Hult Reviews of MBA by - Kaushal Shah (RIDING HIGH)

Kaushal Shah, MBA Class of 1995 and Founder & Managing Director of Aspire talks about his incredible entrepreneurial journey. From four employees to over 400 today, Kaushal Shah has built his start-up, Aspire into a multi-million dollar offshore IT company serving clients such as Weight Watchers International in just over ten years. We caught up with Kaushal to find out more.

Kaushal, tell us more about your journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur and Founder/MD of Aspire.

After graduating from Hult, I stumbled into the IT industry. For the previous nine years, I had worked for an Italian marine construction company on their projects in Qatar, Brunei, and Lebanon. I was handling their HR, finance, and accounting and I had a very hardworking, diligent, and tough boss who exposed me to every element of business operations. I shadowed him and learned from his management style.

The most crucial element was learning that everything that occurs more than three to four times has to have a process. When I set up Aspire, I decided to run the company as a corporation from day one. I made everything process-oriented and scalable. I took some risks and grew the company from four resources back in 2003 to over 400 today. Back in 2003 nobody would have thought of Jordan as a suitable location for the delivery of outsourced IT services. It required a lot of work, patience, and investment in training and solid HR practices coupled with attention to detail and absolute focus on delivering quality from anyone involved. 

The most crucial element was learning that everything that occurs more than three to four times has to have a process. When I set up Aspire, I decided to run the company as a corporation from day one. I made everything process-oriented and scalable. I took some risks and grew the company from four resources back in 2003 to over 400 today. Back in 2003 nobody would have thought of Jordan as a suitable location for the delivery of outsourced IT services. It required a lot of work, patience, and investment in training and solid HR practices coupled with attention to detail and absolute focus on delivering quality from anyone involved. 

Along my entrepreneurial journey I benefited from the combination of having grown up in a family with a flair for business and commerce as well as having had the opportunity to invest in my education while exposing myself to a variety of situations and activities; all of which helped me refine my understanding of what it takes to set up and grow a successful business.

Today Aspire is a successful IT services provider serving global markets from its base in Amman, Jordan. The suite of services provided encompasses all phases of the system development life-cycle for web and mobile applications, content management, customer support, remote network support, and data analysis

As an entrepreneur I also learned over the years that in order to accelerate the growth of my company I should focus on the establishment of key strategic relationships. Over the past few years Aspire was identified as one of the leading IT services com. panies in the MENA region. Today it enjoys a strategic partnership with one of the leading global IT services companies from the U.S. Thanks to this we are now very well positioned to dramatically expand the range of services available to our clients which now encompasses the full spectrum of services from business technology & process to consulting.

How did your time at Hult help your personal and professional development?

My time at the school gave me tremendous exposure to a truly global and multicultural network of students. Understanding different cultures and sharpening my communication skills was certainly a value-add to the traditional MBA.  The same network has proven very useful after graduation as well. I was also able to benefit from the mentoring by members of the academic staff both during and after my studies there.

Were you involved in any entrepreneurial activities while at the school?

The internship program I took part in during my studies allowed me to see real-life applications of the theoretical knowledge I had learned and to see how the theory worked in practice. Working with a financial executive at a PR and event management company provided the right opportunity to understand finance projections and cash flow management from the perspective of market and marketing objectives. It also helped me understand the business patterns and priorities that form the core of all successful businesses. Essentially it helped me in comprehending what works where, how, and when.

It also broadened my perspective to appreciate and comprehend cultural differences and work with them. This has been invaluable in my professional life when working with people from different cultural backgrounds such as the U.S., U.K., India, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, and Brunei. The individual attention given to the students by the faculty and the provost in particular, was invaluable in helping facilitate ‘real’ learning.

What have been some of the highs and lows in setting up your own IT Company?

Setting up and running Aspire has been and still is a great high. Growing the company, starting with a big break in 2003 when we started supporting Weight Watchers International and seeing new clients like Gilt Groupe, Borderfree.com, Smarter Travel Media, Jetsetter, IBM, BP, Aramex, and Publicis among others, giving us very positive feedback as well as good business was fantastic.

Also, being able to add new services and create employment and growth opportunities for young and well-educated Jordanians is a real thrill.

There have certainly been challenges along the way. Aspire has evolved, following the growth curve of the ICT sector in the MENA region. Lobbying government agencies, ensuring that robust processes are developed and followed, as well as changing the traditional biases that the West may have towards the Middle East are not easy tasks. Similarly injecting the latest HR practices and remaining a leader in our sector in the region presented and continues to present a variety of challenges but what would success be without the overcoming of challenges? 

What advice would you offer someone looking to launch their own business in the field of professional services?

Be focused and envision what you want to achieve. Keep learning; take a chance; give 120% to everything that you do; work towards the best but always be prepared for the worst; and above all, focus on the details.

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