This week we invited yet another passionate womenpreneur Aparajita Prasad for an interview with us to understand more about her entrepreneurial journey. She is the Founder Director at MetaConnect Consulting. Her startup is into Business Research, Strategic Consulting and Advisory. Let’s learn more!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Aparajita:
Tell us a little bit about your journey (background) as a leader/women entrepreneur, please;
Well, the journey had been full of exciting twists and turns – good experiences and the “not so good” experiences. After having worked for around 12 years across different companies, it was time I wanted to take up newer challenges. I had worked with both established companies and start-ups that gave me enough learnings; both in India and abroad; both as a team player and in an individual capacity. This plethora of experience gave me a push to start my own venture MetaConnect Consulting some three years ago. Our firm is into Business Research, Strategic Consulting and Advisory.
I have been working closely with start-ups and start-up ecosystem these days and am involved with strategic advisory and mentorship to them. This is a place I want to support the budding entrepreneurs by cushioning the initial hiccups.
Also, as a woman, I could see the challenges we face and the need to support each other. This made me join WEN (Women Entrepreneur Network), which I now head in India. It is a great global platform for womenpreneurs.
I am equally passionate about helping people define and achieve their goals. Being a certified life coach, I do take out time to enhance people’s ability to reach their desired goals.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
I like to create; define and set my own goals. Being an entrepreneur gives me the flexibility to do a lot more work and of course a variety of them.
There comes a time in our lives when we must make some life-changing decisions. I always wanted to do something of my own. Coming from a middle-class salaried family, this idea was mostly not taken seriously. I kept my patience and prepared myself to be a first-generation entrepreneur. I experienced both sides of the table before taking the plunge – the procedure-driven established companies and the chaos at start-ups. Also, I did an executive MBA from IIM Ahmedabad after many years of working to know the theory behind things. Just to be sure and validate what I learnt on the job and the theories match as it is.
Having said that, howsoever preparation we do- the start-up journey teaches us a lot more than we can anticipate. One must have perseverance and risk-taking appetite.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
Good Question. Motivation is key to great work!
Imagine an egg, when we put pressure from outside – it breaks. But when it itself puts force to break its shell, a new life emerges. That’s exactly the case with all of us.
I am always fond of figuring out something niche or new, which may create a proposition for me and everyone at large. It’s not easy to keep oneself motivated all the time. Everyone goes through phases and that’s the time which defines us. That’s the time when our spiritual depth comes to play.
A business without Goal is like a life without Soul. It would collapse. Until we learn the art of giving, we can’t receive joy. I strongly believe in the “ubuntu” philosophy practised by African people (one of the most ancient civilizations) which says “I am because of who we all are”.
Currently, I am excited about our new project which is a women-centric App and aims to look into the FemTech space and would help educate and manage a lot of female-related health issues. Keeping my fingers crossed for its launch!
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
Well, a lot of them!! Thanks to all my mentors who helped me sail through.
I had an operations background and running a firm means I must know about compliance, accounting, IT, BD and anything and everything. When I started juggling between different hats, it was a trick I needed to learn most. How to prioritize and delegate.
At the moment, as we are growing our challenges are associated with the right skillset. We now look for expansion and need equally passionate people in our team. We already have a core team but I see from future expansion perspective, we would need innovative minds, with the flexible thought process. Although, with a clearly defined process, and innovative means to reach out to search resource, we are confident enough that we will mitigate this.
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
I am an emotional person. Business needs to have emotions, of course not personal. But business emotions like concern for quality deliverables, client satisfaction, targets & roadmaps, your plans & how you will achieve it, etc. Money is important but I believe if your value creation process is right, the money will automatically come as an outcome of it.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
This is two-fold; work-related pressure – we must be willing to trust others and delegate tasks to the right people.
We cannot do everything on our own. Delegation is key to reduce anxiety and gain bandwidth to have a hawk-eye vision which is important to run a business.
Secondly, and most tricky one; personal stress. For this, we must fill our souls. One cannot pour from an empty cup. We must keep our circle healthy, trustworthy friends with whom we can discuss life beyond work. That’s very important. Also, yoga! It calms your mind and keeps your body fit. I learnt it from my mother. Yoga makes me realise the beauty of the “hold” phase. We breathe in – hold the breath – and then breathe out. The “hold” is very important for the best results. That’s the incubation time as we call in business terms.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a business leader?
In my journey so far what has helped me immensely is the “Lean methodology”. We have been optimising resources for continuous improvement and growth.
Doing business is a two-way process – what we give to the world and what the world needs.
Readjust, redefine, reprioritize as many times as possible. Agility is important.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Planning and perseverance are very important. So is networking. Of course, nothing can beat quality work!
And like I said earlier, A business without Goal is like a life without Soul.
What advice would you give to someone starting out particularly aspiring women entrepreneurs?
For me it is simple ‘add value to get value’ and that’s what I would advise everyone. Don’t focus primarily on money or investments but keep your focus on creating a sustainable venture & value creation. I believe, rest things will automatically set with time.
Discuss your ideas with mentors/seasoned entrepreneurs, it will help you curate your concepts.
Network well.
Also, if you are starting up a venture, feel free to reach out to us. You will find us a great partner or mentor to you with innovative means.
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