Starting with an initial investment of Rs 10,000 to help other businesses scale up and flourish, the Gaurav Bhagat Academy (GBA) has an annual turnover of Rs 30 crore, employing 80 people and presence in six cities. The GBA has set the target to assist 1 lakh business owners and add 100 positions to their organisations and 9 lakh working professionals living the (10x) lifestyle. Gaurav Bhagat, founder of GBA talks about the company’s prospects in an interview.
What inspired you to initiate GBA?
My father’s company had gone bankrupt while I was in my first year of college, and it was a case of sink or swim. I drew an amount of 10,000 rupees as my start-up funding for the gifting business, which I obtained on credit. That company today has a revenue of more than 30 crores, over 80 workers, and a presence in six Indian cities. The Gaurav Bhagat Academy was developed when I met Grant Cardone in the United States. Grant was already training my gifting company, and his information was so revolutionary that I realized it had to be shared with the Indian people. I read Simon Sinek’s ‘Start with Why’ on a trip from Delhi to Bagdogra a few months before that meeting. It hit me like a tonne of bricks at that point; clearly, money and success couldn’t be my whole purpose, and there had to be something else I should pursue.
Helping other businesses scale and flourish became my true purpose. My current aim is to assist 100,000 business owners in adding 100 positions to their organizations and 900,000 working professionals living the “10X” lifestyle.
Businesses and many entrepreneurs in India face several challenges, and I assist in bringing about revolutions in companies and helping them expand like never before based on my expertise, training, and processes.
Is there any turning point for the company since its inception?
We have grown by 100% year over year at the GBA, and we’re currently in talks with several major worldwide firms about assisting their sales teams, which will help us dominate the market. The epidemic’s early stages were a turning point for us, as one of our most significant issues was convincing our clients to accept the situation. Another issue was obtaining high-quality leads from social media sites, as well as dealing with a large number of micro-businesses that wanted a lot of stuff to be given to them for free. On the brighter side, despite the epidemic, we’ve seen clients expand 40 to 100 percent in just six months of working with us. Several clients have achieved significant global wins and are performing much above their expectations.
How has COVID-19 affected your business?
Due to the epidemic, the previous two years have been challenging and tough for all of us. Covid-19 left an imprint on us that we will remember for the rest of our lives. We’ve seen new enterprises flourish amid turmoil during this pandemic, and others fail miserably. Our company also experienced difficulties at the time, since clients were unwilling to invest in contracting our services because they were already in financial distress. The beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic was a watershed moment since convincing our clients to accept reality was one of our significant barriers. Another difficulty we faced during that time was collecting high-quality leads from social media sites and dealing with a large number of micro-businesses that demanded a lot of free goods.
What are the consequences you faced during the journey?
Of course, as a self-made entrepreneur, I had to deal with many obstacles along the journey. Several challenges arose in the early years. And I experienced a lot of rejection, objections, and negative criticism when I initially started my business adventure in 1994, such as you’re not good enough, you’re not big enough, you’re not established, and so on. There were several obstacles, hardships, and setbacks, but everything came together in the end. But it’s been a fantastic run so far; I feel that every struggle we’ve faced has only strengthened and enhanced us, and we’re continuing to develop and move closer to dominating the markets in which we operate.
Being an entrepreneur, what would be the word of advice you’d like to give to the rest of the world?
Every entrepreneur has a unique tale about why they decided to start their own company. Some people have always desired to work for themselves, while others have ideas while working for someone else and decide to start their own business. As an entrepreneur, I encourage everyone to believe in themselves and pursue their dreams. Furthermore, I will advise all aspiring entrepreneurs to assume full responsibility for every action that affects their firm, from the initial concept and branding through growth and goal setting. Always make the decisions that will decide whether your company succeeds or fails. Consider all new technologies and ideas that have emerged in the last several years. These things were initially simply concepts, yet incredible entrepreneurs brought them to reality.
