Brief Introduction about yourself and tell us something about Able Ventures? I started Able Ventures in 2009 literally from my dining table. Prior to starting Able Ventures, I worked with GE Countrywide and Travelex among other companies. Having led large teams across multiple locations, I realized that the biggest challenge organizations face is “people”. I designed innovative solutions for managing multiple teams and the clients started liking our ideas. Now we have over 40 clients across India with offices in Mumbai & Chennai. We have created our own online assessment platform – Delta V. We have increased productivity of teams by as much as 36% in 3 months. We are, perhaps the only home-grown firm in India with the capability to design and run psychometric assessments, training solutions and post training support services.
How can someone start the same business as yours in terms of capital investment and other initial requisites for a start-up? Initial start-up doesn’t need much capital. What counts are your ideas and your execution capabilities. However, scale up does need 6 months working capital at any given point of time. One must also understand the business challenges and trends in the industry.
Please share your future goals for Able Ventures. Our vision is to be the foremost company in India in assessments & training solutions.
What all challenges did you face while starting Able Ventures and what were your strategies to overcome them? Being in the corporate service business, the foremost challenge is to convince the clients about your own credibility, relevance of ideas and the impact that we could make on the client’s business. Now that we have worked with some of the biggest clients in India – the credibility issues are sorted. We are constantly exchanging ideas, looking at other industries to understand how they assess like reality shows and come up with fresh ideas. We run multiple simulations to understand business impact before recommending any fresh approach to our clients.
What's your opinion about whether women can have it all? I believe that every human being - man or woman can be everything that they want to be. Its upto each one of us to realize our potential each day. Women especially need to believe in themselves, aspire big and be ready to put in the hard work. The problem with the current generation of women – is the belief that “things come easy” – which pulls them away from hard work and dedicated time to build a better life for themselves.
What piece of advice would you like to give to the aspiring youth who wish to pursue their dream of becoming an entrepreneur? My advice – Don’t wait for the right idea to come along, start with the right intent, eventually one of your business ideas will click. Most importantly do your math before starting the business, its important to know and understand your market size, customer needs, and profitability before you hit ground zero.
According to you, what are the top three essential skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur? Hard work, dedication and willingness to let go – These three attributes are required for success. One should stay rooted to the intent of the business one starts, but one should also be willing to let go when ideas don’t work and start afresh.
How have you managed the work-life balance and has the family been supportive? I firmly balance that women can’t separate work & life – both are so inter-twined that it’s an act of synergy more than balance. For instance - I took my three months baby along with my maid for my first 5 day training program – I did it because I wanted to. Nobody asked me to do it. Don’t depend on somebody to help you and take care of you – you need to build that system around yourself. I am grateful to my husband and my family who have rallied around whenever I have sought help.
What can best empower the women of India– education, politics or business? Education is the most important piece – education opens up a whole new world and like they say “you educate a man , you educate an individual; you educate a woman , you educate an entire family (nation).” Education empowers, liberates and moves a woman and her family to a whole new trajectory.
