Technology has made it very fast and easy to communicate and disseminate ideas, products, services. The world has become a single market. It just takes few seconds for a person sitting in India to send his point of view to the United States of America. The ‘reach’ for a technology savvy business has become unlimited. The global exchange of ideas and dissemination of information has changed the face of the market. One person leveraging the power of technology in everything he does is, Samar Patel, the Founder of WOW Travels.
In the given below excerpts from his interview with Insights Success, Samar has shared his experience of running the WOW empire in brief. Let us read what he has to say:
Why did you choose Entrepreneurship over a regular 9-5 job?
I was in a regular 9 to 5 job and was not having the desired motivation. I was an overachiever and there was appreciation for work, but the monetary benefits of overachieving were not satisfying. I wanted a structure wherein when I work, I grow and I overachieve, I over earn.
I knew it was possible only if I channelled this hunger for growth into starting something of my own. So, I quit my successful 9-5 job and I took the first step towards starting my own business.Â
Tell us more about your company/start-up/organization.Â
We started with Passports. Our aim is being creating a base of satisfied customers. We gave them the best of service and more value for their money. Then we started adding value added products and services and got a good response from existing base and references from them. Our acquisition team kept on adding new relationship and our retention team kept deepening them. We offered a bouquet of products and services like Election I Card, MSME registration, Adhaar Card Issuance, WOW Travels came up with travel packages. We started social activities for becoming visible through BDS. SDS started building health consciousness. We kept on building our brand image and scaled.Â
What challenges have you faced as an entrepreneur? How did you overcome them to establish yourself and the company?Â
My biggest challenge was to train resources. I wanted my employees to get the idea that they would grow if the organization grew. I had my plans in place. I overcame the challenge by designing a compensation plan where any achiever will be paid in line with his target. An overachiever will earn more. I addressed those problems I faced in a 9-5 job and my employees enjoyed working with me.Â
How do you lead your company and help it sustain in a competitive environment?
I believe that my organization is as good as my people. I invest time in training and motivating my people. I keep on adding products depending on the demand of the market.Â
What is that one aspect or emotion that drives you at work or keeps you motivated?
I don’t want to die average. I want to grow, and I want to increase my reach. This is what keeps me going.Â
As a business leader, what is your opinion on the current landscape of business given that the pandemic has been adversely affecting every industry?
Every problem brings in an opportunity. The market is dynamic, and it has the inherent capability of bouncing back. I believe if we realize this, no business will be adversely affected. It is just that in difficult times align your strategies in a way conducive to your business. You will then be unstoppable.Â
Social Media is an inseparable part of the daily life of youth. Your thoughts about it and how do you leverage its power for the company?
We are active on the social media. SDS and Richfit helps us connect through YouTube and Instagram. The present-day youth is more informed and is hungry for more information. We connect and then we convert.
What is the current scenario of the industry you are catering to?
We have always adapted and reworked our strategy based on the market situation. Being dynamic has helped us sustain the lockdown during the pandemic and have helped us reach great heights. We have added more products in our array so that the marketing team has more products and services to sell and the customers have a greater range to choose from!
