Dream, Believe, Achieve with global website wizard: Mr. Raj Shah

A conversation on determination, ascension, and inspiration

A broad daylight in Mumbai city continues to see millions of dreamers as Mr Amitabh Bachchan or Dhirubhai Ambani, commuting over its streets working their way up to their skyrocketing aspirations, commanding the impossible say I'm Possible.

Another archetype of this glittering troupe is Mr. Raj Shah, founder of Global Solutions, featured in top publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Times of India. He started working very early in his life, 8th standard to be precise to help out his hard-working family. But then at the “early” age of 21, Mr. Raj Shah started building websites for international companies and diplomatic offices.

Mr. Raj’s mission is to be friendly, knowledgeable, and quick to respond. “Our clients love the way we treat them. I tell them my phone is on 24x7, they can call me anytime irrespective of the time zone they are in. This is the kind of organization they want to be affiliated with. The icing on the cake is they also get price benefits and fast turnaround which they won’t get even if they get work done from their next-door neighbor shop. As a result, I probably have clients in each and every country”

Tell us about your childhood. I remember my dad use to travel for work trips out of town and there would be no one in the office to answer the calls or take messages so he would tell me to be in the office. One of my favorite childhood memories was working alongside my dad and observing him. Working with my dad taught me the value of hard work and sticking to a project until it is done right. At home my mom was also a workaholic, she use to never sit idle and she use to always be in a hurry to finish all the tasks of the day same day and never keep any task pending for the next day. Those moments in my childhood might seem small but they have made hard work and stick-to-itiveness a significant part of who I am today.

Now in your own words please reveal your extraordinary profile or biodata at present and in the same breath, what is your advice to people who want to grow but don't have enough confidence to believe that they can? I come from a very modest background. Till 3rd std I had studied in a Hindi Medium school and when we moved to Mumbai and most of the children around me were studying in English medium school, that’s when my dad decided to shift me to English medium school. In 4th std, while my new friends in English medium school were fluent in English and phrasing sentences I was struggling to even write spellings of long words. But I dedicated myself to improving and in 8th Std, I was selected to give Annual Speech in English, in 9th Std in Hindi, and 10th Std in Marathi, all without referring to any typed speech. This small achievement gave me a lot of confidence and I knew from that day that nothing is impossible and if one puts in their mind, dedication, and focus they can achieve anything in life. Today I own a software exports company with a team of 20 people and I have been featured in USA's Wall Street Journal newspaper, and have clients in over 80 countries. I am also into construction and have an event management company. Looking back If I can reach so far, then with today’s technologies/communication and so many career options to choose from you can achieve much more and fulfill all your dreams.

Talk about your struggling days

I was not born with a golden spoon or with a bed of roses and honestly speaking If I Iook back I am glad as I wasn’t as that helped me find a goal in life and direction as what I wanted to achieve and where I wanted to go. I come from a middle-class family where we had all the necessary comforts but my dad suffered a few business losses because of that we had to see dark days and there was a time we did not even have money to pay school fees. I was too young to help him in any way but I had made up in my mind that when I grow up I will get all the things back that he lost in his business. Which mantras or philosophy guided (and continues to guide) you in overcoming your difficulties?

My parents taught me to two things, hard work never goes to waste and a good deed done will always come back to you as a blessing in the future. I just abide by these two mantras and God automatically opens new doors for me and guides me in case of any difficult situations.

You had once told me that you are a 'self-taught individual'. Why do you describe yourself so?

I run a software exports company now but I don’t have an IT background, but watching my dad in his business I always had that business mindset. During my early college days, I had very limited money so I did the basic computer course and I took up the job in the same institute where I was assigned the job to teach computers to people who join. The salary was very less but I still took up the job as they were allowing me to sit for an advanced computer programming course for which I did not have money to pay the fee. So few hours I use to teach and whatever free time I use to get I use to attend lectures of other faculties teaching different computer languages and software. Even before my first job I had decided my company name and had printed my cards as I always wanted to do business. I worked there for 8 months and one thing led to another and I then landed a job in a Music channel handling their IT/Software and websites. In my free time, I use to do marketing, meet clients, and do designing and coding. I worked in this company for 2 years and one fine day when I felt had enough clients to sustain myself I quit the job and started focussing on my business full time.

As a leader and entrepreneur with so many responsibilities at hand, what is your daily schedule from morning to night? I wake up at 6.30 AM and by 7 I am in the gym. By 8.30 I am back at home and after my breakfast and morning chores, I reach the office by 9.30 AM. I deliberately kept my office 7 mins walk from my home so that I can reach the office faster and use my time more productively. Once in the office, I have over 100-150 emails to go through, reply to them, assign tasks of the day to the team and make sure that all emails get replied in the first few hours in the office and most of the tasks get completed same day. Post lunch things are a little chilled as all the emails are replied to, days schedule decided and I then learn new things or help my team members in their coding work. How do you manage to get EVERYTHING done in the same day?

I don’t know if you call it a defect but I think my mind is programmed that way, if I don’t finish all the work same day I become restless and don’t get sleep in the night so it’s been my policy that when I leave office my inbox has 0 emails. Afcourse there might be projects which we are working on which will take weeks and months to complete but I make sure that those emails have been replied to/made note of and informed to team so that they can implement the same.

What did your parents say to you when they came to know that you became a "self-made businessman"? They were very proud and their eyes were filled with emotions. They told me that they were very proud to be my parents and told me to always be grounded, don’t let success to get into my head and always help people around. What is your message to Mumbaikars with big dreams and ambitions in their Soul? Some people limit their potential by refusing to think "what if?" and ignoring what's truly important to them in life. You have to start dreaming before you can achieve anything. Fear is a limiting factor, and it's present in all of us, but moving past that fear is essential for success. Persistence is much of what separates the successful from the pure wishful thinkers. Distinguish yourself by staying motivated even in the toughest of circumstances.

What is Time, according to you, and what is the key to make the best use of time at hand?

Time flows like a river. Create an action plan for the day and follow it. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

What made you believe that you can have everything when you had nothing?

First of all I am very positive, satisfied and my requirements and expectations are very less. When you have combination of all these things you are already a King. As I sit back and think about what I’m thankful for this year, I’ve settled on one thing that seems to have made the difference in my life over and over again. I’m thankful that I believe in myself. This quality is partially who I am and partially a result of the family and friends that have supported me throughout my life. Regardless of where it comes from, it helped me to remain strong and in positive state of mind, inspite of challenges around me.

How to attract opportunities?

Always be kind to people, smile at them and make them feel special. They might forget you but they might not forget how you made them feel. The more places your name floats around then the more people are aware you exist, which leads to more opportunities being thrown your way. Find out who you are and what you truly want Always follow your passion Be courageous and share with others Trust in yourself, act with love and good faith, and be grateful. Believe me, this works. Just try it and see for yourself.

Is there a set formula for a successful business / start-up? What is it?

You need to be passionate about what you do and believe in yourself because if you only don’t believe in yourself and your dreams, how can you expect someone else to believe in you and your abilities. Bootstrap your business, start slowly and if you are working somewhere full time then don’t leave that job, start your business part time or after office hours and see how you go. Pick your people wisely, biggest mistake you could make is picking the wrong people to work with.. Trust me (My dad has gone through that). Always believe in greater picture i.e client satisfaction, don’t chase money, just keep client happy, work hard and let money chase you. What are your thoughts on 'failure'? Failure is part and parcel of life, and most certainly part of business. We don't often acknowledge it, but failure is also a fundamental element of our success. Our first reaction is to be ashamed of failure, maybe because we don't like how it makes us feel humiliated, as though we have done something wrong or some big crime. But if you can shift your perspective and look at failure not as something to be ashamed of but something valuable, you can begin to understand that it's through failure that we truly learn to succeed. 1. Embrace your emotions 2. Accept an appropriate level of responsibility 3. Research famous failures 4. Mistakes are not a problem but not learning from your mistakes is a problem 5. Create a plan moving forward. Failure is the only way to grow yourself and grow your organization because ultimately, it is how we learn to succeed. Raj Shah Global Solutions www.globalsolutionindia.com