Passion and courage are the most important traits of the successful entrepreneur. These breed of people have the knack to imagine & innovate something which is ahead of its time; envision a new world which most of us can’t.
One such innovative and passionate entrepreneur is Ashwin Bhadri, CEO of Equinox Labs. He is an International Speaker on Food Safety and role-model for budding entrepreneurs across India. With his strong business acumen, he has nurtured Equinox Labs into India’s leading food, water and air testing company.
Ashwin is management graduate from IIM, Ahmedabad and an alumnus of the University of Texas and the Cornell University. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Ashwin took his schooling lessons from Bombay Scottish School.
The Entrepreneurial Odyssey
Every entrepreneur has a great story to tell about his/her incredible idea/s, which leads him/her to the unchartered path. And Ashwin is no exception.
Ashwin says, “While studying in the United States, I then realized importance of Innovation, Improvisation and how they are the two sides of the same coin. My company is a pure serendipity. As I delved into the testing sector, I realized the fallen standards of food in India as compared to the world. Soon FSSAI came into being and the task of bringing Indian food on par with global standards started. These two moments defined my career path.”
Ashwin also had an opportunity to gain some practical business lessons from his father, he says, “I earlier had a hands-on training at my father’s venture, learning the operations and customer support. This helped me move up the ladder quickly, knowing what a good company needs and how team roles should be defined.”
Sharing Insights about the Ideal Leader
While sharing his insight of a shrewd business leader, Ashwin says, leaders usually confuse empathy with sympathy. Understanding the situation with unbiased, no-nonsense attitude can segregate the result-generating teammates from the ones that don’t.
He gives absolute priority to work-life balance in an organization. He feels, overworked people often deliver poor quality.
Qualities that Shaped his Life
We learned about the varied dimensions of Ashwin’s life that shaped him in the due course of time. He says, ‘I ask a lot of questions. This keeps me in touch with the latest trends and updates. I then start applying them with improvisations to improve my work quality, reducing the manual inputs and automating everything possible for better results.’
Ashwin believes in living life on the edge, he states, ‘I have even lost quite some bucks in the process, risked my customers, and almost lost my prospective partnership. But everything has taught me something, at least how to use money prudently!’
Personalities that deeply influenced the CEO are Frank Kern, Richard Branson, Ratan Tata, Elon Musk and Robert Downey Jr.
Ashwin’s Quest towards Excellence
Equinox Labs, the brainchild of Ashwin, was incepted in August 2005. With an aim to offer end to end solution for customers with respect to food, water and air quality across India. Ashwin has nurtured the company to gain an expertise in FSSAI compliance and Food Safety Management for corporates and FnB companies.
Headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, Equinox has its registered office in Mumbai and another office located in Bengaluru. The organization has the PAN-India presence in thirty-nine cities and whopping twelve-hundred plus collection points across the country.
While speaking about his role, the founder says, “As the CEO of Equinox Labs, my responsibility revolves around guiding my teammates, steer them in the right direction, supporting my team and train them with experiences so that they are prepared for the worst-case scenario.”
Equinox has been FSSAI notified, NABL accredited and ISO certified, guaranteeing the results across one-sixty plus countries.
Meticulously Designed Solutions
The Food and Beverage Industry and its allied sectors in India are growing up rapidly. However, to match up the pace, it has the huge deficit of required infrastructure, latest technology and solutions to streamline the business operations. The governing bodies too, lack required manpower and finance.
Equinox, under Ashwin’s guidance has taken care of all these issues, by offering wide-ranging solutions with advanced testing facilities.
Ashwin says, “We focus on food, water and air testing and safety consultation. We do not just provide results; we provide a complete analysis of why the result is good or bad, we devise strategies for a continual safety in the premises.”
We also prepare customized schedules and metrics for the company to make them understand the loopholes, asserts Ashwin.
Awards and Accolades
Ashwin has been honored with several awards and accolades for his exceptional contribution to the Industry.
He is recognized as the ‘100 Most Influential Leaders Globally’ in the Healthcare sector. Ashwin is also a recipient of ‘Operational Excellence Award’ by S. P. Jain and the ‘Food Safety Leadership Award.’
He is frequently seen speaking on notable food safety issues on leading news channels. Ashwin has also closely worked with FSSAI, to develop new food regulations.
Future Roadmap
While speaking about future endeavors, Ashwin says, we recently partnered with Thyrocare and acquired Whaters – with these two companies as our partners, we now aspire to become the largest network of the testing laboratory.
With more innovations on the top list, Ashwin aims to take the company to the pinnacle in the next five years, with training, collaborations, networking events and more.
Source :-The 10 Most Influential Consulting Leaders to Watch in 2018
Ashwin Bhadri: Meticulous Attention and Astuteness are behind his Soaring Success
