Running a business is challenging to say the least. Even the most seasoned entrepreneurs can flounder at times. Meeting growth targets can be difficult and often business leaders could use some help to accomplish their goals. Kiran Ajwani, Founder and Chief Coach at The Growth Factory, subsidiary of Innoesis Business Management Private Limited, has been providing mentoring to businesses for the past decade from Mumbai.

Kiran left a successful career in the private sector when the itch of entrepreneurship got too great and he realised his passion lay in assisting businesses to grow. He has worked with 100+ SMEs in his first decade of operation. He believes that business coaching should be just as prevalent as sports coaching.

In conversation with GlobalLinker (GL) Kiran Ajwani (KA) shares his entrepreneurial journey.

GL: Tell us about your business. 

KA: I had a 10 year corporate career with blue chip MNCs prior to establishing my venture. During my career, I realised my inclination towards developing business strategy and influencing mindsets to embrace and create change.  I was fortunate to participate in the turnaround of a business division for Johnson & Johnson, which reinforced for me that business transformation was a major interest area. When this became loud & clear, I decided to leave corporate life & start on my own. And for the last twelve years I have been offering my services as a coach & mentor to business leaders grappling with change & business transformation.  

GL: What are the challenges you have faced in establishing your business?

KA: Most of the challenges have been internal – dealing with my own expectations from my venture and my own mindset. A few that are top of the list are:

• Dealing with the “fear of the unknown” –  For a first-generation entrepreneur, this whole journey is scary because it goes into uncharted waters. Dealing with the new reality that your income is variable while expenses are fixed requires almost a sublime effort to believe in yourself and your abilities to generate and grow your income. What made it tougher was that I took this step when my family was just growing and personal expenses were only going to go up.    

• Realising that for a business to grow, talent is insufficient. It also requires capital to be invested at regular intervals. The fact that the amount of personal capital invested reflects the entrepreneur’s commitment & confidence was an insight that really set me free at some stage of my entrepreneurial journey.

• A minor third challenge was getting used to the fact that I no longer had a corporate brand & corporate resources behind me – this reality surely derails & deters many corporate professionals from establishing their own ventures and I had to cross this hurdle as well.   

GL: Do you believe that the ‘ease of doing business’ in India has improved?

KA: I think ‘ease of doing business’ is surely improving thanks to use of technology by most government departments. Recently, a client of ours formed a new company and the entire effort was led by a fresh graduate. It did take a couple of months from start to end but the fact that the process could be handled by a fresh graduate indicates that its getting simpler.    

GL: What is the USP of your business?

KA: Our ability to influence business owners to make the ‘right moves’ to make their businesses stronger and more capable.

GL: What are some of the milestone of your business?

KA: Engaging/immersing with over a 100+ SME businesses in the first decade of our existence.  

GL: What role do you feel GlobalLinker plays in connecting & assisting SMEs?

KA: It is a great initiative by GlobalLinker to provide a platform for SMEs & business owners to establish meaningful connections. With GlobalLinker, a lot of business relationships among SMEs can be triggered off.   

GL: What is your big business dream?

KA: My big business dream is to make a significant contribution towards making business leadership coaching as accepted & recognised a practise as sports coaching.  

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

KA: Entrepreneurship is not for the weak hearted, so be ready to discover ‘who you really are’.

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