At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring some of the meaningful and powerful stories from around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. This week, we invited business leader Ali Merchant to know more about his inspiring journey and the way forward. He is a Mentor, Leader, Keynote Speaker, Investor and the CEO of AM Infoweb.
He is frequently seen at various business events sharing his valuable tips and advice on business, investing, startup ecosystem and growth prospects. He is a thought leader, active panelist, speaker on numerous forums, events, & industry meets. Let’s learn more about his impressive journey!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Ali:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
Born in a business family in Gujrat, you can say that business was always in my blood. I grew up watching my father establish and run several successful businesses. At a very young age, I started showing interest in running a business, but my father laid a strong emphasis on completing my academic education first.
I started from the lower ranks in my father’s business and eventually reached the top position within a few years on the merit of my performance, winning the trust and admiration of his board of directors, but a part of me was not satisfied.”
I realized that satisfaction would come only if I built my own company from scratch.
I took valuable lessons I had learnt working with my father and came to Ahmedabad. Soon, I was fascinated with the concept of outsourcing and knew the immense potential it had. So, in 2007 I founded AM Infoweb, and the rest is history.”
Today, we are leading the Health Information Management Outsourcing domain and have a global presence.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
When you are immensely passionate about what you do, stress doesn’t have a severe impact on you. That being said, I believe in tackling one issue at a time. It helps me stay focussed and not be overwhelmed.
One of the best ways to reduce stress is just by sharing your stress with your nearest ones. Discussing and getting support from someone can help in reducing it. Doing meditation, aerobic exercises easily help in reducing stress. Alternatively, you can go for brisk walking every day, and give some importance to breathing exercises.
Try to develop the skill of focusing on any one activity instead of being fickle-minded since it will only lead you to stress more instead of solving problems. This will help you to become stronger with practice, and you will be able to see a remarkable improvement in your state of mind over time.
You are also a philanthropist. Why is it important to give back to society?
Spending time enriching your community is a great way to broaden your perceptions of the world. By immersing yourself in the community and surrounding yourself with people who are dedicated to bettering the world, you can learn so much about how the world works. I have established the Bande Khuda Trust with the purpose of making a difference to the world around me. Today, we have positively impacted over 1000 lives.
I personally feel it’s very important to give back what we earn for the greater good of society. It is our individual and collective responsibility of giving back to the society that has given so much to us. “No man is an island” and no man can function in isolation. Therefore, the society we live in performs a huge role in shaping us and making us. Sometimes, we need to give back to the society even more than what society has given us. You don’t have to possess a lot of money to make donations and contributions, just making an effort to touch someone’s life positively is a huge contribution. At times, the smallest acts are the kindest.
It has been my experience that when you are focused on giving to others you are less likely to become consumed by your own concerns and challenges. Giving provides an opportunity to look beyond our own world and see the bigger brighter picture.”
A great perspective can be attained by stepping out of our own world and venturing into the world of other people. Your worries and challenges may not seem as significant when compared to other people’s situations. I believe that giving makes one happier. But don’t take my word for it, instead, try it out for yourself.
Any advice to budding entrepreneurs?
There is already a lot of content floating on the internet on advice to entrepreneurs, I would just like to point out something which most entrepreneurs fail to pay attention to.
Know Your Weaknesses more than your Strength
You may be comfortable acknowledging your strengths, but what about your major weaknesses?
It is always best to know the weaknesses before starting out because in this way you can build a team that fills these gaps. Don’t take on responsibilities that you cannot deliver. For example, if you are not very creative, maybe you need someone else working on designing. It’s very important to write down all the things you can’t do, and find the right people to do those things for you.
Don’t dwell on the “one-man army” mentality. Build a good team!”
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Well, to simplify the path to success for all entrepreneurs and professionals out there, I developed the ACE triangle.
The ACE Triangle has three vertices.
Attitude – This is the first vertex. No matter which position you are in your life or profession, having the right attitude can transform your life and help you climb the ladder to success.
The second vertex is Competence– In today’s competitive environment you must consistently upgrade your knowledge by up-skilling and re-skilling yourself. Competence is more than formal education, you must always keep learning.
The third vertex is Ethics – I can proudly say that being ethical is the foundation of my success. Always stay true to yourself and your values. No amount of money can replace the joy of a life built on strong ethics. Having an ethical base for your actions not only gives you peace of mind but also leads to sustainable success.
All three vertices of the A.C.E. triangle are important. You need all three in your life.
If you have a great attitude and competence but no ethics, then people will hesitate to associate with you.
If you have strong competence and ethics but a bad attitude, then you will drive people away.
If you have a wonderful attitude and ethics but no competence, no one would want to work with you.”
But together with the right attitude, competence, and ethics, you can ACE your life!
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
