Viraj Shah: A Creative Ideator of Larger-than-Life Events and Campaigns

You might have seen magnificent, mesmerizing, enchanting, and enthralling larger-than-life entertainment events on the TV or personally. Once in a while, you might have wondered how these events could have been organized on a massive scale.

You are correct in that amazement! It is genuinely wonderous. There is tremendous hard work, teamwork, compassion, planning, and smart work that goes into creating such an event and executing it successfully.

Most of the time, organizing such events can be hectic and exhaustive. Straight from the planning stage to the final execution, it demands keen attention to every detail to ensure a smooth and hassle-free flow, turning the event into a memorable one.

To arrange any event, there is definitely a need for superb planning and exceptional organizing skills, as well as creative skills and out-of-the-box thinking, which will play an essential role in giving fruitful results, so that we will cherish those memories forever.

There is a strong need for a skilled and experienced person to take care of all aspects of arranging these events. Here is that unique persona, Viraj Shah. With his creativity and strong urge to do something extraordinary and desire to explore his artistic abilities, he launched an everlasting event company, Clover Entertainment, in 2013.

In a sincere conversation with Insights Success for its exclusive edition of ‘India’s 40 under 40 Brightest Business Leaders, Viraj, the Founder at Clover Entertainment explained his beautiful journey of initiating an innovative entity, his inspirations, earlier struggles, professional ethics and attributes and future goals.

Sir, please tell us about the saga of Clover Entertainment since its inception. 

At the beginning of this business journey, we were just exploring our creative abilities and how they can impact the people around us. An example of that is our first project which was a CSR initiative, where we worked with a group of more than 500 underprivileged kids and organized a Flash Mob at Inorbit, creating a platform for these kids to showcase their talent. But as we progressed further, we created a structure, and we were able to substantially grow this business and at the same time sustain it as well.

What was your inspiration behind venturing into the business arena? 

From the get-go, my partner and I always envisioned doing something larger than life and out of the box. We didn’t want our creativity to be tied down and restricted. Using the learnings from our cumulative experience and applying certain ideas as marketing solutions, for our clients helped us become the business we are today.

Some of the people that inspired us are the bigwigs of businesses like Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra etc. They are not only making a big impact in their businesses but also making a difference in the society. 

What were the initial challenges you had to surmount to ensure Clover Entertainments’s success rate reached greater heights? 

Every business goes through a teething period, and so did ours. In the initial days, the challenges include finding the right fit for the team, understanding client expectations and creating a strategy to meet those expectations.

To surpass these challenges, we started hiring fresh talent whose mindset matched ours, and we trained and honed their skills which in turn helped us bag the clients that we aspired.

What professional values and qualities do you think your clients value in you and your company the most? 

• Timeliness: We provide our best services under exact timelines to fulfil the needs of customers.
• Integrity: We work with a high level of integrity; whatever we say, we will do it.
• Delivering Quality: By delivering excellent quality products and services, we are focused on giving customer satisfaction.

What USPs highlight Clover Entertainment’s uniqueness in the industry you are catering to? 

• Attention to detail: We are detail-oriented people. While completing any task, we pay equal attention to small and crucial details to produce exceptional quality and error-free work.
• Out of the box Ideas: We allow the free flow of ideas without creating any boundaries, which helps to meet customer requirements creatively.
• Innovation: To meet rapidly changing market needs, we provide services with innovation, which adds uniqueness to our business.

As an experienced professional, what would you like to advise the budding aspirants willing to enter the business world? 

The most important thing is that one should focus on integrity because one can teach skills but not work ethics to an individual. Secondly, focus on your strengths, and simultaneously know your weaknesses and try to minimize them.

Lastly, keep updating yourself with new trends and learn new skills to stay updated and relevant. A bonus piece of advice would be never to give up on your dream and create smaller goals to achieve it.

How do you envision Clover Entertainment’s operations with the emerging technologies and automated tools revolutionizing the business world by enabling innovations?

 In 2019, we ventured into Digital Marketing which helped us to integrate campaigns and events, that we did offline with the online space. After the COVID Pandemic, everyone has realized the importance of connecting with people online through technology. We are trying to build ideas based on this integration which will give brands 360-degree support to reach their audience better.