A week in the life of… Virendra Gujarathi, CEO, Invent World

Sunday

I wake up at 5:30am to the thrill of the week ahead. Followed by my daily gym routine, I help my wife with the morning chores including readying the kids for school. Once the kids are out, I move to my favourite morning task, my news feeds and emails. A busy workday awaits with bundles of expectation. Since our overseas office is closed on Sundays, my focus is on the Middle East business. I sit for review meetings with my business team, channel partners and my clients. I never fail to repeat my success mantra to my team: “Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss”.

Monday

The day usually begins with client follow-ups and overseas team meetings on Skype. As a client facing company, our organisation DNA includes a healthy habit of daily engagement within the team. It allows me to be on top of things and ensures seamless internal and external delivery. We don’t just hear, but we listen. To keep abreast with the latest updates in our industry, I usually use Mondays to meet up with other channel partners and suppliers. The technology industry is highly dynamic and if we are not updated, we will be left behind. We are in the most exciting phase of our business, the transition from physical IT to virtual IT, more commonly termed as ‘cloud’. My evening is devoted to meeting industry friends and colleagues.

Tuesday

With two decades of business experience, my biggest lesson has been to keep facing your customer. Clients today are exceptionally demanding – in the UAE, we service multi-cultural customers and most of them have had exposure to the more developed parts of the world. Today I have five meetings, each of which open up new opportunities. Being in IT security, my customer has to feel secure, not just for his assets but for his service provider too. Today I ensure that’s how they feel.

Wednesday

Today I focus on meeting my principal and channel partners. I bring to the table the feedback from my clients and team so that we can synergise the supply and demand pattern. Long-term stocking can be a problem for businesses like ours, so it’s vital we have a solid grip on the demand/supply chain. A key priority is to reduce the stock, keeping to a one-month low – anything above that is sure to eat into our already squeezed margins. The only way we can survive this extremely competitive scenario is to keep our capital expenditure in control, so when we meet this is at the top of our agenda.

Thursday

As the weekend draws closer, I push my team and channel partners to deliver the pending orders and open a new pipeline for the coming week. The office floor is abuzz with the team pitching to clients, taking status updates, checking stocks, promising deliveries, managing timelines, and so on. I am an active part of this, always stepping in to help whoever is in a fix. After 4pm, the focus is shifted to the warehouse where the deliveries start moving. Keeping track of all deliveries is a daunting task by itself. We are efficient, we are fast, we are a young company, and we love this. At the end of this chaos we enjoy a cup of hot karak tea.

Friday

Friday is a family day, and a man’s family is his engine. My morning gym routine is followed by time with my kids – having breakfast together, checking their homework and enjoying some activities. Resting most of the afternoon, we step out for an evening of spirituality and fun. We are deeply rooted with Indian values and rituals, so visiting a temple helps us elevate our spiritual side. After our prayers, we go out for a movie followed by a healthy meal that the kids have chosen.

Saturday

Being a business owner, you have to be readily available 24/7. I have created an office space in one of the rooms of our apartment. It’s from here I normally operate on Saturdays. I spend the day getting updates from overseas offices, checking market movement and reading news feeds. I connect with my senior industry colleagues to discuss live case studies, listen to advice on certain matters and discuss potential business opportunities. Later in the evening I meet friends for dinner before preparing for my return to the offic