Budget 2021 – Highlight for the SME Sector

– Mr. Srinivasan V and Sudhakar This is perhaps the most awaited Finance Budget in almost two decades. This incidentally also is the first budget of this current decade. While every budget has an economic/financial history/reason behind it, this one is unique as the pandemic was unprecedented and none of the global economies have handled […]
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Transgenerational Wealth – Estate and Succession Planning

– Saumil Shah In the western world, some of the more successful families have reached third or fourth generations in business. Asia holds one-third of the global wealth and with the business boom in the 80’s, many business families are at the crossroads of significant wealth transition- not only to continue their legacy but encourage […]
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The journey to building an online brand

– Venkatesh Rangachari (Part 1) Over the past few months, through multiple webinars and conversations with prospective clients we have been creating a template for brands who want to move from Offline to Online. There are concerns about budgets, which mediums to use, what to do as a first step – a lot of anxious […]
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Finding the Right Digital Agency Partner

– Venkatesh Rangachari Over the past few weeks, it’s been a delight to see the number of companies coming in search of digital marketing assistance. Companies old and new, across industries are seeing the emergence of a world where they will be forced to allocate some resources to building an online persona and developing a […]
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How marketers must respond to these radical times!

– Venkatesh Rangachari In today’s scenario, the marketing spends are evolving. In today’s scenario, the marketing spends are evolving.Tik Tok videos for example, became popular well before they were being talked about in the larger marketing circles. Outsourced lead generation picked up well last year as did very short format multi language videos on a […]
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What the SME needs today!

– Venkatesh Rangachari Over the past few months, more and more SMEs are making the transition from offline and online. There is widespread understanding that the post COVID world will change the way businesses meet and interact with customers- both B2C and B2B. Consumers will enter the offline world for transactions out of necessity. Be […]
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When you have to pivot, what is your story?

– Karishma Parekh As a conventional manufacturer for home/casual wear cotton textiles for women, our business has always been centered around the premise “what you see, touch and feel, is what you will buy”. Face time with contractors, personal visits from buyers across India and regular interaction with agents is how we have operated and […]
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5 Little Habits That Will Imbibe Leadership Skills In You

– Akshay Purohit Leadership is the ability to rally people to a larger cause, get the best out of them, and inspire them to thought and action. It starts with the self. A ”leader” is a difficult title to earn. Several traits, mindsets and behaviours go into building a leader. Here are a few habits […]
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Turning your passion into successful business

– Harsh Shodhan I was 38 years old, when my IT company was forced to shut down due to the 2009 meltdown. With a B. Com background, all I could then do was to join my family business but it did not give me the required satisfaction. I then took a sabbatical, which made me […]
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How Working from Home is Surprising Us

– Nish Bhutani Locked down at home, workers and their bosses are going through a moment of discovery. We can get more done in less time. We are not inhaling our breakfast and PM2.5 particles in the rush to get to work. We are not wasting hours daily in a sweaty, jostling commute. We are […]
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How I use LinkedIn to generate leads and build my personal brand

– Naveen Prakash I am Naveen Prakash, Director, Global Logistics and a proud ASCENT Member. In the last two years I have been actively using LinkedIn as a medium for lead generation and personal brand building. Through this blog I wish to share my experiences and learning with all my fellow entrepreneurs as that is […]
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The wrong time to flatten the innovation curve

– Nish Bhutani This is a tale of two retail competitors in the Corona and post-Corona era.  Recognising that consumer behaviour will change, perhaps forever, Keep Moving Pvt Ltd used the downturn and downtime to redirect its workforce’s energies towards innovation.  This was easy enough to do, as the daily din of operations had eased […]
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Before scaling up marketing, scale down to one customer

– Nish Bhutani What is the essence of digital marketing? With its use of data and targeting, the digital marketing aspiration is to engage an individual customer with exactly the right communication for his or her needs, at the current stage of their buying journey. It is surprising, however, how often one sees examples of […]
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Is Your Website Driving Growth for You? 3 Do’s and Don’ts for Getting Serious about Digital

– Nish Bhutani How do you move beyond your basic company website and get serious about growing your business using digital? The digital landscape is vast, evolving and frankly, confusing. To add to the confusion, every agency and vendor out there positions itself as the solution to your problems. How do you cut through all […]
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Strategy by PowerPoint is Dead

Nish Bhutani – By its very nature, a strategy is about predicting and charting a course for the future. Which means, strategy is hypothesis, not fact, and conjecture until validated. Yet, strategy is presented in impressive Power-Points by well-heeled consultants as the definitive answer to problems, and the defining path to tapping new opportunity. Like […]
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Managing Your Ailing Parents’ Portfolio

~ Content Collaboration with Knowledge Partner – My Financial Advisor (MFA Consulting)   All of us have to face the challenge of looking after ailing parents as they age. Watching their health, visiting various medical professionals becomes a routine. This extracts your time, patience, emotions and also finances, especially if you are dealing with prolonged […]
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Why Do You Need A Second Opinion On Your Financial Life?

~ Content Collaboration with Knowledge Partner – My Financial Advisor (MFA Consulting)   A second opinion never hurts; not only in medicine but also when it comes to Personal Finance.   All of us try to save and invest to the best of our abilities to protect our financial future. We tend to invest in […]
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Are you Hiring to Retain? | ASCENT Huddle Session

Hiring Practices that Drive Retention in SMEs   ASCENT Huddle Session with Harsh Mariwala, Founder, ASCENT Foundation and Ashok Ramchandran, Group Executive President of Human Resources, Aditya Birla Group. The Session was anchored by ASCENT Knowledge Guru, Ashutosh Telang, Chief People Officer, True North. Key Learnings 1. It is easy to find business opportunities, but […]
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Technology as a key driver of sustainable and scalable growth

  Fundamentally, if you look at the way technology is consumed in an organization, it has changed dramatically.  In the good old days, technologies were enablers to the industry and the philosophy adopted by businesses was always to use technology to do the business better. The big change that we are seeing now is in […]
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Essential qualities for entrepreneurial success

Entrepreneurship is a complex and a lonely journey. Many entrepreneurs start with a bang but sometimes the lack of direction can lead the businesses to a rapid decline. It is very difficult for entrepreneurs to keep reinventing their businesses and ensure a steady growth chart at all times. Yes, it is daunting but we should […]
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