Top Global Companies in the World

TECHNOLOGY: THE BEDROCK OF TRANSFORMATION AND GROWTH OF BUSINESS AND LIFESTYLE

Time has flown quickly by this year, and the winds of change have brought many enriching changes in our lives. More importantly, breakthroughs created by world-class engineers are reshaping traditionally operating markets. Whether it’s big holdings, small businesses, or startups, technology is playing a ubiquitous role everywhere. With technology advancing in all quarters of business and life, engineering services are creating a continuous buzz. Being an industry-neutral vertical, it has a wide range of applications, such as civil assets, electricity supply, water supply, air conditioning and refrigeration, communication, energy transfer, and so on.

Above all else, engineering services play an integral role in manufacturing operations. Manufacturing is integral to forming the backbone of an economy. Thanks to enhanced engineering tools and services, manufacturing facilities are operating at lower costs and with shorter lead times, allowing finished goods to reach the market as soon as feasible and generating sizable profits. India is becoming a manufacturing powerhouse thanks to advancements. With the advent of Industry 4.0 applications, every manufacturing vertical is now equipped with sophisticated machines. However, in order to maintain quality, these machines must be kept updated and serviced. And when it comes to the safety and longevity of high-octane machinery and motors, the value of soft starters can’t be undermined. But how does it contribute to machine safety? And which brand should companies choose for advanced soft starters that meet modern requirements?

To find out more, read our most recent cover article on AuCom, one of the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers. The brand has a history of excellence spanning over 4 decades and has innovative soft starters for all types of modern assemblies. We certainly hope you find the story compelling and choose it as a partner in your growth story.

Besides this, the edition comprises a gamut of compelling entrepreneurial journeys, success stories, blogs, and other in-house stuff. While not all of them are themed on engineering, they reflect how technology redefines business sectors, enable them to create impactful offerings. We certainly hope our efforts are adding value to your growth journey.

Peace!

Vol - 5 | Special Edition | December 2022

Publisher & Editor : Abhishek Kumar Dubey

Editorial Team

Indranil Roy | Kajal Dobhal | Sugandh Bahl | Gulshan Parveen | Dr. Amit Mishra Avishek Singh | Kriti Anand | Sanjay Kumar

Business

Head ASHISH KUMAR

Senior Marketing Manager Sonia Tiwari

Senior Relationship Manager Reshmi Mishra

Corporate Team

Satyam Singh | Sunny Pathak | Asha Dudeja | Pradeep Pandey | Reetu Chauhan | Komal Verma Sudha Gupta | Javed Khan | Vikash Kumar | Archna Pawar | Mohit Rathee | Abhishek Mishra | Kazim Barati Mohit Rathee | Abhishek Mishra | Navdeep Sharma Co-ordinator (Business Connect-Clients) Anita Kumari | Priyanka Gupta

Data Research & Analysis

Satyam Tiwari | Amit Kumar | Anita | Ravinder Singh | Rahul Kumar | Sweta | Shweta Kumari Prince | Virat Tiwari | Ritika | Rekha | Simran | Khusboo | Hitesh | Raja

Finance Team Monika Aggarwal | Gaurav Singhal | Jyoti

Creative Director

ASHUTOSH OJHA

Creative Team

Rajat Pathak | Sakshi Negi | Vishant Saroj | Pawan Yadav Legal Affairs Mukesh Kumar Human Resources Nivedita Basu

Digital Marketing Manager Anurag Tiwari

Registered Office

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Email: info@businessconnectindia.in

Corporate Office

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Email: corporate@businessconnectindia.in

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Publisher & Editor : Abhishek Kumar Dubey RNI No.: DELENG/2018/76695

Copyright © 2018 FanzineIndia, All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photography or illustrations without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations, Views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the magazine and according no liability is assumed by the publisher.

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AuCom MCS GmbH THE WORLD’S LEADING MOTOR CONTROL SPECIALIST

Consider yourself stuck in traffic. Stomping the accelerator to speed up to maximum speed as the light turns green is not a good idea because it could damage the car’s mechanical parts and be ineffective while being risky. The parallel applies equally to electrical devices. While a standard startup can do the task, it can also use more energy and wear out too quickly. An electrical motor must start correctly for smooth operation, and soft starters are just the right components to make that happen. It restricts the initial surge of the current and provides a gradual ramp up to full speed or a gradual stop where a sudden stop can have an adverse effect on the connected unit. As a result, there is less mechanical and electrodynamic stress placed on the motor’s shaft and attached power lines.

Indranil Roy | Business Connect

Thomas Zirk-Gunnemann Managing Director

Manufacturing processes and equipment have undergone substantial changes with the introduction of Industry 4.0. The cutting-edge designs and technologies have also inspired a new generation of soft starters, making them stronger, smarter, superior, safe, and efficient. The global soft starter market projects a growth of USD 2386.47 million by 2026 with ongoing developments, achieving a CAGR of roughly 5.91% throughout the forecast period (2021-26). Given its centrality and utilization in high-tech operations, companies need trustworthy partners. And the brand to watch out for is the one with a track record of quality and efficacy.

BECOMING A LEADER WORLDWIDE

The origins of AuCom date back to 1978. AuCom was founded in Christchurch, New Zealand, to develop high-end stereo amplifiers. In fact, this is how it got its name. But the following year, it got a NASA license to create energy-saving single-phase electric motors and later created and patented 3-phase energy-saving technology. Strong demand for the product propelled AuCom from a start-up to a major exporter in a relatively short period of time. Upon entering the motor control market, AuCom noticed a niche demand for the soft start function in its energy-saving product. This revelation inspired the creation of the world’s first range of commercially feasible soft starters. Turning inspiration into reality, AuCom released the EMS Series of soft starters in 1982, ushering in a new era in low-voltage motor control.

As time passed, AuCom expanded on all fronts, and its expertise began to echo across nations. In 2019, AuCom merged with Benshaw Group of Companies to become the world’s largest privately held soft starter company. With both their technologies combined, as well as each enterprise’s already impressive sales and service capabilities, AuCom has been a critical infrastructure partner in many organizations’ growth stories. The company has geographical dominance in Europe, Asia-Pacific, North and Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and China. As motor control specialists, they believe in bringing clients’ needs to reality through customized support right from the start.

INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS FOR EVERY GIRTH GEAR DRIVE

Soft starters have become wildly influential in high-tension motors for effective torque control and smooth motor acceleration. It has supplanted several common mechanisms, such as StarDelta or autotransformers, and created a thriving industry for itself. Modern soft starts, however, don’t resemble the big ones from the 1980s. A standard control panel can accommodate a medium-voltage soft starter. This means a 4 MW soft starter can readily fit in even the most compact areas. This flexibility allows it to cover 99% of the market’s drive assemblies.

Modern drive assemblies must, however, adhere to much stricter standards in order to maintain the connected machine’s efficiency. AuCom has created a good selection of LV and MV starters that are customized to meet individual needs in light of this. In addition, it provides MV AC drives (MVH 2.0), which are hundreds of times more powerful than their smaller, more prevalent low-voltage counterparts. This is mostly utilized to control massive, multimegawatt electric motors that power huge industrial loads found in mines, power plants, or metal processing plants. Its versatility allows it to work in a wide range of industries, including construction, food and beverage, irrigation, marine, mining and quarrying, oil and gas, pulp and paper, sawmilling, water, and wastewater.

The strong understanding of these applications gives it a noteworthy edge in the industry and over its peers. AuCom also works on specialized projects that are customized to the specific needs of particular companies. With competitive brands like Siemens, ABB, and Telemecanique making waves in the industry, it leaves no stone unturned. Earlier, it partnered with VFD manufacturers as soft starters, and VFDs are more like close siblings. But with the changing dynamics, AuCom is driving continuous innovations to level up its game and keep clients up and running.

AuCom MCS GmbH is a world-class manufacturer of unique soft starters. Working under the auspices of the Benshaw Group of Companies, AuCom has an established record of facilitating the growth and development of multinational corporations.

BACKED WITH WORLD-CLASS R&D

As the pioneers of commercial soft starters, AuCom has committed to continuous improvements to provide complete value to clients while staying the Ace of Spades. This eventually benefits clients by helping them deliver more value to their customers while being the best version of themselves. Having a solid technological foundation allows AuCom to integrate innovation, tools, and digital platforms into customer offerings to extend their business from the beginning. The “AuCom Start Here” app is a fantastic illustration of this, as it allows users to self-diagnose problems and seek support right from their hands.

The innovations and integrations are extensively fueled by R&D.

AUCOM IS A RECOGNIZED LEADER IN THE INDUSTRY FOR INNOVATIVE DESIGN AND ENGINEERED SOLUTIONS.

It has a large team of electrical, mechanical, power electronics, software engineering, 3D design and modeling, process control, system integration, and other professionals. Their broad and in-depth experience across sectors and targeted verticals aids in enhancing the innovation chasm and fostering new developments. The team is diligent with data and observations; for instance, reliability data on the mean time to failure (MTTF) of products is tracked and is currently greater than 200 years.

STATE-OF-THE-ART MANUFACTURING FORTE

One of AuCom’s key points is its superior manufacturing capabilities. The company is certified to ISO 9001:2015 and 14001:2015. The leaders involved make sure the standards are applied to all aspects of the business operations. Every product is created with the end user in mind, and every detail is prioritized to broaden functionality while saving time and money. The products are designed to speed up

installation, commissioning, or for operational support and designed accordingly. The company has manufacturing facilities in New Zealand, Germany, and the USA and the experience to meet the needs of specific markets. Throughout the manufacturing process, clients are made aware of the production stage and any upcoming updates as well. The products will then pass multiple acceptance tests to ensure they meet all specifications. Afterwards, AuCom also helps with commissioning and provides after-sales support.

With global players creating tailwinds and intelligent soft starters emerging, detailed manufacturing excellence undoubtedly adds a strategic benefit to overall excellence. They also take clients’ feedback into account to understand how developments can be improved. This contributes to a better understanding of the diverse and changing client needs.

Despite being fully updated with advances and technology, nothing could ever replace the value AuCom places on its people. From leaders to associates, everyone works towards building a people-centric culture, even though they are based in different locations. They believe, “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” To stay connected across locations, AuCom has designed a program in the context of a large organization’s governance and policy structure. The program keeps all stakeholders transparent about the company’s policies and operations. Passion, Agility, valuing people, innovation, and growth are the values that guide AuCom to its glory. Everyone strives to create a positive difference, thus continuously elevating its

THE LEADER TAKING AUCOM TO NEW HEIGHTS

AuCom has risen to become a leader in both business practices and technology. The quest began under the aegis of two industry gurus: Ray Archer, an entrepreneur, and Mark Empson, an electronics design expert. Since the debut of the first soft starter, their objective has been to grow to be the industry’s leading soft starter producer and the go-to partner for major international brands. Under their direction, AuCom developed from a fledgling company into a world leader and finally became a “home” for its employees. Today, however, AuCom is globally recognized as a motor control

WORKING FOR A BETTER FUTURE

global value and contributing meaningfully to the global community. This is how every project and program they engage in is kept in alignment with the company’s mission, vision, and goals.

The detailed and organized methodologies were noteworthy in overcoming the predicaments of COVID-19. As the lockdown brought a wave of challenges, AuCom went into analysis and reconfiguration mode. For the first six months, they focused on re-engaging with their values and identifying prospects. They even developed new products that are ready for market launch. In the end, working harmoniously, AuCom reshaped the ‘Black Swan Event’ into a stepping stone in their growth story.

specialist, and this milestone is attributed to Mr. Thomas Zirk-Gunnemann, Managing Director. An electrical engineer by trade, Thomas brings over two decades of industrial experience to the table. He joined AuCom in 2014 and has played a critical role in the company’s rise to prominence through various leadership positions. His technical prowess and people-driven leadership have propelled AuCom to new heights in flexibility and engineering designs, eventually establishing it as a motor starter specialist. His passion and enthusiasm for the company and its mission reflect on his team and their efforts to strengthen relationships with clients.

While creating waves in business, AuCom is committed to supporting communities. The company believes it’s indispensable for every business to contribute to making the world a better place. In a similar vein, its humanitarian endeavors concentrate on water management, sanitation, and hygiene programs, aiding children and orphans through charitable organizations. On the business front, it’s completed nearly half a century of driving excellence in product development and relevant services. “We are the largest privately owned soft starter manufacturer across the globe,” proudly claims Thomas. His leadership has helped in establishing a global CSD (Customer support division) and fostering digital transformation in operations. This ultimately helps it be a more trusted “partner of choice.” AuCom is building a legacy in driving continuous innovation, adapting, and working on new benchmarks. To stay relevant while being competitive, the company is constantly scouring prospects while being sustainable at heart. Even in this dynamic market, the company is strategizing product development and expansion with a focus on adaptability and innovations to usher in a better future.

THE VIGOROUS PEOPLE OF AUCOM

Roy | Business Connect

Indranil

Across the world, the demand for online, easyto-access learning and training is higher than ever. Service providers are queuing up to add value to the education sector by acknowledging profitable opportunities in this domain. However, it’s essential to know which of these online course platforms offer real value and why.

As the internet surges with increasing amounts of knowledge, online learning is fast becoming a preferred choice among learners and scholars of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. Offering increased levels of flexibility, scalability and consistency to learners, online courses have successfully modified the norms of learning and now eradicate the need to be in a classroom itself.

Demanding less monetary investment and achieving remarkable outcomes, many digital learning platforms break through social and physical barriers by enabling individuals to obtain high-quality learning resources and to learn in-demand skills that open the doors to opportunity.

Some enterprises stand apart, however. One of the world’s most popular free self-paced online learning platforms, Alison.com, is one such example.

The numbers speak for themselves; Alison caters to over 17 million learners across the globe, with more and more people signing up daily. This dynamic and free-to-use platform offers basic training and workplace skills via its 2000+ free, in-demand online courses.

A pioneer in the field of education and workplacefocused learning, Alison is freely accessible worldwide and empowers millions of people globally by providing them with skills that are vital to learning, life and work!

Built-in Benefits - For Everyone, Everywhere, Anytime Alison’s extensive range of free-to-learn online courses delivers the ultimate in user-friendly experiences, along with a range of nine categories, to browse if you’re not sure which course you want to complete.

With Alison, learners can gain knowledge on any subject matter; from Human Resources to the Occupational Health and Safety and thousands in between.

An intuitive search function allows a learner to find all courses related to a desired field of work. Courses are

available at Certificate, Diploma, and Learning Path levels and take anything from 1 hour to a few days to complete.

What sets Alison apart from other competitors in the EdTech industry is its ‘freemium’ business model, access to course assessments, high publishing standards and the company’s focus on noninstitutional training.

All learning on Alison is free, and learners can study and complete as many courses as they please - without the financial commitment. Should a graduate wish to purchase a formal document recognising their achievement, there is a nominal fee to pay.

The platform delivers non-institutional skills training and focuses on bridging the gap between skilled experts and those seeking to upskill.

Learners can freely test their knowledge gained by taking a course assessment. Learners who pass the test with 80% or higher are automatically certified and deemed as graduates.

With these key focuses in place, Alison serves enables learners to empower themselves by • broadening their knowledge and skill sets, • boosting their résumés, • advancing their job prospects, and • securing a bright and prosperous future.

With Alison’s popular updated online learning app (available to download and use for free from the Google Play store and the Huawei App Gallery), learners can enjoy ‘on-go-learning’ at their fingertips. The app and desktop interface seamlessly integrate to offer an easy transition between the two learning environments.

The App was designed to make learning as effortless as possible. A study-and-complete function enrols learners into any course they would like to study - all at the tap of a button. Learners can complete courses at their own pace, whenever, and wherever they are.

Learners are supported with career guidance, study reminders and free assessments. These features help to keep them focused on learning and achieving the milestones needed to reach their career goals.

GOOD FOR YOU –GOOD FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Alison’s growing portfolio of eLearning solutions is completely multi-functional and developed to empower not only individuals but also business and communities alike.

Multinational Corporations, Non-Profit Organisations, as well as small to medium enterprises, can all integrate the Alison training platform to their website by installing the Alison API. This feature helps to harness the power of online learning to upskill workforces and eliminates the need to login on multiple platforms.

Alison API, Groups and Publishing makes continuous learning and development, both efficient and cost-effective.

With Alison Groups, an appointed manager can monitor the progress and performance of a team collective as they learn. This feature, aimed at HR Managers, Business Owners and Learning and Development Departments, empowers teams of any size to upskill and increase their employability. Alison Groups seamlessly integrates with any of the 2000 free online courses available on the Alison platform.

CONNECTING LEARNERS AND TEACHERS THROUGH ALISON PUBLISHING

Alison is not just about free education. Alison also enables free skills sharing through its self-publishing programme by allowing subject matter experts to develop and publish courses on the platform freely.

The Alison Publishing programme is designed to monetise expert knowledge and skills and enable individuals to share their subject matter expertise with global or exclusive audiences. The programme is specifically geared to subject matter experts, professional publishers, corporate or government organisations, as well as non-profit foundations who wish to upskill staff or communities through private or public courses.

A free training programme hosted on the Alison platform introduces prospective publishers to the ins and outs of selfpublishing. The programme also allows publishers to earn a profit through advertisements placed throughout their course content.

To ensure learning content is of the highest quality, the Alison publishing team work closely with all publishers to review their courses and have a team of pedagogic specialists who help to ensure Alison learners experience the best in learning.

CERTIFIED KNOWLEDGE

Learning and assessments on the Alison platform are free and courses are offered at Certificate, Diploma, or Learning Path levels. When a learner passes the course test, they are deemed a graduate and can access proof of their test score via a downloadable learner record. Should a learner wish to obtain formal documentation of a completed course, there is a small fee to pay for a digital or printed certificate or diploma.

Unlike other platforms, Alison.com is not tied to traditional educational institutions that resist high-level disruption and seek to protect their outdated and inaccessible model.

The business strives to be a global leader in workplace skills, training and assessments and to offer high quality, accessible learning to people that traditional educational institutions have continually failed to reach.

Since its inception, Alison has been one of the most widely used providers in the online learning and career services industry. Recently, Alison partnered with two leaders in the professional development industry to strengthen its value chain.

All courses are accredited by the Continuous Personal Development (CPD) Service in the United Kingdom. Accredited CPD training means the learning activity has reached the required Continuing Professional Development standards and benchmarks, and the learning value has been scrutinised to ensure integrity and quality. This CPD Certification Service provides recognised independent CPD accreditation compatible with global CPD requirements.

The partnership with the National Health Care Provider Solutions (NHCPS) offers continuing education credits in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Basic Life Support (BLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certification and recertification. These certified courses are jointly provided by the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) and Save a Life by NHCPS.

The Workplace Personality Assessment was developed in line with the company’s beliefs that all people are entitled to free education and skills training as standard, as well as knowledge about themselves as a person. This personality test is the first of a series of psychometric tests which will include free cognitive skills tests such as; verbal reasoning, numeracy and abstract reasoning.

KNOWLEDGE OF SELF LEADS TO SELFEMPOWERMENT

In July 2020, Alison launched the first of its free Psychometric Tests.

The test assesses a person’s people skills, personal drive, work styles and learning styles. It is designed to uncover characteristics as an employee and colleague. The course highlights key strengths and weaknesses and gives personalised self-development tips. The results then suggest courses that would be most helpful to a person’s professional development and outline specific careers that they are most suited to.

A COMPANY WITH VISION

Social entrepreneur and philanthropist, Mike Feerick, launched Alison in 2007. His goal is to be a catalyst for social change by offering a one-of-a-kind free learning platform to be made available to anyone, anywherewithout restrictions.

He believes that education and skills training could be made free online through the use of advertising and a combination of free and paid (premium) services –making it self-funding and hugely scalable: the dynamic free online learning platform that Alison.com is today.

Today, Alison’s business model of largely advertisingsupported education is one that has endured and flourished.

Where other large free learning platforms have struggled to find working business models - and are often tied to traditional educational institutions that resist highlevel disruption to protect their traditional and, often inaccessible, ways of doing things.

“When I launched Alison, I had a vision that it would someday become one of the world’s largest websites; that in time we would see it educating anyone, anywhere, in any subject, at every level, in any language … for free!” he says. “But the vision went further than that. If we could integrate free publishing, we could

start a huge, unprecedented transfer of knowledge and skill across the world and free psychometrics for everyone which could empower many with greater self-awareness and eventually, confidence in them.”

“I strongly believed that, with free education and work-based learning, we could promote social progress and provide access to valuable skills; skills that could elevate anyone and help build purpose in everyday life,” he says, identifying the ‘sustainable’ manner of Alison’s operating model as the unique and critical tenet behind its success to date.”

Today Mike is responsible for strategically defining and leading the Alison organisation, enabling it to be a driving force for universal, quality workplace-focused learning and empowerment for all, leaving no one behind.

The social vision of education continues to be a personal source of motivation for Mike, who aligns Alison’s overarching goal to the vision of a world of free education within the UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26 ‘Education shall be free’.

“I’ve seen first hand the difference Alison’s powerful free online learning platform can make in the lives of people,” he says. “Alison is harnessing technology and open-source learning to help upskill billions of people who need and value education, knowledge building, collaboration and real-world problem-solving skills.”

Mike is an Asoka Fellow, UNESCO (2010) and WISE Award winner (2013). He is also Founder and Chairman of Ireland’s National Diaspora Programme, Ireland Reaching Out and travels worldwide as an invited speaker on both Alison and his innovative approaches to improving global access to free education. In 2018, he was a speaker at the Forbes CIO

EVERYONE A CHANGEMAKER

Using open-source infrastructure, Alison focuses its services on fostering positive change and ‘employability’. Its premise is built on positive social change, creating opportunity, prosperity, and equality for everyone.

The majority of its learners are located in developing countries or the unemployed, young, elderly, or emigrants in developed countries. Users include thousands of businesses, schools, and universities as well as individuals.

Once you have completed any course, you can then proudly prove your achievements and knowledge with diplomas and certificates, allowing you to go out and

shine in that job interview!

“We are experiencing a significant increase in mobile usage compared to this time last year – there is no doubt the pandemic has impacted how we will access and consume education in the future. In fact, 60% of our users are on mobile, and of those, 70% use Android devices,” says Feerick.

“Our goal is to reach billions of learners globally, and the updated app will help us in that mission. It also helps us to make education accessible to anyone and anywhere, irrespective of gender, geography, economic status or any other barriers to access. It is eye-opening that only 7% of the world’s population has been to college, and that shows the opportunity that free e-learning offers.”

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

For escalating the growth and keeping abreast of market trends, R&D is the crux, and ‘Team Alison’ pays proper heed to this, investing around 30% of turnover into this arena annually.

Through sheer strength in technological innovation, Alison has attempted to drive all costs of education to zero with the help of unique automation and AI.

They believe that with the help of advanced technological processes, they can deliver more quality services at a lesser expense.

In this respect, Mike elucidates, “R&D can allow us to get the cost out of the old system of expensive traditional education - and that means streamlining systems and processes.”

MANY FEATHERS – ONE CAP

Alison has been accredited with multiple awards and accolades. The organisation received the ‘Honourable Mention Award in Information and Communications Technology’ at the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize in Paris in 2010 and a highly prestigious Innovation Award at the ‘World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE)’ awards in Qatar in 2013, amongst others.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE FOUNDER’S DESK:

“Be an avid learner! Set time aside to upskill and broaden your knowledge. With a plethora of free resources available online, you can access the world of knowledge at your fingertips. Keep up with your curiosity as that will feed your imagination – the greatest power of the human brain.”

Alison CEO, Mike Feerick

MIKE FEERICK | CEO & Founder of Alison

How to re-energize yourself at work

Tiredness at work is a lack of energy, motivation, and concentration towards work. The all-too-worn-out phrase, Energy is the power that enables us to do work and gives stamina for doing hard work, gets at the crux of the “chicken or egg” problem. However, you can hold so much power over yourself by following some easy ways to reenergize whenever you are feeling low. We all believe that a day just has 24 hours and you too only have so much energy at your disposal on any given day.

You may be surprised to find out that our bodies hold the equivalent of 1.86 million kilotons of TNT energy or 88,403 times more explosive energy than the hydrogen bomb that destroyed the whole city. Not the right picture to understand, but you get the point in the head by this example. A person has more energy in them, where we can imagine a person as a human-machine to work accordingly.

Now how do you harness the situation of Tiredness and know about why you are so tired? The first step is to realize that tiredness in your body, mind, and spirit’s way of telling you that something is out of balance.

Sleep: Poor Quality

Studies have shown that nightshift work and sleep duration of fewer than six hours or greater than nine hours is detrimental to your health in terms of lack of proper sleep. Besides, taking sleep medication to obtain optimal hours of sleep does not ensure improved sleep quality, this will affect badly.

How do you know if you have poor sleep quality or quantity? First, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I wake up tired?

• Do I wake up with a dry smelly mouth?

• Do I wake up with a headache?

• Do I get up at night more than once to urinate?

• Do I snore?

If you experience any of these, you may have sleep apnea and should discuss your sleep further with your doctor. Meditate10 minutes of deep breathing and clearing your mind before bedtime. This way is amazingly good for you to give your best time to sleep. There is much soft music available as meditation music and programs to choose from a list. Take a bath and lit a few candles and a couple of drops of your favourite oil into running water is pure heaven at the end of a long day and make you pamper. Do not caffeinate yourself after 5 pm as a normal person at work already had 2-3 drinks per day.

Exercise boost your body

Exercise during working life does not mean heavy gymming and early morning walk; most of us do not get enough of it to do. However, a normal person needs at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. It can be anything like a walk after lunch at the office or using stairs and steps. You do not need

to spend any vast amounts of money on gym fees or classes for fitness just follow your steps and think of as many ways you can do for yourself.

The simplest way to get more exercise is to incorporate it into your daily routine with 10 minutes of meditation as an exercise of mind and 10-20 minutes’ walk after your midmeal. If you practice this method, then you do not have to spend any extra money on the gym. You can also set your alarm 30 minutes earlier than usual and can go for a brisk walk before breakfast if you can do. A walk before breakfast energizes your body and mind, getting the blood flowing and your heart pumping so that you will work as a pro at your working place. Moreover, best of all this walk, it is free!

If you cannot go in the mornings, then try to incorporate a walk into your daily routine like lunch and dinner walk. In another way, you take public transport to work, then hop off a few stops earlier and walk the rest of the way. If you drive for the work, then take at least 30 minutes at work during the day to go for a walk. In this way, not only will your body benefit, but also your brain, when you get back to work.

Let us look into 12 other ways that can energize you at work:-

Medication and it calmness effects

Playtime during work and at home with kids

Create a ‘not to do’ list at night before sleeping

Walk and talk at work, wherever it is possible

Oxygenating your body by an adequate amount of liquid and exercise

Drinking natural spring water to be on top

Belly laughing with company and home makes you mentally happy

Planting and gardening for feeling good

Group sports and exercise to keep yourself fit

Expressing Gratitude towards everyone

Honour special occasions as the best time ever

Good food and Juicing for diet

How to re-energize yourself at work How to re-energize yourself at work

Kiara Streater President and CEO

KIARA STREATER

An ace ‘shentrepreneur’ leading by example

Pertinacious ‘superwoman’, admirable personality, inspiring entrepreneur, fascinating industrymaven, and many more terms define a triumphant ‘shentrepreneur’ featured here- Kiara Streater. As a prominent and well-recognized leader with an extensive 15 years of experience in the professional services industry, she has proved her extraordinary competencies in enhancing the business performances for some major conglomerates where revenue generation and market expansion come effortlessly. Her fortes in driving better market opportunities and progress via innovative implementations backed with complex and advanced technologies have been grabbing eyeballs across the business fraternity.

Kajal Dobhal | Business Connect

This scenario induced Business Connect Magazine to recognize her phenomenality on the cover page. It was an absolute pleasure hosting her at our virtual meet session where she highlighted various aspects of her entrepreneurial streak as well as her brainchild. Her incredible insights into the respective industry accompanied with thoughtful leadership endorsing women empowerment are commendable indeed and we avidly believe it will amaze our global readership affirmatively.

Kiara Streater pitched in the entrepreneurial space with a noble intent to provide better lives to others. The ‘shentrepreneur’ aspired to claim the title of an influential entrepreneur to inspire others to live a better life. On a personal front, she had been through a rollercoaster ride where she once even survived a traumatic brain injury. No doubt, her journey so far hasn’t been a cakewalk and she has been straining every nerve to make a difference as a leader to the lives around her.

“No

impossible, but I knew I could do it,” affirmed the stunning entrepreneur.

In

THE PREFACE- COMPANY PROFILE

Extraordinary Headhunters LLC is a certified women-led company that takes immense pride in being recognized as an awardwinning creative global and international staffing agency with its corporate headquarter in Columbia, SC. The company’s fortes lie in bridging the gap between national and international organisations with highly-talented/ skilled corporate individuals. Its specialization in the recruitment industry lies in facilitating jobs in healthcare, warehousing,

matter how difficult times were, I was tenacious and believed I would overcome and achieve my dream of becoming one of the top entrepreneurs in the world. At the time it seemed absolutely

her exemplary journey as a successful businesswoman, her husband-cum-business partner played an instrumental role in motivating her to unleash her untapped potential while pushing her beyond her boundaries. Endorsed by him, Kiara founded Extraordinary Headhunters LLC in 2018 and she considers incepting this venture as the best investment that she ever made!

customer services, administrative assistance, project management, engineering, expertlevel manufacturing and many more other positions to allow an effortless hiring process. With a dedicated team of experienced individuals, the recruitment process is performed at a rapid pace, that too at quite affordable rates. It allows the client organisation to get the skilled workforce for the completion of some critical projects promptly while ensuring better employment opportunities to the masses.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are the core values on which Extraordinary Headhunters LLC has been thriving since its inception. Where other organisations see infeasibility, the venture foresees better opportunities to assist people in stimulating their positive potential to add substantial value to their career pursuits.

WHAT IS WORTH MORE THAN A GLANCE?

When questioned to reveal the competitive advantage of the company in the respective space, Kiara who is heading it as the CEO, elucidated that she avidly believes every person has his own talent. But the foremost challenge that every recruiter faces is to identify that hidden talent and even if they do, syncing it with the company objectives becomes a strenuous task itself. Her venture is in perfect alignment with her motive to exceed expectations while performing exceptionally well. Backed with an efficient system that seamlessly seeks the right person for any job position, the company offers comprehensive recruiting services to the client-enterprises.

“Since I have been in the recruitment agency for such a long time already, I have developed the ability to match skilled people with the right companies. Moreover, my commitment to what we do makes it possible for me to stay ahead of the curve in the niche market,” asserts the luminary.

Furthermore, Kiara lends credence to her expertise to build a genuine connection with people she comes across for her thumping success. A profit-oriented mindset was never her cup of tea; rather connecting with people at deeper levels and delivering them matchless solutions has been her priority since embarking on the corporate world. The woman entrepreneur’s philosophy is

converged on living an impactful life while leading by example. Here, a resilient attitude, hall of fame work ethic and steadfast dedication have always been her top priorities. Her committed efforts are focused on delivering excellence to the targeted audience sophisticatedly as this is how she defines dynamic leadership.

INDUSTRY ACUMEN

Having a keen eye for the client’s need is imperative to succeed in the recruitment industry where incessant R&D can do wonders, affirms the tycoon. As it is an extremely demanding space, out-of-the-box thinking could prove to be quite

substantial. On one hand, recruiters have to learn the latest statistics about job employment and company-building methodologies, but on another hand obtaining relevant information to help staffing agencies make well-informed decisions pertaining to business operations is the need of the hour. In light of this, being a career and HR maven, Kiara enunciates that she must determine the motivation behind any establishment where R&D makes a sizable contribution to get better insights into the subject.

VIEWS ON TECH-INCLUSION

The ‘trailblazer’ stated that owing to upgraded- technologies, her business operations have witnessed considerable progress. Her diverse experience and profound knowledge in utilizing MCS, FISS, COMPUDATA, PECOS, PETS, I-Flow, QMS 360, MCSDT, and PSUP, EDI software and tools, have been the secret sauce to her surging success.

“My company continues to use the latest tools in recruiting the best people for corporations or companies. We have created a coherent system that makes it easy for interested applicants to go through the recruitment process,” revealed the leader.

ASSERTIVE LEADERSHIP STYLE

Kiara Streater is well-acclaimed for the admirable stewardship that she believes was heavily influenced by the Pop-Star, Beyonce. “She remains to be my inspiration as an entrepreneur and a global impactful national and international leader. I think she does an amazing job both managing her personal and professional life so gracefully and professionally. Her words constantly remind me to be the driver of change wherever I go,” explained Kiara how Beyonce’s influential persona has touched her life. Driven by this, the leading lady takes time to assess and evaluate the company performance and employee expectations. Never does she staunchly advocate her ideology rather possesses a broad-minded perspective towards new ideas or philosophies.

“I encourage every member of my team to move out of their comfort zone and I consistently embrace women empowerment. I think this is one of the reasons why we have a healthy company culture, which eventually helped me expand my company in leaps and bounds,” claims the dignitary.

NOTCHES ON THE LEADER’S BELT

Steering the operations of one of the fastest-growing minority and woman-owned staffing enterprise in South Carolina, Kiara is intensely proud of all the accomplishments ensured by her organisation. She overwhelmingly conveyed that all the recognitions bestowed upon her have been the propelling force to her to make significant strides in the industry. And above all, being a woman leader and torch-bearer of

women empowerment has always been a primary source of happiness and joy to her. Today, Kiara is a proud member of some eminent organizations flourishing across the globe and we have enlisted all such entities below-

• Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce (Board of Trustee)

• Advisory Business Council for the Benedict College Women&#

• College

• SC Chamber of Commerce Business Council

• Columbia Chamber of Commerce Business Council

• Forbes Business Council

• Contributor for Columbia

• Greenville Business Monthly,

• United Way- Women in Philanthropy

• Senior Consultant - Guidepoint

• Edventure Children’s MuseumDiscovery Board Council

• Global Brand Director - Alpha Magazine

• International Professional Women’s Society

• Women Inspiring Girls - Non Profit

• The Now Group - Advisory Board

• CovrtX- Senior Advisory Board

• Daniels Christian School - Executive Board Member

• Alpha Media - Silent Hero Honoree 2020

• United Way - Young Leaders Society

• Put- Back - Vice President of Board of Directors

Kiara Streater has also been honoured with several awards such as-

• Business Spotlight Honoree (Business Spotlight

• Program, City of Columbia OBO)

Proclamation presented by

• Columbia, SC - Honorable Mayor Steve Benjamin 2021

• Sheen Magazine Awards 2021Business Acumen (Awarded

• presented to Mr. Matthew Knowles in 2018 (Beyonce Knowles

• Father)

• Women of Influence 2021 (Columbia Regional Business Report)

• Front Page Cover (Sheen Magazine) Business Honoree 2021

• Induction at Marquis Who & Who 2021

• Alpha Media’s 2020 Silent Hero Honoree

• Better Business Bureau - Business of The Year Winner 2020

• 35 and under Best and Brightest 2020

• SC Top Women in Business 2021

• Proclamation Honouree granted by Honorable Mayor Lancer Shull of Batesburg, South Columbia in 2020

FORESEEING A RADIANT FUTURE

Kiara envisions her business portfolio to be growing exponentially in the upcoming years. Also, while expanding the horizons of her venture, she aspires to keep transforming millions of lives by shining their path with better future prospects. Additionally, she wants to add substantial value to the lives of her employees as well for which, she has created an exclusive roadmap. Beyond any doubt, her philanthropic approach to every aspect of life is quite applaudable and somewhere a key contributor behind her resounding success.

THE CORPORATE LEARNING BY

THE ‘FOUNDING MOTHER’

“I want to remind young, aspiring entrepreneurs out there that it is important to dream. Do not be afraid to aim high and set a target for your business. Keep in mind that you can change your life, and the lives of the people around you. There are times when you will encounter several challenges in your journey to success. Instead of giving up, the best thing to do is to persevere and practice resiliency. Remember that anything is possible. Believe that you have what it takes to succeed. NEVER EVER ACCEPT DEFEAT! YOU HAVE IT!”

MIND TRAPS THAT SABOTAGE LEADERSHIP IN TURBULENT TIMES

For the individuals who are not Leaders, it can appear to be a simple activity. For the leaders, it can frequently feel like a for lorn and unpleasant presence.

Authority doesn’t accompany a bit by bit manual. Quite a bit of it depends on understanding and learning through close to home preliminaries and mis takes. Without a doubt, there are a lot of courses and books on authority, however, they typically just show general stan dards. Leadership is an untidy business! On the off chance that you are not cautious, it can keep you up around evening time, and send you into epi sodes of sadness and stress.

Leaders are not, at this point the alluring outgoing people who were previously the main kind of individuals consid ered equipped for rousing groups and building fruitful organizations. The present chiefs are apparently undeniably more unpredictable than they’ve at any point been as they face quickly changing business scenes that require development, new thoughts, and a greater amount of comprehension of individuals than any time in recent mem ory. They unquestionably shouldn’t be outgoing individuals. Truth be told, they don’t have to class in any capacity by any stretch of the imagination. Today, incredible leaders originate from varying backgrounds and a variety of foundations.

Leaders have an obligation this may appear glaringly evident from the start, yet it’s a truly serious deal. At the point when you’re not in an administration position, you don’t ordinarily need to oversee or control a significant number of the association’s assets. This decreases the measure of hazard you’re presented to. You’re not typically consid ered responsible or answerable for the slip-ups or failings of others, which makes it a ‘more secure’ work environ ment.

While speaking with individuals isn’t unreasonably troublesome, it tends to be trying to interface with the individu als you’re driving.

When there is an alarm in the room, leaders need to resist the urge to panic and diffuse the circumstance. At the point when the group is demotivated and tired, the leaders need to keep them invigorated to push on. In any event, when a group is happy about a specific achievement, they have to keep them grounded.

The higher up the stepping stool you go, the more desolate it gets. Senior leaders, chiefs, and CEOs can discover their jobs very separating as more individuals rely upon them while they get less and less help. Desires are high at these levels and the edge for blunder limits.

As a Leader, you frequently have the last say in the dynamic procedure. Leaving all necessary signatures can be overwhelming, particularly when you are liable for the entire procedure in any case.

Contingent upon the job, leaders need to some of the time settle on troublesome choices. A portion of these choices may even damage others. They tend to incline toward unbending structure, rules, and methods to ‘overcome the day’. These pioneers regularly pass up the fun and enchantment of unconstrained encounters.

Amidst a pressed timetable and consecutive gatherings, Leaders regularly fall into the snare of basically check things off of their plan for the day. While this may seem like an orderly way to deal with completing things produc tively, it likewise keeps them from setting aside the important effort for the key turn of events, objective and vision setting, and even self-awareness.

They are so neck-profound taking a shot at every day of their business that they neglect to lift their heads up and see the master plan.

On an individual level, while along these lines of life gives off an impression of being ‘proficient’, what we notice is a degree of deadness and detachment that will in general settle in. Passionate and vital keenness is dulled and the center is retargeted to assignments over connections, encounters, or development. Leaders in this condition frequently revealing that they feel like life is simply passing them by and that their primary obligation ends up being simply keeping up.

Time to share a few arrangements:

You must have the option to predict the future however remain concentrated on the present You need to hold onto disappointment as you flop forward. You must be responsible for your activities and answerable for your conduct.

You need to trust before you can be trusted.

You must be sure when every other person goes contrary.

You need to put resources into yourself despite the fact that others may not.

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”

Jim Rohn

SETTING EXEMPLARY BENCHMARKS IN THE LEGAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Kajal Dhobal | Business Connect

This is an extraordinary narrative of a seasoned corporate and banking lawyer with more than three decades of extensive industry experience. Atty. Nilo T. Divina embarked upon his entrepreneurial journey by establishing DivinaLaw in 2006. Since its inception, there has been no turning back as he led the aggressive growth of the firm in a short period, making it one of the biggest law firms in the Philippines today. For this exceptional cover story, we sat down for a freewheeling conversation with the ‘Filipino magnate’ and came across some valuable business insights and ‘food for thought’, speaking volumes of his extraordinary success. With this elegant ‘read’, we avidly believe that Nilo’s story will prove to be a motivational capsule to our cosmopolitan readership, kindling the entrepreneurial flames in their hearts.

NILO T. DIVINA

DIVINA LAW

THE EARLY LIFE

Nilo was the former Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of one of the former leading banks in the Philippines before incepting his firm. Moreover, he once served as the General Manager, Executive Adviser to the Board, and Corporate Secretary of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office before entering private law practice. Also steering the wheels of his venture as the Managing Partner, Nilo owns a reputation of a personal lawyer for some of the country’s prominent personalities, well-acclaimed across finance and business space. His multi-faceted personality has allowed him to explore the untapped potential as he happened to serve as the Dean of the Faculty of Civil Law of the University of Santo Tomas since 2009 and has also taught in the University of the Philippines College of Law. The luminary is likewise well-reckoned in the Philippines as one of the top experts in Commercial Law and is the most sought-after Bar reviewer and legal consultant.

Nilo’s portfolio says he has authored five books in Commercial Law- all considered as essential resource material for law students and practicing lawyers. Amid the peak of the covid pandemic, two of his ‘treatises’- “Questions & Answers on the Revised Corporation Code” and “Divina on Commercial Law: A Comprehensive Guide” (Vol. 1 & 2) – were released and gained popularity among law practitioners and students alike. As an inspiring persona as an academician, practicing lawyer and managing partner, he has bagged multiple awards, citations and accolades by some prestigious media and publication houses. With his intuitive leadership and pioneering strategies to manage a law firm, Nilo has made a reputable name for DivinaLaw as a dynamic law firm, asserting prominence across the industry.

THE PREFACE

Known for its championed, dynamic lawyering, DivinaLaw has been dominating its niche for 15 years now. Throughout its inspiring journey, the firm has been venerated and recognized by its peer institutions– esteemed and admired by its competitors. It has been cherished and relied upon by its clients as a full-service law firm in the Philippines that provides prompt, proactive, and results-oriented services to facilitate client satisfaction. Catering depth and range in experience and resources while fostering a professional and collaborative work ethic, the firm has managed to carve an influence for itself in the legal services industry.

Managing Partner

“At the time of DivinaLaw’s establishment in 2006, I never imagined its resounding success after 15 years. Today, it has become one of the leading law firms in the Philippines. All I envisioned was to be a boutique law firm that would focus on select areas of practice, then make enough money to provide a comfortable life to my family, as well as lawyers and staff,” quoted the Managing Partner.

As opportunities came one after another, he managed to metamorphose his venture into a full-fledged law firm. He accredits the success of his vision as well as a mission to avail of credible legal services to those in need of his determination, perseverance and optimism.

Today, DivinaLaw is the sole Philippine member of Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW), a top-rated international association of over 100 independent law firms from more than 50 countries. It is also the sole Philippine member of Legalink, a leading international association of independent law firms.

THE X-FACTOR

When asked to unveil the leading edge that has made the firm stand out of the crowd, Nilo states that zestful lawyering encapsulates the philosophy of the firm. The team will do everything (within the bounds of ethics) to deliver outstanding results for its clients. Moreover, innovation is their focal point to ensure the happiness and victory of its clients.

“We innovate, we think out of the box, we explore uncharted territory. We find ways, we open doors. Client satisfaction is our burning passion,” asserts the dignitary.

Innovating in this space was fairly novel back in 2006, as players here kept thriving on the traditional approach. Lawyers’ foremost responsibility is to make common people aware of the laws and their utilization to suit a person’s objectives that are consistent with the law.

‘A DOSE OF LAW’

Being a pioneer in the field of legal services, Nilo has contributed majorly by making the law accessible to all via his “A Dose of Law” column at the Daily Tribune. This exclusive column observed its third anniversary on June 4, 2021. The column boasts of having 400 published articles to date written on a wide range of legal topics with a diverse readership in five out of seven continents. Talking of the readership, over 2.2 million readers via the Firm’s website and Facebook page view this column for legal information. And day by day, its popularity is stretching across more and more masses globally.

When questioned on what has been the most satisfying aspect of commencing this firm, Nilo responded, “So many

things to be thankful for. I have wonderful lawyers and staff. While I provide the vision, the cash infusion, I need a team of lawyers and staff who will share my vision and goals. And I am thankful that I have my lawyers and staff who are committed to achieving our goals.”

SUSTAINING THE COVID CRISIS

Undeniably, the covid-19 crisis has stirred heavy disruptions in our lives in the most unimaginable ways. Shattering conventional norms and customs, we are forced to make an accord with the ‘new normal’ scenario. But Nilo has been quite optimistic in this direction and asserted people to not grudgingly equate the new norm with problems and inconveniences only. He enunciates that drawing from the inner strength of our faith we should keep seeking better ways to deal better with obstacles or hurdles. “Every challenge means that we should continue to inspire others into thinking and acting that academic and professional endeavours need not be sacrificed despite daunting situations. It means to continue reinventing ourselves, to rise above the situation and get the better of this pandemic. The pandemic should be no match to the indomitable will of the human spirit, the power of innovation, and strong faith in God,” he continues.

THE GROWTH TRAJECTORY: A GLANCE

As a testament to the firm’s excellent work, the clientele of DivinaLaw has become its foremost marketing agent and ambassador of goodwill. A majority of the clientele of the company is of the top echelon- business tycoons/titans who bring them business via ‘word of mouth’ marketing, driven by client satisfaction. A plethora of conglomerates, top corporations and high net worth individuals reach out to the firm, seeking impeccable legal advice/services where hiring the best legal minds helps them to deliver at par solutions.

Moreover, being the Dean of the UST Faculty of Civil Law, Nilo has been delivering scholarships to deserving students for the past few years. His insightfulness allows him to hire the students who are apt in their academics and efficient in the real-time scenarios- the cream of the crop. He ensures that they survive rigorous vetting and share the values of the firm when it comes to client dealings. “I have assembled an army as well as a family. An army for clients---fully committed to going to war to protect our clients and interest, but a family to my lawyers and staff where genuine affection and concern for one another abounds,” affirms the thoughtful leader regarding the culture he has established in DivinaLaw.

WORTH MORE THAN A GLANCE

The firm has been in the industry for a decade now and it has only scaled greater heights while establishing deep roots in its journey so far. The success of DivinaLaw could be attested by its numerous milestones and achievements since its inception. A few of the worthy mentions have been enlisted below-

• The Asia Business Law Journal has recognized DivinaLaw as an award-winning firm in the categories of Banking and Finance, Corporate and Commercial, Litigation, Private Equity and Venture Capital, and Restructuring and Insolvency in 2020.

• The Firm has also been conferred the Labor and Employment Law Firm of the Year in 2016 and Immigration Law Firm of the Year in 2018 in the Asian Legal Business Philippine Law Awards.

• DivinaLaw has been ranked among the best in the region, having been honoured as a finalist for the SE Asia Law Firm of the Year category of Asian Legal Business Southeast Asia Law Awards in 2018 and 2019.

• The Firm was also a finalist for Regional Litigation Law Firm of the Year in 2018 and 2019, and Tax and Trusts Law Firm of the Year in 2019.

• Since 2018, Nilo has consistently been named among the Top 100 Lawyers in the Philippines by the Asia Business Law Journal.

• In 2021, he was awarded Managing Partner of the Year in the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Philippine Law Awards and was also among the highly recommended lawyers in ALB magazine’s Philippines Client Choice Lawyers.

In terms of the future, the firm has been envisioned to make growth in leaps and bounds. Nilo wishes it to continue to grow and glow with time. “A firm that continues to dream and gathers friends, clients, and hopefully, more accolades along the way,” concludes Nilo before signing off from the conversation.

THE PARTING WORDS BY THE ‘DYNAMO’

There are two factors to great success: one is the state of your mind. That is grit. That is determination. The second is the state of your heart. That is where giving, compassion, and faith are found. Far above any mental toughness, it is the softness of your heart that sets you up for long-term success. Commit yourselves to the task of living a well-lived life. Persist more, give more, love more; make the most of every opportunity.

Awesome Trips in India

UNDER INR 5000

Ashwathy Nair | Business Connect

Since winter is here, it is time to get out of your own state and enjoy the best of what nature has to offer. Today, we are going to highlight the top 5 awesome and beautiful places in India, which will not cost you much to travel to. These places are breathtaking, eye-opening, and jaw-dropping. Here is our pick of places that you can visit under Rs 5,000

KASAULI, HIMACHAL PRADESH

Himachal Pradesh is one of the breathtaking places of India known as “Devobhoomi” (Abode of Gods). There are many tourist attractions in this state that won’t take your eyes off. One of the well-preserved natural beauty spots is Kasauli, it is a small hill station - nearby Shimla, and here, thousands of people come to this hill station to behold nature. Now you must have questions, when should we go? Well, it is totally up to you what season do you like most, if you want to enjoy snowfall and chilly winter, then Oct to Feb month is best for you. Around Rs 3,000 to 4,000 will cost you.

JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN

Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan is known as the pink city, where ancient work of arts catches people’s eyes. Many places in Udaipur are worth visiting, such as Amber Fort and Place, Hawa Mahal (Place of the Winds), Nahargarh Fort, Jal Mahal, Jaigarh Fort, Jantar Mantar, and city palace. Every ancient fort has its own story. The city you can explore at a very reasonable price, you can find the best hotel at the price of around 1,000 INR, the tour guide will cost you Rs 500, and food 500 INR.

TAWANG, ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Tawang is a fast-growing tourist place located at an altitude of 3048-meter in the midst of the mighty Himalayas. Peo ple here come to see the picturesque landscape, waterfall, and spiritual significance. This is also known for its Buddhist monasteries, here you can see a huge influx of travelers all year around. This is the place where people should come once in their lifetime to see exquisite nature view. I’m pretty sure, it will win your heart. The journey of Tawang can be accomplished at an affordable price as compare to other tourist destinations.

KANYAKUMARI, TAMIL NADU

Kanyakumari, situated at around 85 km from Trivandrum, where you can see lofty patches of red cliffs along with deep blue waters, obviously a three major water bodies Bay of Ben gal, Indian ocean, and the Arabian Sea. Also, you can enjoy beautiful monuments and Vivekanand Memorial & the Thi ruvalluvar Statue from the beach. The most wonderful view of Kanyakumari is sunset and sunrise at the one time. Believe me, you would not have any words to describe them. Let’s get back to the budget, accommodation will cost you around 800, and 250 to 300 bus tickets, the rest can spend further in the Kanyakumari.

MUSSOORIE, UTTARAKHAND

Having a conversation about nature and do not talk about Uttarakhand’s mesmerizing view. It means we are committing crimes because this is the place that sits in the lap of nature. There is a place called Mus soorie that won’t let you go anywhere. This glittering hill station is a paradise for a nature lover and roman tic muse for honeymoon couples. The place is featured with stately hotels, cozy cafes, old taverns, and more. It is located at around 35kms from Dehradun. The best time to visit this place from Sept to Nov. travel fair is not expansive at all, you can go via train or bus, which will cost around 1,000 to 1,500 as per transportation you choose.

Starting a New Chapter in the Financial & Insurance Sector with its Visionary Leader – The story of One Two One Advisor

In the satellite town of Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, a man is captaining the ship of a visionary technology solution and consulting services company to provide excellent FinTech & InsurTech solutions to the Banking, Insurance & Takaful sectors; that of One Two One Advisor.

A confluence of simplicity, expertise, and intelligence, he is none other than Kevin Steer. An alumnus of the Imperial College, where he completed his Master’s Program and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical from Cambridge University. After graduation in 1978, Kavin started his professional journey with the company Schlumberger (in Brunei, Australia, Indonesia, China) where he worked for 5 years. Then seeing how IT was evolving; in 1986, he did a Master’s in Computing focused on Artificial Intelligence and moved over to Malaysia in 1990, to implement solutions in Insurance & Banking where he was able to get business in China, India, Thailand & Indonesia.

Today, almost 33 years later, he sits at the helm of a company that is pioneering various revolutionary business solutions in digital technology, internet, and mobile platforms, social media channels as well as regulatorycompliant cloud solutions for multinational and domestic clients. As a CEO & ‘techie’, Kevin has always been looking for new disruptive solutions to continue evolving the business. He has developed database tables designs. What was interesting was that he worked for an Artificial Intelligence Company in 1986, and that piqued his interest in AI. As the CEO of One Two One Advisor, he always motivates the team to build new

solutions. As a ‘Techie’ he designs data models for the teams and gets feedback from the teams.

A GLIMPSE OF 121 ADVISOR 121 Advisor, a top-notch FinTech & InsurTech services company, is emerging as a global leader in this space for its innovative and exclusive suite of services that are offered with peerless delivery and are equipped with exceptional capabilities in fetching maximum advantages for the clients.

Incorporated in the year 2010, the innovative firm has grown significantly to 20+ companies, where they implemented Agency Leader Corporations (ALCs) for N-Tier solutions, to compute for agents and pay the agents directly, they also monitor the performance tracking and suggest ways to enhance the overall performance.

Working on the mission to deliver cost-effective solutions that empower Financial, Insurance, and Takaful providers with robust, innovative technology solutions enabling the

generation of quality leads, secure sales, and building customer loyalty in a professional and regulatory compliant manner, 121Advisor has implemented a healthy work culture with a growing team of 35 people.

EXCLUSIVE

SERVICE PORTFOLIO

Since its inception, 121Advisor has quickly cemented its position as a partner of industry leaders across the global market. Now it provides advanced tech services to various brands, ranging from start-ups to giant companies. Below is the list of major services offered by the company:

Predictive Analytics with Machine Learning: The service helps businesses for predicting new products to buy, churns & lapsation, underwriting, etc.

Multi-lingual Chatbot for Financial, Insurance & Takaful (FITbot): The Multi-lingual Robo Advisor and a chatbot utilizes hybrid trees and natural language processing (NLP) to engage with customers to offer a more personalized customer experience and generate more referrals.

Puja

Web Portal Solution for Sales & Servicing (WebPoS): The Multilingual mobile responsive website and portal solution enables clients to experience a unified personalized digital experience where content, sales, marketing, and work management are consolidated instead of siloed.

REFERRAL MANAGEMENT & MARKETING AUTOMATION (REMMA)

ReMMA helps banks to effectively and efficiently auto-assign leads, track, and manage lead referrals and conversions based on user-defined workflows. Marketing automation results in personalized content delivery targeted campaigns and engagement.

SALES ACTIVITY MOBILE APP (SAMA)

The application allows agents to effectively plan and manage sales activity to ensure all leads and prospects are addressed. Managers can monitor real-time to render assistance where necessary.

COMMUNITY & E-WORKSITE MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION (CEMD)

The community portal solution allows organizations to engage with members of their community to nurture trust and create advocates thereby improving customer retention. Recently launched u12know knowledge portal.

TAKAFUL & INSURANCE MOBILITY MADE SIMPLE (TIMMS)

A cross-platform mobile point of sales solution allowing agents to identify client financial needs via Customer Fact Find, recommend products, make presentations, generate quotes, and e-submit applications, in a regulatory compliant process. Solutions for IOS, Android & Windows.

Customer Service Portal: the Customer Self Service Portal is an on-demand access point enabling customers to view their insurance/takaful account, anywhere and anytime. This enables the policyholders to view their policies and certificate details via a simple internet connection. The portal provides a safe avenue for customers to update their personal information, pay premiums, switch funds, print documents, update beneficiary details, request policy changes, and engage in filing claims and processing, which traditionally would take weeks to be executed due to siloed lines of business. The platform also supports automated workflows that are triggered by certain customer activities which are routed to relevant departments and customers are kept informed via emails or messaging. By providing a portal for your customers with the convenience of self-servicing, customers can enjoy the freedom of doing what’s convenient for them when they want anywhere.

ENTERPRISE PRODUCT CONFIGURATOR (EPC)

Reduce the time to market for insurance and takaful products. Built to rapidly set up product rates, illustrations, and validation engine as well as an automated testing module that allows quick product deployment.

MULTI-CHANNEL DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT

SOLUTION (MCDMS):

For general agencies, IFAs, brokers, and ALCs (Agency Leader Corporations) simplify operations by consolidating

KEVIN STEER CEO

their diverse requirements. With built-in performance management and compensation computation, our clients have seen improved sales with reduced administration costs.

THE VISION & MAIN DRIVING FORCE

121Advisor’s vision is to become a renowned Financial, Insurance, and Takaful technology enabler in the region. To make it happen, the company has introduced numerous unique initiatives. Recently, it has implemented a Referral Management System for banks. It has also implemented insurance and takaful sectors including Customer Service Portal, Online Sales, Mobile Point of Sales (for Windows, Android & IOS), Enterprise Product Configurator for Products.

121Advisor is fully Regulatory Compliant, and they test each year to assess the requirements and stay competitive. Now, the company is planning to expand to Singapore and Indonesia and Europe, and the USA in the long run.

INSIGHTS ON TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

In the last few years, 121Advisor has evolved and grown rapidly, and now, it is looking at disruptive solutions to implement more solutions.

The company has recently launched a new knowledge portal ( www.u12know.com ) to come up with unique lifestyle advice on Financial Planning and Health & Wellness. The leadership team at 121Advisor noticed that the Millennials do not understand their Financial needs and seem to get into debt. The company has developed several health calculators and will be implementing a “Total Health Score” solution in the future. In the future, 121Advisor is planning to roll out the Financial Planning Goals (Loans, Retirement, Medical, Child Education, Critical Illness) based on a person’s Lifestyle (Single, Married, Young Children, Grown Children, Retired). These Financial Goals are mapped to the person’s lifestyle. This Knowledge Portal has grown to more than 4,000 users.

The Only Waste is Wasted Waste

Indranil Roy | Business Connect

COMPANY OVERVIEW

The growing rise of plastic products and plastic use, especially single use plastic, is becoming a graver concern by the day. Mounds of plastic are steadily turning into mountains of plastic wastes, while recycling and reusing industries are barely meeting the minimum requirement. Under immense pressure and serious environmental threat, the exhausted recycling industry is constantly in need of a breakthrough which would alleviate such growing concerns for everybody within the industry, and everyone in the world. With its innovative and practical approach to revamping used and discarded plastic products, BessTrade came in like a guardian angel in such difficult times.

The story of its inception begins in 1975, when Ivo Besselsen started his first recycling company, Besiplast. A PVC recycling company ahead of its time, Besiplast became a symbol of knowledge. It was in 2008 that Ivo ventured into the recycling industry again, this time with BessTrade. The sole ambition and aim of BessTrade since its establishment has been to bring out the change generations have been waiting for: a healthy and booming environment.

BessTrade has outlasted and outworked any and all the struggles that time and circumstance presented to it. BessTrade was founded by Mr. Ivo Besselsen and then later was enriched even more by its current CEO, Mr. Huib Van Gulik. While doing what the current

generations have counted on them to do, BessTrade is working very dedicatedly to have a strong contribution in healing the world for the coming generations. “The only waste is wasted material” is the belief BessTrade works with: for every waste is a solution and it can contribute to rather than take from the environment.

This ability to reshape the world and improve the environment by the very thing that plagues us is what their journey is all about. They have crafted a simple but elegant solution to not only put the waste of the world to good use but also have used waste to literally shine in the world. They understand the responsibility they have upon themselves in this market and towards the world and it is awe-inspiring to see BessTrade doing the best in both worlds.

THE INCEPTION STORY

Both Mr. Besselsen and Mr. Gulik began with an ideology that nothing really ever is a waste, it’s always about how one can make the best of someone else’s waste and every waste is an opportunity in disguise. BessTrade believes that everything and anything can be reused and/or recycled, the only question that remains is who is the customer. Both Mr. Besselsen and Mr. Gulik began with an ideology that nothing really ever is

a waste, it’s always about how one can make the best of someone else’s waste and every waste is an opportunity in disguise. BessTrade believes that everything and anything can be reused and/or recycled, the only question that remains is who is the customer.

BessTrade saw the light of day in 2003, initially situated near the docks and harbors of Rotterdam and Antwerp. As the business expanded and soared, it had to shift its base of operations and everything else in 2019 to where it is situated today, Lelystad, Netherlands. Mr. Besselsen and Mr. Gulik made an excellent tag team duo. Their mindset and outlook was to believe and work as if everything was possible and that every opportunity could become something huge and everlasting. They used the shift to Leylstad to develop the warehouse as well as the sales office next to each other in a 7000 sq mtr plot of land. At BessTrade these two believe that if at all someone offers a product which they believe to be difficult or new, they see it as an interesting product and do everything to ascertain that how and if at all that product can be recycled.

The motto of BessTrade is “Challenge us with your PVC scrap”. Initially, a number of companies in Europe that produced waste were apprehensive as that would incur more investment on their part. Mr. Besselsen and Mr. Gulik’s can-do attitude convinced all the companies that their waste was recyclable and will make a difference in the world that they will be able to feel. This attitude is what makes BessTrade a huge success. European companies were the biggest contributor/source of waste dispatch, thus, it was important to start good at home to make a difference in the world. So, with a lot of patience and growth with personnel, contacts, and machines that ensure recycling of PVC in the best way possible, they achieved their well deserved breakthrough.

THE ENTREPRENEURS BEHIND BESSTRADE

Mr. Besselsen and M r. Gurik are such skilled and innovative entrepreneurs that they aren’t dependent or even

reliant on technology to do their jobs. Both these wonderful entrepreneurs believe in the concept of ‘Talk and Travel’, if they feel like there is an opportunity for BessTrade anywhere in the world, they’re on their way to talk to this potential client regardless where they are located. They believe there can be a lot of miscommunication and in general multiple hindrances are present while making deals virtually, so they believe that going to the client in person can ease them in expressing what they exactly need and want while simultaneously assuring the client that BessTrade is responsible and credible as they have come from so far just to make a deal. Trust and faith building is crucial to BessTrade and this practice of meeting the clients in person helps establish a foundation which is very strong and can develop into a long lasting relationship.

Mr. Besselsen and Mr. Gulik aren’t just great entrepreneurs but they are also great leaders for BessTrade. They have a positive office atmosphere which has made them approachable and accessible to the workers and employees of BessTrade. Anyone who has any issues about anything can easily talk to them by directly walking into their office. This transparency they’ve maintained

boosts employee morale and thus boosts productivity ensuring BessTrades success.

Mr. Besselsen and Mr. Gulik are very aware of their competitors as well. They believe that they should rather learn from their competitors than fight them. This mindset has helped these two keep an edge over the whole industry. While everybody else tries to simply one up each other, BessTrade actually works and delivers substantial results.

The focus of BessTrade has been the total range of polymers. They constantly evolve their methods and keep on endlessly innovating their functions. BessTrade believes it to be their responsibility to ensure whatever PVC scrap they have gets recycled completely and properly. This doesn’t only mean revamping but also extends to initial transporting, to processing and the trade of the recycled product as well. As the time moves forward, many other steps also get added to ensure safety as well as the thoroughness of all that has been recycled. BessTrade currently trades to and from almost all the countries of the world and has developed a vast chain of producers of PVC as well as end users to constantly be able to recycle all the materials there are.

Education

The best days were when schools and colleges were open and students were seen rushing to school in neat and tidy uniforms with bags in their shoulders and sometimes running with those heavy bags to not get late. After reaching school, to stand for morning prayers and then some physical activities, after that straight to the classrooms filled with our classmates. The same way for college, when students were always confused with what to wear today, what period to bunk and go to the canteen, etc. Those days now seem to be just a memory to cherish.

An education center is the best public policy tool available to raise skills. While school/college time can be fun along with raising social skills and social awareness if we look from an economic point of view the primary point of being in school/ college was that it helped in increasing a child’s ability. But the arrival of COVID-19 has led to the departure of students going to education centers.

Well! we say a coin has its two sides, the same way this too has both good and bad impressions but let’s just go for a positive version because 2020 has brought us enough negative things.

Whatever the condition comes, one should never stop learning, and if one way of going to an educational center is closed than open another way of e-learning.

The arrival of Covid-19 has forced schools and universities across the world to put off physical classrooms and shifted to online classes. While the faculty deals with the new ways of managing this sudden transition to online education, students are left clinging on to their mobile phones and computer screens.

FUTURE EDUCATION SYSTEM

The new way of learning where courses are conducted online, examinations are conducted online, assignments are submitted through email. For India, this seems to be a good opportunity to strengthen internet connectivity across rural India. It will help every village and town to be digitally connected for the better interaction between the students and teachers. When it comes to the students some are quick at adapting this system and some take a little longer time to acquaint with this system. Fundamental structural changes should be made in the curriculum/syllabi and programs should be a part of the curriculum in engineering and science degree programs. This will help in creating future entrepreneurs and this can be one way to help beat unemployment and increase business skills amongst the youth. The business community should play a foremost role in this new educational system.

Higher education in India needs to be more international but more locally connected and socially responsible, more flexible(curriculum), should be innovative and open for more collaboration. Innovative models should be introduced, Universities/institutes could be online that would provide internet-based flexible offerings.

The Post Covid-19 is an opportunity we look forward to transforming the higher education system. Institutes/Universities should definitely utilize this opportunity to transform itself. the focus should be more on internationalizing higher education as today we are facing Covid-19 but no one knows what lies ahead in the future for millions of youngsters.

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Learning is more effective when it is active rather than a passive process

LUXE DIGITAL NOW

The whole world right now is in an absolute terror, be cause of the rampant outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus. Every sphere of the economic unit has succumbed into absolute chaos, due to the humongous rate of positive cases and death tolls. Normal lives have been replaced with work from home, social distancing and avoid unnec essary travelling. But, even in this midst of the outbreak, few organisations have ensured they continue to perform. With sheer will and plausible strategies, these organisa tions have proved to be insurmountable. One such com pany is LUXE Digital Now, a global organisation with a wide variety of digital services that include Digital Mar keting, Strategic Management, Software Development,

DATA Science, Technology Solutions, E-Commerce Solu tions, Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics.

COMPANY’S OVERVIEW

Founded in 2018, LUXE is headquartered in Portland, OR USA, with a sister company to be opened in London, UK this year. The company proudly stands its ground as one of the leaders, in digital marketing services and technol ogy solutions in the world. They innovate, design and strategize the best marketing strategies to bring out the adept potential of their clients. Their marketing strategies include building social media campaigns, e-commerce and content management platforms, which play an in

JACQUELINE HUDSON | CEO & Founder

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strumental role in fortifying a business structure. Its wide range of marketing concepts has aided in bringing many industrial verticals under its banner like beauty, luxury, fashion and technology industries.

LEAD BY ZEALOUS LEADERS

The Company is spearheaded by two highly motivated marketing specialists Jacqueline Hudson, CEO & Found er, PgD and Steven Thorsen, Strategic Leader, Partner. Jac queline is a highly commended personage of the Digital Marketing arena and founder of LUXE Digital Now. She was named Top 40 under 40 in the Top 100 Magazine and acquired her PgD from the Digital Marketing Institute in Dublin, Ireland and is a global speaker at BCMA, having lectured to 14 countries globally. Jacqueline specializes in strategic planning and management, project leadership and design, data analytical designs and architecture, tech nology development, and all digital marketing principles.

Steven Thorsen is prized persona of the marketing sphere and carries 3 decades of experience as a marketing and advertising executive. He has worked with many exclu sive brands like Grammy Awards and MusiCares in Los Angeles. Before joining LUXE, he is an owner of several companies, including media agencies and medical diag nostic centres. His specialization encompasses company growth and acquisition, delivering project management principles across all platforms within a firm’s staffing structure.

ENLIGHTENING STRATEGIES TO SUSTAIN CLIENTS

The panic caused by COVID-19 outbreak has created a challenging situation in the organisational hemisphere. And in this situation, it is important that companies cu rate strategies that can help them sustain in this dark time. LUXE has completed 2 years of successful business with a global market and has a progressive client base. They are taking care of these clients responsibly from a variety of perspectives both nationally and globally. Along with that, they kept in a place few key strategies to globalize, even through this pandemic:

• Develop key structures and solutions

• Make sure our clients were digitally ready

• Utilize technologies to enhance the projects

• Keep clients unity in practice

In addition to this, the company is working exclusively with foreign governments to stage in their technologies and to ensure their corporate growth. The approach helped the company in driving their acquisition to higher delivery and value for their stakeholders and attract key investors to their technologies. The company also provid ed a discount to their clients for continued sustainability.

TECHNOLOGICAL UPGRADES IN PLAY

LUXE Digital Now uses two patented innovations to daz zle the world, with its marketing solutions. AiDAS and Premier Jet App.

AiDAS (AI Data Technology Solutions): AiDAS is an AIbased cloud program, designed for global organizations to have complete access to their digital marketing, e-com merce and digital technologies data. The priority of this program is to handhold the management of the e-com merce process of a business. However, it also focuses on all the digital marketing needs of a company. In addition to this, the program also showcases investment and prof itability input scaling, with real-time conversions and predictive rich data analytics for investment purposes. The program is designed exclusively for C-Level Execu tives, Marketing Executives, Data Scientists and AiDAS System Administrators.

PREMIER JET APP: Premier Jet is an e-commerce mo bile application designed by LUXE Digital Now. It is the world’s first and foremost widely used Private Charter app and comes in multiple languages. It is available in all kinds on smart-device platforms and is used to search luxury brands with a global mapping system. The app has in-built filters, which helps in sorting out the desired destination to shop along with brand names and pro motions and organize delivery at ease. Users can regis ter an account via Facebook, Twitter or Google accounts and share products via social accounts. The app is also featured with creating a favourite or a wish list and they can receive app’s push notifications preferences in the personal account such as sales, promotions, offers, new arrivals and collections.

DILIGENT EVEN IN THE PANDEMIC CRISIS

The unbridled dispersion of COVID-19 has abruptly shut down the operations and has staged horror in the mind of many organisations. However, even in this wake of the viral outbreak LUXE has ensured that their services continue to operate. The company has associates from all over the world namely Canada, Mexico and the USA. As such, each country they complied with moved forward into a virtual office system using Oracle Netsuite. This helped the company’s operations continue at a smooth pace and eventually kept every staff members in a safe zone.

Further, to keep their team motivated, the founder herself ensures communication with her team. Employees are the prime asset; as such, the company makes sure they are motivated during this crisis.

FEATHERS IN THE HAT

Within 2 years of successful business LUXE Digital Now has crafted a sustainable business in the global market. Even during this pandemic distress, they have ensured an autonomous business with a strong client base. For their indomitable performance, they have been named as TOP 50 LEADING COMPANIES OF 2020 by “THE SILICON REVIEW”, 10 MOST INFLUENTIAL COMPANIES OF 2020 “THE CXO FORTUNE” and also awarded with 50 TECH LEADER AWARD 2020 by “INTERCON”.

MINESOFT

PIONEERING THE GLOBE WITH SCI-TECH PATENT SOLUTIONS

Minesoft is a global firm innovating the arena of patent solutions through online solutions for patent search and analysis, patent monitoring, competitive intelligence and knowledge management systems for many Fortune 500/FTSE 100 companies across a wide variety of industry verticals around the world, as well as national patent offices, professional search firms, patent attorney firms and academic institutions. The Company was curated in 1996, by a well-nurtured leader of the patent information field, Ann Chapman-Daniel, and her husband Ophir Daniel.

Ann has garnered vital experience in online publishing, manag ing and directing companies in the field of published patents, sci-tech, and business information. She is commended as “Ga mechanger of the Year (2020)” by ACQ5 and “Information Professional of the Year (2019)” by PASSWORD. On the contrary, Ophir has gained exposure in various dimensions of product design, IT and infrastructure. He is a very tal ented innovator, a remarkable engineer and an in-demand web-based developer working from the early internet era. Minesoft was established to provide innovative patent solutions to its clients by combining the expertise of Ann Chapman and Ophir Daniel. To this date, Minesoft has done an incremental business around the world, flourish ing to other countries like China, Germany, and the USA.

LAYING DOWN A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL

“We started from scratch, around our kitchen table, with an overriding desire to remain profitable”, says Ann. Complet ing 23 years of indomitable business, Minesoft stands as an international specialist with a wide array of products. The Company worked closely with other Intellectual Property (IP) service providers for about five years in marketing, sales and product development before branching out with their own products in the first decade of 2000. Then in 2003, they established a close association with RWS PLC –one of the biggest IP translation specialists in the world.

With the co-operation of RWS, they crafted PatBase – An online, searchable patent database. PatBase is a robust platform built to aid clients in performing in tuitive searches of the amalgamated data and review, comment, share and analyse critical patent informa tion to stimulate well-informed strategic decisions. The platform comes with a free training module and a highly supportive team that works with its clients throughout the transition process. After this, the Company has shown a steep growth by conceiving several innovative products for the IP sphere like PatBase Express, PatentOrder, PatDocs, IPShare, PatentTracker, Legal Sta tusTracker, CiteTracker, Chemical Explorer, Pat-KM, and PatBase Analytics.

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A STEP AHEAD OF COMPETITORS

Prioritizing accessibility, listening to clients’ needs and constructive feedback, these are the measures taken by the Company to stay competitive in the market. Minesoft has acquired a highly intellectual client base, having adept knowledge in the patent information field. Hence, the Company has devised automated systems, helping them to relieve their large workload. They have created their solutions for use across the entire IP lifecycle, whether it’s R&D, Legal and commercialization, making them a preferred choice for clients. They have an in-house development team, who work on continuously enhancing and even making small tweaks on their product based on the customer’s feedback.

The Company has completed 2+ decades of business without any outside investment while spreading with their services, throughout the globe. From its inception, it has proved to be a great competitor in the arena and has served a multinational client base, especially to manufacturing countries where patenting is an important activity to secure IP and sell goods abroad. The Company initiated its operations as a small supplier for large brands but today they stand as a notable name in the arena with qualified solutions and a global clientele.

FACTORS HELPING THEM TO EXPAND

Two chief factors help Minesoft, to grow and innovate at an exponential level. The first is the Customers. The Company has devised a wide trove of avant-garde solutions, which helps them to maintain a high retention rate. Every product is tailored to the customer’s needs and feedback, making Minesoft a prominent choice in the industry.

The second keystone of growth is Employees. Along with a progressive client base, Minesoft has experienced employees across all departments, like Customer Support, Business Development, Marketing and Leadership. Many of their people have been associated with them for an extended period and some, the majority of their careers. The Company maintains the lowest turnover rates, which further helps them in maintaining a strong bond with their clients and stay accommodated to products and market insights. Moreover, the Executive Board is structured with people of vivid skillset who bring a collection of different ideas and perspectives to the people.

KEEPING AN UNBREAKABLE FAITH

Whether it’s a multi-national corporation or SME, having access to a commercial patent database helps companies to make strategic business decisions, protect their innovations and monitor the competitive landscape. Clients are looking for search and analytics features which allow them to make detailed, board-level presentations and reports. Keeping this in mind, Minesoft has shown consistency in building a platform, with easy access for both professional searchers and business executives. Their products ensure answers to business-critical questions in a time-effective manner.

Moreover, Minesoft believes their products should be built for users, irrespective of their background or

communities. As such, they ensure product development by comprehending to clients’ needs and feedbacks. “We have benefitted from our users’ feedback. If our clients have ideas about how we can further help them, we will do so. Even if the benefit is focused on a particular vertical market segment.” – says Ann. Minesoft has developed many products in the field of biotech, chemical, and life sciences which stands as examples of their approach. Another instance is their development of PatDocs. This innovative product has been developed to streamline the workload of IP and legal professionals through:

• Fully automated patent family trees.

• Create a fully filled in SB-08 information disclosure document.

• Download any number of patent PDFs (bulk or individual).

• Create and share work between colleagues or between inside and outside counsel.

A POSITIVE ROLE IN SOCIETY

Apart from business, Minesoft has played a quintessential role in elevating society. Between 2018-19, they were active players and sponsors of the Richmond initiative to raise awareness of plastic pollution in rivers. In the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, Minesoft has donated to local charities providing food for frontline nurses and doctors in Critical Care Units at two key NHS hospitals in London. As the region returns to work, Minesoft has co-funded wide Town Centre deep cleaning and regular anti-viral spraying in the public areas, for the rest of this year.

They also sponsor International charitable organizations like the World Monuments Fund that focus on conserving buildings. Also, they have built an alliance with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in the ASPI Programme, to provide researchers in developing nations access to free or low-cost PatBase service.

COMMENDABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

For its formidable business, Minesoft has won:

• Prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise (2009 & 2015).

• Best Overall Company of the year by the Regional Chamber of Commerce.

• Legal Tech Company of the Year from ACQ5.

A PROGRESSIVE FUTURE

With 23 years of progressive business, Minesoft is looking at substantial growth in the upcoming years. In the recent most, Minesoft has established themselves in German and American markets by inaugurating Minesoft GmbH and Minesoft LLC. The Company is presently in process to devise many innovative products such as PatBase 2.0, with functionalities in areas of language searching, instant faceting of millions of documents and semantics. Furthermore, they are also developing automated translations, landscaping analysis and are emphasizing on the area of Artificial Intelligence. Incepted in an ideal ‘technology time’ moment, Minesoft is expecting a very prosperous future, with its state-of-the-art solutions.

How new-age business skills can aid you to become a better

Have no idea when the Covid – 19 pandemics is going to end, it might seem like not a good time to be an entrepreneur. However, in reality, 2021 has turned out to be a fruitful year for startups recording the highest number of unicorns in India.

Indian startups have been doing far better than ever these days, and as an aspiring entrepreneur, the opportunity is there to be seized.

So, now the question is, how does one stay ahead of the game in such a scenario? In the digital era, where market dynamics often change overnight, MBA may no longer be enough. In the post-pandemic world, businesses are dealing with unprecedented scenarios and shoe-string budgets.

While innovative thought has helped entrepreneurs deal with this crisis situation, they have also realized the real power of digitization. With businesses moving online, it would only bode well for you as an aspiring entrepreneur to get familiar with concepts, including data science, AI, digital marketing, and Fiance. These can help you to boost your business growth.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most powerful technology that has become an integral part of businesses in the world, and is no longer something confined to the field of science and technology.

AI can support the three most important business needs –automating business processes, gaining insight through data analysis, and make relationships fruitful with customers and employees.

Giant E-commerce companies like Amazon and Alibaba use AI to predict their customer buying preferences. Apart from the voice assistants Alexa, Amazon recommends items to their customers by analyzing customer purchasing behavior, and it all gets done by AI.

AI can automate most of the repetitive tasks, it frees up the human workforce for more meaningful tasks.

Many reports have shown that a lot of organizations are dealing with the limited AI talents issue.

An entrepreneur needs to learn if you can understand the technological know: How you will be able to find the right opportunity or a gap, How streamlining your business to make it more efficient.

DIGITAL MARKETING

No amount of technology can grow your business unless the product reaches the right customers on time. The future of a business relies on - how well the brand engages with its targeted audience online today, or rather, on its digital marketing strategy.

Digital marketing is not only more affordable than the traditional concept of advertising, but it also produces outcomes fast.

The moment you advertise your product on Facebook or Instagram, it reaches millions of users, whose response can be examined using free services like Google Analytics.

With India set to overpower China in terms of the number of the netizen, the cost-benefit analysis of using digital marketing for startups is surpassingly favorable.

Digital brands with no physical outlet office have been successfully generated a wider brand recall, frequently with a small budget for marketing. Paid ads can be targeted to the right audience.

In short, to grow a business, an entrepreneur needs to gain digital marketing knowledge.

DATA SCIENCE

“Without data, you are just another person with an opinion” Data is the fuel that can be used to grow the business. So, you might have a question, what does data science have to do with businesses? In short, the analysis of data decides the business performance and will predict the future.

A data science skill enables an entrepreneur to predict trends and understand customer purchasing behavior and move accordingly.

This is a skill that helps to solve real problems, which makes your business grow faster.

By helping to build customer’s personal profiles, a business can combine data points to create insight, which targets the audience more effectively, meaning, services and products can be tailored to a specific group of people.

Nowadays, an entrepreneur needs to have knowledge of data science, it helps to conduct more precise performance appraisals of their employees. In fact, the identification of true candidates matched for the company also relies heavily on similar tech.

FINANCE: A VERY CRUCIAL AND CORE SKILL Apart from these skills whether you have a startup or a corporate giant, knowledge of finance has been always helpful for both your business as well as your life.

As an entrepreneur, you need to know how to raise capital and manage your own money. Imagine, if you don’t know how to manage your own money, how are you gonna manage somebody else’s one, that’s why a good understanding of fiancé and business accounting is so important.

It doesn’t mean that degrees are devoid of value. The startups ecosystem has always asked for more than a degree on the resume. There are scenarios where a conventional MBA from a top-tier institution can bring opportunities for you faster. Degree establishes credibility when you introduce yourself to clients as a startup. But more than anything, it’s often the network you build in college, which eventually help shine your career rather than the degree.

In the end, we would suggest you take a look at your business and identity which area you need to be an expert in or have a clear understanding of. And then work on it.

THE ICONIC BUSINESSWOMAN RESHAPING THE EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE

Dr Mariam Shaikh Founder & Director, MS Education Consultants

These are the stories that were never heard of! Today, women leaders represent a troop of women who have broken through corporate glass ceilings, found their way off the beaten path, and are now looking into new opportunities for economic participation.

Among those handfuls, this approachable leader celebrates herself as a woman. She cruises her entrepreneurial journey of incorporating MS Education Consultants –with a vision to support students, Education Institutions, and Innovative Learning Programs to meet the demands of the fast-paced world. Dr Mariam Shaikh, the aweinspiring founder of MS Education Consultants, one of the preeminent Education Services Consulting firms, is an eminent professional in the education field based in the UAE.

THE IDEA OF JOINING THE INDUSTRY AND TAKING THE PLUNGE

Dr Mariam has been a lifelong supporter of education and has learned as well along the way. She began her career in education in the early 1980s by running a nursery school inspired by her children. Later, she rose to the position of Principal at a renowned school, where she substantially contributed to the institution’s growth. She then started working in higher education to support students in reaching their academic and career objectives. Her second milestone achievement strongly supported by the Canadian Consulate and Embassy was the very first set-up of a Canadian University Branch Office in Dubai. She sent hundreds of students to the University thus establishing the University of New Brunswick as a preferred study destination for students from the UAE & GCC. Following that, she played a key role in establishing some of the most reputed foreign University branch campuses in UAE such as the University of New Brunswick in Dubai Knowledge Village, which was a pioneering effort to encourage foreign Universities to set up their campuses in Dubai.

In 2020, Dr Mariam founded MS Education Consultants to assist students, educational institutions, and innovative learning programmes in meeting the needs of the quickpaced world.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MS EDUCATION CONSULTANTS

Dr Mariam is a firm believer in providing students with the opportunity to travel abroad and in promoting the fusion of various cultures to contribute to creating a tolerant and peaceful global society, which will, in turn, be progressive and result in a promising future for future generations. In order to improve student achievement and support educational institutions with additional opportunities, she conceptualized, strategized, and then finally set up and launched her Company - MS Education Consultants thereby laying the foundation for the future.

MS Education Consultants’ primary goal is to support students in achieving their academic and career goals.

Some of the services offered by MS Education Consultants are:

• University Admissions: MS Education Consultants helps students pursue higher education in more than 400 universities located in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom,

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Canada, the United States, Europe, and Australia, thanks to its significant experience with undergraduate and graduate applications.

• Education Consultancy: MS Education Consultants advises and consults on New Campuses on setting up and developing student recruitment plans and outreach tactics locally and internationally in order to promote the UAE as an education hub and to assist the expansion of various educational institutions in new markets. Additionally, it aids in growth and retention strategies, government accreditation, training, and the establishment training of student recruiting teams to produce great student experiences. It also helps with effective marketing budget use and planning.

• Online Training Programs: By leveraging its beneficial partnerships, MS Education Consultants organises various training sessions delivered by business leaders to increase students’ enthusiasm, knowledge, and abilities.

• Student Cultural Exchange Programs: Students can now take advantage of MS Education’s Cultural Exchange Program by visiting the state-of-the-art international campuses in the United Arab Emirates to get a feel for the campus life and the range of Program & Degree options on offer.

“We are a bespoke Education Services Consulting company with Student Success at the core of all our partnerships. I am delighted to share that MS Education Consultants is the official Middle Strategist for the prestigious University of Guelph, located in Ontario, Canada, to assist students in the Middle East with their admission into the University.”- she says.

The University of Guelph is a leading Higher Education Institution in Canada with three majors ranked top 20 in the world, in combination with Student Satisfaction that is consistently top-ranked in Canada.

Recently the University of Guelph’s Computer Science school was ranked as top 20 in Canada along with the University being one of the most sustainable universities in the world ranking 16th by TIMES Higher Education Impact Rankings.

The University of Guelph is one of Canada’s top comprehensive and research-intensive universities. They are known as Canada’s Food University. Established in 1964, the University enjoys a reputation for innovation and excellence dating back more than 150 years to its founding colleges: Ontario Veterinary College, Ontario Agricultural College, and Macdonald Institute.

The University of Guelph’s commitment to internationalization is reflected in collaboration with Dr. Mariam Shaikh as U of G’s Middle East Strategist. “We are extremely excited about having Dr. Mariam Shaikh onboard to assist us with our student recruitment efforts in the MENA region. We want students to have direct access to our staff members globally, and this is a move

in that direction,” says U of G’s Regional Operations Manager for the Middle East and South Asia, Jimmi Hemmenbach.

DR MARIAM SHAIKH– A PERSON WORTH KNOWING! “For boys and girls forced to flee violence and persecution, an opportunity to study will provide them hope to define their future and realize their potential.”

With such impeccable thoughts, Dr Mariam can be rightly called a visionary and achiever. She is incredibly passionate about helping students and her career. Over the course of her career, she has worked closely with students from over 100 different nationalities, mentoring and empowering them, assisting them in choosing their academic paths, and encouraging them to follow their dreams by starting their own businesses and pursuing careers they are passionate about.

JEWELS IN THE CROWN

With excellent knowledge and passion, this enigmatic personality created her success on her terms and played a crucial role in establishing some of the most reputed foreign University branch campuses in UAE, such as the University of New Brunswick in Dubai Knowledge Village, which was a pioneering effort to encourage foreign Universities to set up their campuses in Dubai apart from empowering students to get the best education.

The following is a list of some of the most significant honours Dr Mariam has received during the course of her career –

• GCC Woman Leadership Award 2019

• Global Super Achiever Award 2020

• Lifetime Achievement Award 2020

• Woman of Wonders Award 2020

• Achievers Award in Entrepreneurial Venture 2021

• Excellence in Mental Health - World Health Award 2021

• SHE Businesswoman Award 2021

• Gem of India Award 2021

• Outstanding Contribution to the Education Industry 2021

• Global Excellence in Education 2021

• Fame Times International Excellence Award 2021

• Awarded Global Excellence in Education from H.E Sheikh Eng. Salem Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Department of Civil Aviation, Ras Al Khaimah (RAKDCA) & Chairman of RAK International 2021

• Awarded the Prestigious Fame Times International Excellence Award from a renowned International Award organization supported by The World Book of Records, UK, South Asian Chamber of Commerce & many other renowned organizations 2021

• Awarded Outstanding Contribution to the Education Industry Under the Patronage of The Private Office of H.E Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al-Qassimi 2021

• Business Excellence Award 2022

• Excellence in Education - UAE WIM Top 50 Global Awards

• Emirates Women Award for Entrepreneurs 2022 awarded by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

Dr Mariam collaborates closely with UNHCR to offer student grants to refugees. She believes that children must attend school no matter where they live. Despite the significant obstacles they experience, education can support the success of refugee children and youth. “It is the obligation of every person born in a safer room to open the door when someone in danger knocks. We strive to ensure that everyone has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to eventually return home, integrate or resettle.”

A newage venture revamping the business simulation world…

NOORJAX

Kajal Dobhal | Business Connect

FELIPE HARO-Founding Head

The organization highlighted here started its inspiring journey from multiple freelancing platforms and finally got registered in Estonia and Chile in 2019. The star of the story is Felipe Haro who is Simulation Modeling evangelist and the Founder of Noorjax Consulting. Quite a unique name, right? Well, he named his very first venture based on an old game invented by him when he was just seven years old! What compelled us to highlight Noorjax’s success story in this exclusive edition was how it defeated adversaries with sheer perseverance and tenacity with an unwavering focus on strategy and teamwork.

As we sat down for a tete-a-tete with Felipe Haro, we touched on several aspects of the company’s business portfolio. We believe this spectacular narrative of Felipe Haro and his entrepreneurial venture will amaze our global aficionado in the most sophisticated manner.

MEET THE BRAIN BEHIND NOORJAX

Felipe Haro is the Founding Head of Noorjax Consulting and was heavily involved in simulation models during the early 2000s. Gradually, he developed a great level of interest in AnyLogic while working for PwC in 2013. His entrepreneurial voyage commenced in 2017 by establishing Noorjax Consulting after leaving a high-heeled job at Amazon. The firm began working as an independent consultancy performing simulation models across various freelancing platforms. It started supporting students, SMEs, government agencies and other establishments with a diverse range of applications. Delivering excellence via his AnyLogic

inclination, he came under the spotlight, especially through his online courses. Also, his presence stimulated intensive collaboration in the community since he became active in the niche market.

A VIBRANT INTRO

Revolving around the concept of simulation models that solve a variety of issues across manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, healthcare, etc, Noorjax has become a reliable consulting partner for its targeted audience. Prominently, they are dealing with complexities of Road Planning, Airports, Manufacturing, Mining, Strategy, Public Transportation, Customer Service, Fluid Logistics, Supply Chain, Optimization, People Behaviour, Artificial Intelligence, Policy Advisory, Power Consumption, Market Dynamics, etc.

Moreover, Noorjax also has a subsidiaryNoorjax Teachable which is a learning academy where they have over 15 different courses curated exclusively for simulation modeling fanatics, students and professionals.

THE INTRINSIC VISION

As a boutique consulting firm, they aim to deliver value with their lightweight solutions at a swift pace compared to the competitive scenario at a better quality level. A few of the key highlights of the vision proposed by Haro are as follows-

• Outperforming the rest

• Result-driven approach before the promised deadline

• Quality products despite facing losses

• Standing up to the promises

• Customer centricity

• Adding substantial value to the client’s endeavours

THE PROMINENCE OF R&D

Felipe asserted that out of several factors, what he believes any business is a success is the value one adds in favor of the organization. In this respect, R&D plays an essential role where any employee can learn new things and bring considerable value to the organization. He elaborates on this topic saying, “When an employee doesn’t have a lot to do, it’s a great moment to do some R&D and I want them to decide on what they want to work on, giving them a few options if they don’t really know. This allows them to provide significant value to the company with new products or features.” Though the process may not yield something extraordinarily successful, the process of trying to understand a concept while diving into the deep waters is what induces self-

growth and skill improvement. Even if things don’t turn out as expected, at least the employee got the chance to improve themselves at professional levels which indirectly fuels the growth quotient of any organization, continues the leader.

LEADERSHIP KNACK

What drives Felipe as a leader is his philosophical attitude which has different facets. He opines that one must know his team properly acknowledging their expectations and aspirations from the organization. Also, supporting and encouraging them to learn new skills and allowing them to nurture themselves into their best possible version- whether they associate with the company in the future or not- is quite important.

“Throughout my journey as a leader, I want to guide my employees through their respective careers. I want to remove any sort of fear in communication, which means that if a member of the team wants to leave, for example, I want to be the first one supporting their decision. I would love to see them becoming successful in better positions, expanding their wings across the skies of exemplary success. While maintaining high standards, I wish to see people associated with me explore their hidden talents as I avidly believe in holistic growth and development.”

THE CULTURAL PRINCIPLES

The values ingrained in the culture of Noorjax are simple but stern. Here, people are expected to work according to their own delivery promises. Work like crazy if you lag, and relax if you outperform! Taking some time off for yourself, traveling to different places,

being true to your words, possessing a customer-centric attitude, striving to offer the best customer experiences as well as value, etc., are the key highlights of Noorjar’s work culture. “ Well, frankly speaking, I don’t believe in company culture at the end of the day. The company is just an exchange and the employee should never be entitled to anything, and the company shouldn’t be entitled to the employee’s loyalty,” revealed the dynamo of his views on the work culture of a company.

THE PARTING NOTE BY THE FOUNDER

Felipe began his journey from scratch. He started with zero networks where no one knew him or held his hand to support him. Despite that, he sustained the challenging times and emerged to carve a formidable identity of his own in his niche domain. About his journey so far, he conveyed, “ I just have fun doing what I do and I don’t want to stop having fun. I will let the company grow at its own pace without slaving myself into a path of greediness. But I want in 50 years to be as big as PwC…. But I’m patient, there’s no rush and I will grow by adapting to whatever changes in this uncertain world.”

A TOKEN OF ADVICE TO THE BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS

“Patience and consistency are what matters the most. What I like as a concept that I took from a friend Gabriel Furman, who is a leadership coach, is the idea of the power of the imperfect action, or in other words “don’t wait for the right times to come, start with actions today, and embrace the mistakes you might make along the way”

How Cooking Can Bring

WANT TO BE A GENIUS IN COOKING?

Add a pinch of mindfulness, a flake of creativity, and a drop of focus. Then gently blend it together, bake it in a slow oven, and observe your state of mind rising. Serve it hot with a plate of satisfaction. This is the way you can enhance your mood in the kitchen, cooking is a wonderful method that helps in satisfying the body’s need for food and is recognized as a way of nurturing the mind.

People nowadays are so busy with moving in this fast-paced life that they hardly find time to cook. The easiest solution they end up with is to order food from restaurants that would satisfy their taste buds. But have you ever thought that you can cook your food by yourself according to your satisfaction? The consumption of food is safest and healthier when it is cooked at home. Yes! I agree that food from restaurants is tastier than made at home but why not trying to make the same restaurant food at home? You may fail once or twice but trying it several times would lead you to the same satisfaction.

A SELFLESS ACT, WHEN COOKED FOR OTHERS

Cooking brings connectivity to people. Our childhood is spent on eating home food cooked by our mom. There has always been a feeling of satisfaction when she fed us. There is a saying that, a mother puts all her love into making food for her family and that is visible in the food. That is what connects us to her, the mixture of love and care. Cooking for others is nurturing, it is sustenance.

Cooking comes up with some positive psychological benefits that would bring harmony in life:

A Tool To Improve Relationships

Cooking builds special memories, remember the good old days when during vacations you end up in messing up the kitchen, then mom comes to your rescue and teaches how to manage things in the kitchen. Those times were filled with the excitement of learning new things. How can someone forget the pleasant aroma of brownies that you baked with your mom? Even sometimes when you fight with mom, just enter the kitchen to help her out with small kinds of stuff and you will see that you both ended up in having fun cooking together.

There is always a self-care part of cooking. When we cook something, we add up a lot of creativity into it which makes the dish look more vibrant. Cooking is an act of making nourishment for yourself and taking the time to feed your body is important. Cooking for yourself not only helps you to eat healthily but also helps in raising confidence.

There is a cumulative effect of cooking that it shows a self-care when you cook for yourself, it helps in taking care of others when you cook for other by putting an ingredient of love in it, it hits on meeting the basic needs for oneself as food is the most important part of life. Cooking is a feeling of connection and happiness that brings people together.

Entering the kitchen opens up a path to endless opportunities that expresses your creativity and leads you to the art of gratification. Spending quality time in the kitchen helps one to ease stress and restlessness, it also enhances mindfulness and brings harmony to life.

A Form Of Self-Care

An exceptional Augmented and Virtual Reality Service Provider

Sugandh Bahl | Business Connect

Newer and more advanced developments in technology have been successful in bringing dynamic transformation in multitude business sectors. With a blend of new innovation and technical evolution, Augmented and Virtual Reality are revolutionizing different systems and processes to escalate enterprise growth and success.

We at Business Connect are fortunate to have with us, Ken Ehrhart, Founder & CEO, Paracosma Inc. In a conversation with him, we have covered some indispensable intricacies of Paracosma and its significant contribution to the AR/VR domain.

Please walk us through your company profile and its services. Paracosma is an Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/ VR) Service Provider. Its services include 3D content creation, 360 videos, application development, and project implementation across a broad range of AR & VR platforms. Additionally, Paracosma creates its own content in the gaming, entertainment, tourism, enterprise and education/ training spaces. Paracosma also has proprietary technology for producing, viewing, managing and distributing 360-degree photo and video content.

What kind of clients do you serve, any special mentions? We primarily serve larger enterprise clients who are embracing the potential of AR & VR.

For AARP, the 38 million-member US non-profit serving aging consumers, we have been producing brain fitness games for their Alcove VR application for Oculus Go and also a version of Alcove for the Magic Leap AR glasses. The applications were recently demoed at the 2020 CES show in Las Vegas.

We also recently announced a partnership with UrsaLeo, an IoT (Internet of Things) company. We are producing realistic 3D digital twins of UrsaLeos’ clients’ facilities to enable them to visualize real-time sensor data on a clear representation of the actual space.

We are also providing VR Training for Oil & Gas and Medical applications; AR for manufacturing machine maintenance, holographic videos for management training, and photorealistic 3D models for photography replacement, a 360 video distribution platform and other services.

What makes you different from others?

Paracosma Inc. is a US-based company with headquarters in San Francisco, and wholly-owned subsidiary companies

in Japan and Nepal with a technical and sales office in Tokyo and development center in Kathmandu. With over 75 employees, including 45 artists and 30 engineers and developers, our scope and scale allow us to provide expertise in more areas than smaller competitors. While our offshore development center allows us to provide very high-quality services and best-in-class rates.

How do you ensure the unbreakable faith of clients in your company?

In many cases, we are providing services for companies that are not broadly available because of the fast pace of AR and VR innovations. Thus, we are usually engaged in long-term partnerships where we are working together with the client to envision what is possible to meet their requirements. We are honest about the current limitations and future potential of AR and VR to develop the most advanced solutions that are realistically possible. This type of open collaboration engenders confidence in our ability to deliver on results that exceed expectations.

How do you keep pace with the changing market trends? Because of our large team of experts with experience across a broad range of AR, VR and 3D platforms, we are able to keep abreast of the latest innovations in the field.

Because of our low costs we are able to experiment with new technologies before they can deliver ROI (return on investment) as part of current commercial projects. Thus, when the technology matures, we already have an understanding of its unique strengths and benefits.

What’s the newer or newest technology that your Company uses? We are focused on developing delivery platforms and processes to turn previously difficult and expensive custom solutions into low-cost, easily deployable high-quality turnkey products. This lowers the barrier to entry for clients seeking to integrate AR and VR into their current business processes.

Do you believe R&D is essential for the growth of the company? R&D is a critical component of our planning and growth expectations. We are currently conducting R&D across numerous areas where we believe we can develop innovative new business lines and products. Because of the newness of the field, it is not easily possible to determine the timing and scale of new opportunities. Thus, having multiple projects under development simultaneously offers the greatest assurance that we will continue to grow revenues and clients faster than more constrained competitors.

Apart from work, what else do you like to spend your time doing?

Paracosma founded a team that is now one of just 77 Qualified Teams in the ANA Avatar XPRIZE Competition. It is a fouryear competition to design a robotic avatar that allows a minimally trained user through VR technology to immersively interact with and help another human in a remote environment. There is no immediate commercial benefit for Paracosma’s AR & VR clients, but the competition is an exciting chance to branch out into robotics, sensor tech, machine vision, AI, telecommunications and other fields that are necessary for success.

What are the achievements and milestones of the company? Since Paracosma’s founding four years ago, we have been able to consistently grow our team, clients and revenues at a rapid and sustainable pace. This has been possible, in large part by turning one-time projects into long-term client relationships. We now have ongoing monthly and multi-year repeat business that creates a stable base from which to grow.

The launch of our in-house developed VR game, called Unnamed VR, provides a great example of our capabilities for our enterprise clients, while providing a very entertaining experience for consumers.

What does the future hold for the company?

Paracosma plans to continue to strengthen its position in AR, VR and 3D content creation in parallel with the growth in those markets. We are excited to see the industry’s progress and are optimistic that we can continue to expand at an even faster pace.

Lastly, what message would you like to give to the readers of the Business Connect magazine? The transition to 3D digital technology goes far beyond the scope of consumer AR & VR. Looking at the evolution from plain text to HTML websites and voice to video in the past, we see the current advance is from 2D imagining to 3D. We have retail clients saving millions of dollars a year on photography costs through the use of rendered 3D models. We see movie production moving from live-action sets to green screens combined with entire environments rendered in 3D game engines. These trends are inevitable and accelerating.

Ehrhart Founder & CEO

Ken

An innovative leader in the Customer Data Platform space

| Business Connect

In today’s digital landscape, an integrated, actionable customer dataset that is also compliant with strict privacy and security standards is crucial for any marketer looking to provide personalised customer experiences and remain competitive.

To get more insights into Zeotap’s offering, our team sat down for a virtual chat with Projjol where we covered several aspects of his business portfolio.

THE PREFACE

Founded by Projjol Banerjea and Daniel Heer in 2014, Zeotap began as a platform that provided data solutions for marketers. In 2019, the team saw a new data challenge emerging: the problem now was not the data itself, but using it. Marketers needed a way to unify customer data into a single view, store and segment it, and activate it across multiple channels. The deprecation of third-party cookies in 2023 also meant that most CDPs would be unable to recognise unauthenticated website visitors. This joint challenge of privacy and identity was holding marketers back from being able to harness their customer data to create competitive customer journeys.

This led to the launch of Zeotap’s customer data platform in 2020. It enables marketers to unify, enhance and activate their customer data, preparing them for a ‘cookieless’ world that puts data privacy, compliance and customer consent front-and-centre.

When it comes to its mission, Zeotap is determined to transform the world of customer intelligence. Every team member at the company shares the same passion to create something innovative that can make a real difference to their clients’ objectives - setting their sights on driving results backed by data.

“The impact of these efforts can be seen directly in key metrics like ROAS and retention rates. Yet, many marketers still struggle with creating a single view of the customer and actioning their data across campaigns - especially in a way that adheres to today’s privacy and compliance standards. Our next-gen Customer Data Platform bridges this gap,” “

Projjol Banerjea, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer

Puja

While they strive to develop outperforming products and solutions to raise the bar, their client-partner relationshipbuilding strategies are formed over the groundwork of transparency and integrity. Zeotap is making leaps by addressing the pain points of marketers via its Customer Data Platform, ensuring a steadfast foundation for its future growth.

THE COMPETITIVE EDGE

Zeotap emerged from Germany - a country that is well known for its strict data privacy and security standards. Projjol explains that, from a compliance standpoint, Zeotap is an unmatched player in the industry as most of the CDPs in the market are ill-equipped for these challenges.

Zeotap delivers a solution for one of the biggest challenges in marketing today: safeguarding a consumer’s privacy while enabling marketers to continue to act at scale.

“Zeotap’s platform is built to enable marketers to fully leverage and enrich their data, leading to insights that can be used not only in marketing but throughout the rest of their organisations,” affirms Projjol.

The company has a client base consisting of over 80 of the world’s top 100 brands - including P&G, Nestlé and Virgin Media - and is recognized by leading organisations among the likes of Gartner, Forrester, and G2 Crowd.

R&D ALIGNMENT

Zeotap’s Data Science team makes continuous strides to get the best out of its analytics and research and development abilities, allowing them to innovate, experiment and improve their products and services.

Recognising the team’s contribution, Projjol adds, “Our team has produced several papers that have been accepted by major organisations across NLP, AI, and AdTech space. Our most recent papers accepted for publication include the Ensemble Model for Chunking, accepted at this year’s International Conference on Natural Language Computing and AI, Estimating the instantaneous survival rate of digital advertising and marketing IDs, accepted at AdKKD (one of the most prestigious conferences/journals in Adtech), and Multigraph Approach Towards a Scalable, Robust look-alike Audience Extension System, also accepted at AdKKD.”

HARMONY WITH TECH TRENDS

The future of digital marketing is held on stricter privacy and security standards than ever, and brands are expected to maintain a balance between offering hyper-personalised experiences and adhering to these data security and privacy standards. With the deprecation of third-party cookies set to happen in 2023, marketers are also pushed to rely further on first-party data - thus increasing the pressure to have compliance under control.

“As one of the few Customer Data Platforms made inand for - Europe, we know just how much marketers here can be paralysed by the challenges that data privacy regulations create, and that’s the problem we set out to solve,” said Projjol Banerjea, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Zeotap.

“In doing so, we’re hoping to deliver a balance on three priorities that have previously competed with each other: scalable results for the marketer, fairness and transparency for their customer, and fewer headaches for their DPO.”

CULTURAL PRINCIPLES

Zeotap has operated at a global level since its inception in 2014. Today, its offices are distributed across three continents, making it a multicultural and diverse workforce. This diversity in its culture has made Zeotap a fascinating institution to work for, where there is maximum exposure to several cultural values. In this regard, Projjol explains, “Though we’re stationed in many parts of the world, we use our collective intellect and creativity to engineer a smarter future - and always do so together.” The global repute of the company is the result of ceaseless dedication, determination and hard work of every employee.

ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE

Needless to say, the company has crossed several new commercial milestones in its journey so far. These achievements have solidified the company’s position as a prominent player in the industry. A few of their worthy mentions include:

• A year-on-year revenue growth of 126%, representing a 201% YoY growth in subscription revenue

• $42 million Series C round announced in July 2020

• An additional extension of $18.5 million in November 2020 to speed up its acceleration in the CDP space

• An $11m extension to its Series C round in September 2021

• Recognition as a “Cool Vendor” in Gartner’s Cool Vendors In Advertising report

• Recognition as a Leader in G2 Crowd’s Spring 2021 Grid Report for Customer Data Platform Software

• Projjol Banerjea was also awarded ‘Tech Pioneer of the Year’ at the Campaign Tech Awards as well as ‘Martech Visionary of the Year’ at the E4M Martech India Awards 2021

• A growing portfolio of clientele including Virgin, Audi, N26, DER Touristik, ITC, La Liga, Desigual, Palladium Hotel Group, Barceló Hotel Group, and Nestlé.

A GLIMPSE OF CORPORATE LESSONS FROM A LEADER

“Innovation and collaboration have always been our core focus. Throughout our journey, we’ve emphasised the significance of keeping an open line of communication with our teams. I think anyone can agree that the last year has been a challenge in terms of maintaining morale and driving a collective vision forward, and as a leader I wanted to ensure that our teams have the resources they need to adapt and thrive, but also navigate the reality of these changes together and on a human level.

The changes we’ve experienced since 2020 have only made our organisation stronger, and my suggestion to others in the industry is to continue openly communicating to one another (both internally with your colleagues and with external partners and clients) to maintain strong relationships and succeed together.”

VALUABLE TIPS TO AVOID COMPUTER VISION SYNDROME

“Computer Vision Syndrome affects 60 million people worldwide.Computer vision syndrome or digital eye strain causes burning and prickling in the eyes, as well as dryness, heaviness, redness, and trouble holding the eyes open for long periods”.

To prevent infection from the coronavirus, during the pandemic, people from all sections including business, education, sports, TV, media spent the majority of their time at home. With the work-from-home cultures developing nowadays, in all spheres, people are spending an increasing amount of time on their computer, laptop, tablet, or cell phone.

Many that do not work from home but are required to sit at home due to Corona spend the bulk of their time gazing at a phone or television screen. People can encounter problems such as burning or itching in their eyes as a result of this. This affects not only adults and older people, but also children who spend time on tablets or use laptops for school-related activities.

Here are few suggestions for keeping your eyes safe when operating on a tablet or laptop.

• The computer screen should be located directly in front of or just below the eyes.The computer should not be put directly in front of the eyes. The higher the screen is above the eyes, the greater the focus on the eyes would be.

• Antiglare lenses should always be used while operating on a regular monitor or laptop. Antiglare lenses should be used in the frames of those who wear them. Those that do not have glasses should wear plain anti-glare glasses. Antiglare glass can also be used on the computer screen.

• Every storm hour requires a break, and the eyes should be quickly washed 5 to 10 times to ensure that water enters all regions of the eye and maintains the eyes moist.

If you have an issue with your eyes, see a doctor right away to get medication, so you don’t get a potentially dangerous disease.

PERFORM THESE EYE EXERCISES

• Do stretching exercises as well as eye exercises.

• It’s important to keep in mind that the air from the Air Conditioner (AC) should not be directed directly into your eyes.

• Protect your eyes from some kind of bright light; if there is clear light from a lamp or tubelight on the screen; avoid it as it will damage your eyes.

• When operating on a computer or laptop some peopleturn off the light. This should not be done. While working on the screen, adequate lighting is needed.

According to recent reports, Computer vision syndrome is an eye condition caused by spending long periods in front of a laptop, television, or computer. Because of the corona infection, everyone is at home, and the problem with the eyes has been getting worse in recent months. Otherwise, vision problems can grow if care is not received promptly.

SYMPTOMS OF THE SYNDROME

Over some time, repeated computer usage affects the eyes. While there is no evidence of this at this time, working on a computer screen for 8 to 10 hours a day puts a lot of strain on the eyes, which can cause pain and lead to computer vision syndrome. The following are signs and symptoms of this: 1. Blurred Vision

Double-eye look

Reddening of the eyes

Eye itching

Headache or Migraine

Neck or back pain

Doctors agree that people nowadays spend the majority of their time on a computer or laptop for 12 hours. When you read a book, you can get up and go anywhere you want in 30 to 40 minutes, but you can’t do that when working on a computer. For hours, people do not get up. The term “computer vision syndrome” was coined as a result of this. Dry eyes, swollen eyes, watery eyes, and muscle fatigue are all signs of this.

METHODS OF PROTECTION

1. Visit the doctor if any symptoms remain.

2. Just wear glasses while working.Wear blue contact lenses or buy a pair of blue-blocking glasses.

3. Do not use your computer, television, or phone in the dark.

4. Keep your desktop, laptop, and phone at least one and a half feet away from your eyes.

5. Apply eye drops to your eyes if they are dry.

6. Take regular breaks when working on the computer or laptop.Remove your eyes from the screen after a half-hour break, shut your eyes, and sit for 1-2 minutes to relax your eyes.

7. Eating Green vegetables (which are high in vitamin A) will help you maintain good eye health. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of the nutrients lutein and zeaxanthin found in green leafy vegetables protect our eyes.