Following is an interview between The Business Fame Magazine and Gargi Limaye CEO & Founder, who shares her journey and contribution through Eduwrite.
Q. Brief us about your journey and tell us why and how you chose to venture into your respective industry.
To start with, the Eduwrite journey begins from January 2013. With two office tables and six student chairs, we started our German voyage. Nine years later, today I have many stories to share but shall brief in short. Precisely my career in education sector started in the year 2009. My first job at IMS Learning Centre, Pune was the turning point of my life. During my tenure as a Counselor, I felt the need of learning psychology subject and eventually I completed my second degree in the same. Simultaneously in June 2010, I joined Mahavir Pratishthan, Pune as an English and Robotics Trainer. Here I came across my teaching skills which built confidence in me and made me think out of the box. Later a year, I received a call from Elixir, Pune for the post of an English Trainer. Without giving a second thought, I grabbed the opportunity.
Having versatile experience in three different firms of the same field, awakened the Entrepreneur in me which gradually gave birth to Eduwrite. Since childhood Linguistics attracted me. Having good command over three languages since birth, I was encouraged by my guides and mentor to opt a foreign language as an extracurricular activity in the school itself. Fortunately, I was offered German Language at the age of 11. I enjoyed learning the subject. During my graduation, I chose to complete some professional levels of German Language on hobby level. Basically, I am an Electronics and Telecommunication Engineer. Technology also fascinates me till date. By God’s grace I landed up in a combined field of Language and Technology which happens to be Overseas Education and Foreign Language Learning.
Q. What were the challenges you came across in your career as a business leader?
“Every day is a new challenge, which I take as an opportunity” I just don’t say this but follow. Without Investors and self-funding, made marketing my major challenge. Being passionate about teaching and carrying unique skills, mouth publicity helped me survive in the initial days. For about first 6 months it was an one man army show.I played the role of a counselor and a trainer at the same time. This period was pretty tricky but interesting.
Q. How do you diversify your organization’s offerings to entice the target audience?
As a guide or a mentor, we support in building one’s career and not just one subject. Personally, we cater the journey of an individual for education overseas. The learning strategies made a usedat our organization are absolutely unique and stand out in the markets.
The organization is opened from 6:30am till 11:00 pm which gives a chance for a huge crowd to find a suitable and available time. Well qualified trainers, easily approachable Admin, well versed Counselors with appropriate knowledge, perfect learning ambience with well-equipped classrooms makes learning here easy and interesting.
Q. What unique ideas have you implemented as a leader of your company that makes it different from competitors
Being into service sector we need to be updated with the latest technology and latest knowledge of the relevant fields. We organize workshops for our team members where they are updates with the minute details. Transparency in our work is one of our major USP. From the day we have started, we have been truthful to our
clients and team members which apparently gave a fruitful result to both of us. Our whole team has been very flexible in case of time with our clients. Every minute detail is considered while taking any decision or providing any service at our center. For maintaining the quality of the Institute and making learning more effective, we organize various social and cultural activities within the premises for enrichment of our students. “Affordability” being the primary concern of everyone today we have been always providing our services at a much economical price. The word Foreign or Overseas Education itself sounds very expensive. This balloon of illusion kept students and parents way from many opportunities, Fortunately I was capable to crack it and reach out people wit varied opportunities available abroad at a budget friendly price.
Q. What is your take on a positive work culture within a team or an organization and how do you bring a positive work culture within your organization?
Each employee needs something different from you. Some need you to be more hands on, others more hands off. Some need recognition, others respect. Some want smiley faces in emails, while others run at the mere sight of an exclamation point. When it comes down to it, I am able to adjust our employees’ work and communication styles. My employees count on me. They know I have their back; they’ll take more risks and produce better work. When I managed a support team, I would always hop on a ticket to mitigate if a customer became aggressive. Because my team knew I was there to do so, they started to be more assertive with their responses, which usually took care of any issues–and in the end, I had to intervene less and less. Because they knew I was there as a backstop, they went out of their comfort zone.
Q. How do you strategize on scaling your career and your company in the future?
Today’s competition is fierce, and entrepreneurs must do everything they can to succeed. You might be sure that your products and services address client needs. Still, finding the proper strategyfor scaling your business from small to a globally visible go-to authority is another topic. These scaling strategies differentiate a small business, a startup or a profitable organization.
The company believes in a holistic approach towards scaling and hence, both horizontal and vertical scaling is vital to ensure sustained growth and achieve all-round success. Sometimes, both co-exist at the same point in time while at times the company has taken a focused approach towards one at a time. It has a strong focus on the services and geographies it caters to and has made sustained efforts towards increasing the number of clients.
It has also undertaken launching of new services, such as Overseas education and IELTS The company has also set up an in-house research centre to help stay abreast with the changing technological trends and future market demands.
Here are its top priorities as it initiates a new scale up; Proactive communication with the team: They should be the first to know the company’s vision and plans. It implements this through regular management team and senior leadership team meetings, ensuring that everyone stays on track. Developing the team: The company hires recent graduates and has an in-house training center which focuses on regular training of all its employees. It breaks down projects into smaller tasks, identifies efficient team members and delegates work accordingly. Once the team members are identified and allocated the tasks, the company empowers them to perform their tasks in the ablest manner. To keep them engaged and motivated, it has started a new initiative where employees can share their moments spent in the organization on their social media channels
Q. What would your advice be to the aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders of tomorrow?
Being successful often means learning from those who have already achieved their goals. Having a mentor is an amazing blessing to an entrepreneur, but not everyone can find one in person.
1. Challenge yourself. Treat your life as an university education, where you can learn something new every day.
2. Do work you care about. There’s no doubt that running a business take a lot of time. But i feel that the only way to be satisfied in your life is to do work that you truly believe in.
3. Take the risk. We never know the outcome of our efforts unless we actually do it. I wouldn’t regret failure, but I would regret not trying.
4. Believe in yourself.As Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.” Believe that you can succeed, and you’ll find ways through different obstacles. If you don’t, you’ll just find excuses.
5. Have a vision An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a desire to create it. Keep your vision clear at all times.
6. Face your fears. Overcoming fear isn’t easy, but it must be done.
7. Take action The world is full of great ideas, but success only comes through action. The easiest way to get started is to quit talking and start doing. That’s true for your success as well.
8. Manage energy, not time. Your energy limits what you can do with your time, so manage it wisely.
9. Learn from mistakes. Many entrepreneurs point to mistakes as being their best teacher. When you learn from your mistakes, you move closer to success — even though you initially failed.
10. Learn from complaints. Bill Gates once said that your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. Let unhappy customers teach you where the holes in your service are.
11. Spend wisely. When you spend money on your business, be careful to spend it wisely. It’s easy to spend too much on foolish things and run out of capital too soon.
12. Deliver more than expected. It’s a great way to get noticed in your industry and build a loyal following of advocates.
