Mohammed Mubin Mallick: On the Forefront of Robot Solutions and Services
Please tell us about your educational/professional background. Who inspired you to become a business leader? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? I, Mohammed Mubin Mallick, am the CEO and Founder of Kiran Smart company in Kuwait, Dubai, and India. I am an innovator of Humanoid Robot Services and the Founder of Mi-Robots Company registered in India. Holding a Master’s Degree MBA from Cardiff University, UK. I have several professional certificates under his name. It was one of the childhood incidents that inspired me to be an Entrepreneur and be a leader to help others not only in business but in their personal life as well. Every journey has good and bad highlights so let me start with bad highlights first because they helped me forge my path to success. During the journey, I lost my father, lost money, was cheated several times, failed myself many times, and sacrificed a lot in my personal life. But I flipped the coin and built trust. People started recognizing me. I excelled in business. I have loyal customers and employees. I am able to expand my business in India and Dubai (UAE). I have bagged many awards for being advanced in the robotics field. Today, I am recognized as one of the Top Influencers in the field of robotics. When was Kiran Smart established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company? Kiran Smart was established in the year 2019. We have IT solutions and services but in the recent year during COVID-19, we have diversified to Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, and Digital Transformation. Headquartered in Dubai, Kiran Smart is always different than its competitors offering because we always introduce advanced new technology and innovative product so that customers can be ahead and up to date with the latest technological solutions and services offered by us. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? The present scenario of business will vary from business to business. So if I share about my business then it is different than others as our core business is robotics services for different industries and the demand is increasing daily. Other than this we are also into IT solutions and services which is the ongoing business for us from past few years. Customer preferences keep changing from time to time as per the latest trends in the market and in terms of advanced technologies as well. So customers always prefer something innovative as well solve the problem. Previously, customers used to focus on resolving the issue but now the preferences have been widened in terms of innovation, technologies, quick services, and 24 hr availability. What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company? At present, we have one unique challenge which is Post Covid 19 recovery because this challenge is not only for us but it is for the whole world and it has affected every business. Financial-wise and work-wise it has affected our company but not to a very high extent as we have deployed the advanced technologies, especially robots to overcome these challenges. We were quite successful to overcome these challenges with our robots. What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements? Our working style is like a family in our working environment. Also, our working times are flexible. We offer employees their preferred time to work where they can have much more productivity. So as a holistic situation it helps to remain motivated and also increases productivity. We always think in a positive way so whatever criticism or disagreement comes from our customers we always take it as tips or lessons for ourselves to improve it and develop it to be better in the future. Because we believe that everyone is not perfect and from mistakes only we can learn to be better and better in our services. What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies? It is very simple for us. We just listen to our customers carefully so that we can deliver the best solution as per the customer’s problems defined. Customer feedback is very important because it helps us to make a better strategy whether it is related to competition, market trends, customer demand, customer satisfaction, or employees’ services to customers. So for us, the feedback of customers is very important because it helps us to grow and develop. Are you planning to launch any new products/services or advancements to your existing offerings? If so, we would like to know about it. Yes, there are many but all of them are robots for different industries and verticals. We cannot disclose the information due to company policies.
Winston Weber: Pioneering Organization Restructuring With Expert Consultants
Management refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization. It is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization. So does Winston and his team attempt to balance costs with revenue to achieve the highest net operating profit possible. Winston Weber, Founder and CEO of Winston Weber & Associates (WWA), a leader in management consultancy, creates a framework for managing the effect of new business processes, changes in organizational structure, or cultural changes within an enterprise. We at Fortunes Crown got into conversation with Mr. Weber to know more about the company and how it is helping the businesses and individuals as a whole. Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? I am viewed by many in business as an icon with high expectations and leading-edge thinking. I introduced retailer/supplier partnering, now referred to as collaboration, to the industry in the late 1980s and Category Management to the U.S. in 1990. I introduced the new beyond Category Management business model Shopper-Centric Retailing in 2019 and the new Change Enablement Training in 2022. I love helping companies improve their competitive position in the marketplace, influencing the future of the grocery industry with new, highly productive concepts and upgrading company work environments that encourage open discussion and leading-edge thinking. Our clients view me as one who “says it as he sees it”. While many may think I may lead a life totally involved in business life, I should mention that in 2022 I am celebrating my 56year marriage to my wife Linda. My family is equally important to me. Please tell us about your educational/professional background. How was your life before WWA? After I graduated from Syracuse University in 1962, I spent my first 23 years working with leading consumer products companies including Colgate Palmolive, General Foods, Beechnut Baby Food, Sunshine Biscuits, The Drackett Products Company, Schering Plough and Atari. The first ten years were spent with two major companies, moving up quickly from Retail Salesman to Sales Supervisor, District Manager and Regional Manager Positions. These were excellent corporate experiences that taught me a lot, but I wanted more. I felt too limited and wanted corporate cultures that would enable me to drive change designed to improve the work environment and overall company performance. Leaving General Foods, I obtained my first Vice President Sales position in year eleven and for the next thirteen years, my titles included Vice President, Senior Vice President, Executive Vice President and President of Sales. During this period, I accomplished my objective of having the latitude to make changes designed to improve performance. In the first company I tested and expanded nationally a plan that eliminated expensive Baby Food Company shelf-stocking across the industry. At my next company, where we were losing money, I restructured the sales and distribution organizations from direct store to warehouse delivery. This immediately moved the company from a several million-dollar loss to several million-dollar profits. This move also helped us gain market share. At my next company, I was briefly Vice President Sales before being promoted to President of Sales. I made a number of organizational changes including moving women and black Americans into management positions for the first time. Considering this was 40+ years ago, this was well ahead of when most companies made similar moves. While this was an excellent experience, and I would have stayed longer, I was approached by another company, Atari, with an employment package I could not resist. As Senior Vice President Sales, I was hired to bring in consumer products retail channel experience and to make major changes to the Sales Organization structure and business processes. This was accomplished. My final corporate experience was as President of the Schering Plough Sales Corporation, where similar changes were made. Briefly describe your company and the products or services you are offering. I decided it was now time to leave a single corporation where I could contribute to the growth of many companies and also contribute to driving change throughout the consumer products industry. This led to my decision to start Winston Weber & Associates, Inc. in 1985. My goal was to form a small “boutique” consulting firm with a global perspective that would provide leadership thinking with practical, implementable solutions to grocery retailers and consumer package goods companies. I wanted to employ a controlled growth strategy with an emphasis on providing more value and client return on investment than very large consulting firms staffed mostly by junior consultants, many with minimal business experience. This has been accomplished and maintained during our 36 years. Our senior consultants must have at least 30 years of business experience in general management, retail management, sales management, brand management, or supply chain management in the consumer products industry before joining WWA. I expect them to bring a unique blend of skills, expertise and a “real world” business perspective to each client assignment and are ideally suited to deal with companies trying to leverage leadership positions in the marketplace as well as turnaround situations. Importantly, whatever the situation, we have an in-depth appreciation for the need to focus on running the business while changing the business. This ensures the achievement of near-term performance targets while changing the business. More value and client return on investment mean an uncompromising emphasis on quality and trust, a “say it as we see it” approach and the ability to consistently exceed client expectations. These qualities and our dedication to providing leading-edge thinking with implementable solutions have helped us to achieve our goal…this is our reputation today. Going back to your early career decisions, tell us what factors influenced your decision to be an executive in the grocery industry. During my senior year in college, I spent a considerable amount of time interviewing every company that came on campus. Considering my degree is in the social sciences, I was very
Mohammed Mubin Mallick: On the Forefront of Robot Solutions and Services
Please tell us about your educational/professional background. Who inspired you to become a business leader? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? I, Mohammed Mubin Mallick, am the CEO and Founder of Kiran Smart company in Kuwait, Dubai, and India. I am an innovator of Humanoid Robot Services and the Founder of Mi-Robots Company registered in India. Holding a Master’s Degree MBA from Cardiff University, UK. I have several professional certificates under his name. It was one of the childhood incidents that inspired me to be an Entrepreneur and be a leader to help others not only in business but in their personal life as well. Every journey has good and bad highlights so let me start with bad highlights first because they helped me forge my path to success. During the journey, I lost my father, lost money, was cheated several times, failed myself many times, and sacrificed a lot in my personal life. But I flipped the coin and built trust. People started recognizing me. I excelled in business. I have loyal customers and employees. I am able to expand my business in India and Dubai (UAE). I have bagged many awards for being advanced in the robotics field. Today, I am recognized as one of the Top Influencers in the field of robotics. When was Kiran Smart established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company? Kiran Smart was established in the year 2019. We have IT solutions and services but in the recent year during COVID-19, we have diversified to Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, and Digital Transformation. Headquartered in Dubai, Kiran Smart is always different than its competitors offering because we always introduce advanced new technology and innovative product so that customers can be ahead and up to date with the latest technological solutions and services offered by us. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? The present scenario of business will vary from business to business. So if I share about my business then it is different than others as our core business is robotics services for different industries and the demand is increasing daily. Other than this we are also into IT solutions and services which is the ongoing business for us from past few years. Customer preferences keep changing from time to time as per the latest trends in the market and in terms of advanced technologies as well. So customers always prefer something innovative as well solve the problem. Previously, customers used to focus on resolving the issue but now the preferences have been widened in terms of innovation, technologies, quick services, and 24 hr availability. What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company? At present, we have one unique challenge which is Post Covid 19 recovery because this challenge is not only for us but it is for the whole world and it has affected every business. Financial-wise and work-wise it has affected our company but not to a very high extent as we have deployed the advanced technologies, especially robots to overcome these challenges. We were quite successful to overcome these challenges with our robots. What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements? Our working style is like a family in our working environment. Also, our working times are flexible. We offer employees their preferred time to work where they can have much more productivity. So as a holistic situation it helps to remain motivated and also increases productivity. We always think in a positive way so whatever criticism or disagreement comes from our customers we always take it as tips or lessons for ourselves to improve it and develop it to be better in the future. Because we believe that everyone is not perfect and from mistakes only we can learn to be better and better in our services. What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies? It is very simple for us. We just listen to our customers carefully so that we can deliver the best solution as per the customer’s problems defined. Customer feedback is very important because it helps us to make a better strategy whether it is related to competition, market trends, customer demand, customer satisfaction, or employees’ services to customers. So for us, the feedback of customers is very important because it helps us to grow and develop. Are you planning to launch any new products/services or advancements to your existing offerings? If so, we would like to know about it. Yes, there are many but all of them are robots for different industries and verticals. We cannot disclose the information due to company policies.
Gagan Arora: From Transforming the Industry to Building an Empire
Gagan, is a first-generation software entrepreneur, a tenacious leader, and a tech evangelist who has successfully built himself as a well-known brand name in the industry. He is Boston University Certified and the seven-time recipient of the BEST CEO award. He is the Chairman of the Foreign Investors Council’s Delhi Chapter and the Director-Global Education for the Asian Arab Chamber of Commerce, servicing 52 countries. Mr. Gagan Arora, Founder and CEO of Vertex Group, is a pioneer in providing aided sales and marketing services to BPOs, BPMs, IT solution providers, and financial and accountancy firms. What’s the inspiration behind Vertex Group? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? I have spearheaded Vertex Group‘s expansion into six countries in just five years, earning numerous honors including “World’s Greatest Leaders 2021-22”, 40 UNDER 40, and Asia’s Youngest Entrepreneur by Asia One, which was highlighted on CNBC and ET Now. I have also been named as one of India’s Top 100 Influencers by GMI and Forbes two times in a row. I am usually inspired when the utterly impossible becomes possible by embracing the challenge with a never-say-die mindset, no matter how difficult things grow. My desire to prove myself has driven me to build the best work environment possible, expand, and spread our message around the world. If I hear a story from someone who has overcome the odds, worked hard, focused, fulfilled on their word, and has been relentless in changing the world to make it a better place, I feel unbelievably inspired and uplifted. Three words that describe my entrepreneurial journey are Upward, Learning, and Evolving. Since the inception of my journey as an entrepreneur, I have been upward with the challenges coming my way considering my setbacks and failures as new learnings that allowed me to evolve and create a bigger picture of my vision. Deprived of any financial or psychological support, although my circumstances were homeless my vision was not. I had a crystal-clear vision of setting a trend of innovation and technology by using the best of my day-to-day business knowledge. To give wings to my passion I took a leap of faith and left my job, sacrificed the comfort of a monthly salary and perks, and invested money to achieve one true dream. Success to me came in the form of waves that had highs and lows but my keen determination to not settle for anything less kept me going despite a few initial failures. With a strong vision and the will to transform the industry, I laid the pillars of my dream in a small garage in Florida with a team of two, and have since, expanded my footprints across seven countries with a powerful workforce of over 1500+ people. Now, as a President of the Group and a leader, I have taken all of my experience and learnings to make a huge impact, growing my current company from 2 employees to more than 1500, with international offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Philippines, Nepal, Middle East, and Africa. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? With the increasing demand for technology, India’s IT solutions sector has the potential to become the world’s next space center. Advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and others have shrunk the distance between the virtual and real worlds, resulting in an interoperable platform between Information Technology (IT) and actual physical activities. Over and above past human-machine interactions, machine-machine real-time communication is now conceivable. With the rise in processing capability of the chips, visualization and simulation tools have advanced significantly. A wide range of complicated, customized, and modular goods can be designed and immediately conveyed to the machines that will follow. Thus, embedded systems, factories, and workers link via the Internet of Things to collaborate in a cyber-physical environment. Society is rapidly moving from analog processes to digitalized technologies which have opened new ways for businesses to improve and evolve together with their customers. Also, it offers the possibility to link the worldwide economy and build a network in which every business can find its place. Your smartphone is a perfect example of digital transformation. It allows you to use different digital services like socialmedia, which are yet an example of digital transformation because they have changed our way of communicating with each other. Big dataor machine learningare other examples that are especially relevant for businesses that want to learn more about their customers. They offer completely new perspectives on your customers’ behavior that you can use to grow your business. With digital transformation businesses are taking an important step toward getting to know customers better.Pen and paper are outdated. Today you can collect important information via smart applications that offer endless possibilities. Customers’ expectations have changed, thus traditional marketing channels like PR and distribution are starting to lose their impact. Social media is critical for both marketing your items and communicating with your customers. Customer care is now available not only by phone and email but also through social media. As a result, customers have come to expect significantly faster responses to their inquiries. It would not be inaccurate to argue that digital transformation serves as a vehicle for taking your company to the next level. What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company? With the changing business environment, no industry is immune to unknown difficulties. The Covid-19 pandemic has built a new reality that is complex, ambiguous, and full of possibilities. Uncertainty regarding the future is one of the most pressing issues we face today. The unprecedented waves of Covid-19 have had a negative impact on employees’ physical and emotional well-being, as they are constantly threatened by the loss that pandemic uncertainties could have on them and their families, thereby hurting employee productivity. The work-from-home culture necessitated that corporate culture is built in
Mohammed Mubin Mallick: On the Forefront of Robot Solutions and Services
Please tell us about your educational/professional background. Who inspired you to become a business leader? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? I, Mohammed Mubin Mallick, am the CEO and Founder of Kiran Smart company in Kuwait, Dubai, and India. I am an innovator of Humanoid Robot Services and the Founder of Mi-Robots Company registered in India. Holding a Master’s Degree MBA from Cardiff University, UK. I have several professional certificates under his name. It was one of the childhood incidents that inspired me to be an Entrepreneur and be a leader to help others not only in business but in their personal life as well. Every journey has good and bad highlights so let me start with bad highlights first because they helped me forge my path to success. During the journey, I lost my father, lost money, was cheated several times, failed myself many times, and sacrificed a lot in my personal life. But I flipped the coin and built trust. People started recognizing me. I excelled in business. I have loyal customers and employees. I am able to expand my business in India and Dubai (UAE). I have bagged many awards for being advanced in the robotics field. Today, I am recognized as one of the Top Influencers in the field of robotics. When was Kiran Smart established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company? Kiran Smart was established in the year 2019. We have IT solutions and services but in the recent year during COVID-19, we have diversified to Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, and Digital Transformation. Headquartered in Dubai, Kiran Smart is always different than its competitors offering because we always introduce advanced new technology and innovative product so that customers can be ahead and up to date with the latest technological solutions and services offered by us. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? The present scenario of business will vary from business to business. So if I share about my business then it is different than others as our core business is robotics services for different industries and the demand is increasing daily. Other than this we are also into IT solutions and services which is the ongoing business for us from past few years. Customer preferences keep changing from time to time as per the latest trends in the market and in terms of advanced technologies as well. So customers always prefer something innovative as well solve the problem. Previously, customers used to focus on resolving the issue but now the preferences have been widened in terms of innovation, technologies, quick services, and 24 hr availability. What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company? At present, we have one unique challenge which is Post Covid 19 recovery because this challenge is not only for us but it is for the whole world and it has affected every business. Financial-wise and work-wise it has affected our company but not to a very high extent as we have deployed the advanced technologies, especially robots to overcome these challenges. We were quite successful to overcome these challenges with our robots. What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements? Our working style is like a family in our working environment. Also, our working times are flexible. We offer employees their preferred time to work where they can have much more productivity. So as a holistic situation it helps to remain motivated and also increases productivity. We always think in a positive way so whatever criticism or disagreement comes from our customers we always take it as tips or lessons for ourselves to improve it and develop it to be better in the future. Because we believe that everyone is not perfect and from mistakes only we can learn to be better and better in our services. What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies? It is very simple for us. We just listen to our customers carefully so that we can deliver the best solution as per the customer’s problems defined. Customer feedback is very important because it helps us to make a better strategy whether it is related to competition, market trends, customer demand, customer satisfaction, or employees’ services to customers. So for us, the feedback of customers is very important because it helps us to grow and develop. Are you planning to launch any new products/services or advancements to your existing offerings? If so, we would like to know about it. Yes, there are many but all of them are robots for different industries and verticals. We cannot disclose the information due to company policies.
Esther Riveroll: Transforming Data Governance in the Digital Age
A sports lover, trained for a cross country marathon of 45Kms, and passionate about mathematics to keep challenging her brain, Esther at a very young age realized that she was born to be a leader. After graduating high school, she cracked a position at IBM where her path in technology began. She sees failure as learning and an opportunity to do things differently, it is just that you are preparing yourself to grow. Big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning are transforming economies and innovation on a revolutionary scale. They have great economic potential. Indeed, some have already hailed data as “the new oil.” This may be an imperfect analogy, but it does capture the excitement and high expectations surrounding the data-driven economy. The prospect of extracting lucrative insights from rapidly growing pools of data is galvanizing entrepreneurs and investors in all sectors of industry. Esther Riveroll, Founder and CEO at Alldatum Business, brings a sophisticated capacity to collect, organize, control, and commercialize stores of data and intellectual property to help businesses with data governance. She accompanies them on their path to a successful digital transformation getting value on their data, as well as responding to the challenges presented by the digital economy and data management initiatives. Please tell us about your educational/professional background. Who inspired you to become a business leader? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? When I was 18, I studied at the “Colegio de Bachilleres”, a high school in Mexico that gives you a technical specialty and mine was accounting. This school did not have a direct pass to the government universities and my parents did not have the money to pay me for a private university, so I took the exam at UNAM Public school and I was not selected. There were students from another high school who had a direct pass and the career I had chosen which was “Applied Mathematics and Computing” was fashionable, I was not fortunate enough to be chosen. I had to work in the meantime in the Collective Transport System (Metro) for a year. There I realized that I did not want to be an administrative assistant, that I wanted to be a leader of something, and also with everything I saw, I realized that I wanted to help create a better world. After that year I took the exam again and now I was accepted. I taught aerobics classes daily (3 hours) to help my family. I loved sports, I trained for a Mexico – Cuernavaca cross country marathon (45 KMS) and that was my passion. I loved exercise so much that my friend from college was upset with me because I was always doing homework at the last moment. At that time, I wanted to put in a gym and I loved to make people happy through exercise and music which is also my passion. In this process, I had a car accident that stopped for a while the opportunity to continue teaching classes and that was where I received the message that my mission was not teaching aerobics, that I had to start to focus more on my professional career and that was when I tried harder in the University. I love mathematics, to challenge my brain to solve problems, the more difficult I like it and that also I was passionate about. When I was finishing school I wanted to work in a company that was the IT biggest Company, where I could learn more and be challenged. That’s where I found out back then that it was IBM and a friend’s sister took my resume to IBM. I went on a scholarship and that’s where my path in technology began. Since I was at school I always had the opportunity to be a leader. I was a group leader in secondary school for the 3 years in a row, and I loved it because I have the firm conviction that being a leader you can train and help people, and create high-potential teams. My first position as a manager was when I thought I was ready, I asked my manager at IBM what do I have to do to become a manager and he assigned me goals that I met and they gave me a management position. I learned that if you want something you need to ask for it. There is a lot of responsibility in being a leader because you become an example and inspiration for others, but if you do it well, you can create opportunities and a better world. When was Alldatum Business established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company? Alldatum Business is a proudly Mexican company created in 2016. Our passion is to deliver and help customers derive value from their information and collaborate with them on their data strategy. Headquartered in Mexico City, Alldatum brings value to customers by being a business partner that accompanies them on their path to a successful digital transformation getting value on their data, as well as responding to the challenges presented by the digital economy and data management initiatives. We help companies to obtain the best information from their systems, and the vision of the data they don’t have today but need for future growth. create value with this data and thus share this data to the lines of business and the analytical area to make better decisions. We transform the data into wisdom for the companies. Data projects are not only technological projects. Many customers need help to understand all about the data and the best strategy to get value from it. Sometimes their first pain is on the silos and integration of their information, sometimes they do not have the data they need, sometimes they had internal political situations that are difficult to manage, and the owners do not want to share the data, the data is poor on quality, and many other situations. Data projects are
Yasaf Burshan: Inspiring and Empowering Creators to Make an Impact
Israel is a very small country – two hours from Tel Aviv you are on the edge of the country. But due to its position as a global innovation powerhouse, investors from major countries are attracted to it. Identified as a hotspot for collaboration, Yasaf, an innovative Israeli entrepreneur helps businesses thrive through effectively integrating technologies in their education businesses. Yasaf Burshan, Founder and CEO of Team Genius, shares his journey of outgrowing and expanding abroad, connecting people with technology. We at Fortunes Crown got into an interview questionnaire to know more about the company and its impact on ed-tech businesses. Please tell us about your educational/professional background. Who inspired you to become a business leader? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? When it comes to formal education, I’m happy to say that I’ve obtained education in two major fields that I’m very passionate about, Technology and People. I have a BA in business management with a major in Information Technology and I’m a certified project management professional (PMP). Also, I am a certified Clinical NLP master and a graduate of the Tony Robbins platinum partnership program. This combination allowed me to have a very successful career in the traditional IT industry for over 20 years, in which I held multiple senior roles including the head of IT for IKEA in Israel. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? Team Genius’s mission is to inspire and empower creators to make an impact. We work with content and course creators all over the world (majorly in the US, Canada, and Australia) and we help them to unleash their creativity by effectively integrating technology into all areas of their business. Simply put, we keep them in their Zone of Genius, doing what they do best, as we help them create profitable online businesses. As a content creator myself, for my program “Anywhere Boss”, I know first-hand the challenges they are facing, and I’m also inspired by them to become better and better. While I’m still very much in the “tech zone” my ideal customer has changed from the finance/retail/consumer subject matters to the knowledge commerce business. What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company? I think that like most other companies these days working remotely and efficiently is a challenge. At the same time, one advantage we have on our side is that Team Genius was founded as a global organization with team members across multiple locations, so this is built right into our DNA. It drives us to be more open in our communications, efficient in the way we do business, and of course, rely on technology, we do for ourselves what we do for our customers. When was Team Genius established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company? Team Genius was established in 2019. We are a certified Thinkific agency partner, certified Zapier experts and a certified Evernote partner. In addition, we have partnerships with other major brands like Microsoft and Monday that gives us a unique ability to look at our customers’ tech needs from a holistic point of view. We help our customers create profitable online courses, products and membership sites and convert sales funnels, but we don’t stop there. We apply automation and make them more efficient and productive in their business. And on a personal level, I also mentor and coach my customers on how to take things to the next level and build a lifestyle that excites them by becoming “Anywhere Bosses”. What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements? I encourage open and honest communication. It is my responsibility as the leader to make sure that everybody gets heard and to recognize what they have to say. Values and culture are the keys here and it starts with me leading by example, and by choosing Team Members that share the same values. Not the same opinions, the same values. Disagreements are inventible, nor they should be ignored. Every member of the team has the freedom to speak freely. Criticism is fine, as long as it is served as feedback that we can build on and improve. My response is always “bring it on, let’s talk about it so we can get better. What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies? Communication is the key. Customer satisfaction is very important for us and it plays a major role in our growth and success strategies. Customer dissatisfaction is most likely to come when there is a gap between the customer expectation and the result or deliverable. So we communicate clearly from the first step what is to be expected, what is included in the scope of work, the timeline and the expected cost. Then we monitor expectations and communication throughout the lifecycle of the project and adjust as needed. We are not afraid to say that we don’t have the answer to something, and if such cases arise we see them as an opportunity to learn something new with a promise to come back with an answer in X amount of time. Please tell us about the services/products your company is offering? How are they different from your competitors’ offerings? We are certified Thinkific agency partners, and as such, we offer course creation, site-building and automation services. We also support all Thinkific superpowerups, from general consultation to setup and configuration. As Zapier experts, we effectively integrate technology in all areas of our customer’s business. Keeping them in their “Zone of Genius”, doing what they do best; teaching, empowering, creating, leading, and making sure they have efficient processes that are working for them so they can quickly and effortlessly scale. The successful partnerships we maintain with industry-leading vendors allows
Nick Zamucen: Helping People Restore Properties to Pre-Loss Condition
There is nothing closer than your own home, it is a gift you earn and give yourself. It becomes a box of memories of precious moments. Unfortunately, sometimes due to some inevitable disasters people lose their houses beyond restoration. But there are state-of-the-art ways to restore the house environment to its prime historical period. Nick Zamucen, CEO of Best Option Restoration, is committed to helping those in need after a disaster and returning their homes to their original condition. Recently, Mr. Zamucen is being interviewed to share his experience of restoring happiness in society. Let’s have a look! Please tell us about your professional background. Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? I have created four nationally recognized franchised brands. Three of which have been previously sold to private equity companies and now my focus is to build and sell the last one, Best Option Restoration, over the course of the next decade. I live my life with the want and need to help others. Adding massive value to those around me is my passion. I live to be a good leader, a great friend, and an outstanding business mentor for my franchisees. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? The franchised restoration industry has never been in a hotter market. With Billions of dollars in claims being paid monthly from insurance companies, prospective franchise owners want in. Who could blame them? Best Option Restoration is in a fantastic position with its low cost of entry, state-of-the-art thermal drying systems and a management team second to none. We win and will continue to win in this crowded field. This is the industry to be in to build a life-changing business and a substantial income for years to come. What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company? The challenges we’ve had are actually rather opportunities. We continue to have a ton of new franchisee interest in our company. The hardest thing for us at a corporate level is keeping up with demand. We can only take on many units a month and having to put people on a waiting list isn’t fun for anyone. Most stay on the list and wait their turn, a few we lose to competition because they make a side deal and get in for a lesser price somewhere else. I find in business and life, you get what you pay for. Be very careful making deals with companies and devaluing your position. When was Best Option Restoration established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company? Best Option Restoration was established in 2016. We offer Water mitigation, Fire rebuilds, Mold termination, Storm Damage, and Content Cleaning solutions for home and business owners. We’re escalating at our best, hence our name, Best Option Restoration. What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements? We treat everyone like family. Sometimes you’re all on the same page and everyone is happy, sometimes you’re not. The important thing is, not that everyone always gets what they want, but they feel heard, understood, and respected. There will always be criticisms around and negative feedback. All you can do is try to mitigate that as much as possible but always do the best things for the clients. In our case, the clients are our franchisees. Put them first and always do what is right, you can’t go wrong. Everything takes more time than you think it will and problems are going to happen. People tend to think working for yourself is the ultimate freedom, and it can be after it’s earned. Working for yourself is not normally harder and longer hours than you’ve ever had before. You have to stay disciplined, driven, and self-started… every day, not just when you feel like it. What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies? With our clients being our franchisees, it’s pretty simple to ensure satisfaction because we are in communication with them weekly if not daily. Again, we are a family, we’re a close group. There are many times a franchise will reach out to me just to say hi, ask how I’m doing, and how is my family. This means the world to me because I know they care and in turn, they feel comfortable enough with me to be personal. I know I’m doing my job when my franchises are friends, like family, not just unit numbers. Please tell us about the services/products your company is offering? How are they different from your competitors’ offerings? With our propriety thermal technology drying systems, we are state of the art. We aren’t just another, “man with a fan in a van” like our competition. Best Option Restoration franchises dry structures in literally half the time of anyone else out there. There is truly no comparison to what we do. There are some copycats in the field we noticed lately. I look at that as once again I’m doing my job, I’m changing an old tired industry and bringing it into the new century. A century of technology and focused strategy. We are better because we practice being so. We’re just the “Best Option” in a mitigation and restoration situation. Tips for aspirants Problems are going to arise, just out of nowhere, so you must learn to deal with them effectively and quickly. You can’t just ignore problems and think someone else will handle them, not when you’re a business owner, it’s on you…success and failure. The choice is yours.
Colin Brown: Serving Best Vehicle Insurance Against Eventualities
Business is booming and for the first time in two years an Underwriting Agency has made huge advances with many new auto products and services with great ideas, solutions, and technology. The growth in the last 24 months has defied the pandemic restrictions and Colin Brown, CEO & Founder of Stratford Underwriting Agency Inc. shares the same story. There are very few people with as deep an understanding of vehicle insurance as Colin Brown. From emigrating to investing 22 years of his life in a company, Mr. Brown claims to provide services against monopolies in the industry. Please tell us about your educational/professional background. Who inspired you to become a business leader? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? I emigrated from Ulster in October 1973. I had a degree in Geology and Geography from Queens University Belfast. I started my career as a management trainee at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) in January 1974 and the Corporation opened for business in March 1974. I worked at ICBC for 22 years and resigned as Chief Underwriter in 1995. During that time, I became a Chartered Insurance Professional, a Chartered Arbitrator, and also received an MA in Liberal Studies from Simon Fraser University. In 1995, following my resignation, I founded Canadian Direct Insurance (CDI). CDI was the first direct writer in Western Canada and sold optional auto insurance coverage by phone and internet in competition with ICBC which is a quasi-monopoly. At the outset, CDI was a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC. It turned profitable in its fifth year and 2005 was sold to Canadian Western Bank (CWB) for $25 million, or 1.25 of book value. CWB were great owners and after a change in leadership in 2015, sold CDI to Intact (Canada’s largest insurer) for $200 million, or 2.5 times book value. CDI had additionally previously issued dividends of $35 million to the bank already to protect CDI’s capital ratio. It was a massive success. I was appointed Executive Officer of Intact, but I retired in 2016 at the age of 66. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? The auto insurance business in BC is dominated by ICBC. They have a monopoly on “the basic” which is the minimum cover that you have to buy to put a vehicle on the road. They also sell almost 90% of “optional” which are the add-ons for collision cover, comprehensive, etc. That optional market is worth $2.5 billion in BC. CDI had been the largest seller of optional. Following my retirement, I did a little consulting but was approached several times to start another company. I finally did so in 2018 and founded Stratford Underwriting Agency Inc. We are a Managing General Agency (MGA), essentially a wholesaler of niche products that are otherwise hard to find. Stratford started in 2020 with its own BC auto product (CDI 2.0), underwritten by a major reinsurer that I had worked with for 20 years. Customer preferences have not changed in this regard, they still want a viable option to a government monopoly. A better product, more bells and whistles, and a lower price. We sell through a network of 200 independent brokers. What are the prominent products/services offered by the company? How are they different from your competitors’ offerings? Stratford’s two current products are differentiated in price. Both offer products very similar to our competitors but priced better. Our products have better coverages in key areas that make them more attractive and in addition offer better features. This is achieved through smarter underwriting. Our primary product is designed to save 80% of BC motorists on their purchases. Currently, Stratford offers a full-service BC auto optional product and a replacement cost policy for the loss of value on new cars that may become a total loss. In 2021, we wrote a total of $27 million in premium, had revenue of $7 million, and lost $170,00 in our second year of business. We are very happy with that. We will write about $38 million in 2022 and make $1million+ in profit. We are developing two other non-auto products at this time. They will broaden our scope and spread our risk base. What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company? At the time we entered the marketplace, ICBC have declared BC to be a “no-fault” jurisdiction. Essentially cutting out the need for third-party liability cover and reducing the average premium available from $800 a policy to $500 a policy. This was effective May 1st, 2021. Stratford was forced to find a product to replace the lost premium. This was done in short order and a replacement cost policy was added in February 2021 and we sold $10 million worth of policies for the premium product in 2021. Opportunity and agility melded together on that one. What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements? As a company, our system was designed to be flexible. It is in the cloud and supports working from home. We encourage attendance at the office as needed. Staff who can influence key indicators are incentivized appropriately. All staff is bonused on the corporate performance. We have an open office plan which encourages open discussion and deals with any issues as they arise. We have a complaints officer who responds to any customer complaints. What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies? We do have a complaints officer who is charged with dealing immediately with any issues that arise. As we sell through independent brokers, there are few complaints directly to us. Most would be claims disputes and there are formal procedures in place for dispute handling. If there is a consistent valid issue, we are quite at ease
Gagan Arora: From Transforming the Industry to Building an Empire
Mr. Gagan Arora was honored with World’s Greatest Leaders 2021-22”, 40 UNDER 40, and Asia’s Youngest Entrepreneur by Asia One. Recognized as one of India’s Top 100 Influencers by GMI and Forbes. An inspirational journey of a visionary entrepreneur from a small garage in Florida to transforming businesses across six countries through offshore and client services. Gagan, is a first-generation software entrepreneur, a tenacious leader, and a tech evangelist who has successfully built himself as a well-known brand name in the industry. He is Boston University Certified and the seven-time recipient of the BEST CEO award. He is the Chairman of the Foreign Investors Council’s Delhi Chapter and the Director-Global Education for the Asian Arab Chamber of Commerce, servicing 52 countries. Mr. Gagan Arora, Founder and CEO of Vertex Group, is a pioneer in providing aided sales and marketing services to BPOs, BPMs, IT solution providers, and financial and accountancy firms. What’s the inspiration behind Vertex Group? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? I have spearheaded Vertex Group‘s expansion into six countries in just five years, earning numerous honors including “World’s Greatest Leaders 2021-22”, 40 UNDER 40, and Asia’s Youngest Entrepreneur by Asia One, which was highlighted on CNBC and ET Now. I have also been named as one of India’s Top 100 Influencers by GMI and Forbes two times in a row. I am usually inspired when the utterly impossible becomes possible by embracing the challenge with a never-say-die mindset, no matter how difficult things grow. My desire to prove myself has driven me to build the best work environment possible, expand, and spread our message around the world. If I hear a story from someone who has overcome the odds, worked hard, focused, fulfilled on their word, and has been relentless in changing the world to make it a better place, I feel unbelievably inspired and uplifted. Three words that describe my entrepreneurial journey are Upward, Learning, and Evolving. Since the inception of my journey as an entrepreneur, I have been upward with the challenges coming my way considering my setbacks and failures as new learnings that allowed me to evolve and create a bigger picture of my vision. Deprived of any financial or psychological support, although my circumstances were homeless my vision was not. I had a crystal-clear vision of setting a trend of innovation and technology by using the best of my day-to-day business knowledge. To give wings to my passion I took a leap of faith and left my job, sacrificed the comfort of a monthly salary and perks, and invested money to achieve one true dream. Success to me came in the form of waves that had highs and lows but my keen determination to not settle for anything less kept me going despite a few initial failures. With a strong vision and the will to transform the industry, I laid the pillars of my dream in a small garage in Florida with a team of two, and have since, expanded my footprints across seven countries with a powerful workforce of over 1500+ people. Now, as a President of the Group and a leader, I have taken all of my experience and learnings to make a huge impact, growing my current company from 2 employees to more than 1500, with international offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Philippines, Nepal, Middle East, and Africa. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? With the increasing demand for technology, India’s IT solutions sector has the potential to become the world’s next space center. Advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and others have shrunk the distance between the virtual and real worlds, resulting in an interoperable platform between Information Technology (IT) and actual physical activities. Over and above past human-machine interactions, machine-machine real-time communication is now conceivable. With the rise in processing capability of the chips, visualization and simulation tools have advanced significantly. A wide range of complicated, customized, and modular goods can be designed and immediately conveyed to the machines that will follow. Thus, embedded systems, factories, and workers link via the Internet of Things to collaborate in a cyber-physical environment. Society is rapidly moving from analog processes to digitalized technologies which have opened new ways for businesses to improve and evolve together with their customers. Also, it offers the possibility to link the worldwide economy and build a network in which every business can find its place. Your smartphone is a perfect example of digital transformation. It allows you to use different digital services like socialmedia, which are yet an example of digital transformation because they have changed our way of communicating with each other. Big dataor machine learningare other examples that are especially relevant for businesses that want to learn more about their customers. They offer completely new perspectives on your customers’ behavior that you can use to grow your business. With digital transformation businesses are taking an important step toward getting to know customers better.Pen and paper are outdated. Today you can collect important information via smart applications that offer endless possibilities. Customers’ expectations have changed, thus traditional marketing channels like PR and distribution are starting to lose their impact. Social media is critical for both marketing your items and communicating with your customers. Customer care is now available not only by phone and email but also through social media. As a result, customers have come to expect significantly faster responses to their inquiries. It would not be inaccurate to argue that digital transformation serves as a vehicle for taking your company to the next level. What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company? With the changing business environment, no industry is immune to unknown difficulties. The Covid-19 pandemic has built a new reality that is complex, ambiguous, and full of possibilities. Uncertainty regarding the future is one