Leaders Perception Magazine is currently running an interview series called – What Are The Top 5 Mistakes People Make When Starting A New Business?
Today, we had the opportunity to interview Riya Jain who is a Founder at Namo Padmavati.
Interviewee Name: Riya Jain
Company: Namo Padmavati
Riya Jain’s favourite quote: My favourite quote is, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Because I never wanted to get into the corporate world. But as life had other plans for me, I became the sole breadwinner for a family of five after my parent’s separation. This necessity pushed me to start my company and helped me realise my true potential.
The Interview
Thank you so much for joining us today! Tell us a little bit about yourself. What is your backstory?
Riya Jain : I started working at 18 as an Operational Manager in a fast-growing SEO Company for almost two years. I used to manage a team of 50 -60 people, including hiring, training, delegating tasks, and firing people. I worked on many operational tasks as well. But I wanted to do more than that, and finding a new job was not an option. Even though I had no plan of starting a business but I had to..After my parents separation,I had to do something for me and my family. I started my own Virtual Assistant company and founded Namo Padmavati in 2018.It took a lot of work to find clients initially with no prior knowledge or experience of running a business. But I just got started and eventually found my first client, which led to getting more clients. It’s been almost five years, and I have a team of Twelve. Now we are working with entrepreneurs all around the globe, helping with their non-core activities.
In your opinion, what makes your company stand out? Any examples?
Riya Jain : I can proudly say that we have a diversified group of different age groups and people with high values and ethics. For me, more than the qualification and skill set, I also look for people with high morals and principles.
We are not a money-squeezing company. For us having the trust of our client is essential. For example – We believe in giving satisfactory service to our clients. We always provide free sample work so that clients can trust us and hire us if they like. We also don’t put our clients on strict contracts, so they feel free to express their views. I work on building relationships with my clients and employees because that matters to me the most.
We also have an incredible women-empowered team. More than eighty percent of our team members are women. I truly believe in the potential of women and plan on hiring and providing opportunities for them in the future.
What are the TOP 5 mistakes people make when starting a new business? Please share advice/examples for all of them.
Riya Jain : Planning is not the same as strategizing
We often consider planning as strategizing, and that’s where we make our first mistake. Thinking of launching a new product, building new infrastructures, and turning your company big in five years are plans that need execution. One must map out a complete strategy to implement these plans. A strategy gives you every big and small task required to be done in detail. It’s more action-oriented than a plan.
Taking projects more than one can handle
There is always some investment needed to be done in the initial phase. Most business owners think of investing more in logos and websites and taking many clients for higher growth. Having a clear idea of your expenses and resources from the beginning is essential. Doing more than your capabilities will lead to a bad reputation and delivery. It’s essential to keep the first thousand days of your business as a period dedicated more to learning than making higher profits.
Not taking care of employees.
Keeping a healthy and balanced work culture is essential for any business. The real asset of any company is its team. They are the ones who can make or break your business. Often people neglect their employee’s mental health or mistreat them. So you must look after your employees by providing them with health insurance and other benefits so that they give their best to your company.
Not focusing on social marketing.
If someone needs to know the importance of marketing, they are probably living under a rock. Marketing helps you give visibility in the market. Entrepreneurs get so engrossed with the business work that they completely ignore marketing it or, at times, shy away from it. Every business needs to have a customer base. It can only be achieved through marketing. In this digital world, one can easily make a huge customer base through social marketing.
Not keeping business records.
One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is not keeping proper records of income and expenses. It’s crucial for any business to keep track of all records, which usually need to be addressed amidst everything. This discipline is best inculcated early on. As a business owner, I have made this mistake for the longest time. You won’t know how deep in water you are and how to save yourself if you fail at this.
Leaders Perception magaizne would like to thank Riya Jain for the time dedicated to completing this interview and sharing their valuable insights with our readers!
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