In my quest for greatness as an entrepreneur, I know that accomplishments and changes are just two steps toward achieving life's higher goals. It is the process of continuous improvement that makes success complete and propels me to reach the highest bastions of excellence in my country.
The finance business in India is both a challenge and an opportunity. It is a challenge because there are too many players willing to fund nearly anything and everything at the lowest possible interest rates. This makes competition tougher and unbalanced as players start to defy convention to get business. It is an opportunity because everybody is increasingly becoming conscious of their state of existence; they want to have the best of things even with limited resources. That is where I come in.
I made the conscious decision of merging my company with another so that I could become a small part of a large pie instead of remaining a large part of a small pie. This merger provided us with a much larger market capitalization. Almost overnight, our joint entity became a force to be reckoned with. We were able to borrow at a much lower rate and our bargaining power increased, thanks to our increase in size. The merger has resulted in the formation of a US$1.5 billion asset company with more than 4,000 employees.
Leading affairs and managing the total operation of this newly formed company is a wonderful learning experience. I’ve discovered that technology is a must to grow your business. I’ve also discovered that size matters. I started thinking big, and my whole thought process changed. In all, the two factors that have determined the success of my business are sound management principles and quality human resources. Both need to work in harmony to achieve success in totality.
During the years, I have seen how the management order has changed from being one of control to one of delegation. Organizations are accepting this change and gradually shifting over to the “teamwork” model, which allows employees to better integrate with corporate objectives. As an entrepreneur, I have always relied on teamwork, because it provides avenues for a more holistic growth.
I keep coming back to the concept of change, since it is one thing that is constant in today’s world. Everything else seems irrelevant. If I hadn’t learned to adapt to and embrace change, my business would have been left behind in the business wake. It is this change that is compelling organizations like ours to look for innovative models of growth. Knowledge and its application are certainly the key elements of corporate growth, which remains the core values of my organization.