As part of our constant endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from the ecosystem, we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur and HR leader Vivek Anand for an interview with us to understand more about his exciting journey so far.
He is an HR Specialist, coach, Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Chief Trainer at Skillhub Learning. With his rich experience in this space, he is adding massive value to the lives of his customers and clients. Let’s read more about his interesting journey, way forward and his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs through our exclusive conversation!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Vivek:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I am a Statistics graduate from Bundelkhand University, Jhansi. Coming from a smaller town like Jhansi, we were deprived of the awareness of multiple Career options that were available to us.
For us, the two most successful career streams were Medical & Engg (I think most others had that too). Medical was an outright NO as I belonged to the Mathematics stream and having complete trust in my abilities I never even tried for an Engg entrance☺. BSc was the only option left but Physics & Chemistry were alien subjects so again a dilemma.”
What came to my rescue was this new program launched by the University, BSc Hons in Statistics with Mathematics, Statistics & Economics. Statistics being similar to Mathematics I, without wasting much time quickly joined it, after all, it promised a degree in Science and saving me from getting into Arts or Commerce. Such was the level of unawareness then and I do not find it much different now too. Students today opt the Career stream on the likings of their parents/siblings/society or any other fancy that they have for their Career.
So the education stream was an accident and was my first job when I was offered a Lab Instructor role in the computer training institute where I was learning computers. I had no clarity till then as to what I will do in my career and being a Trainer was not even a dream. I was offered that role not for my technical skills but for my ability to manage the naughty students and I accepted it as it offered a little pocket money (let’s call it a stipend).
Anyways, it started but when the students addressed me as Sir and I had to call another faculty to solve their queries (something inside me hurt me). This was the beginning of my learning phase and I learnt and did pretty well. In 23 years of corporate life, I trained students from class IVth to management professional. 2017 Skillhub Consulting took birth with a Vision to help our Youth with the right awareness. With an intent to give them the Right Career Skills”
And here we are working currently with HR aspirants & professionals today introducing them to the different work challenges and strategies to encounter them. In a short span of less than a year, we are now servicing candidates from different countries viz Australia, UAE, Kuwait, Nigeria, Cameroon & the US apart from India. Students from some of the premium management institutes like TISS, JBIMS, IBS, XISS, MDI, Christ University are training with us and seems to be happy & satisfied
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
Let me be honest here, my corporate career spans over Education, Training & Learning business. I am not an HR graduate nor had an HR role. Since my profession introduced me to the Enterprise customers of Tata Infotech Ltd (Now TCS) to take care of the KT for their team, I got exposed to Learning & Development. Later in Tally, I assisted a consultant who was hired to redesign the People framework and I fell in love with it. This became my new passion and I wanted to pursue it.
I took a break from my corporate life to learn the science & tools for People & HR development. This went on for a year and I secured many certifications like Lean Six Sigma, Certifications in L&D, Instructional Design, Competency Frameworks, Psychometric Assessments and a few more.
I tried getting back to work but things were difficult if not complex. Recruiters were not able to digest a year break, lack of prior experience and sometimes the higher package I used to draw earlier. Entrepreneurship was a forced-choice chosen for livelihood. I decided to change these broken HR systems and created methodologies & programs focusing that and then Corona happened and now the Industry is talking of all those things that I had planned earlier”
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey;
The major challenge that drew me towards my present was the failure to get back to the corporate world. I was repeatedly rejected for not having a formal qualification in my chosen domain (though I enrolled for PGDM but I am yet to appear for the final assessments)
One rejection after the other was disappointing and demotivating but as they say, we have to get over it. Otherwise, my corporate life was pretty smooth. I never had set high expectations from myself, just wanted to give my best. Being a natural observer & learner I kept on improving the results kept coming. Openness to learn has, I guess, brought me this far”
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
Purpose; Money is the by-product. I am working to build a better aware youth and the HR system that evaluates & respects their abilities not the degrees & certificates
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
The pressure, the stress at times is due to the lack of resources but I have a loving & supporting family to bring me out of it. Otherwise, I don’t think I am working or I ever was…I was/am just enjoying life doing what I love… don’t know if it is also called work?
And yes the lovely tribe of close friends who believed in my Vision and always encourage and supported me emotionally and financially
What has worked well for you so far?
No past baggage of success. Have the satisfaction of building something new and every small little improvement/development seems like a BIG Success and that keeps me moving
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures we have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
We started this business in offline classroom mode where we were building a franchisee model but we had to switch to the online mode. We now have a separate platform on online training
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Do not target success, make an honest attempt, give your best. The result may not come immediately, improve and try again and most importantly enjoy the process
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
I don’t think I am an Entrepreneur yet. I never planned for it but I am enjoying the freedom it gives; freedom to experiment & try out new things. All I can say to them is to know Why they want to be an Entrepreneur first then believe in your Vision and keep working on it till you achieve it
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