This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.
I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.
In this interview, Abhijit opens up about how lonely it can get as a founder and the toll it can take on your wellbeing and health. He also shared his decision making process – and how every decision in the company depends on how it impacts the bottom line, the top line, and the company’s reputation. He also shared how he plans his day, stays productive, and how gardening teaches him patience and tenacity.
You can find Abhijit at the below links
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/abanand/
- abhi@zindagi.tech
In the interview, Abhijit shares
- I’m a first generation entrepreneur. My dad is a doctor, he’s been a government servant. And my mom’s been a teacher all her life.
- one thing I’ve realized is that cash is king. The moment cash disappears, the company will cease to exist.
- my number one priority is to make sure that there is enough cash in the company to keep us liquid for at least the next three quarters. That is the number one priority. Number two I’ve, both me and my wife, we’ve decided. that Every single decision that we take in our company will have a three-pronged approach. That decision will be a yes or a no, depending upon how well it improves the company’s top line. How well it improves the company’s bottom line, and does it impact the company’s reputation in a positive way or a negative way?
- From a sales point of view, I’ve realized that, a small customer and a large customer, They’ll take the same amount of time. They demand the same kind of attention. So I’ve decided to focus on some very large customers who, from whom we keep getting big projects
- one key thing that we did was we kept on we kept our focus on customer satisfaction. Number two, we’ve managed our finances very tightly. And number three, I think We’ve tried to make sure that we treat our employees with the same respect as what we would do to our customers and to our vendors.
- Richard Branson’s book, losing my virginity, somebody asked him a question that you look like a quintessential entrepreneur, in your opinion, how would you define a business? And his response was, I’m paraphrasing, but his response was, A business is nothing else but an idea that will improve people’s lives. So that’s how the name Zindagi, which is Hindi the way of life. That’s how the name started.
- one key mission statement that we have is to ensure that we leave this earth better than the, where, how we found it.
- from a personal point of view, I can tell you that It becomes hard sometimes because I feel that there is nobody to talk to.
- I think one thing that, that I’m trying to learn even now is, Don’t dilute responsibility. Give one task to one person, let him make it his baby and let him own it completely end to end.