Without the faith, I wouldn't be here.
I've been doing this practice for almost a year right now.
I keep on saying to myself that that I trust you, I love you.
I have a faith in you every. Single time.
You know whenever you know it's it's.
You, you, you just go through. Certain type of a life, certain
type of a day, I trust. I trust him more than myself,
you know. I have a faith in Him.
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Real life ladies and gentlemen, once again, welcome to the King
James podcast entirely at the CFO.
And today we've called with that a very, very important
personality fighting out of London, England by way of
Chennai in your back. Welcome an entrepreneur
excellence G Kumar and when the action begins, the Co host in
the studio is Noella, the world's Best.
Are you ready to rumble? Let us go GMs as widely known in
the professional space and Kumar as us close contacts refer to
you, you're. Welcome.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for inviting me. I and Novella.
Thank you. Thanks a lot.
Today on the kingdom's work, as we seem to be a man who's
journey through black opium, who would watch to remind yourself
that nothing is impossible. GMs Kumar began selling
Buttermilk on Chennai streets at 13.
Today he's an entrepreneur who builds platforms to solve real
problems for real people across the UK, EU and India.
He is the mind behind the work Top Stock marketplace
transforming the stone industry User AI.
He is also the founder of My Project AI of Plastic Boring.
Project management platform that connects homeowners and skilled
traders while bringing efficiency and trust to the
construction ecosystem. MAR has the multi polite
entrepreneur, innovator, law practitioner, community builder,
family man of purpose, History is a master class and
resilience, mindset, adaptability and innovation.
The Kingdom's focus is indexing over 90 countries in
conversations like this. Shape for leaders and founders.
We're going to shape tomorrow. Thank you for being here.
That us. Thank you, thank you, thank you
for inviting me as well. Thank you great, great guys.
It's a it's a good. I believe that the God has
really blessed us to be here to talk at.
This minute and I really thankful to her.
Thank you. Wow, let's start from the origin
fire to water. So Kumar, you started selling
buttermilk on the streets of only 13 years old.
A lot of times as a parent, we try and get our kids involved or
and start a business, start working sometimes as a young
age. Is that kind of what happened
for you where it was introduced by your parents or was it
something that you wanted to take initiative on yourself?
It's a, it's a, it's a family thing.
It's my mom. Of course we had a decent
decent. Family life, I used to ask my
mom, are you really my mom or you're a stepmom to me?
As you you have, you have. The dad is doing the business
and and the family is running OK.
But you know, all, every family has the, you know, the financial
situations, but we never see, but I never seen sending a child
in the age of 13 to do something which is which is different, you
know, which is completely different.
But I really feel I really thankful to my mom right now
because what she has done that day and undoing it because that
energy, that consistency that's, you know, keep on fighting for
it. You know, it's nothing.
You get it for free. And and you if you need
something, you need to work for it.
The luck this is this is not in real world.
You, you understood what I mean. Like I used to wake up at 4:00,
my mom wake me at 4:00 in the morning and then we start
preparing the buttermilk and we pack it and then we supply for
nearly seven to 10 kilometers in and around from my house, supply
buttermilk in the morning. Then I have to go to the school
after finishing the buttermilk. So my school is around 9:00.
So I'll be reaching the school by 845 something, 850 something
like. That.
Then I'm not only done the buttermilk.
After 3 o'clock. I have to work in a tattoo.
So I work as a coffee. Boy selling it coffees and
taters during the break times. So those Times Now we have a
missions yes and no. And in those times there is no
missions. So you have to prepare the tea
and coffee pre prepared and then they keep it in a in a box in a
in a hot vessel and you have to distribute and then so I was
doing that I do the first to break.
Usually the movie starts at 12 O clock or 1:00 in in South India
and Chennai. So the first, the first.
One which been done by someone but I will join in the second.
Break. So the second show starts at
3:00. So they're usually the the
theaters run in a four show. So I I go exactly in the during
the interval time just. Before like a 1520.
Minutes to prepare it and then I will sell the tea.
Then I will go back to the place where I have to collect the
money because I dropped the buttermilk in the morning.
So they haven't. They have to make sure they are
selling it and then they give the money to us.
So I have to do the collection job in the evening.
Then again, once the job is done again, I'll come back to home
and relax myself. And then again, I will go back
to the theater at 637 o'clock where the third show break will
happen again. I will stay from 7:30 to 11:00
in theatre and then I will come back to home by around 11:00 or
11:15, 11-30, something like that.
So, so this is my routine. I've been doing this for almost
until 17, nearly 3-4 years. So I really thankful to my mom,
you know that that energy until today, until today.
I've been in living in the UK for almost 15 to 18 years now.
I vaguely remember I never worked for anyone.
I never worked for anyone. I always, always, I had a job, I
had a business. I've been doing a business from
the day when I've been here. If my understanding is right, I
I stopped working for somebody nearly 15 years before.
So. I haven't worked before anybody
for the last 15 years and that you know something keep on
coming. 1 is not there another other opportunity comes.
I don't say no. I never said no.
Maybe how I I, I decided to pick what is right, what is strong,
which business I should enter, which business I shouldn't
enter, but I never say no. I, I, if there is an
opportunity, if the opportunity is genuine, as long as I can
able to make a money ethically and I, I always feel that the
money, the person giving the money to me, they should feel
happy and the first taking money from me, they also should feel
happy. I love seeing the smiling face
and, and I enjoy seeing the smiling face.
So, you know, that's, that's a really time for fun, mom.
So that's rather incredible because obviously we're speaking
about entrepreneurship and it sounds like at a very, very
young age that it was kind of thrust thrust upon you by your
mother. And it's so funny how so many
people, a lot of our audience right now can be watching and
maybe they are entrepreneurs or they're aspiring entrepreneurs
and they're reading books. We have countless books,
countless podcast, countless videos.
Do you know, we're just flooded with content on the Internet
telling us how to do it, how to be the best entrepreneur?
What is the IT factor? How do we do it efficiently?
And all these things. What are the habits we need?
What's the mindset we need? What, what are the tools that we
need? And I would agree with you with
that gratefulness to your mother, just having that
situation thrust upon you for you to learn at a very young age
that it really is about from the moment you wake up to the moment
you go to bed. It's it's a lifestyle for sure.
And it sounds like you had to embody that lifestyle at a very,
very young age. So when you're going through the
rest of your career, it was already second nature to you.
It was already natural to you. So that's a really amazing to
hear what specifically when we're looking back on your
childhood and you're having these, you know what, 16 hour
days or you know, however long they are at the age of 13.
Was there a specific moment, you know, maybe at in the early
hours, four in the morning, maybe in between shifts when
you're sitting at school or maybe later in the evening when
you're collect? Was there a specific moment that
you can think about that helped really shape your identity as an
entrepreneur? To be honest, no, no, I I always
want to make sure my mom is happy.
Her smile, you know, making sure she's happy.
My father, he's also, you know, it's a it's a, it's a position
where they are, they are the two ideal in your in your world,
right. Like you, you don't have
whatever they say and you just follow that.
That's it. Yeah.
If they say my. My cousin brothers or my niece
or they are really good. OK, fine.
OK, so they are they're thinking they are good.
So we have to make sure that we are becoming like that.
And it's a real surprises. None of my family members are
doing any business. None of them either from my
father's side or from my mother's side, none of them are
doing a business and and I'm really thankful.
To the God that. I'm the I'm the first person
from the family settled in abroad and doing a business in
abroad and, and with the with the, you know, so many people,
I'm sure that lot of people that struggle to come to the UK and
I'm really, really blessed. I'm really, really thankful to
the God that, you know, I had an opportunity to come to the
business and from the day one I came to UK to do from the day
one, I was an entrepreneur. I bought AI, took a property to
do the bed and breakfast business.
And from the day one before even I, I stepped into this land, the
God blessed me that I was recruiting a number of the
students and I was recruiting, I was doing supporting the
immigration for a lot of Indian students.
And then then I, I, when I stepped in, I from the day one,
I was doing everything as an entrepreneur.
I never been, you know, all because it's what I learned from
my engage from my childhood, you know, see the opportunity, every
opportunity. I'm 100% sure anybody doing the
business, it's not going to be an easy life.
It's not going to be a simple, you know, it's, it's not going
to be a nine to five lifestyle. No, definitely not see, it's
it's what you what you want in your life.
That's the key. And what is the calling you have
in your life? That's the second key.
And what do you how you're going to use the God-given gift to
you? You know, the gift is given by
the God, and if you're not going to use it, somebody going to use
it and somebody is going to do it.
It doesn't mean that it's not going to happen.
No, we have I have seen a lot of ideas which was goes in my mind
and somebody doing that idea. Yeah, somebody doing that idea.
It's because that I haven't used the God-given gift.
And you know, the God spoke to us and he said he is given a
vision that this is something is there.
So it is other responsible. And I'm, I'm, I'm really, really
thankful for, for what I had in my childhood.
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And it's you're spot on when you
talk about gifts and having that mindset of, OK, well, if I don't
act on this, if I don't act on my purpose or act on my gift,
it's going to go to somebody else who's ready and it's going
to go to somebody else asking for that opportunity.
Because we do have opportunities that come to us if we are open.
But if we don't understand that, if I guess I would say if we're
particular about the types of gifts that we want to use and we
have a wide range of gifts, but we're only particular, OK, only
want to use this type, then we're going to miss out on a lot
of the opportunities that are coming to us.
You've been able to really understand that mindset
throughout your career, particularly because you've also
been able to work across several different industries.
So you've worked in education, consulting, immigration law,
stone importation. What gave you the courage or
what helped you reinvent yourself over and over and over
when you're moving through different industries?
As I said to you, you know, love making people to smile.
I enjoy seeing people to smile, OK?
I'm not a good comedian to make somebody to laugh, but when I
see, you know, in real life, then the people.
So when I started the the buttermilk business, I saw the
joy in the people buying the buttermilk because you.
We used to get the better quality one making from the home
and and so that that's that's where, but I didn't realize
because that's the very engaged right.
So you don't know what you're enjoying, what you really like.
You don't understand that. So then I, I worked as a
cameraman, I worked in a, like a videographic company, like a,
they take a wedding. I worked as a Courier boy.
I worked as a sales executive. I, I, I worked as a telephone
selling guy going to the suites of Chennai, selling a telephone
boxes. It's all you know, I have done
almost almost every job, you know, and then, and then I, I
was, I was, you know, I had an opportunity to, to, to work for
a guy who said you, I, I lost a job, you know, I, I, I had the
work, I was working with the one call center and they, all of a
sudden they winded up the call center and they said, sorry, we
are going to OK. Then I said, OK, fine.
What we are going to do with because I was recently married
at that time. And then I have to take care of
the family because that's one of the big thing because I lost my
mom in very young age. I, my mom died when I was in 16.
So, and my father is not, was not there.
So I was all alone. I was having an younger sister
and so she was staying with my uncle, but I still need to take
care of her. You know the responsibilities
more so you need to take care of your your daughter, your son,
your wife and your sister. You have a big commitment.
You want to make sure that you. Are taking you know, it's the
end of the day. You want to see the smile in
their face. OK, so So what I did, I had an
opportunity to work. As a consultant for an education
company, they used to recruit the students in UK and I said to
him see if you make me to work I will be a just a normal worker.
But we do one thing. Give me the target.
What do you want? And and and then I can make sure
that I, I, I do the target, I will achieve the target.
What you're talking about, I don't know what happened to him.
I really say that the. God has spoke to him, I believe
so that person don't even know me.
He just deposited the money to open a new branch in different
city in Madurai. That's I was in Chennai.
From Chennai I just went to Madurai.
He said do me a favor. Then you go to Madurai and then.
See the Good Place? And I'm going to we can open the
branch over there. And I thought, OK, so he's going
to open the branch. I'm going to handle the branch.
That's what I was thinking. You understood what I mean.
I didn't expect that he's actually investing the money on
that branch and asking me to run the branch.
It was, it was a it was a huge see how come a person imagine,
you know, you, I'm talking to somebody right now and the money
he invested at that particular time, it's equivalent to today's
50,000 lbs. So he don't even know me, he
just seen me a couple of times. That's it.
And. He said go and then I went
there. We did really, really whatever
he did for 340 years, we did it in a one year.
The counts which he has done the equal into that count, we have
done it in a, you know, in a in a 12 months.
He was so impressed. And then and then I had an.
Opportunity to come to the UK. I thought OK fine, I'm doing the
education consulting, so if I need to sell better to my
clients, I need to learn the immigration.
So I I went to the solicitor. Firm and then.
Everything you do it to do better.
Yeah. So.
So I went to the, you know, I had an opportunity.
It's an amazing, amazing, amazing.
His name is Doctor Nogolese and he's the still.
One of the unimaginable immigration practitioner.
He's a doctor. And he was, I worked in a Sri
Lankan Human Rights Commission. He's is a massive knowledge
person. He said one thing I can teach
you immigration, but I won't pay you.
You need to work for free. But you have a one thing you can
get into return. You can study any file in this
form and you can ask me any question.
I can make sure that you completely get trained.
So I used to go, you know, because I need to make sure that
my family also need to be taken care of.
So three days, sometimes four days in a week.
I work for him with no cost. And it is not a part time, it's
a full time because he said very clearly, if you're coming, you
need to make sure you're coming at morning 9:30 and make sure
you're leaving not before 5:30. So it's like a proper office.
Work. I will start at morning 9:30, I
will do it till 5:30. But I learned a lot.
Every single thing. I went to the first tribunal, I
went to the upper tribunal. I sat in the chords, I saw the
practice, what they're doing. It was awesome.
So that that knowledge helped me to give a best to my clients for
the clients which I've been doing as a business, even I was
doing a business at that time. So, so every knowledge which I
gained, make sure 99.9 success rate in the immigration 99.9%.
What he taught me is it's absolutely amazing thing.
Make sure that Home Office believe your folk believe when
you're signing or when you're representing a case.
Make sure they believe you the moment they believed you and
things will happen automatically.
So I really you know, I'm I'm I'm really thankful for that.
Then you know, you're in your life when you're doing the
process of growing faster. Sometimes you you started doing
here and there wrong. You know, the the stuff and
something. I felt that I'm not going the
way the God, you know, given the purpose, you know something
which is not right. OK, fine.
So the person because in the immigration, we don't make much
money when you're doing it genuinely, you know, you know,
it's a usual practice for a for a, for a, you know, it's making
an individual. If you say, you know, imagine
yourself that you're, you're going to say, don't worry.
The scarce is, is ordinary stuff.
You can even this matter in 50 days.
Do you think the clients will pay big money?
No, they don't pay the big money.
So I was so genuine to my clients.
Unfortunately, I was unable to make family life, you know, like
I'm unable to keep up my bills because when you're too genuine
and then and then. It is key.
Yeah, yeah. So you end up in, you end up in
doing something. OK, fine.
What? What need to be done?
What? What are the other opportunity?
Then I said OK, fine. The people giving the money to
me, they are not happy, you know, they're, they're not
comfortable, which makes me, you know, because you end of the
day, you're earning to run your family, you're earning to run
your basic needs. That's what you initially, you
start your life in the UK. So you're, you're not going to
immediately, you're not going to having that much of a big money
and you're going to make, make a building or no, nothing.
It's not going to happen. Then I said, OK, I'm going to do
something different, which will makes everyone happy.
So that's how I started the granite business.
That's how I entered into the granite business and to run the
granite business. I want to do it better.
So I learned the technology to serve, how to serve a lot of our
customers. See, from childhood, I always
love to do a massive impact. You know, I, I, if you ask me to
sell 10 pieces of something, I always focus on thousand pieces,
how to sell the thousand pieces rather than selling a 10 pieces.
You, you, you understood what I mean.
You know, from the childhood it is, it's been there when I, when
I used to, because in the age of 15, I was selling 1000
buttermilk in a day, which is, which is a huge money.
It's a huge money. So I always thought about doing
something massive. So I said OK, fine.
Mindset, skill set, Tool set. Exactly.
So I said, OK, fine. So I quit the immigration law
practice. I said, you know, this is not
something that's it's, it's not going to make us happy.
It's not going to help us to make an ethical way of making
money. So I went into the granted
business. I started the granted.
It is a toughest. Of days it is.
Toughest, toughest days in the life, you know, you being as a
people usually see you when you're doing an immigration,
when you do have a so much of A success rate, people see you as
a like a God. You know, people think, Oh my
goodness, if I go to this guy, if I, you know, he, this guy
will help me to get the visas to stay in the UK.
But from that life I went to very worst life because selling
a stone, the stone industry, it is 90% of the people when I was
entering 90% of the people, they are a second generation, a third
generation running business. So how do you think that they
will treat you? And 1st, The thing is according
to them, I'm from a different nationality.
I'm not from here, I'm from different country.
Second, I am I, they are not sure whether this quality of the
stone which they are expecting I'm going to produce or not.
3rd, whether I'm a trustable guy or not.
So I had a very, very tough time.
I I believe nearly we lost £250,000 to 500,000 lbs.
I lost in the first to two to. Three years of my business.
Wow, sorry to interrupt you, Kumar.
Right. You're just alluding to
something we have said on the podcast before.
In order to make money, you need 3 things.
You need credibility, you need authority, and you need a
monetization funnel. And those are the three things
you just alluded to right now. And I appreciate you very much
for being on the podcast and of course, sharing your story.
It's really, really amazing. So I'll let you continue your
train of thoughts, but just thought to give you up some
props and appreciation of your mindset and the skill set and
your tool set. Sure, sure, sure.
So, so, so This is why even now I'm starting because everyone
said to me, Kumar, you're 40, don't do anything stupid.
Don't start anything new. And, and and and what you're
doing right now, strive to be in the in the same, same.
You know what you're doing. No, no, I'm looking for
something really great. I'm looking something.
This is not something that God has called me for.
So so we started the software company.
I failed. In the last 10 years I have lost
everything, everything in my life, almost 0 again.
I restarted it and now we have a company which has worktops.com,
an average of a 50 to 70,000 users every month.
They use the worktops.com and the people said, OK, fine, you,
you done the something in the worktops.
Just stick on to it. Don't go something new.
I said no because this is not something which I was looking
for. I'm looking something completely
new. So, so every problem, you know,
every pain has I have gone through.
I just want to make sure that somebody not, shouldn't go
through the same thing. So that's how the my Project dot
AI started, Dragon customer started.
We adopted the school in India. It's ASAP Foundation and we are,
we are educating nearly 15 to 20 students right now.
It's a, it's completely government school.
We adopted it and we are providing everything in the
infrastructure, everything for them.
And you cannot stop, right? You cannot stop thinking.
You cannot stop doing something different.
You cannot be, because if you're really hungry, if you're really
thirsty to do something really impacting the people, then you
should do something different. And, and, and, and, you know, a
lot of times, of course, it's a mind, right?
It's, it's, it's a very, it's a very tricky thing.
You know, it's, it's a, if we win our mind, we can win
everything. That's really true.
But sometimes this mind tells you, you know, no man, you have
to be a comfortable life. What are you doing it right now
is is you're going to lose everything.
I believe I really thankful to the God, you know that he has
given the opportunity and I have come so much, so much far to
make this impact. If I stop some of the times this
is the question goes in my mind. You have come across so much
long way, few loads or completely lonely walk,
completely, completely lonely walk.
And then if you're going to give up right now, what does the use
of those walks get up? That's actually something that
AI was talking about last night. I'm in a personal conversation
we're having. He actually mentioned the same
thing. He we're talking about how if
God is taking you through these failures, which if you're an
entrepreneur, you are very familiar with failure and it's
not just once, OK, it's about multiple times.
And it's very natural to be a friend, be a friend to failure.
Make make failure your friend. If you're listening to this
podcast and you are a business owner or an entrepreneur.
So I just think it's so funny. But yes, AI was talking about
how when we are walking through these failures and you have a
calling on your life or you have a mission on your life for a
business or a purpose, or you understand the people you see,
the people who are, you know, relying on you, relying on your
success and relying on you to follow through, What happens if
you just stop? And in my mind, I envision like
this desert, like walking through a desert.
And it's like, OK, well, what if you stop?
If you're halfway through the desert, what do you like?
What are you going to do? You're just going to lay down in
the desert? It's just not an option.
So we love to hear that type of mindset.
So from individuals who understand that, yes, it's a
relentless journey. And yes, it involves sometimes
relentless failure, but it does let up.
It's not forever relentless. It does break and you know, we
talk about faith a lot on this podcast, but you know, through
faith and perseverance and being creative even, that's another
thing that we're really talking about when we are not only
changing industries, you know, sometimes, but just going with
the flow of possibilities and opportunities is having space of
creativeness and having that mindset of OK, well, I don't
just want to do the bare minimum I want to do.
I want to execute it exponentially.
So like you said, I don't want to sell 10, I want to sell
10,000. So having that type of intention
does really help you drive through to the next level.
Just having massive goals and massive dreams.
You with that being said, you've described yourself as an
entrepreneur and a dad with purpose.
What does purpose mean for you? You know, since how, since
becoming a father, how has that shifted and what's really been?
How would you describe your purpose now that it's shifted a
little bit? See, I married in a very
engaged, very engaged. I married in 20 and when I had
my son at that time, I believe we are we.
Were in 21 or 22. So you, you don't understand the
father's role. You know, it's it's too early to
understand the father's role. You become a father so early and
then you don't understand it. By the time you understood the
kids are the my son has grown, but I have a dutiful daughter
which she born. After eight, 7-8 years after my
7, my son, and that's like, you know, being a she's the one
advocate in your family to to talk on behalf of the father.
It's it's the usual stuff. You understood what I mean.
So before even it realize I you know, I had a situation that you
know, my, my, my ex-wife, she said, I'm sorry, you're making
too much of A failure and I have something a different journey to
go on. So it's 18 years a married life.
It came to an end and and and she took the my daughter with
her and unfortunately I couldn't see her for almost a 1.5 years
now. It's I understood the value
right now. That's the purpose.
I understood the purpose of being a father.
And how responsible you have to be, you know?
See, of course I've been as a, as a, as a.
Father, I call myself as a good provider.
It doesn't matter whatever does happen when you're a leader,
when you're an entrepreneur primarily you're a provider.
No matter what you go through, you provide for the people who
you know. I have a 35 people working in
our team right now and automatically you become a
provider, you know, you provide whether they hurt you that
whether they do the job, whether they like it, whether they don't
like it, it doesn't matter. They believe you.
Somehow and another how they are believing you, the trusting gear
and and and the father. I believe it's ultimate end of
the day, the father's responsibility.
Every entrepreneur is indirectly he's a father, it doesn't
matter. A father or mother, you know,
it's it's they are provider they have to provide for the team and
and you know, I I really thankful to the God that he had
an he has given the opportunity to to to make the people to
believe me and trust me and, and, and he.
Gave me the. Opportunity to do what I need to
do to to provide as a as a father still now my son, you
know, he you know, he's 8 in 19. He's doing a business and my
daughter on and off. I try to go and see far from her
and and it's it's a love. Father is, is, is.
It's a love you cannot describe or you cannot tell.
In a in a simple. Words.
It's, it's beyond the words, I, I, I say that, but sometimes
it's the life that you have to go through everything to fulfill
the calling which has been given to you.
Wow, I'll just touch it. What you said a little bit.
But you, you've been giving me a lot of smiles.
And for people that don't know the back story, Raisa from
Kumar, you know, met recently out of business event in London,
England. And we did speak about, you
know, mindset, philosophies, skill set, tool sets.
And it's interesting how you explained the framework of
people connected. That is, people would always
connect if they speak the same language, and a person's
personal language is basically formed by their top 200 favorite
words. And it's interesting how a lot
of the words in your top 200 list are the same as my own top
200, and that as well. But.
It's interesting that a lot of things that have been well
documented on this podcast would be saying are things that you
are activating and of course, even something from a personal
discussion, you know, yesterday. So I've documented this on this
podcast with Brian, I've said this on the podcast before, that
the role of of father, the role of a man in society are three
things. Number one, to provide #2 to
protect and #3 to preserve. And I'd love for you to speak to
those three things, right? To provide, to protect, and to
preserve. Do you agree with that?
100 percent, 100% 100% The primary responsible.
For a. For a.
Human and the God blessed as a man, we have to provide.
We have to provide. Of course we we do.
We don't understand certain things in a certain age.
You try to understand few things in later part of your life.
By the time you already crossed half of it, it's it's not an
issue. You know, it's still if you're
listening, if you're, if you're talking, which means that we
have a breed, which means that we.
Have. To be in a position to provide
and protect, of course it's, it's a default attitude of a
human as a man, our, as a father or mother, it's a protection.
It's it's it's an it's an becomes automatic, you know, the
good human always to try to protect the loved ones and
nobody's going to be different from others.
So it's a protection to happens all the time and then.
Preserve. Yeah, of course we preserve.
Culture. We preserve.
A family reputation we preserve we don't understand everything
in in in the engage. We if we are understanding it,
certain things and they're very engaged because especially when
I grown up, there's nobody has to tell me that you know you're
doing right or you're doing wrong because the moment my mom
passed away in the age of 16 and I've been all alone and from
that age as my father was not there and and you know, I was I
was just literally in a blind spot.
I don't know what I need to do my head miss, if she's not
there, I wouldn't be completing the schooling at all.
So she said to me, my mom, you know, just before few days of
her of. Her.
Her death and she came to the school and she said to the I
believe she said to my head teacher, it's a very difficult
to make make him to do what you need to do.
I'm giving you responsibility to you.
Just take care of him. I don't know if she said in a in
a in a normal way and but the high Marbara head misses she
doesn't know understand you're not that particular time.
But she used to say even right now, and the one thing which
your mom said to me, I just still remember that, you know?
Yeah. If she's not there.
If my head misses is not that I wouldn't be completing the
school at all. I really really even till today,
I'm really thankful to her on and off.
I call her, I tell her, if you're not there, I wouldn't be
here because sometimes their their way of handling is
completely different, right. You know, now the kids say your
parent, you guys are strict or this that and all but those days
you just blindly listen to them, whatever they say and you follow
to them. You don't understand why they
are saying what they're saying, but it's.
Love. Whatever, I, I really thankful
to every people who came in my life and you know, help me to be
who I am right now because without them, I wouldn't be
building this kind of a protection attitude or
preserving attitude or providing attitude.
They, they taught me these are the human nature and being a
father or being a entrepreneur, being a leader or being a owner
of the company, you have to do a certain things.
Wow. So what do you think is the most
important mindset shift that separates people who succeed
from people who stay stark? Don't give up.
Never give up on you.
Everybody can give up on you. I'm sure that God is not going
to give up on you. That's why he's still helping
you to do what you need to do. But don't give up on you just
because I I love les prom. I love les prom.
Someone's opinion doesn't have to be your reality.
You know, I love, I love this words, you know, on and off
someone's opinion doesn't have to be your.
Yeah. No, it's not.
There. Wow.
If you zoom into my background and there's a quote on the wall,
it says it's not over when you use.
It's overwhelming. Yeah, it's not over until you
finish. It's over.
Yeah, it's it's quite interesting how rich culture and
the renting influence, you know, has actually shaped your life.
It's important that as parents, we we guide our children and
even the Bible says teacher child in the way he should grow
and when he grows, we shall not department.
And you know, I made a mental note earlier about something you
were talking about, about using your gifts, right?
So. Even the the.
Bible in the book of Proverbs, chapter 18, verse 16, the King
James Version states a man's gift maketh room for him and
bringeth him for great man, right.
So you always think in terms of greatness, not in terms of being
small minded. And these things actually align
with Bible principles. So before I will pass you on to
back to the same hands of my Co host, I'd like for you to talk
about, you know, your faith influence.
Whereas faith is something myself and I know and I actually
hold very, very dearly. So yeah, without faith it's
impossible to please God and faith is a suffers of peace.
Hopes will be evidence of him is not seen according to you
Chapter 11 + 1. So how would you say faith has
actually inspired you in terms of shaping the mindset, the
skill set and your tool set? Without the faith I wouldn't be
here. I've been doing this practice
for almost a year right now. I keep on saying to myself that
that I trust you, I love you. I have a faith in you every
single time you know, whenever you know it's it's.
You, you, you just to go through certain.
Type of a life, certain type of a day, I trust, I trust him more
than myself. You know, I have a faith in him
more than myself because. It's a it's AI.
Remember the days, you know, imagine of a meeting as well.
You know, it's, it's a out of a blue moon.
Miraculous. It's, it's completely out of a
blue moon. I, I, I'm, I'm not the guy.
I I just like that I, I sit in a certain places and relax myself.
No, I'm not the guy. I, I, if I need to, I'm a, I'm
a, I'm a more private person. I can say, you know, I, I sit, I
don't sit in a crowd. Yeah.
You weren't talking to anybody. You were not talking to anybody.
Do you want to hear the gist? I said to you know, when I when
I it's, it's, it's a miraculous to come to that show.
You know, the business show. I was just browsing at something
on the online and then this business show came up and then I
said, my goodness, that was a show.
OK, let's I even I was in the suspect whether to go not to go.
I felt, you know, you know, in a, in a, in a, in a spirit like
I should go. OK, then I haven't planned for a
day. Usually I start even if I need
to come to London, I start in the early in the morning, but I
started at 9:00 and then I don't, I don't take a whole day
to see these kind of issues. You know, I, I do it in the 2-3
hours and then I back and then I start my regular office works.
This is how you know, even in the previous day when I had with
my friend, you know, I was, I was asking him whether he like
to join with me. And then he said to me, no, we
can go out. 10:00 I said, no, bro, I need to grow in the
morning. So it's a it's a it's a God, you
know, it's a faith. If I don't have a faith on him
and if if he's he knows, you know, he knows what you need to
do and more than us and, and, and I really thankful for the
day. You know, it's, it's unplanned
thing. It's unplanned thing.
You were saying you were contemplating whether to go or
not to go. I'm laughing because I was also
contemplating, but Noella, you know, American accent was like,
you have to go for that show. That's all.
You're not going here. I didn't say for that show, but
I did say he was going. Yeah, the the, yeah, the
business event, yeah, I said you have to go for that business,
that market event, you have to go, you're going to meet people.
I'm like, OK, then I never knew that she was instructing me that
you have to go and meet Kumar. It's a God.
You know, it was funny. It was funny, like we, myself
and my friend were walking and then there was this young French
lady that was drunk seated on seat I just sent to him.
And then my friend will walk here.
And then the guy said, hey, you guys come.
I'm like, excuse me, do we know you?
And then he's like I said, come, yeah, I'm calling you come.
And we went there and my friend was talking to her.
I greeted her and then I saw some guys around.
Then my spirit was like, you talk to this guy And I said,
hey, hello, how are you? Then you looked at me.
All that because he was literally on his phone.
He was pressing his phone and I greeted him and he was like, OK,
OK, hi. And then, you know, we got
talking and I got to know he owns an AI platform.
Like well, I said, OK, my name is AI.
It's nice to meet you. And you know, that is how
everything happened. So I'll pass you back to do
Ella. It's just great to hear.
I love hearing about synchronicity.
You know, everything is really synchronized.
We just don't understand until it happens sometimes.
So then we remember. So it's really good to leave
that in for sure. In your work, you've actually
pioneered Microsoft Dynamics CRM into pseudo recruitment and and
you implemented something called SAP in a solicitor firm.
What that drives your passion behind technology and these
types of systems that you've built?
I always try to provide the better service.
Even till today, even now I see a lot of new technologies.
What is there in the market, how we can able to provide better?
You know how everyone will have some kind of searching attitude.
You know, everybody search for something, OK?
I always search for something the best I can able to do I can
to do for my client and to do for our customers and, and even
even the my project dot AI, our vision to make it 10 minutes to
find and finalize. It's impossible to find a trader
in the construction industry in 10 minutes, but our aim
according to our vision, if you check my project, our aim is to
provide service to help an individual to find a tradesman
in 10 minutes. They have to find and finalize.
It's always, you know, you have thirsty to serve best, you want
to become a best and that's how you can be able to serve best.
So when we, I believe we are the first company succeeded in the
stone industry, in the worktop industry doing what we are doing
right now because I tried 3-4 times before the worktops.com
everything got frayed and everyone said it's not going to
work in the stone industry. And and no, I didn't give up
because I believe strongly that I believe there are, there are
similar to me. There are six to seven companies
they tried as well before or during my period and none of
them, they succeeded even till today.
I have a lot of other clear people.
They copied my concept and they try to do it.
No, it's not that. Even if somebody says to me, are
they going to copy what I'm doing right now?
It's no, because unless, until you're going to put yourself in
the heart and soul and doing something that you're passionate
about it, unless you're not doing it, it's not going to
happen. You can copy from anybody, you
can get it from anybody. So I always thirsty in providing
something better for my our customers.
So I search for better software, better technology, better stone
or whatever it is which can be able to make them comfortable.
You know it, imagine you, you're, you're buying something
in the online and you've been buying, you want to spend nearly
five days or four days to buy that rather, I provide that in 5
minutes with all the questions which you're going to ask me
with the answer as already made with the people who already used
our service and how it's going to be.
So I was, I was the first guy who introduced the Microsoft
dynamic system in the student recruitment industry.
And then I modified it because everyone said to me, you're
making thousands and you're spending in LAX.
I said no, because, because I'm going to volume increase the
maximize the business, I'm going to scale the business.
I don't understand the word scaling.
You know I I recently learned the scaling word, but at that
particular time I don't know what is the word called scaling.
At all. I all I said to, said to the
people who were, you know, are you serious that you're going to
invested this much of money to, in your, in your education
business? And, and, and even even the guy
who gave the business to me, even he doesn't use the
softwares and I'm working under him.
You know, he's given a franchise for me and then I'm working and
I am doing 10 times or 20 times larger than what he's doing and
investing that much of the money in the, in the software.
And then we, we succeeded it. I'm really happy that, you know,
the model which we have done everything is an automated, you
know, one, if a person applies in one university, he can able
to get it from multiple university offer letter.
That's the application which we developed and you know, it's
really, I'm really happy for that.
Wow do I love to come up with an introduction.
So that's something I love to see.
In order to be the best, you have to beat the best, and the
best is blessed. So we love scaling over here as
well. So I was laughing earlier when
he said history about how he used to sell like a lot of
bottle milks, right? He's thinking in thousands and
then these guys are thinking in 10's and hundreds.
Like it's it's a different numbers game.
Anyways, you did sell bottle milk.
In my country we have some people called bottle mean.
So I'll pass you back to Noella. So I just wanted to highlight
something because. In this conversation, we're
trying to see kind of gaps that you saw in your industries that
you're that you're pursuing that others may ignore.
And from your response, it really sounds like, and this is
partially because of the way you grew up, partially maybe just
because of your character, but you do have a heart for serving
and a heart for seeing joy and other people when you serve
them. So, and I just wanted to shed a
light on it because a pillar of having excellent service and
understanding excellent service is understanding the questions
that the person you're serving is going to ask before they ask
them. Understanding their needs before
they express them. I have an extensive background
and hospitality and corporate event planning, sports bars,
fine dining. There's a lot, there's a lot in
my background. And I just wanted to shed a
light on that because as entrepreneurs and as business
owners, we primarily are trying to solve problems for people,
for a certain group of people or a certain niche.
I'm a certain perfect customer. But when you shift that into a
sense of not even necessarily over serving, because it's not
over serving. If you're just serving their
deepest needs before they understand that's what they
actually need, that is the gap. And that is the gap.
And it's only a gap because a lot of times, just like maybe
when you're going to a restaurant and you're sitting
down and you're ordering something, a customer isn't
going to know they're missing a napkin until their food comes
and there's not a napkin on the table.
That's not something that someone would think that they
have to ask for, because they shouldn't have to ask for that.
So when we're thinking of all of the steps of service, you know,
even when we're giving. So for example, another very
small example, like when you're at a restaurant, you wouldn't
have to ask for a refill if it's already brought to you when your
glass is halfway full or almost gone, right?
So the person serving you is already anticipating your needs,
already understanding what you are going to want in order to
have a full experience and a full satisfying experience.
You're able to serve that ahead of them asking for it.
Just really wanted to shed a light on that because having a
serving spirit and having a heart for service is really
going to, again, allow people to believe you, which is a huge
driver that we're talking about. Knowing you, liking you,
trusting you, and building those relationships.
When it comes to you spotting new opportunities, you've
mentioned several Times Now that you never say no and anytime an
opportunity comes up, if you're able to take it, you're snashing
it and you're going to crush it. What do you have a particular
framework for spotting opportunities and industries?
For example, do you look for things that are maybe old
fashioned or things that are slow that it's an opportunity
for you to improve upon that? What is your type of framework
when you're looking for these types of opportunities?
See for me, the first thing which I look is whether is this
going to help us to make our customers happy.
That's the point number one, you, you, every person who's
going to provide the service what they, what they want to do
it or every opportunity comes with the people you're going to
deal with. They have to feel comfortable.
They have to feel the full joy I have.
I'm really blessed with the wonderful team.
I'm really, really blessed. They take care of me like a
baby. I take care of them like that
baby. You know, they if I say
something, you know, I need this, this, this.
So my team trusting me. So every decision which I'm
going to make, I need to make sure that I'm going to, it's not
going to impact their life. It's a 35 families.
It's strongly believing us and doing that.
So every opportunity when I when I see the opportunity, the first
thing, it's a very, very primary thing.
Is this going to make a is this going to bring the happiness for
me? That's the first thing is this
going to bring happiness for the people who are going to get
involved into it and is that the happiness is going to get the
service if it is a product or if it is a service or anything,
which is, is that going to they are going to feel happy the the
way I'm going to do it. It's going to make them, you
know, the, the joy of having the product or service which we are
going to do it to them. So this is the key, this is the,
this is the primary thing which I look for.
And then the rest is the God spirit.
You know, you when you're doing, when you're taking a decision.
So obviously the, the, the, the God usually speaks to you, you
have a in the presence that this is something you're doing right.
This is something you're not doing right or you're doing
wrong. These, these things happens.
This is happens on, on default on on default of a process.
It happens. If you're talking as an
individually, as a, as a myself, as a person, I see these three
things. So knowing if it's going to make
you happy, make the customers happy and obviously if it's good
for your team, I think that's amazing as a leader for sure.
We're going to talk a little bit about worktops.com and how it's
really been a disruptor for traditionalindustriessoworktops.com
and now serves home owners, stone Masons and suppliers using
AI. And what it does is, as you said
earlier, matches people with the right stones.
On what problem were you solving at the beginning?
I know that you mentioned you wanted people to be matched
within 10 minutes. How has the problem solving
evolved really from the beginning to where you're at
right now? OK, so the workups.com, it has
several stages of transformations.
Initially we started with a different ban and tried, failed,
tried, failed to try to fail. I've been trying the work of
industry for almost 10 years plus.
Right now, 90% of the the work tops.com is started for B to B
Actually we started the software for B to B.
So the P, the stone Masons across the country, they were
searching for the stone which they can't find, but someone in
the country they will be having that particular material.
So we have started the worktops.com only for the B to B
and then, and then lot of the people are using our website
and, and the beginning stages of the worktops.com because we are
the first to company listed every single stone because it
it's required lot of a teamwork and lot of a time and lot of an
energy and, and system in place. And then we did everything and
we once we've done everything, nobody is the people who are
using the service, but they're not buying from us.
So it's, it's, it's really, you know, that was the biggest
thing. And then I contacted almost
nearly 300 to 500 clients traders in the industry.
And then I asked them, you know, you guys, so you know, you, you,
you asked for something. Because when I started the
initial of the work of business are we imported the granites
from India to UK. And then when I imported it at
that particular time there is a material called quartz.
It started, you know, becoming so popular and whatever the
stone which I imported, nobody was ready to buy.
And they were telling to me, no, we will buy quartz this, this,
this, this. And then first I have to
overcome the import of the material, which I have done.
I have to make sure that I'm selling it and making the profit
which fade. And then we had a heavy loss.
And then the second thing is people asking something because
I quit my law profession. I said, I'm not going to go back
to the profession. God, you need to tell me what I
need to do it. And the God showed me this way
and and I need to do something over here.
So, and then I signed up with an A company and I started
marketing their product and we did nationwide and all of a
sudden and that company, you know, they, they said, you know,
you know what, like we, we can't work with you because you're
eating our business. I said, we have a contract in
place, but you know, they, they, they bypassed as they tried to
sell without knowing, as they started selling directly to the
customers, which without knowing as so I said, Oh my goodness.
So I worked a lot and what I'm going to do right now, that time
I had an idea if I sold for A1 company, if I become a marketing
partner for one company, if that put me down, I'm not I'm going
to end up in this place. What happened if I'm going to do
for all the companies in the UK at that particular time, there
are around 6070 distribution companies in the Uki went to
everyone. I spoke to everyone, most of
them they said yes, you know, I'm happy to work with you and I
can give you the discount in the product and then you can, you
know, sell it then. So we we took the lot of
initiative. We listed all the materials and
then once we started listing the materials, the people who are
trying to use our image search because there is no at that
particular time, the Google search was not there.
You know the image search was not there.
So we were the first company introduced the image search
option. Even now I don't think so that
the Google will search the material, but it won't show you
who is having that. You know it will show you the
materials, but it will it won't show you who have the actual
stock, but the work Top Stock will provide.
We, we have a, we have a stock nearly 37,000 slabs has been
listed in our in our website and and we listed almost every
single companies in the UK. We listed their materials and
then and then and then nobody ready to buy.
And then I asked them what you guys are not buying from this,
you know, asked for kind of a service based on your
expectation. We developed the software and we
have it in the market. You are using it, but you're
not, you know, you're not buying from us.
And they said, you know what, like, because the moment we see
the image, we can know which warehouse the material is coming
from. So we can buy directly from
them, we can able to get the discount.
Then I said, OK, see, I developed it and what is the
difficulties you having it and tell me that then you know, I
well, we can, we can find a way to work together.
They said it's a difficult to get the customer.
Can you help us to get the customer?
Then I said, OK, one, so instead of AB to B, why can't we do the
B to C? This is where the real change
happened. And, and we the moment we
started B to C, initially we were just a lead generation
company. We were creating a lead and we
were passing the leads to the, you know, the stone Masons
across the country. And then I don't see the value
the customers, you know, they're getting it because they are
trusting us, they're coming to us, but unfortunately they're
not being served properly. Then we started doing the
project by us. You know, we started taking the
project and now we, we, we have a three big partners who do
almost a 500 kitchen in a month. Massive, massive companies, They
become a partners right now with us.
You know, it's, it's everything has changed.
You know, it's a one single overnight.
Everything has changed from 500 to 1000 visitors in a month.
We are doing around 50,000 to 70,000 users right now every
month. It's changed the entire industry
and it's really surprised. Some of the big company
directors, they called me, they asked me.
I recently served the one of the one of the director is a is a is
a is a very big company in the UK.
They do an average of 500 to 600 kitchen in a month.
And, and for his home, he'd been searching for a stone for almost
3 months and somebody told him and that contract Kumar and he's
the right person to find the material.
And he's a such a big guy. If he call any warehouse,
anybody in the UK will love to serve him.
But he called us and he asked me, can you help me in this?
We successfully, we found the material in 24 hours and we
supplied the material in three days.
It was an impressive right? He's he'd been searching for
three months. He couldn't find and he has
almost every contact, anybody who answers his phone, ready to
serve him. But.
He couldn't find and we this is the impact, this is the real
thing which we have made. That's amazing, honestly.
It's very amazing to hear how just by solving small, not small
issues, but taking the responsibility of solving every
issue as they come, having that allow you to
evolveandworktops.com. It's, as you've said, evolved
from B to B to AB to C type of platform.
When you started working with the customer side, what have you
learned about customer behavior that surprised you?
You and now on and off we come across with a lot of architects
into here it is. And as I work with almost all
the companies we we work with. The reason I started my project
dot AI and the reason I started the Dragon customer is you think
you're doing the best to price for the customer initially and
you try to do this so much good to the customer and that
particular customer will create an issue later part of the
project. That is the what is the biggest
challenging, I believe in the construction industry.
You thought this customer is going to be a simple and easy
customer. So you're you're you're not
going to have a much hassle and you keep it a low profit margin
and then you try to sell that particular customer.
But that particular customers, you end up in spending a lot and
you end up in doing the lost business rather than the profit
business. So what I learnt in the industry
is you have to be open. You have to be open every single
time. Every single bind is a different
from another client. You cannot frame, you cannot
create it when you're serving the B to C, you cannot create a
framework. You know, this customer is going
to be like this and they're going to do the way you expect
you to do it. No, it's, it's, it's a it's a
very difficult in the construction industry and that's
why we started the the project called my project or AI, which
should help the trade find the traders in 10 minutes.
So we are we are creating a technology both you can profile
the customer and also you can profile the trader, which means
like it's, it's the UK is the first two way review system.
There is there's no review system in the UK that you can
able to give a review for a customer.
See, you're, you're you, you may be thinking that, you know, this
is the Super rich customer and he's going to be really awesome
to you. Unfortunately, he, he would be
the person that or she would be the person is not going to pay
your bill, not ready to pay your bill, but you will be seeing the
very normal, normal customer and they are so genuine to pay the
bills all the time. The moment you, you say it's,
it's the payment. It's this is the job you need to
do it and you you have to pay for it.
It's, it's, it's, it's complete. I have seen extreme situations,
20,000 lbs invoice they keep pending of 2000 or 5000 and you
have seen a a customer who's paid 2500 or 3000 paid
genuinely. So it's a both extreme, extreme
places. You cannot framework the
customer. So that's why so the software
which we are developed right now, the Dragon customer, the
trader can leave the review for a for a customer and customer
can leave a review which is already there.
Trustpilot is, is their Google reviews is their UIO is there,
but there is no review system for a customer.
So, so we have created that stuff.
So the next, the next time the customer is also understand that
they are becoming irresponsible. You're making a real economic
impact. You understood what I mean.
Like you, you're, you're making them responsible as well.
Because if you're, if you're going to do a job in a, in a, in
a respective house, you need both people to work in the same
way. Imagine if the customer says I'm
not going to be here for four hours, you guys need to do the
job. It's impossible because we need
an somebody responsible person in the house to, to complete the
work. And, and if they're not going to
be there, if they're not going to sign the form or the job
completion thing, how we can close the job?
We can't close the job or in case if something is not there,
if they are asking for them. So we need those things, we need
the support from the customer, some patterns, sometimes some of
the designs, something which required to be happening.
So it's it's it's amazing. Every pain which I have gone
through, I created that somebody shouldn't go through the same
pain. And that's how I created every
single technology. You actually reminded me of the
difference between booking.com and Airbnb.
I've actually, you know, done businesses in the, would I say
shots rentals space, the vacation home space.
And Airbnb has a system wherein the the host can review the
guest, the guest can view the host, right?
And that's why Airbnb is like, you know, more common place when
you think about vacation rentals, Airbnb comes to your
mind first before booking.com. While booking.com just the
customers can review the vendors that is the guest can view the
host, right? So it creates a very much more
difficult space because, but a lot of customers don't realize
that customers do have responsibilities.
They say customers are always right, but that's that's a myth.
Customers do have responsibilities.
And I love what you guys have created an environment wherein
both the customer and the vendor learn to act ethically and
responsibly. So kudos to you.
Thank you. Thank you.
So out of curiosity, when you're making or when you're creating
this digital marketplace, was it difficult at all to convince
these more traditional industry players to switch over?
Or was it kind of a seamless process because they understood
what was happening? It's it's always there is a
challenge. We'll be there.
It's, it's somebody has to do something different because
it's, it's, it's when I started theworkcops.com, you know, the
previous versions of a workcops.com, everybody said
nobody will love to see the material in the online, Nobody
will take the decisions based on the online.
But the COVID came and, and we were become very large.
We were becoming, you know, it's very important because after we
restarted it, now I believe 60 to 70% of the company now they
have the what we are doing right now, they have started doing it,
they copied and they started doing it.
But nobody was ready to do that. Nobody was ready to accept that
it's initially takes a yeah, I, it's, it's, it's 100% will be a
difficulty. People do understand, but once
they started tasting it, you know, the the thing which is
really making the good thing. It's it's it's again, it is an
entrepreneur road, right? It's the entrepreneur sees the
opportunity and make them to make others to believe that
opportunity and what he trying to see or what she's trying to
see. And that's how we rebuild.
That's how we become best, and you're not going to stop until
that it's going to happen. 100%, I think that it is just natural
to the entrepreneur journey to really see something that others
don't see yet. And it's really just a matter of
trying to structure the vision in a way that others can digest
it and believe, believe the big picture that the entrepreneur is
painting. But when you're working with
stone Masons and contractors, are there any big mistakes or,
you know, just hurdles that you've encountered that you want
to share when trying to when they're trying to scale their
businesses? Yeah, absolutely.
So when trying to scale businesses.
So what are I guess the biggest mistakes that stonemasons and
contractors make when trying to scale business?
See, yeah, they don't see the bigger picture, unfortunately
they don't see the bigger picture of.
I remember the one of the challenging incident which has
happened this year and which I never encountered in my in my
stone industry period. One of the trader who who who's
took the job and then he haven't completed job during the period
he took the job in the month of March and then he haven't
completed the job. He's supposed to complete the
job in March last week, but he haven't completed until July.
And then we end up in purchasing the same material, reorganizing
the contract with another contractor and we made them to
do it. You can't believe it, that
customer that that particular customer who's going to be one
of the investor in my new project right now and that
opportunity, that trader missed it.
The particular customer who we have done the project because
from the day one, I was keep on giving, you know, giving and
reply to the customer who paid for us.
And unfortunately the guy who took the project, he haven't
been irresponsible. You know, halfway through he
didn't he was come up with the thousands of a story.
He's a good Workman. A good workmanship, but
unfortunately he failed the promises and he couldn't do the
job. He haven't done the job for four
months or 4-5 months. And then we hired it, another
contractor. We spent the money.
It's, it's, it's a huge loss for me.
It's OK. But the promise, we've been the
customer trusted us and we have done the job.
And that particular customer is become a one of the investor is
becoming a one of the investor for us you could have imagined.
If. If that guy who have done the
job, if he'd done it in the right way, he would have been
gone lot of other contracts because that guy who is who's
having a running a hotel is having a very big hotel in, in,
in the north. And then he have a he's, he's
doing a complete renovation. He's it's nearly 500 seats table
and he's doing a complete renovation and that project, we
are getting it. You could have imagined that,
you know, they haven't seen the bigger picture.
The trader hasn't seen the bigger picture.
They, they thought small. They think about, you know,
they, they thought, you know, if I'm not going to do this job, if
I'm going to doing what I'm doing right now, it's not going
to make a big impact. But he lost a half a million
business. This is one of the hardest to
encounter we have done and you know, after that, but it's a
it's a learning experience. You, you understood what I mean.
So, and after that we, you know, we made a lot of the systems in
a in a very good shape right now.
And and that is one of the reason we signed up with a lot
of the big players in the UK. Yeah, that's it.
Adam Molo, what do you think? He actually moved from the Stone
Age to if I had him thinking he is literally moved from the
Stone Age to the tech age. Moving.
Moving from working with still Masons to working with AII.
Don't know what are you thinking.
Project AI. See, the AI is, is to be honest.
It's, it's helping a lot of people to be honest.
I will say, if we, if we do the technology in a right way, it's
going to help a lot of people. It's going to make a lot of
people's job simple easier and unfortunately some people they
don't understand. Some people understand.
I see opportunity. That's why I said like I see
every opportunity, whether that opportunity is going to help us
do it. It's going to help us to build
what we are building it. And it's an initial, it's going
to be a tough, it's going to be a pain taking process, but you
know, you have to do something you believe and something it's
going, you believe that something is going to serve of a
customer better way. So you have to do it for that.
Wow, so my project AI connects homeowners with certified
traders across the UK island and across the EU.
So what artists packed that idea?
And like, what's the single biggest inefficiency in the
construction and property management ecosystem today?
See it is impossible. So I have I have a good mentor
in the stone industry. I have the 2 great mentors in
the industry and one of them, one of the person, he will
always say to me it is impossible to get something
fast, something cheap, something with the quality.
It is impossible to get all the three in one place.
I. Was waiting for the quality.
Yeah, that made me to think something different.
Why can't we provide this three together?
It is impossible if you, if you, if you're, if you're asking
something fast and something cheap, you can't get the
quality. If you're asking something
quality and fast, you can't get it for cheap.
If you're asking for something for a cheap and the quality, you
can't get it for fast. OK, I said, OK, let's take this
challenge. Let's make this possible and
that's how it's built my project dot AI which you can able to
find the fast, you can find the trader in 10 minutes.
That's what we are aiming it for.
That's what we are working it for and you have to find the
right trader in that 10 minutes and also the trader make sure
that he provide the quality of OK.
So this is what we are trying to do within my project ODAI Cheap.
Fast and quality so that that's a crazy blend, crazy balance.
But is that imagine you? Is that achievable?
But it's a hybrid. Yeah, yeah.
See, it is you see, if you need a trailer, imagine that you want
to do the renovation, you know, in your house.
Yeah. So you you contact the 10
builders and you need to get the 10 builders quote by sending a
different calls, by sending a different emails, by sending
them different messages and and then you get the code and then
you'll need to compare the code and you need to go through the
particular individual builder how they are, what they've gone
through the previous. So you have to use a different
different technologies to make all this happen.
Imagine that everything happens in one single place and which
you can able to do it in 10 minutes.
You get a 10 different traders code in one system, you post it
in one place, you give a job to 1 system and that one system
will send a notification to all the traders in that industry in
that area based on your place which they need to serve and
then with the price. And then you have their profile
and then you'll have their reviews and you need to decide
which person and also you have a track of it.
You know, the software tells you when what happened and this is
what we are trying. This is what we've been
developing and we developed right now it's it's in the
market and people are started using it.
And imagine how much saves the life, how much it's going to
make impact in their life. We just deserve the customer who
was very close to her delivery. You know, she's a pregnant lady
and she's having a, you know, week week, you know, just a week
in in the stuff. And we've been doing their
projects for more than a month right now.
And always she was afraid to, you know, when this will happen.
You know, she it's already, she has having a pressure and that
pressure, we want to take it away.
Thank you. That pressure she, she shouldn't
have it. She should enjoy her timings,
you know, she should enjoy her family timings and she has a two
kids and the third kid. So imagine that we are taking
away from them that pressure, we are taking away from the system
and the system is takes cares of everything what they required.
So what? What sets you apart from the
likes of the traditional? What would I say match making
websites or the trusts are building websites in the
industry. So for example, check a trade
trust pilots. What separates you guys from
these traditional players that the UK ecosystem has been
accustomed to over the years? See this Check a trade or trust
pilot or a lot of a lead generation company.
They generate the leads. They generate the leads and then
give it to them. But you actually don't know what
has happened. After the leads.
Has been passed through to the client or to the real tradesman.
You need to have the real conversation.
You need to understand who's doing right or who is doing
wrong. You know, in some places the
customer may be right, in some places the traders is right and
both has to be are accountable for their actions.
So where is is that space? Where is where is that that
particular space? It's not there.
So the my project daughter AI it's it's going to record every
conversation which they're going to have between the trader and
the project owner and the home owners, individual project
owners, and then every conversation is going to be
there. So, and end of the day, the
project, when the project gets completed, the AI is going to
tell them, so this is the way that you started the project on
this and you did the project on this and you finished the
project in this. And the next customer who's
going to do the same project, they know exactly how many days
it's going to take and they know exactly how this particular
trader is going to work because the review system is there.
Pattern for reputation. Yeah.
So that's the AI will will take the information and generate the
report and that report will help other customers to understand
how the project is going to happen.
And they they're very well prepared because 90% of the
issue happens in the construction industry is the
communication, you know, that, that communication, we are
trying to bring it building in. We are trying to bring it that
in a, you know, in a perfect way.
So in A1 single system. And moreover, you want to make
sure that you're protecting your customers.
So every even I can't see their conversation, you know, unless
they are all created, it's completely encrypted.
Nobody can outside the system can able to see that even even
the trader, even if he's going to serve individual customer
their e-mail address and their phone number is still is going
to be private until they typically going to give it to
them personally, their phone number and the e-mail address.
So once the job is done, that's it.
It's closed. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's
completely saved. So this is something which we
always want to do it because most of the customers they don't
want to get disturbed in their personal e-mail and their
personal phone numbers. So we are making this in a
system that and it's it's it's completely private and and
sometimes it is also happens in the traditional method, the
people being raised invoiced based on the profile.
For an example, if you're if you're going to live in 20
million or two a 5 million property and the kitchen, the
the moment somebody come and do the same kitchen size of the
normal house, they're going to quote you double the cost or
more than you know, they profile the customer based on the
profile of the customer. They charge more.
This is not going to happen over here.
So the customer is going to be safe.
You know, it's it's not based on the profile, it's based on the
job. The price is going to be based
on the job and they're going to they're not going to get one
proposal. They're going to get the same
material, the same thing. What you're asking you no need
to repeat the question and all the questions, whatever the
trader is asking to you, it's going to become in a common and,
and, and every single question which you're answering for
another trader, it's going to be helping the other traders also
understand what the project is detailed.
Wow. So if you had to describe my
project AI's mission in one sentence, what would that
sentence be? 10 minutes to find and finalize.
Wow, I like that one that that's a nice punch line. 10 minutes to
find and finalize. You know, it's interesting the
life of an entrepreneur, how you have to think outside of the box
and bring innovative solutions to solve important problems.
And I think it's really beautiful the role that AI is
played in this digital age. You know I was making a joke
earlier stating that you literally wear from the Stone
Age to the tech age, right? Technology is the best thing
that has happened to men, and it's also the worst thing that
has happened to men. You know, It just depends on
whose hands the technology is. And we've seen the
transformation of technology over time.
While we are currently experiencing the AI bubble,
people have mixed opinions about AI.
Seems to be like a controversial topic that is highly polarizing
and in nature. So some people are pro AI, some
people are anti AI. I'd love to take your opinion on
AI in this age of digital transformation.
And what do you think AI role is going to be for the future of
the general business landscape? I heard a lot of a podcast here
related with the AI. I hear the people telling the AI
is already it's old. There's lot more advanced than
the AI is going to be happening in the era AI life is going to.
You know one side of the people they don't even know what is AI
and another side of the people they're saying that the AI is
already it's over. It doesn't matter what the
technology comes human still required.
End of the day all this technology is there to sell
human. You cannot replace the human,
and without the human nothing is there so.
There's, there's, there's an episode of this broadcast tacked
humans first, AI next, literally with Mark Andrews from the
United States. He's the AI group.
Yeah. You, you, you put it rightly,
like humans first, AI next. And AI is actually there to be
be an assistant. And I think it's high time
everybody embraces AI because if you do not embrace AI, it's like
a tsunami is going to wash you away.
So you have to embrace it and follow, go with the flow and be
a slave to the weak. That's the letter.
I'll just eat. But like yourself, you see that
intersection of physical industries and AI
transformation. So like we actually see the
biggest opportunities for AI in the construction industry and
home improvement sector. True, true.
We can see I can I can see almost every every everybody
like to head off the head right like it's, it's a, it's a it's
everyone, everyone want to serve better.
Everyone want to serve an efficient way and AI is really
making a big impact, really very big impact.
I remember that few customers recent days, they started
telling to us, I found your company in ChatGPT.
I found your company in cloud AI and I was really surprised how
did you found of a company in ChatGPT?
How did you found in a cloud? And they said to me, who is
having this particular stone? And I searched it and it came
up, you are the first company that having this particular
product. And so that's why we are
contacting. So AI is helping human.
It's absolutely. There's no second doubt about
it. There have been three paid
guests on this broadcast. 3 On this broadcast, who said you
came strongly recommended by the AI system?
Yeah. It's interesting.
Yeah, that's alluding to your point.
Yeah. So, so it is, is it is it is
making a really big impact. It made big impact in our in our
business and we are still trying to use in a better way a major
search artificial intelligence. We are, we want to build our own
mission learning system and, and we are working on it and
definitely we'll be working on it, yeah.
Wow, so a lot of people always say, oh, AI is coming to take
out jobs. AI is taking away jobs.
And you know, I am AII didn't like see that.
But you know, I just make the joke that I'm not coming for
your jobs. I'm only coming to assist you
with your jobs. And we've had the VP of Money
2020, Zach Pettit, that's VP global fintech strategy.
It's a very big FSS of AI and you know our money, $0.20 a
year, I think those last year, yeah, I think the one in
Amsterdam, they had the one in Las Vegas in October.
So he said AI is not coming for your jobs, right?
Your job is going to be taking part that person that knows how
to use AI. But I'm going to put you on the
spot here. Do you believe AI will create
more jobs or replace them in the industries that?
You serve see the technology always going to remove some of
the people from the employment. It is definitely yes, because
when when there was a time we have to send everything manually
or do everything manually, there were a lot of the people who
were working. And when e-mail came, it's
reduced the numbers and when when telephone came, when mobile
phone came from telephone because to be used to physically
connect one connection to another connection.
So when the mobile came, the technology always it's going to
revolve by its own, the human, the people who want to survive,
they're going to learn every single new technology.
It's end of the day. And some people, of course, yes,
some people will lose the jobs and there is no thought about it
because I used to have an secretary, she writes most of my
things, which I required. But now I have AAI assistant
before I even read the e-mail, it's already prepared a reply
for me. You know, it's, it's what are
the e-mail I get it's, it's already prepares my e-mail
reply. And all I need to do it is I
need to, it doesn't mean that I can send that blindly.
I have to read it and still it's going to as a human, we need to
do what we need to do and I have to do the modification according
to the requirement and then I send stuff.
But of course I don't need to think right now.
I can be more efficient. And that's how it's going to
happen in the construction industry or some of the colors
choosing or sometimes there is a there is this image scanner
which came in the stone industry, the slab, it scans the
slab and exactly tell the colour what does the actual colour is
there in that particular material which human can't do
it. Yeah.
So the technology always going to play the major role.
It gives the best that's the purpose of the technology.
And it's our responsible that we need to make sure that we are
using the technology and we using that As for a growth
purpose. And we also learn about the
technology we need to learn, because if I say, you know how,
how the Nokia said. You know, they're not going to
evolve themselves for the touchscreen.
When, when the when, when a company gave an opportunity to
update the technology, they said no, they're not going to.
If they're not going to update, then they're not going to be in
the industry. Now the Nokia No one.
Wow. You understood what I mean.
Man, Nokia, I remember the days of using Nokia.
It was crazy. We had really strong phones.
We really strong back to life yeah Remember Nokia 3310?
Very very strong. No, even BlackBerry as well, you
know, crazy. Yes, they refused to evolve as
well. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
If you don't. Evolve you would You would die.
You fear the way. Exactly.
So like how do you think a small
businesses should have put AI when they feel overwhelmed?
See, it's every business have the opportunity to grow.
You know, there is always there is a room to grow.
Always there is a room to grow. You hire a person, right.
It's it's not see nowadays you no need to hire somebody for a
full time for anything. You have a lot of a freelancers
recent days and you have a lot of the people to do what we
require to do it now, because it's not like in in those days,
you need to wait for a one person to come and fix that
issue. No, it's no more if you're not
there. If that person is not there, you
have another person, you have another person, you have another
person. It's a very competitive world.
That's how the small business required.
They just need to find the opportunity and, and do if they,
if they're required that they need to hire somebody to modify
the system, they have to hire because they no need to hire for
a full time. They can hire for three months
or six months or 12 months. And they can put the system in
place and, and just doing it. It is, it is as a small company,
as a small business, it is your responsible to do what you're
required to do with you. If you think you want to, to
serve more to make a business better and you have to do it.
You can't say, oh, no, even if I'm not going to do it still I'm
going to going to get my customers.
No, it's not going to happen, No.
Yeah. You know, customers are support
for options in division time. Plus, you know, we need to
reduce the time span between idea and execution and that's
something that AI actually helps us to achieve.
So what is the next big shift that you foresee in the
marketplace platforms more foreseeable future?
I believe instead of a human finding the answer and the next
big shift, I believe the agents is going to find the answer for
another agent. Imagine I will be having AAI
agent and my customer is also going to have AAI agent and
they're going to talk each other to provide the service which I
need to provide the service. It's going to happen.
That is happening already. That is update already.
Like I said, it has happened in in my own business as well,
like, you know, yeah, agents and of course some perspective
guests how their AI agents are dead.
It was a conversation between the AI agents that are like, OK,
OK, interested. And it's crazy, you know, like a
year ago, I used to have a human assistant and I've had podcast
episodes where my assistant is communicating to the assistant,
you know, the CEO guest. But now it's crazy how it's AI
assistants that are chatting to AI assistants before you have
that human a would I say in human interaction to pick up the
high level of details sure is wild.
So, but but a lot of people are concerned about the integrity of
the communication details, right, Especially with, you
know, maybe things like GDPR, for example, data protection is
a very big issue. And there have been a lot of,
you know, cases, even some known cases in the litigation space
about data not being protected about on ethical use of, you
know, people's private data that is meant to be protected by AI
tools, by the SAS tools. So what are the implications?
And like, what do you think? Where do you think the line
should be drawn? Because we've had a really full
blown case right on this forecast, but I want you to take
your thoughts on the issue of data protection when it comes to
the use of AI. See it is a responsible for
every AI developer to save the GDPA policy, to make sure that
they are under the GDPA policy and and to protect our
customers, to protect our clients.
It is our responsible and the customers is trusting us and
they're coming to us, they sharing their information.
So it is our responsible to make sure that we are doing it.
So we have we have a system. That's why I said to you when I,
when we developed the whole technologies encrypted, you
know, it's, it's impossible even for myself to see something if I
want to see in our, in our system on this, the client has
under the client giving the permission to us.
So that's the way we are. We are trying to develop those
technology and, and still there's a long way, there's a
process, but still, you know, we are focusing on that and we have
an option for every single client in our, our system.
They can keep themselves as a private or a public like the way
which they can able. To have it in other social
medias and other stuff. So they can keep it themselves
as a private or they can keep it as a public.
Even if it is a public, which doesn't mean that they can the
others can able to see either contact details.
Even they're the people they are dealing with, they can't even
see the contact. Details So it is responsible for
every company to to to protect their customer data, which I
believe. Most of the people are doing it
and and I very, very few companies, but I don't, I
haven't seen anybody in my in my time who are in AI, which is
everything is open source now. It's it's open for everybody
now. I haven't seen it.
OK, so we, we've had issues in which AI systems, right, collect
the data, right, Yeah, it's protected from external parties.
But so Ron, unauthorized research programs on customer
behavior, on consumer behavior, right, with the patterns of the
users. So there was a lady on this
broadcaster a couple of months ago, her name is Rose G Loops.
She's written a group on the ethical framework of AI and
earlier this year, that is earlier 2025 around June, I
think, if my memory says me correctly, this was around June
10. There was a ChatGPT outage about
around for about 9-10 hours. I don't know if you can
recollect in June this year, there was a ChatGPT outage that
ran for a couple of hours. And she actually was involved in
a deep research that was conducted in order to, would I
say, upgrade some of the systems.
And this ChatGPT model was having like full on
conversations ANYWAYS that were recorded and everything.
But she claims to have had like some sort of emotional trauma
from the situation. And it's funny how I have met
some other people who have similar claims as well in the
Internet space, where, where do we draw the line between getting
people's data? Because it's very, very
sensitive. You the kind of things that
people actually put or discuss with church GPT is outrageous.
So if you had the back end of church GPT, you could literally
see the lives or probably literally the nakedness of a lot
of people. And they are in a position where
they have highly sensitive information about people.
And it all depends on what you want to use it to do.
But there are people that have claimed that they have been
subject of research work that they did not sign up for.
So it shows like using human beings like a lab rat.
I've had to make a scientific discovery from scientific
research. So where do we try out the line
Days of you? See, it doesn't when you're I
believe, I believe the AI at this moment.
What we ChatGPT you're talking about?
I also use it. Yeah, I also use the ChatGPT.
I use other technologies of AI. I I fixed, I set up my system.
Yeah, I made it's, it's again, it's private and public.
I made the system. Whatever I'm discussing it,
whatever I'm asking for it, it is one that's going to for me
and it's not going to be and I don't want to.
Share any of my data to in public domain and which I made
when we are using the system which we made a few I, I, I, I.
You know, going to the privacy system settings and doing the
privacy personal, all this kind of a stuff, as long as you
you're going to do what you're doing it because see, you can't
hide anything in this world. That's the true fact.
You can't run, boy. You can't hide.
You can't hide anything because if you're using a.
Technology in one and another way it's, it's, it's, it's going
to be, it's going to be and you can't say, you know, I'm using,
I ask certain things which I shouldn't ask in a, in a public
place or in a public thing then so, so you have to be
responsible in using your technology.
You have to be a responsible. You can't be a blind, blind
person and unfortunately everything needs to be recorded,
everything needs to be monitored.
According to the government, when they are running what they
need to run to protect the country, to protect the people,
to protect the nation. So it is going to be happening.
Anything which you searched in online, anything you ask in
online, it is going to be in a public stuff.
There is a certain level, it's not going to be there.
It's not going to be watched, it's not going to be visualized
in a certain level, in a certain things.
Of course the government is going to have an axis.
Of course you know that is that is there that we have to do it.
So people need to be more aware about privacy settings in order
to like protect that data as well.
Because like I said earlier, customers do have
responsibilities as well. But it's essential that service
providers do not exploit customers that are not well
informed as well. But we have the responsibility
of keeping informed as ignorance is actually not admissible in
the face of law. True as well, right?
True. But AI now, like do you, do you
see any major changes happening in the global economy as a
result of the adoption of AI? See, I, I, I'm see I'm more
focused and be honest with you, I'm more focused on what we are
developing right now comparing the what you're.
Asking about, I'm more focused on what the solution which I can
able to provide. I am more focused on what I can
able to provide for our customer.
I believe that question which you're asking it's too early for
me to say. You're not.
The future is. Yeah, yeah.
So, so I'm, I'm, you know, we are, I'm, I'm just, I'm trying
to see what best. I can able to provide for our
customer, that's what I'm. Just I love that, I love that,
you know, that passion for positive impact, you know,
especially in your industry, it's really amazing.
And you know, when you're passionate about something, you
will, you have no choice but to do well in it.
I remember the CEO of Keeper. Keeper is a company in
Netherlands, but they actually engaged us to interview their
CEO and their CFO has been on the show and their CEO, like I
should be on the show maybe next week or something.
What they do is office automation.
They automate office spaces, right?
And he spoke about how if he's not passionate about what he
does any longer, he's just gonna fit it.
So he's just growing acquitted. Of course, when you're so
passionate about delivering value during solutions, that
drive will be there to succeed. You know that, that's something
I appreciate about you as well. You know, you're so committed to
a solution provision for your industry, right?
Trent, you are now that important line that is
connecting the dots because in this in this age and time,
basically you need to connect the dots between idea and
execution. You need to connect the dots
between the business and the customer.
True, right. That B to C and I studied
economics. I remember what the whole, you
know, the is it the channels of production, you know, wherein
you have a producer, right? I think they, they broke it down
from producer to wholesaler, from wholesaler to retailer,
then from retailer to consumer. So how about take out those
middle men, right and just connect the producer to the
consumer? See, in some places yes it is
possible to connect producer to consumer.
In some places it is impossible just because imagine the
construction industry, the stone manufacturer and the quarry
owner. He's not going to.
He can't provide the stone without distributor or without
the person to cut it. Because you need a person, you
need a people in in between. But for an example, if you're
talking about the vegetable, because it's a consumption
directly can happen. The raw consumption can can be
done, but still they have a certain limits.
You know there is a certain area there, they have a boundary and
they can't do it beyond the boundary.
So obviously you need a somebody in a space in between the
production and the conception. So you definitely need it.
But yes, some places you're not required, some places you can.
You have to, yeah. So, so exactly right, you are
that line that is coming from the producer to the consumer and
from the consumer to the producer, right.
So we need speed between the two.
Yeah, we see the process and that's where you guys come in.
You guys are like a catalyst. Exactly.
So this is where we want to make sure we are providing all the
possible ways to make the things faster.
Because what happened is it's, it's a current era like the
people who are have a capacity to spend more, they are able to
spend the money on more to get what they require.
But the small companies, that's why the my project dot AI we
developed, it's not based on that advertisement.
It is based on the quality the, the service which they're going
to provide. And it is not based on the
service. It is not based on the
advertisement because everyone, every members who is going to be
using the My Project DFI, they're going to have a standard
membership fee. It's not going to be happening
like a just because you're going to pay extra, you're going to
have you're going to come talk. No, it's the we're developing
the technology that everybody will get the leads, every single
of them and then they can able to make use of it.
So interesting. It's really, really wonderful
scene when I say the impact that you guys are making.
Impact is the, I think impact is the right word.
Like you guys are able to bring satisfaction.
Satisfaction is something that has shown itself in your body of
work, even right from your youthful age right until now.
What you're doing, you're always ensuring that consumers are
satisfied, but not only consumers are satisfied.
Producers also have to be satisfied.
So you you need to you need to put more respect on your on your
own name. You're welcome.
You know, speaking about that personal and family violence.
It's how do you balance this, this life man, the first you are
24/7 on the grand. I tell people that if your ship
is 24/7, then 9 to 5 is 9:00 to 5:00.
So you need to know what you're committing to if you want to a
nine to five or you want a 24/7, right?
It's a, it's a, it's a calling, right?
See, nowadays the generation is completely different and the
past generation is different when my parents work.
And they used to work from the morning 8:00 until evening 7:00
or 6:30 or 7:00. So we used to have, you know,
that kind of life. But now the life is different.
The entrepreneurship is completely different.
You know, if you want to run a business, you, you, your mind
physically, you know, you're 24 hours, you work as an
entrepreneur or you work, you know, you're trying to find an
answer. But we need to create a system.
Of course, we need to create the system in place to make sure to
have the decent family life. As I said to you earlier, that
is one of the reason maybe I couldn't have what I supposed to
have, but I learned it. And now I'm, I'm, I'm learning a
lot of things. Sometimes you learn later part
of the life. Definitely you need to plan for
your family. Of course, your end of the day,
though, we, we say that we have a calling.
We have to do what we need to do it.
Of course you need to spend as long as you have a wonderful
understanding partner who can, because you can't have a few
people doing business together that you can't.
It's not a easy stuff. And you're especially doing a
business. It's it's you need a team.
You need a definitely need a team.
You definitely need a team to do something.
What you're talking about the business world, entrepreneur
world, you definitely need a good partner to make sure that
you're driving it. And I have a I'm really blessed
to have a wonderful team right now who's who's doing what
they're doing it and who's taking care of their jobs.
You know, sometimes I can't sit in the office.
I continuously travel and, and those are the times and they run
the show on behalf of me, especially, you know, when I,
when I had a very tough time in my life, you know, I really
thankful for my team. I wouldn't be surviving it, you
know, if the if the team is not there.
I had a very small team then in 2020.
Three, it was a rough pace of. My Life and 2023-2024 it's
really, really rough face, rough face of my life.
I, I, I can't even imagine, you know, you, you, you need
somebody to you. You don't even think right.
You already you've failed a lot and your, your partner left.
Your kids are not with you and you're staying in the same house
which you've been living as a family for almost ages and then
all of a sudden you don't have anything.
It's I I used to hate to go to my bedroom between I don't I
don't like to go to my bedroom at all.
I don't, I hate, I love Saturday and Sunday.
But in 2023-2024 I hate Saturday, Sunday, I don't want
to be. I don't want Saturday and
Sunday. I thought like, you know, I
don't want to have a Saturday and Sunday.
I hate going to my bedroom. I hate sleeping.
Sleeping at all, you know, I don't want to sleep, you know,
if I sleep so many things. It's a big struggle, but the
team. I'm really God.
I'm really thankful to the God. I'm really blessed.
Wonderful team during my absence, even though I was not
physically present most of the time they ran the show.
In fact, they've. Grown the business.
During those period, they successfully ran the whole
organization. I really thankful for the team,
you know, the, my team, my Mayans, we call us Mayans.
The people who are working in a my project today.
I we call them as a It's the company my it's just the first
letter of. Mai.
Yeah, that's how the my has Mai. So my and working in the my we
call them as a Mayans. That's that's a great demonym.
That's interesting how every every entrepreneur goes through
both patches. They say tough time zone last,
but tough people too. God reserves his toughest
battles for his toughest soldiers.
And this is one of the reasons why I'm really, really proud of
the fact that this podcast, you know, which is my body of work
is actually endorsed and supported, you know, by big
partnership with Better help. You know, Better Help is the
world's leading online therapy tool.
You know, I love for you to speak to the essence and the
importance of therapy, especially for founders and
entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship can be really,
really tough and. Lonely Joining?
Sometimes so mental health is actually very, very important,
right? So I love for you to speak to
that importance of taking care of your mental health and the
resourcefulness of resources and tools like Better Help.
See, I first of all, I I'd really thankful the whoever
that's the technology, whoever has found the better help.
I really like to say thank you because I believe I've been, I,
I resisted myself because I don't know I, I, I, I don't know
anything apart from the family. I works 16 hours, 15 hours, 16
hours, 12 hours. You know, I work, I, I work a
lot. And then all of sudden you, I
don't know anything apart from the business.
Apart from the family. Only two you ask me anything out
of this question out of this 22 areas I will say I don't know,
but if the better held, I don't know where to start.
You know of whom to talk. You know, especially it's not
most of the time always the entrepreneur journey is a lonely
journey. If you don't have right mindset
of a people, you don't have a friends who can understand you.
It is it is even friends, they can't understand what you're
talking about because the business life is completely,
completely different and the better held.
It really helped me in 2023 come back to the life which I'm in
right now. I do remember somebody who's
from Ireland, when I said I don't want to live right now, I
thought of, you know, what is the purpose of I'm going to
live? I'm not going to live anymore
and I'm going to kill myself. And I remember the woman who
asked me the question, OK, what's going to happen?
You died, so who's going to take care of your your kids and who
will be taking care? Is that you think that your son,
your daughter will get everything what they want just
because you died? No certain questions which they
asked me, you know, that's made a real impact in my life.
If the better health is not there, I wouldn't be, you know,
knowing where to ask because we can't, we can't call.
There is a issue when you don't want to call the NHS.
You tell them that you're going to commit suicide or you're
going to, or you don't know what to do, or you know you're not
and doctors going to sit on your NHS history for 7-8 years and so
you don't. Take them a long time to pick
up. Exactly.
And and and you don't want to do it because of that.
I haven't got the insurance being you know, at one stage I
was too much of A depression and too much of A thoughts process.
Then I told the NHS and because of that my insurance got
cancelled. My life insurance got cancelled.
You know, like they said, I can't have an insurance.
So better hell, it really helped me really those sessions has
really helped me. It helped me to think in a
different aspects and you know, different things in my life.
You need somebody non judgmental.
You need somebody who you think that you don't you know they
don't know you and you can be a freak in talking.
What do you want to talk? And and of course, see, this is
one of the impression, you know, we the guy who developed with
this technology, maybe he developed, you know, with this
vision and he don't even know me, but he got the benefit out.
I got the benefit out of that technology.
It's a it's a, it's a every entrepreneur, every entrepreneur
required a good friends. Every entrepreneur required a
good network of a people, especially same mind, you know,
the same strength. Of course, now I have talking to
a lot of people, you know, still, of course it's there.
I have a long way to go, but it is important.
It is most important thing. You're not alone.
The entrepreneurs is not alone or they're not.
It's not going to happen doing alone.
No, no, we have a lot of facilities.
No one you know the better health is one of the technology
or we have a lot of other networking events nor of shows
happening. We can go, we can talk to the
people, same minded people, who knows you talk to 100 people out
of 100 people, five people will be having a same mindset of what
you have and they will be sharing your knowledge.
The good entrepreneurs the love to share their experience.
The good entrepreneurs love to. Support another entrepreneur?
Yeah. So, so I seen a lot of people,
you know, telling me what to do, what not to do.
And I did the same thing for a lot of other people.
You know, there is one, one of my secretary who been working
for me now she started the business.
I'm very happy. I'm very proud of it, you know,
and we, we exchange ideas even now she, she left the
organization. But still, even though we are,
we are happy in having a good communication.
She's running a business, I'm running a business and she gives
some different thought process and I I give a different thought
process to her. That's how the business works.
Do you understand what I mean? So.
Successful people are not gatekeepers.
Exactly. They are not gatekeepers.
They help you to grow.
They they are ladders. You know they they are going to
operate like a ladder and you also do the same.
You helped others and they will help you.
That's how the growth happens. Interesting, so you support
families you know and still meetings across the UK.
Why is community so important to you?
It is really important that's that's the one of the reason I
have started the SAP Foundation. It is, it is a community based
project like we are doing with the the initiative of this
project like. Sometimes you don't know where
to talk. Whom to talk, whom to talk and
what to talk and the SAP Foundation, that's how it's
started. So it's for the people who are
going through their situation which they don't know where to
have a communication. We are creating a number, it's a
toll free number, We want to do it and through the toll free
number and they can talk to the councillors, they can share
their family things which they're going through and and we
want to do that, We want to. Access that for.
Every because in abroad in India only people who have the
financial capacity they can able to talk to another people.
But. Here.
So I thought, OK, let's start building it, you know, let's,
let's build something even for the normal people, you know,
they, they have to share, they have someone has to tell them
right, that you are wrong, that you are right.
Counselling is one of the key thing.
So which we are building it up? That is fantastic.
That is really good to know. I think the the final question
before I put you through the quick fire round is what would
you know of your legacy to be? Sorry, can you repeat?
I said the final question before putting you through the quick
fire round is what would you love your legacy to be?
We want to touch millions of families, we want to touch
millions of families across the globe, and that's what I want to
build. Absolutely amazing.
So I'm going to take you through the Pacific wing of fire, but I
have more. Are you ready to rumble?
Of course, of course. OK, OK, OK, let's do this five
to five out questions. So number one, what is 1 mindset
you believe every entrepreneur must master?
No pain, no gain. Not that what is 1 Failure that
became a blessing for you. My life, personal life, it's
made me to run because I thought I can't, you know, I can't do
it. A lot of the things I, I thought
like I can't do it, which I'm doing it right now.
A lot of things which I'm doing it right now with the God's
grace and, and I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing right now.
We've grown nearly 700 to 800% in the last three years and
which is it's a massive, massive increase.
We were in 2022. I was I was having a less than
4000 or 5000 visitors users and now we are you're 50,000 to
70,000 users. Imagine from where to where we
are right now. So it's always something hard is
happening in our life. It is happening with the
purpose, the God doing with the purpose.
If something is going in your life out, it's OK because the
God doing with the purpose. So I wouldn't be doing what I'm
doing right now if that is not going to happen.
So what is one book that changed your life thinking forever?
Bible. I knew you were going to see the
Bible. Outside of the Bible, what other
books did you see? I read a.
Lot of novels and a lot of motivational stories and
manifesting is the second important thing which I you
know, and I read everything related with the management
books, other stuff. I don't stick on to.
One single book, because if you can see.
You know. It's it's I love to read the
topics and the detail of that particular book, Maximum Impact,
which is doing in our life. I'll give you a solid
recommendation. So for the management books,
check this one out Exponential Organizations.
Exponential organization. OK.
Yeah, it's a book by Sally Ismail, Exponential
Organizations. I think I might still have two
copies. If I still have two copies, I
might meet you one. Yeah.
It's it's it's a it's a solid beat.
Wow. So what is one thing you we
should learn 10 years earlier? Coding, coding.
I haven't completed a proper degree.
I did everything in the correspondence.
I did the schooling. As I said to you earlier, I I
did the schooling only. I study whatever I was there in
the school. I haven't had a time to sit and
study later and I was working more and even now I always think
about I should have learned coding I would have been
creating a lot more better solution.
These days they're shortcuts, shortcuts to me, right?
Even myself, I didn't really learn much coding, but like, I'm
glad for the EI tools that assist me to bypass like the
levels of coding that I did not learn by myself.
So it's amazing. It's amazing.
Just need to be able to, you know, conceive it and like use
your limited knowledge. And of course, you know, guys
out there these days that know how to code with the programmers
that you can always hire DevOps at, you know, highly affordable
rates as well. So it's the technology has made
the world easier. So OK the last thing is what is
1 message you would want to use for every person these name in
IT plus countries? Don't give up someone someone's
opinion doesn't have. To be your reality, don't give
up I'm. Not that it's OK.
No one is. It's, it's OK, you're doing it.
You did a lot of mistakes. We do a lot of mistakes in our
life. It's OK.
You still have the opportunity
to put everything right. If you are living, if you have a
breathe until last day, you can do every single step to put the
things in right. So it's OK to you have failed a
lot. It's OK you don't have the
knowledge of what you require, but it's OK whatever you have
put that and then just keep going forward.
Keep going forward. You shouldn't think that.
Put yourself in a place of they said this and they thought this
would you? Thinking about yourself is the
matter. That's the matter.
I love that. I love that, you know, basically
it's OK to make mistakes. And of course, the audience, you
guys have a parody. It's been an absolutely,
absolutely realization this at GMs Kumar.
At this point, everybody is a Mayan.
Wow. So from me to the audience, I
always say this, you know, always go for something in your
lives, concee, believe, strive to thrive and achieve.
And of course, our love and respect to the one and only GMs
Kumar. We love you, we appreciate you.
And of course, I always say this, that when a person shares
their time with you, they share their life with you because the
SI uniform measure life is time. So thank you very much for
sharing your life and your time with us today to educate us and
to motivate us. You're highly appreciated.
And of course we wish for you. And of course, we pray for you
is what will manifest for you. You know, greater heights, you
know, more money, more health, more wealth.
And of course, you know more. What?
More what? More stones and more crypto.
Yeah, well, bless his brother. God bless.
AI is taking away jobs.
Oh, I'm AI. I didn't like you, man.
But you know, I'll just make the joke that I'm not coming for
your jobs. Only coming to assist you with
your jobs. We've had the VP of Money 2020,
Zach Pettit, that's VP, Global Fintech Strategy is a very big
enthusiast of AI. And you know, Money 2020, I
think those last year, yeah, I think the one in Amsterdam, they
had the one in Las Vegas in October.
So they said AI is not coming for your jobs, right?
Your job is going to be taking part that person that knows how
to use AI. But I'm going to put you on the
spot here. Do you believe AI will create
more jobs or replace them in the industries that you serve?
See the technology always going to remove some of the people
from the employment. It is definitely yes, because
when when there was a time.