Determination is the key to achieve greatness in anything you pursue. A strong resolve always solves the small dilemmas. To ensure the smooth flowing of any activity, one needs to channelize his/her core strength and bring about sound decisions throughout the work. Being a leader is not about changing things around in the workplace, it’s more about changing perspectives of the people working there. That’s how the identity of a true leader is derived.
A Business Baron
“I believe that business is in my blood and soul,” expresses Ashish Jhagarawat boldly. He is distinguishing the concept of being a leader in a new way and driving success with a passion for business. As a CEO/Director of Moon SEZ Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Ashish has always focused on creating and delivering solutions to the problems encountered by people on a daily basis. Most of the issues are related to compliances and right advise at right time these days. Hence, he decided to venture into the field of management consultancy and to be precise Special Economic Zone consulting business along with IFSC (International Financial Service Centres) the only IFSC in the country at present is at GIFT City, Gujarat which is Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s pet project. He hails from Udaipur, Rajasthan and has a traditional family background.
Before entering the business world, Ashish had to go through various personal challenges in order to fulfill his dream. After moving out of his home and coming to Mumbai in 2004 for pursuing Chartered Accountancy, his goals were getting disoriented as his parents had different visions for his life. They wanted Ashish to work and excel in the service sector. Without the knowledge of what his parents had in store for him, he completed his graduation in B.Com and appeared for CA (inter) examination. Behind his back, Ashish’s father made arrangements and admitted him to Indira College, Pune for MBA which was a very shocking experience for him.
Nonetheless, he moved to Pune and completed his MBA as well. He got placed with HDFC Bank as a credit manager in the unsecured loan division.
He left the job from HDFC in June 2010 and started his own venture of financial services. Initially, it didn’t do so well for around six to seven months and finally, it came to an end. Later, Ashish joined Moon SEZ Group in April 2011 after having served as a salaried employee for three months. Since then, there was no looking back for him. He started new business verticals at various intervals of his life. Now, he looks after overall business development activities, operations handling and client handling across sixteen different locations in India for Moon SEZ. “What I like the most about my business is that every day there are new challenges and something new to do,” says Ashish. “My work is a self-driving force for me and my passion for it acts as a fuel,” he adds further. His mission is to make the Moon SEZ group as equivalent to the Big 4 consulting firms in India.
Business and Beyond
When he is not thinking about business, Ashish turns into a thorough family man. He considers his parents as guiding light and treats them as a moral compass in his day to day life. “I appreciate and thank my family, especially my wife! She has always stood by me through thick and thin,” Ashish tells. According to him, the most memorable moment for him was finding his life partner in 2010 and leaving his job to venture into the business. “Those were the two most important turning points in my life,” he claims.
As far as his source of inspiration and support system is considered, his passion for work and the team he works with are the engaging factors. “I am passionate about everything that comes to me,” states Ashish. Explaining the current situation pertaining to the industry Ashish opines that he does not see any recession anywhere, but a bright future for Indian entrepreneurs. To emphasize this, he articulates the reason as the negativity in Us-China trade relations. “Chinese are not known as good English speakers. Hence, it’s an opportunity for us to grab the international deals as in India, most of the population is well versed with the English language,” suggests Ashish. It will provide more business opportunities for India due to the availability of young brains in the country. Furthermore, with the Indian economy opening up more and forming bilateral relations day by day with FDI norms the opportunities have grown tenfold.
Like any other businessman, Ashish also faced some challenges while navigating through the difficulties in Moon SEZ. “Since our line of business mostly deals with clients that are looking for consulting and compliance including import and export clearance for them, there are a lot of risks associated with it,” he informs. Every step right from any approval the company obtains for the client and any incentive it claims for them, all of it propagated uncertainties.
However, with the robust and uniform processes, and automation system implemented in the company, it is now able to handle all the matters extremely well. This has minimized the risk by eliminating human dependency and chances of errors.
Inspiring the young and new entrepreneurs, Ashish’s advice to them is – “There is no shortcut to success and learning is a never-ending process. The more you read, the more you will brush up your knowledge and then it’s my challenge to you that no one will be able to beat you.”
Ashish Jhagarawat: Redefining Business Leadership with Passion
