VISHAL CHOPRA -BUSINESS CONSULTANT-DATA ANALYTICS -MUMBAI -MAHARASTRA-INDIA

Q1. What is the story behind your Brand name / Logo? Until now, I never felt the need for creating a logo or a particular brand for myself...

Q1. What is the story behind your Brand name / Logo?

Until now, I never felt the need for creating a logo or a particular brand for myself. As a freelance consultant, I have always shared a personal equation with my clients. So I prefer to have just my name in my client's mind.

Q2. Did you start this business, or is it a legacy of generations?

I started my freelance service of Data Analytics, Business Intelligence & MIS Reporting in 2016 after selling my Timber Start-up. I began as an independent consultant and have grown to a team of four independent consultants to support my services. Being a relatively millennial industry, I started with a vision and now hope to leave a legacy for my children.

Q3. What inspired you to start this business/ entrepreneurship?

Even as a student, I was solid with numbers, especially statistical tools. My job assignment with Lehman Brothers, an investment banking firm based in London, further enhanced my skill set. My superiors taught me the importance of examining the minutest of details and determining a pattern out of it. To date, I carry those learnings in both my professional and personal decisions. This passion for playing around with Data inspired me to venture into the field of Business Data Analytics.

Q4. Kindly introduce us to your business, products and services. [Max 8 to 10 lines]

We help enterprises make data-driven decisions by identifying Data Points and then creating Analytical Metrics and MIS Reports. With the help of Business Intelligence tools, we can help organisations formulate strategies for faster growth.

We majorly work in 5 verticals:

1. Sales Analysis: Examining sales volumes broken into regions, channels, distributions, customer segments, etc.

2. Process Automation: Using excel tools to simplify and expedite business operations without spending on additional software

3. Financial Analysis: Assessing the viability, stability, and profitability of a business, sub-business, unit or a project

4. MIS Reports: Ensuring a systematic approach to examine weekly/monthly expenses and costs incurred at various levels

5. Process Documents: Listing the steps and methods covering every detail for critical business processes in a hardcoded way.

Q5. What kind of challenges did you face while starting/doing business?

The biggest challenge that I face is the lack of acceptability. Organisations are reluctant to let a business consultant help them improve their business. Often during my sales pitch to a potential client, they retort by saying they have been in operation for decades and know their trade very well. They cannot accept that an outsider can ever understand their business, let aside teach or correct certain traits or strategies.

Q6. What financial challenges did you face during the start of your business, and how did you manage them?

Mumbai is an expensive city. The cost of having an office space could be exorbitantly high. Having your own office also attracts few additional costs like essential office staff; electricity expenses and others.

Being an independent consultant, I started on my own without any staff or employees. Further, being a freelancer helped me in saving the office and its ancillary costs.

Today, even with a team of 4, we use co-working spaces to meet clients and coffee shops for our internal meetings and discussions. The work from home concept might be new for many, but we started this practice in 2016. It kept our expenses under control.

Q7. Share with our readers your most inspiring moment in this journey of entrepreneurship?

The first Covid lockdown in 2020 hit us very hard. Within the first 60 days, 8 of our clients terminated our services. They were non-operational due to severe restrictions and non-movement of goods. We were pushed back to the starting line.

However, things improved once we started networking in business forums. We started getting inquiries from random connections to help them strategise their business operations using Data analytics. Soon, it was like the entire world was beginning to realise the importance of making data-driven decisions. The pandemic, which initially seemed like doom, gave us the opportunities to help businesses get on track and optimise them for the future.

It was inspiring to have experienced the golden proverb: Behind every dark cloud, there is a silver lining.

Q8. Who is your role model in your personal and/or professional life?

No doubt that success in life profoundly correlates with developed leadership qualities. I often look up to such leaders to influence me in my personal and professional life. One of them is Robert Kiyosaki, a businessman, writer, speaker, and public figure, whose business philosophy had an immense impact on me. His book 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' has shaped the way I think about life. The nuggets of wisdom right from experiences making you more innovative and giver's gain to hard times bring new opportunities have been the blueprint I've based my business on to date.

Q9. What are your future plans? Or what is your vision for the next five years?

The current pandemic has sent a lot of business plans for a toss. Many businesses are struggling to survive. We see ourselves on board with 12 retainer clients within the next 30 months and helping 25 businesses with short to medium time-frame projects. We would require expanding our team strength to 9, which is what we are working on presently.

Q10. What are your Core Values in Life?

Core values are like a compass that helps you make the right decisions and good choices. Integrity & learning are 2 of them. In search of an alternative to corporate vendors, many clients turn to freelance consultants, just like us, to source products and services. That's why it's even more vital for us to operate with integrity and meet that demand.

Secondly, lifelong learning has helped me discover and apply my natural talents. For instance, it is only through life's experiences that I found my analytical acumen that has ended up becoming an integral part of me.

Lastly, relationships are essential because people matter. And as long as every business remembers to be empathetic, we will tide over all waves, big and small.

Q11. One inspirational or motivational message you would like to share with our readers

"Emotions are what make us human. Make us real. The word 'emotion' stands for energy in motion. Be truthful about your emotions, and use your mind and emotions in your favour, not against yourself".

― Robert T. Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Q12. Your accomplishments and Awards

I come from a very humble background. It was challenging for my parents to afford my college education. I have hustled through a lot of jobs to pay for my degree. I feel my biggest accomplishment would be to afford to send both my daughters to the institute of their choice and their merit.

Q13. Which Networking Forums or Social Organizations are you associated with presently?

Currently, I am:

· an Alumni member of London Business School

· an Alumni member of MKS (Ritambara) College, Mumbai

· an Alumni member of Hansraj Morarji Public School, Mumbai

· a member of the Strategic Intelligence Unit of the World Economic Forum

· a member of Arsenal Football Club, London

· a member of Project Management Institute, USA

· a member of the TED community

Q14. LinkedIn profile URL link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishaltulsi/

Q15. Facebook profile URL link: not applicable

Q16. Twitter profile URL link: not applicable