clients. Our experts constantly interact with the candidates, supporting our clients right from listing and to the final positioning of candidates for mid to senior-level positions, across various fields of our expertise. From identifying prospective candidates to selling the company’s vision and securing the new hire at the right salary level, we’re experts at making sure our clients recruit the right people. You may have known that, at a basic level, the idea of a recruitment agency is to assist job seekers to find new opportunities while helping organizations get the most suitable person for their open positions. Unfortunately, very few of us know all the other goodness that comes along with a recruitment agency. FROM A JOB SEEKERS’ POINT OF VIEW, HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE PROCESS? Our consultants are there at every step throughout the journey of searching for the dream job until the candidate gets one. We present the opportunities that are the best fit for them, arrange & help prepare for the interview, offer career advice, provide regular updates and overall hand-hold the candidate during the process as needed. Here are some advantages you can expect as a company • Makes the hiring process easier and a lot quicker • Gain access to market competitiveness insights • Let you focus on other aspects of HR like resource planning & welfare • Gain insights about people - organization fit • Leverage established relations with a large pool of candidates • Improve conversion ratio through specialized skill assessment • Follow up till the candidate onboards so saves time, resource and energy • HOW STRONG & RELIABLE IS THE AGENCY’S TALENT POOL? Over the years, we have built up an extensive candidate network and each consultant also has a personal network of contacts from which to gauge interest and solicit referrals. Part of the reason for our strong network is that we establish personal relationships with people. We listen and remember what they tell us, give the right advice and keep our commitments. As a result, when people are looking for a new role they prefer to approach us over our competition in the market. HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS WITH CLIENTS? A true testament to this is the fact that we receive 90% of our business from referrals and satisfied repeat clients. We do zero marketing and limited outreaches. We truly consider that we are an extension of our clients’ reputation and image and work meticulously to honor our commitments every step of the way. Our clients appreciate our pattern of going out of our way to help them at their time of need & crisis. IN THIS AGE OF TECHNOLOGICAL BOOM, HOW DO YOU KEEP YOURSELF UPDATED WITH THE LATEST MARKET TRENDS? The technology boom has come now but we have been on it since our inception. We have been extensively using social media for recruitment and were using a much simpler CRM system earlier which now due to the increased demand we have replaced with Recruitech. Shagun Gupta | (Founder & CEO) Here are some benefits for a job seeker. • It saves a lot of your time in searching for different positions • Share their excellent knowledge of the job market • You get access to regular updates & support which is not feasible for HR personnel at hiring organization • Can advise on the suitable openings for you • Gain insights about people - organization fit • Can help in career guidance many major players in the industry in just five years is an achievement. Known for their extensive networks, strong industry knowledge and specialization in both temporary and permanent staffing solutions, the agency aims at creating a tailored, transparent recruitment experience, encouraging honest feedback and continuous improvement in services. EVEN WITH THE MOST RIGOROUS AND THOR- OUGH SCREENINGS, TESTS AND INTERVIEWS, SOMETIMES A CANDIDATE JUST ISN’T THE RIGHT FIT. WHAT IF THE PLACEMENT DOESN’T WORK OUT? While a good consultancy will issue a refund or help find a replacement, we actually take a step forward and work out the reason the placement didn’t work out in addition to finding the right replacement. We have never compromised on quality in order to secure a commission. Our focus is always on finding the right people for our clients with a view to establishing successful long-term relationships Technology, for sure, is the lifeline for a recruitment agency. We keep ourselves updated about the industry through job portals, social media networks and have worked closely with an agency to build a tool called Recruitech that helps streamline our process and automate regular tasks. This helps us to keep an audit trail of past interactions and also focus our time on more thoughtful interactions. Over the years, we have been successful in building up an extensive candidate network. Here’s a quick glimpse of the conversation we had with the Founder that will provide some exclusive insights EliteRecruitments is committed to bringing exactly these above-mentioned advantages to the table. WHAT SYSTEMS DO YOU USE WHEN SCOUTING FOR TALENT? Our biggest strength is keeping ourselves updated on the latest industry trends and actually learning about the skills we are hiring for. Unlike most of the recruitment WHAT INDUSTRIES DOES THE AGENCY SPECIALIZE IN? We specialize in Actuarial, Analytics & AI, Financial Services, Risk Management, Insurance Services, IT and Management Consulting. Committed to bringing opportunity & talent together, EliteRecruitments is nominated amongst the top 20 BFSI recruitment companies by Silicon India. For a company to start with no connections and rise up to work with so The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 28 29

AN AUDACIOUS ENTREPRENEURIAL VOYAGE Initially, the company started its business with random products, which brought them small profits. But post- 1993, they came across a Swiss Trading firm, Louis Drey- fus (dealing in Coffee), which was looking for associates and partners in Bangalore his product into the market. The market had no competition, in herbal products for homecare segment. This opportunity was grasped by the founder and with exclusive technology from CIMAP, they developed “JUSTSPRAY” the brand’s herbal mosquito repellent spray launched in July 2011 - 2012. After representing them for 14 years, they wanted to establish themselves in India and as a result, they lost the agency in 2008 . The founder wanted to start his own manufacturing unit but was in a dearth condition. 99% of the revenue that came from the Coffee business was vanquished due to the detachment from the agency. However, after 6 months, in Dec 2011 the company in- curred yet another huge loss. Their herbal repellent stopped working! The company found that the aromatic oils were adultered by suppliers after 4th batch of its sup- ply. Further, they noticed a leakage in the spray pumps. As such, they had to take back their products. This made the founder dejected and nervous as he was unable to find the direction, to continue his entrepreneurship. But the sheer dedication and strong will empowered him to push ahead. The brand tied knots with CSIR-IIIM Jammu to do quality control of their aromatic oils and crafted relations with reputed vendors in North India. Strategi relaunched its product in 2013, correcting their mistakes and finally built a successful market for the product. Following this accomplishment, the company conceived 48 more products in the following years. The company has instilled a core philosophy to assure that all their products are 100% natural. A TRUSTWORTHY NAME IN THE HERBAL HOMECARE SPACE Following in the year 2008, Mr Thomas suffered an upper respiratory infection and a severe Asthma attack. During his discharge, he was advised by doctors to utilize mosquito nets instead of chemical vaporizers and the curator was very claustrophobic towards it. He looked for alter- native solutions and finally contacted his colleagues at the Punjab Agricultural University. From here, he was referred to CSIR-CIMAP Lucknow, which was one of the frontier research labs of CSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology, in India. Here he met and discussed with the scientists about the need for a spray, which could keep away mosquitoes for 8-12 hrs in a room. They gave him 10 formulations for field testing. Further, they told him about the various breeds of mosquitoes in India (400) and each state which has 150-200 breeds. Kerala is the only state which had all the 400 breeds. F plants and animal wastes. These herbal merchan- dises are deliberately replacing their chemical counterparts and have acquired a sustainable position in the market. rom a primordial age, plants have been one of the prime sources of crafting domestic consumable products. The core substance of many currently used products like insecticides, mosquito repellents, manures etc. are evidently found in the Herbal Strategi is an ISO 9001 certified brand, which produces some of the best-in-class herbal homecare products. The brand has seen the test of time and through its unconquerable experience of 7 years, has become one of the favourable brands in the segment of herbal home care products. He was advised to do his research there and after doing field trials for over 18 months he came across a formula- tion, which acts on 91% of the breeds. This was the first product conceived by Strategi. During this time, he came across a startling observation. 70% of people, strangely, ignore the adverse effects of chemicals repellents. The balance 30% of which 65% were of new-age mothers were the only conscious ones of its harmful effects, especially on infants. This was the wake up call for bringing John Thomas |Director PREVIEW OF THE BRAINCHILD Strategi was born in 1991 and company was focused in sourcing coffee beans for a reputed trade house in Europe.It was in 2011 that the company journeyed through other segments and started focusing on replacing the chemical products in the Homecare segment. With the transition in time, people are steadily shifting from chemicals to herbal products, which proves that a wide proportion of customers have shifted from negligence to awareness. This opportunity was grabbed by Mr Thomas. Through his brainchild, he has brought a wide variety of consumable products that fall under six categories namely - Herbal repellents. Herbal Cleaners. Herbal Fresheners. Herbal Hygiene. Herbal Fogging Solu- tions and Herbal Pet Care. Mr John Thomas holds an MSc(Hons) from Punjab Agriculture University in Aquaculture and an MBA from Cochin University. He has also attained an expedition of a decade in marketing across various companies. The curator confirms his entrepreneurship as a journey with multifarious challenges. He has faced daunting tasks, failures, had self-doubts and occasionally was let down by his closest. On the contrary, his journey portrays the successful small steps and strides he took towards giving his concept a structure. The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 32 33

have rather than what you don’t. By focusing on what you have, you can stay positive and motivated all the time. Moreover, you won’t have doubts about yourself. Keep smile running marathon. But it isn’t. it is about doing a lightly strenuous activity to get oxygen your blood and improve endorphins in your body. By doing exercise on a daily basis, you will get several benefits, including have mental clarity, manage metabolic syndrome, improve blood pressure, and many others. “A Smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.” Many studies have found that people who smile are happier in life. DR. Sivan Finkel (A cosmetic dentist at NYC) said: “Even forcing a smile can legitimately reduce stress and lower your heart rate.” In this way, you can find emotional, mental, and spiritual peace-of-mind over time. 10,000 steps every day Most of us all have heard that people should strive to take 10,000. But where did actually this recommendation come from? 10,000 steps come from Japanese pedometers in the 1960s under the name “Manpo-Kei,” which means “10,000 steps meter,” Since then, researches have been compared between 5,000 and 10,000 steps of health benefits. Of course, the higher number is better. The physiology of our bodies orders the psychology of our minds. So, when you do an undesirable thing or frown that convey a sense of depression and unhappiness, your mind gets pick cues and go through with them. However, once you switch your outward appearance by consciously adjusting yourselves, your inside of feeling will follow. 20 According to UC Davis Integrative Medicine, the goal (10,000 steps) has shown so many benefits. It can improve Chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart-related issue, and many more. BEST HABITS TO HAVE IN LIFE Start the day with a healthy breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It means no matter how busy the schedule you have. Don’t try to avoid. Many reports show that the majority amount of people skip their breakfast. So why is important? Make “To-Do list” Having a lot of tasks, it is natural to slip some tasks from your mind. However, it may cause problems in the future. As we all know that this disorganized habit isn’t appreciatable in professional life and personal life. So, if you have such kind of habit, then I insist you make a “To- do list”, in this way, you can clear your whole task. Sarah Elder(dietician) explained “The body uses a lot of energy stores for growth and repair through the night,” Many research shows that skipping breakfast has been its link to obesity. According to BBC, a US study has analyzed the health data of 50,000 people over seven years, they found that those who made breakfast were more likely to have a lower Body Mass Index (BMI). So, do consider having breakfast before heading to the office. This kind of habit won’t take much effort. Make a “To-do list” before going to bed so that when you wake up in the morning, you can see what kind of thing you have to do start with and end with. This habit has owned almost by every single successful entrepreneur. Supplement with needed Vitamins and minerals. In a busy life, we have a lack of necessary vitamins and minerals in our body. Processed and refined sugars, carbs and other foods are making the problems worse. In this way, we don’t get a healthy amount of nutrients in our bodies regularly. Drink Water with lemon This habit can improve your health level. This citrus fruit is a natural source of Vitamin C, it offers so many benefits like promotes hydration, support weight loss, improve your skin quality, improve your digestive system, and many more as per research. Having the best Habit in our life can shape up the direction of our lives. Many studies have determined that approximately 45% of everything we do every day is driven by our habits, it seems more crucial. But what is a habit? People who follow it, they are good at dealing with negativity. Beside it, keep you healthy, and make you more proactive, conscientious, and persistent. In such cases, you should find good sours of vitamins and minerals that can consume per day. It is easy to avoid this. But the feeling after months of doing this daily is wonderful. It aids us to improve other area lives by offering emotional and physical clarity. So, if you are not a morning person, use an alarm to wake yourself up in the morning. Over time, you will get used to it. Even you can start a morning routine with only water. As you know that Our body is composed of about 60% water. It flushes any toxins from your body system. So if you don’t have this habit, start from today. According to Duke University research “Habits are automated response dispositions that are cued by the aspect of the performance context.” It can be learned by doing it on a daily basis. It means, everyone can achieve it. Focus On What You Have. We all human spend the majority of time immersed in our problems. But you need to also know that problems are also part of our life, and it will vanish with your soul. And if you would like to switch your focus away from your problems, then you should always grateful for what you have. Of course, even for your problems. Time management, Time management is a very essential skill for everybody that enable us to work smarter. It refers to a way that we organize and plan how long we give on specific works. If you have one, you can win any battle in the world, but if you don’t, then build this skill as soon as possible because it offers enormous benefits like Grater productivity and efficiency, less stress level, improve opportunities for advancement, and many others. Exercise per day So, do you want to feel stress-free, have more energy? Then do exercise every day. The benefits of regular physical activity or exercise and both are very hard to avoid, regardless of age, sex, or others. In order to succeed in any area, you have to have great habits. This is why I am going to share 20 best habits. Let’s how much you already have got. Wake Up In The Morning We must have read in childhood “Early to bed and early to rise makes and man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Gratitude is one of the most powerful qualities we can possess. That changes our attention towards what you Most people think that doing exercise or physical activity means going to the gym, or heavy weightlifting or The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 34 35

Make Time For yourself. Save Steadily, invest prudently No good habit list is going to complete without having a habit of saving and investing. We often give priority to the present necessity rather than saving for the future because we are so busy living in the present moment. But you need to know that saving money can save your life.” As we all are familiar with lockdown, the saving money is helping us a lot right now.” So, if you don’t have a habit just like that then improve it as soon as possible. I highly recommend you find time to read books every day, and also consider a paper-based book, it can offer a lot of information rather than 15 min summarised books. You can enjoy reading books while having coffee or tea. People have been told that we have it all – community involvement, kids, careers, relationships, and many others. But all too often, having it all these won’t give us time for ourselves, especially women. The lack of time of yourself can lead resentments that create negative consequences in your relationship. If you want to avoid irritability and control emotion, then you should schedule some “Me Time” per day. It’s not always about money and other achieving goals. In “Me time”, you can do crazy things that you love so much doing it, you can listen to music, walk in the park, go for a drive. Be sure that you always carve out some time for yourself in the day. Value Sleep. Everyone needs a healthy amount of sleep. But in a hectic life, getting an ample amount of rest would be difficult, especially if you have high profile jobs, and kids, and other obligations. However, if you care enough about your physical well-being as well as your future success, then do focus on seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep each day. If you are having an issue with falling asleep, don’t touch coffee or caffeine especially at night time. Also, if you are habitual of more sugar, smoking, having alcohol, you will find difficulty getting in the bed. Avoid those and sleep well. Read b ook But it’s not just about saving. You also should consider to invest the money that you save, and do wisely. The more attention you give on this, the more your future life will be financially strong. More importantly, before investing money, you should make sure to have a minimum of 6 months worth of saving in your account to prevent any potential finical calamity in the future. People who have been reading books have a great IQ level. So, do not forget to read books. Once Joseph Addison said “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” our top entrepreneurs like bill gates, warren buffet, Elon Musk believe grew up with reading books. By reading the book, you can bring an idea to solve real-world problems. Network by looking for who you can help In order to succeed in any sector, you should rich out to others – as you know that is very important. But networking isn’t about labeling up a name; it is ways that you can help and improve value to the lives of others. A successful networker in the world doesn’t focus entirely on themselves at the outset. They always look for ways to help others without thinking about anything. Keep a Journal Life is an endless journey and every day begins a new chapter in our life. Every day something happens with your life which brings your joy or makes you feel worse. So, do you have details? what is going in your life, what you have done in the past few months? Confront your fear Fear is one of the biggest enemies for our life that can create a lot of problems in professional as well as personal life. When we go for an interview or client deal, we are so worried and nervous about it. There is a lot of stuff going on inside of our minds at the time. If not, then this may be the right time to start journaling that captures every moment of your life and every single thought that crosses your mind. Journaling allows you to write down your thought and experience about specific things which can help in the future goals and aims. In this way, you won’t repeat your mistake. Writing a journal can give several benefits, including personal growth, Tap inner Creativity, and many others. So, what can you do? well, my advice would be, live life with the present movement it means, prepare yourself for the client – what they are going to ask you that’s it. I know it would be hard to ignore the first time, but you need to know that you have to start doing it somewhere, why don’t you start from today. Keep adding new skills. Having a wide range of knowledge can improve your professional as well as social lifestyle. In order to achieve that, you should keep acquire new skills or enhance the existing skills that you have already. Less thinking, More Doing: Develop the Action Habit. “one day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now”- Paulo Coelho ” Eating a balanced breakfast helps to up our energy, as well as protein and calcium used throughout the Having a different kind of skills make you a distinctive person. In new skills, you can learn a new language, programming, and many others. Every single one wants great advice but nobody takes action. If you reduce the time you spend deliberating in half and spent the time enthusiastically doing what you want, how much further you would be, have you ever thought? So, use your smart brain to take action instead of thinking too much. Seek Inspiration In human nature that sometimes you feel super excited about your goal or sometimes you get demotivated. But in order to achieve a dream goal, you have to stay motivated for a more considerable amount of time, otherwise, you may lose hope. So, how many habits above do you have already got? are there any bad habits that stop you from achieving any semblance of success and happiness. if the answer is yes, then replace it with a good one. I know it is hard, but believe me, once you improve, you will feel proud of yourself. night.” So, what can you do? well, you can read an inspiring book, watch inspirational videos, and if you have a mentor, ask them, how they handle the situation. It may help you a lot to stay motivated. ” The CEO Story The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 36 37

The CEO Story INDIA | WWW.THECEOSTORY.IN | SPECIAL EDITION | JUNE 2020 40

The Editors Choice An Inspiring Entrepreneurial Journey

The Editors Choice An Inspiring Entrepreneurial Journey

Presentation Transcript

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