In our relentless pursuit to identify and share with our community some of the unique and compelling startup stories from the ecosystem, this weekend we invited seasoned entrepreneur Punit Thakkar to know more about his startup story. Punit is a purpose-driven entrepreneur, proven business leader, mentor, change enabler and CEO & MD of Shivaami Cloud Services Pvt Ltd. Let’s learn more about his background, his entrepreneurial journey and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Punit Thakkar :
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I started my journey as a multimedia company, after multimedia, we became a website developer, and then an SEO company to now a cloud solution company.
I have always been very passionate about the technology and hence I made technology my friend. I constantly keep learning about new technological developments. As and when there would is a change in the technology space I love to research and study as much as possible about it and have practical experience.”
2008 was the year which brought a change in my life. Google had introduced Google Apps for Work (now Google Workspace) I studied about the product and came to know that this is going to be the future of the corporate world, I then changed my mode of business.
In 2013 I was the only person from India to win the 2013 Top sales contributor for Google For Work. Over the years, Shivaami has won many awards and the latest feather in our hat is when we won the “2019 Google Cloud Diversity and inclusion partner of the year”.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
I have always been a person with an aim. I always set goals for myself, one of the goals in my life is to help 1,00,000 people in my life. I wanted to make an impact on people’s life hence I chose to be an entrepreneur rather than a corporate career.”
In Shivaami we have a concept that is women on the cloud, 80% of the employees in Shivaami are women, we train them on the cloud and help them build their career on the cloud.
‘Shivaami Cloud Services Pvt Ltd’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving with the help of your startup?
I am a devotee of Lord Shiva, therefore, the first half of the name comes from there i.e “SHIV” and the second half of the name is of my wife, her name is “Amee” so that’s where the name comes from “Shivaami” they are the two important and the support system in my life which keeps me motivated to move forward.”
Shivaami is a cloud solution company and we help all the organisations which are using the legacy emailing and storage solution to move on the cloud, by moving on cloud an organization saves money, time and cost and their data is secured with the latest security feature in the cloud.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
During this covid COVID-19, we were constantly in touch with all our employees making sure that their family is safe and provided help to them, We gave out mobile tablets to the children of our employees so that they can continue to study from their home, we also provided financial help to the employees who were in need, when any of the family was affected with COVID we tried to provide all the help that is possible to get them admitted and get treated well at the hospital.
And during this time when many people lost their job and salaries were being cut off, Shivaami paid each and every employee on time without any cut.
Before the Covid crisis, A company had the option of working from home so many of employs used to work from home and do the job after the lock down came it did not affect our business much in fact company started completely operating from home one week before the lockdown
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
The world is changing with the rapid change in technology. You need to keep your team with the latest trends that are coming in the technology world. I make sure that everyone is taking advantage of the latest tech
What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
Our company has a purpose and that is
“The purpose of Shivaami is to bring positive change in the life of the people we connect by bringing positive change in the lives of the people we connect by providing solutions and services that brings profit and happiness.”
Another mantra is that due respect to taking respect
How do you manage yourself and keep on going despite the challenges? What drives you?
My team at work is highly experienced, qualified and motivated to work for the growth of the company each and every day, so they are the one who handles everything, I am blessed to have a team like this.
My goal to help 1,00,000 people drives me to do more in my life, and I do this with a positive approach and I do it with an attitude to win”
In your opinion – what is more necessary: Idea or a good team for a successful startup?
A good team is very important for a successful start-up because, in order to implement an idea, a team is important. Ideas keep coming and going from many people but a good team is the one who works on it and makes it successful.
What are the three most important lessons you have learned building your startup?
1 – Team is everything
2 – Team Review every week
3 – Not to worry about your competition
Please share with us – what has worked well for you so far?
One thing I would say that helped me and my company grow is the ability to listen to our customers. We believe that customers are not interested in products but in getting their problems resolved.
The more we listen to them, the problems they face in their business, the more efficiently and effectively we can resolve them. We believe that we are capable of doing that and it is the only reason for our growth.
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
I am on a Mission and my mission is to help one lakh people. I’m not going to stop until this mission is completed this keeps me positive and motivated and help me keep going in my life and doing better things
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
My advice to all aspiring entrepreneurs is you have to think and then you have to act on it by doing this you will find out a way to success.
Never give up on your dream, you may fail but failure is a stepping stone to your success.
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.
