Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kashan Awais, President and CEO of Naburva Business Solutions Inc., located in Calgary, AB, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Naburva provides management consulting services to businesses in Canada. We also provide training and certification services to individual as well as corporate clients. Our core focus has always been providing long-lasting value to our customers. This concept of value can be reflected in the development of improved and efficient processes, capacity-building initiatives at the organizational level, the development of skilled professionals, etc.
Tell us about yourself
Back in 2019, when I was working for a multinational corporation, I stumbled on a report on small businesses by Statistics Canada. I was shocked to learn that more than half of small businesses are unable to survive past their 10th anniversary. Primary reasons behind this high mortality rate include poor planning and execution. Since small businesses typically lack the resources to hire expensive consulting firms, such as the Big 4's, I thought I should bring such services to SME's at an affordable cost. The idea was to enable the clients to take charge of their businesses using the tools we build to help them develop and grow. This idea then expanded into the areas of corporate training and organizational certifications, which would help a client build an internal capacity rather than depending on continuous external support, including ours (which is why our organizational certification does not require annual renewals and recurring fees). In a nutshell, we not only set the gold standard in everything we do, but we also believe in the enablement and a complete transfer of ownership of a process to our clients in its entirety.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Despite the unforeseen challenge of the pandemic that Naburva ran into right after its inception, other than providing consulting services to small businesses, we have taken some big strides. Our training programs, for example, are recognized by various Canadian and global professional standards organizations and are trusted by professionals not only from smaller organizations but also from the companies of the stature of PepsiCo, Home Depot, Bell, etc.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
I feel that having a fairly good level of adaptability is a must-have for a business leader to run their enterprise regardless of its size. Things do not always go as planned, and a business leader must have the ability to regroup and pivot when faced with an unpredicted roadblock. The trait of adaptability and an amoebic approach does not always come naturally and requires a thorough scenario-planning exercise and a mindset ready to adapt to change.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Find your true strengths. Throw passion out of the window, at least temporarily. Many businesses are unable to survive just because the founding entrepreneur fails to identify their true strengths and focuses blindly on passion. To explain it with an example, I have a passion for singing, BUT my voice is terrible. So, if I waste my energies on making a career out of singing, the likelihood of my success is close to zero.
- Make sure your strengths can be translated into value for your clients. If I am great at doing a one-hand-stand, does it mean anything to a potential customer?
- Devise a business strategy based on your core vision & objectives, product/service & market, value proposition, and business model. Hire someone to help you with the strategy; you do not start a business every day, so you should not take the foundational strategy lightly.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.naburva.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Naburva/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naburva/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naburva-business-solutions-inc/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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