Anjan is a technology leader with over two decades of experience in building and deploying cross channel web applications. The initial 17 years of his career were spent brainstorming, designing, and architecting multiple e-commerce applications. The knowledge, experience, and insights gathered over the years have been invaluable in eventually doing what he really wanted to do- developing world-class HR technology solutions. He has spent a significant part of his career, 15 years to be precise, working in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe. Upon his eventual return to India in 2013, he has been involved in developing and mentoring the product, operations, and marketing team of Vantage Circle since then. Even today, he considers himself as an entrepreneur at heart.
As a fitness enthusiast, he is incredibly passionate about the need for corporate wellness. He believes that health & wellness at the workplace will be the primary differentiator companies will be ranked upon in the coming years. In his spare time, he is always preparing for the next marathon or triathlon that comes his way. He has recently been introduced to two newer fields of wellness- meditation and yoga- and have been taking baby steps to improve every day.
Please tell us a little bit about your company – what is Vantage Circle all about?
Vantage Circle is a one-stop employee engagement platform designed to amplify engagement and transform the way people work, connect, and feel. Our suite of solutions, namely, Vantage Rewards, Vantage Perks, and Vantage Fit, and Vantage Pulse, have been designed to address the conscious need to enhance the productivity of a workforce by presenting a stellar employee experience.
Our comprehensive and cost-effective platform is designed to help organizations in attracting and retaining their top talents. Our user base currently stands at a massive 1.5M+ employees from some of the leading top corporates like HCL, Accenture, Infosys, WIPRO, Aricent, GE, Mu Sigma, Capgemini, and many more.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
The foundation of Vantage Circle was set way back in 2011. Partha and I were two school friends who had a fledgling dream of starting our own company, and the manifestation of our efforts resulted in launching Vantage Circle.
With Partha and I, having worked in the IT and technology industry for almost two decades, we were confident that it was where we could benefit from utilizing our expertise while achieving the goals that we had set for ourselves. We were able to create, launch, and reach the success that Vantage Circle has today due to the right opportunities, guidance, and ideas implemented at the right time.
What are your plans, how do you plan to grow this company?
I can proudly say at this point that we are indeed a global organization. Despite us having a modest workforce, the impact we have made in recent years has been extensive. We are trying to cement our market base to cater to an even more varied demographic as of today. Our efforts will extend to branching out to newer countries where we have identified the need for a comprehensive employee engagement solution. Our next immediate plan is to cut down any current communication barriers by integrating multiple language accessibility in our platform.
While diversity has always been a vital part of our core values, as of late, we have doubled our efforts to ensure that our culture prioritizes the need for diversity and inclusion.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
The majority of our operations are conducted out of a small city, thus presenting a set of challenges such as fast recruitment, skilled hiring, and finding suitable candidates who fit the roles. Another challenge for us was to keep our team motivated and keep morale high. As a result, performance got impacted, which in turn influenced the rate of scaling. One way we managed to resolve these issues was to switch to a virtual recruiting approach and provide remote work opportunities. We started to get an incredible number of talented individuals applying to work at Vantage Circle as the popularity of our flexible working arrangements and a good work culture gained the right amount of buzz. Amazingly, these measures have made us tap into a more skilled talent pool and also enabled us to hire the right people for our company.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
Making mistakes is an important part of how I have learned and ultimately accomplished a steady pace of continuous individual and professional growth. However, there are three key mistakes that I wish I had avoided during the early stages of Vantage Circle’s inception. The most crucial one is not choosing the right tools for mobile app development that would have helped us be more user-friendly and accessible to a fast-paced audience. The second mistake was to ignore the inception of a marketing team till as recently as two years ago. It deprived us of reaching our core audience as efficiently as we could have through implementing the correct marketing tactics. The third big error was not to streamline the sales team’s tasks in a more strategic way and under a successful sales leader.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
We are changing the way HRs and managers handle the intricacies and complexities that come along with the management of an employee engagement program. By creating four integral modules (rewards and recognition, benefits, wellness, and survey) in a one-stop-solution, engaging employees is incredibly easy, cost-effective, and accessible to the corporates. The ease of use of the platform and its features in every module also sets us apart from our competitors.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
The act of appreciating the people around you on a regular basis is an underrated act of self-development. A culture of mutual respect and recognition of each other’s contributions inspires and motivates me to bring my best self to work every day. As an entrepreneur, always remember to appreciate your “ride or die” people. These very people will be integral in your journey of learning and growing as a leader, human, and even as a fellow peer at times.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
I highly recommend these three books in particular to every new or experienced entrepreneur- Late Blooming Entrepreneurs by Lynne Beverly Strang, Customers for Life by Carl Sewell, and The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. Not just for my personal growth, these books were an invaluable source of motivation and learning that enabled me to be a better leader and aided in the growth of Vantage Circle as well.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
About how crucial marketing is to any business. Even if you have a fantastic product, it has little hope of reaching your target audience without the right marketing strategies. Formulating the right marketing strategy can make your brand stand out from the crowd. Many entrepreneurs choose to put off marketing until a certain degree of success is reached, but what they favor to ignore is that marketing will help you track your path to achieving that “success.”
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
A major part of our marketing strategy has been inbound marketing tactics and focusing on a more organic approach. I am happy to say that these measures have played a principal part in us getting over 1 million monthly users to the Vantage Circle blog.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would be investing an equal amount of money that originally went into product development, building and enhancing the sales and marketing departments of the new venture. As stated before, ignoring these two has been a major oversight on our part with Vantage Circle and I would try to ensure that the mistake is not repeated again.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Having experience of co-founding and operating three separate businesses, one in London and the other two in India, over a span of 10 years gave me the cognizance of how to make the most of the minimum resources that you have.
Another thing I have gradually discovered over the years is that if you do not plan the financial aspects on a priority basis, you don’t win in business (especially start-ups). Note that the sole emphasis should be on increasing (and sustaining) the company at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey.
What is your favorite quote?
My favorite has to be this quote by Mary Kay Ash:
“Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don’t keep it a secret.”
– Mary Kay Ash
How can we get in touch with you?
You can visit my company website Vantage Circle, find me on social media via LinkedIn.
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