Give us a bit of background about yourself and your company.
The Transformation started with a mission of assisting Entrepreneurs in growing beyond their current stage and sustaining the same in the long run. Each business has the potential to multiply with the help of the right strategy, focused business plans, Optimal input cost, Competitive pricing, and the right decision at the right time, which helps to stay ahead of the competition. We support the ENTREPRENEUR to connect these dots and chalk out the growth plan.
Transformation assists companies in establishing growth-oriented marketing and Branding strategy, achieving a quantum reduction in input material cost, and improving operational efficiency and profits with a long-term sustainability model.
Interview with Dharshana Thakkar
Transformation was started by seasoned and visionary women Enterpreneur Mrs. Darshana Manish Thakkar.
- Darshana Thakkar is an expert in the Transformation of the business that helps businesses achieve growth with speed and scale.
- I is an Electrical Engineer followed by an MBA-Operations with hardcore industry experience in managing business operations.
- I has invested 27 years in Transforming Micro and Small Enterprises.
- Her rich experience in managing and resolving pain areas and the real-life problem of the MSME companies are helping the client organization to obtain quick results
- I have helped many organizations increase profitability & achieve sustainable growth.
- I am keen on the growth of Indian Start-ups, providing mentoring and hand-holding support to start-ups to make them succeed quickly.
I am passionate about supporting women in pursuing their career and life goals. I am working very actively for women’s entrepreneurship and women’s leadership development
- Founder and CEO of Transformation
- Certified Women Director by IICA, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India
- Empanel and recognized Start-up mentor, screening committee member, and Trainer at CED, Government of Gujarat.
- Registered and Verified Business Advisor- Tata Nexarc, Tata Business HUB, Mumbai.
- Chairperson : MSME Support & PRO at Makarpura GIDC Association, Vadodara.
- Regional partner West- India’s No-1 Magazine “Industrial Automation.”
- I is an impanel writer for technology in MSME with India’s Leading “Industrial Automation” journal publiId by IED communication Limited.
- MSME Transformation and Strategic Advisor- MSME Business Forum India, Delhi
Where does your interest in entrepreneurship come from – how did you start?
The inspiration behind venturing into the business arena is my childhood dream. But I couldn’t pursue that dream earlier in life. I interacted with several vendors and customers during her career with a few companies. During that time, I realized that many small businesses were operating in an unorganized manner. Many companies started business as a single entity and then grew informally. I also observed that many high-potential MSME companies face tremendous challenges with product quality, delivery, cost, and day-to-day operations.
They lack professionalism in internal processes as well as external communications. I grab the opportunity of enormous potential in the MSME segment. “Then after, I decided to quit the Job to start my venture, “Transformation,” with a vision to support high-potential Indian MSMEs for sustainable growth and improved profitability.
Give us insights into the major offerings of the company. And, how does the company support people with its offerings?
- MSME Transformation: To make Indian MSME sustainable and globally competitive.
We are passionate about supporting MSME organizations in India. In India, more than 6 crore MSMEs are operative collectively, employing 11 crore people. AS most of these MSMEs are operating in an unorganized way, there is enormous potential for improvement. We at Transformation support Indian MSMEs in the following ways :
- Derive Marketing and Branding Strategy
- To increase profitability by reducing the overall cost
- For sustainable growth
- To become digitally solid and resilient
Start-up mentoring and hand-holding
India is home to 60 K plus start-ups. India is the third largest start-up ecosystem globally and ranked 4th among 51 nations in the Quality Enterpreursip ecosystem. Still, there lies a significant potential as India is a young country by age. Many working-age citizens are looking for employment and are passionate about doing it on their own. But due to a lack of appropriate business experience, knowledge about government policy, and available resources and networks, most start-ups are struggling to scale up business with speed.
We at Transformation provide mentoring and hand-holding support starting from idea exploration to the successful operation of the business.
Women Enterpreruship Development
- As a women entrepreneur, I am passionate about supporting fellow women to pursue their dream of Enterperurship. The female population in India is around 48 .39 %. In India, 2 crore working-age women. Still, the contribution of women in owning the business is much less than global.
To make Indian women contribute significantly to our nation’s GDP, I am very much keen to increase women’s Entrepreneurship development. I firmly believe in making India: Atmanirbhar” first step is to make Indian woman Atmanibhar Nari”
What makes your company stand out in the market?
Our company is driven by passion. We have a very focused niche market of MSMEs, start-ups, and Women. Without any additional investment, we provide strategic and customized solutions to the individual MSME organization. We know that every organization has its uniqueness regarding the industry sector and business operations. We believe in enhancing the unique concept of sustainable growth without copying others.
Huge pool of youth and women are looking for the resources to drive their entrepreneurial journey. We are here to transform their dream into reality.
How do women feel in the male-dominated industry? Have you experienced a different attitude because of gender?
There are many adversities faced during the journey, and still on the way. The male-dominated industry has many doubts about the capabilities of women. They underestimate the multitasking skill and detail orientation of the women. Thanks to a few recent research that provides enough research-based data about the ability of women entrepreneurs. Sharing a few here for the lovely women’s reference to prevent self-doubt.
- According to Boston Consulting Group, start-ups founded or co-founded by women generate 10% more cumulative revenue over five years
- Women entrepreneurs are empowering 50% of India’s start-up ecosystem,
- start-ups have a more inclusive work culture and employ 3x more women than men.
What do you think is the toughest problem for businesswomen?
Women are the powerhouse of energy and multitasking. The most critical problem for businesswomen is to remove self-doubt. At many instances in life, personal and professional levels, both males and females are trying to degrade or put her down. That’s the instant woman creates self-doubt or underestimates her strength.
Every woman has to be confident about her capabilities and strength.
What’s a day in your life like as an entrepreneur?
As an entrepreneur, there is lots of freedom and many more responsibilities. Freedom in terms of flexibility of time. Duties in terms of managing multiple faces of the business. One day I move out of the home at noon if there is an online meeting early in the morning or sometime move out at 7 am if there is an outstation client meeting. Similarly, closing hours are also quite variable depending on the work.
Who are your clients? How do you keep your clients happy and satisfied?
Most of the clients are Micro and Small Enterprises. Every client has unique expectations in terms of deliverables.
In our case, our client’s growth is our growth. We provide customized solutions and support to each client based on the client’s profile and business process.
Though the statistics of women entrepreneurs in India are rising, yet a woman’s ambitions are often doubted in our society. Is it difficult for women to start a business in India?
If you talk about it earlier, my answer is yes. But now, with government focus, and support from many NGOs and institutes, it is becoming reasonably easy for women to start the journey. The government is prioritizing loans and purchases for women-owned businesses’ products.
After all this success and failure, what do you struggle with now?
In any entrepreneur’s life, there is no end to the struggle. It applies to women also. Instead, women are facing more challenges in day-to-day life. After years, now I learned to balance life. But still, with changing dynamics of technology, we have to be resilient in adopting technology.
How do you achieve a balance between your personal and professional life?
It is only possible with the support of family members. It is said for the success of men, a woman is behind it. But instead, I would say for the success of any woman; there is a family behind it. I recommend all men and women support women in your family who is on the way to pursuing their dream. Especially the women of the family sometimes become the enemy of the women. I request: please-please allow her to move on to achieve her dream, Your family and our nation will be blessed with happiness and prosperity.
What have you learned about entrepreneurship in your journey?
For women entrepreneurs, it isn’t easy to find a balance between personal and professional life. But eventually, as you grow and succeed in your business, it will be comparatively easy to manage both the front. Family support also increases once success
Comes on the way. I observed many women who faced tremendous challenges at the starting point, but once you pass an initial face of 2 to 3 years, a woman can manage all the odds of life.
List the awards and milestones won by the company.
- Author in India’s No -1 Industrial Automation magazine
- Winner of Gujarat Women’s leader award 2022 by CMO Asia
- Winner of Influential Women leader in business by Insight Success 2022
- Recognized as India’s most trusted consulting company by Insight Success 2022
- Recognized as India’s top 50 consultants by Insight success for 2023
- Felicitated by Mentor my board in the gracious presence of Honourable FM Mrs. Nirmala Sitaraman during Women Directors conclave -2022
- Felicitated by the president of Makarpura GIDC Association during the Suvarna Jayanti Mahotsav on 17th Dec-2022 for her excellent contribution in supporting MSME and start-up Businesses.
What is your future agenda to keep growing in the market?
I firmly believe I don’t have any targets to earn money, create wealth, achieve a specific business volume, or become a worldwide company. My agendas are straightforward: May main agenda is to :
- To transform our Indian MSMEs to become sustainable and globally competitive
- To support our youth in starting up their entrepreneurial journey so that instead of job seekers, they become a job creator
- To become a catalyst for women’s entrepreneurship development by creating “Atmanirbhar nari” for “Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
As a source of inspiration for many, what would your advice be for female entrepreneurs, who are planning to enter in the business world?
Women are powerful in detail orientation and have higher risk-taking capabilities to enter an unknown zone. Women are capable of creating wonder in different areas of life. In India, women are going through several challenges and life changes. I recommend all my fellow lovely Indian ladies to stick to your interest and passion for starting an entrepreneurial journey. Don’t start a business to earn money and to create wealth.
As women are born powerful problem solvers, start your journey to solve the problem of life in any part of your network. And make sure that it is aligned with your passion and interest. If you follow this, you can overcome any tough challenge and succeed.
