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.
