Interview with Amitkumar Rupareliya
Amitkumar Rupareliya
Business Coach, Strategic Growth & Marketing Expert
Gujarat, India
Q1. Please share your inspirational journey with us as a Business Coach?
Well, it is sometimes your destiny. I am from a family of entrepreneurs. All generations before ours in our family were entrepreneurs. My Grandmother had a great influence over me. she always motivated me to be an entrepreneur. However, I liked to teach and coach people. And here I am.
I have worked with corporates, India’s top banks that is ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank besides being founder of 7 ventures. I have successfully exited from 6 with the profit of 142X.
My coaching journey started with helping friends, vendors and customers. Soon I found out that I liked to coach people and they actually benefited from it. In the past 21 years I have personally underwritten more than 4800 businesses.
Whatever I am doing is pure experience and the teachings of my mentors that I am applying.
Q2. You are helping Entrepreneurs to build Unicorn Businesses. As concern of Online Business, many startups are Unicorn in India right now but all are running in huge losses. How do you see this valuation based scenario in real world while these startups are showing losses on paper?
Whenever you are running a startup, initial capital expenditures cost you more. However, the valuations are subject to future earning potential.
And right now the investors are also investing in the startups which are cash reach or have a potential of having huge cash flows in the future.
Basis of that the valuations are happening. Yes, sometimes they get overboard, but largely the startups are valued for their potential to earn the future cash flows.
Q3. You convert client’s Top Line into Bottom Line in 3 years. What does it exactly mean?
That is the part of my own formula called Unicorn Vision.
See, the main job of an entrepreneur is to run the business. however, mostly the entrepreneurs get themselves involved in so many unimportant things, that they forget to do what is really useful for their business. there are many drivers in the business, that, if fine-tuned, you can turn your today’s turnover figure into future profits.
In business there are only three material things.
- Number of buyers
- Their purchase volume
- Their purchase frequency
However, the entrepreneurs concentrate on the new buyers, they forget other two.
Besides, they don’t look at their fixed costs. They increase their lifestyle to match their profits. Hence, instead of that money earning them more money is getting wasted.
We look at all these with statistical models, use our marketing expertise and help them achieve this.
And that is possible statistically, theoretically and figuratively. Tata Steel for example, were having their GP ratio of 5%, after some 4+ years they have converted their GP ratio to 30% and it means cash profits.
Q4. What is the role of Business Coach and Growth/Marketing Expert in any successful business?
Mostly business owners or entrepreneurs are experts either in their product or their sales. They lack basic understanding. In India there are 63 million registered MSME units. Majority of them are micro businesses. And they lack business acumen big time. However, they are not at fault.
These entrepreneurs, when they were in school, are taught to do everything on their own. If two students solve one paper together it is called cheating in the school and they are punished.
In the business world it is called collaboration and coexistence. It is a high priority skill.
Hence the role of the Coach is to point them into the right direction. These 63 million MSMEs, if we increase their incomes just 3X in the next 4 years, we can beat any economy in the world.
Q5. People say that Business/Entrepreneurship Skills comes in any person by birth. Is it possible to develop it by learning?
When you say skill, then it becomes learnable as well as teachable. We develop such beliefs because we see there are only few who are doing well in the business. and as only a few are doing it, we presume that it is something that would be with someone very fortunate to have born with those special skills.
However, it is not so.
The only issue is, the successful people have the will and willingness to learn and implement.
Unless you yourself are coachable, no one can coach you.
Q6. What is the importance of marketing in any business? Does it help in professional growth?
Marketing is all about amplifying and transmitting your feelings to the world. The kind of feelings you transmit; you will receive back.
You can run your business or your professional life without marketing. But in that case, it would be at the lowest end of the respect as no one knows your business or you.
If you transmit your values and your vision, you amplify your reach, you share your feelings with the world, the universe will help you grow more and more.
Q7. You have a banking, administrative and coaching experience in your long span of career. Which one do you like most and why?
Well, as I have told in the beginning, I like to coach people. Even while I was in an employment, I was handling a huge team. And it was part of my duty to train and coach people. Hence, it has been always the part of my existence.
Besides it is my vision to see the economic growth for the entrepreneurs. And I am connected with it.
Q8. Tell us about one of the moments which changed your perspective towards life?
It was Diwali and I was in 7th standard. Many of our relatives used to come to our house and they took the blessings of my grandmother by touching her feet. I was some 12 years old and I asked her as to why the people so old, even older than her used to touch her feet to get her blessings.
She said, “It is all because of your grandfather. He was not only a great entrepreneur, but also a great human being too. He never gave money as charity to men who came to him but he made sure, the person gets the means to earn his bread. He has helped so many people set up and run their businesses that these people are actually showing their gratitude. You can see, there are some crorepatis (millionaires) too. Your grandfather had helped them setup and run their business when they were running in a loincloth. Had he not died at a very young age, you would have seen thousands of people today”
This had a profound impact on me. I understood two things.
One you can’t be great if only you earn your bread. But you must help people who are willing to work.
Two only if you are an entrepreneur, you can be great and be of service to the making.
Q9. What kind of problems have you faced maximum in your coaching sessions and how did you remove it?
Many a times entrepreneurs come with the expectations of miracles, quick fixes, or get rich quick dreams. And I understand their situation because they are desperate. I usually make them understand that business is all about taking actions. It is not about miracles, quick fixes or it is not a get rich quick scheme. If you are willing to work with dedication, faith and with a mindset of serving others, then only you can get success. Most of them understand this. However, some don’t understand it as they are looking for short term solutions. Well, we can’t do much about them. May god bless them too.
Read more about Amitkumar Rupareliya @
Website: https://www.amitkumarrupareliya.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoachAmitkumarRupareliya
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitkumarunicorncoach/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amitkumar.rupareliya/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amitkumar_ad
Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/AmitkumarRupareliya
