"Nothing matters more than SALES to any business owner."
Meet Rahul Gulati – the company Founder at GyanDevign Tech Services LLP. They help small businesses and start-ups with digital presence – making websites and eCommerce stores. They don’t just do template-based sites or take references from here or there. Their approach is content-driven design that makes them stand out from the crowd.
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Table of Contents
Thank you for joining us today. Please introduce yourself to our readers. They want to know you, some of the background story to bring some context to your interview.
Rahul Gulati: I was working for an IT services company as a business development lead before I was told to leave or take a 50 percent salary cut. This happened end of 2019 and I floated my own service agency in 2020 and within 4 months–COVID HIT. I have loads of things to share of my first year in business with no background in doing that–just the zeal and patience to survive.
You are a successful entrepreneur, so we’d like your view point, do you believe entrepreneurs are born or made? Explain.
Rahul Gulati: I believe you can develop skills that can help you become a successful human first and then a business owner. You can develop those skills by working and learning from your past mistakes.
If you were asked to describe yourself as an entrepreneur in a few words, what would you say?
Rahul Gulati: I am a strong observant and always keep my cash flows in place before hiring a consultant or investing in marketing efforts. I calculate the downside and take the plunge.
Tell us about what your company does and how did it change over the years?
Rahul Gulati: I run a web design and SEO company in 2020. In over a year’s time, I realized to come out of the red ocean you need to differentiate. So, the first point of my differentiating from the commodity is –we will be rebranding messaging to work only with service-based businesses. They are the backbone of any economy. I feel so happy when I help a fellow service business owner make a website that gets him business inquiries.
Thank you for all that. Now for the main focus of this interview. With close to 11.000 new businesses registered daily in the US, what must an entrepreneur assume when starting a business?
Rahul Gulati: There will be competition/copycats. Price war to the bottom. You need to have a marketing strategy to attract leads. You need to have cash flows/savings for at least 12 months.
Did you make any wrong assumptions before starting a business that you ended up paying dearly for?
Rahul Gulati: I did not invest deeply in marketing. As I was cautious and COVID hit the world hard. So, my patience coupled with my cash flows helped me sail through tough 6-8 months of little business.
If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what advice would you give yourself and why? Explain
Rahul Gulati: Focus on a niche and learn to build a predictable marketing funnel to attract leads.
What is the worst advice you received regarding running a business and what lesson would you like others to learn from your experience?
Rahul Gulati: Go ahead and set up an office and hire full-time staff- even though you don’t have any sales pipeline ready. People buy flashy suits and offices.
In your opinion, how has COVID-19 changed what entrepreneurs should assume before starting a business? What hasn’t changed?
Rahul Gulati: There is no better time than now to sell your services business online everywhere. Start with creating a small course or info product. Test that out, refine and scale. Never overspend on marketing gurus fake preaches.
What is a common myth about entrepreneurship that aspiring entrepreneurs and would-be business owners believe in? What advice would you give them?
Rahul Gulati: It is hard to become an entrepreneur. The reality is– if you plan and have multiple backup income streams, you are way ahead of other entrepreneurs in the league. So focus on improving your skills- negotiation, marketing, and empathy in behavior. It will take you to the sky.
What traits, qualities, and assumptions do you believe are most important to have before starting a business?
Rahul Gulati: I followed a simple approach.
- Check my current account savings.
- Which industry am I targeting?
- How much money can be made in 12 months?
- What is the network I have to reach out for a potential alliance?
How can aspiring leaders prepare themselves for the future challenges of entrepreneurship? Are there any books, websites, or even movies to learn from?
Rahul Gulati: Yes. I suggest reading the books/Youtube channel for help
- The E-Myth – Michael E. Gerber
- Zero to One – Peter Thiel
- Tim Conley – Youtube channel for service businesses
You have shared quite a bit of your wisdom and our readers thank you for your generosity but would also love to know: If you could choose any job other than being an entrepreneur, what would it be?
Rahul Gulati: Copywriting combined with landing page design. Nothing matters more than SALES to any business owner.
Thank you so much for your time, I believe I speak for all of our readers when I say that this has been incredibly insightful. We do have one more question: If you could add anyone to Mount Rushmore, but not a politician, who would it be; why?
Rahul Gulati: I like what Will Smith (ace actor) has done for himself and the community. There are loads of learning from his life that we – small business owners can learn and implement.
You can unearth massive wealth by being humble and generous to the humans you interact with. Relationships are the backbone of a successful life!
Mike Weiss, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Rahul Gulati for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Rahul Gulati or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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