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Ashutosh Kharangate Guiding MSMEs to Success through Mangal Analytics and Research Consulting (MARC)

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Ashutosh Kharangate Founder MARC

Starting a business is a journey full of challenges, but scaling it can be an even greater ordeal, often leading to unforeseen issues. This is where entrepreneurs like Ashutosh Kharangate step in to provide valuable guidance. As the founder of Mangal Analytics and Research Consulting (MARC), Ashutosh is on a mission to empower MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises) with the knowledge and insights they need to thrive.

A Vision Born from Experience:

Ashutosh’s journey into the world of business consulting began when he was just 26 years old. Prior to founding MARC, he had a stable job at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a leading multinational professional services firm. It was during his tenure at PwC that he realized the crucial role played by MSMEs in supporting larger businesses, either through the supply of raw materials, logistics, or services.

However, Ashutosh also noticed that the MSME sector faced significant challenges, particularly in terms of infrastructure and the ability to scale up effectively. This realization fueled his ambition to make a difference in this space.

Building MARC: Transforming MSMEs

In 2011, Ashutosh took the bold step of leaving his corporate job to start MARC. The company, headquartered in Goa, is dedicated to helping MSMEs transform and succeed by identifying and addressing their specific business challenges.

With a team of 28 dedicated employees, MARC serves around 250 SME clients and 50 large enterprises. The company’s holistic approach goes beyond traditional financial consulting, offering a wide range of services, including project feasibility studies, market research, finance analytics, and guidance on mergers and acquisitions.

Solving Real Problems with Real Data:

One of MARC’s remarkable success stories involves its collaboration with Astra Metal Systems, a precision sheet metal components manufacturer. Facing losses for the first time in 2012-13, Astra sought MARC’s expertise to pinpoint the root causes.

MARC conducted an extensive data analysis, despite the common challenges of limited data availability and poor data quality in SMEs. Through rigorous research, MARC uncovered critical insights, such as certain products within Astra’s portfolio operating at a loss. Armed with this data, MARC made a compelling case to Astra’s clients, leading to price corrections that helped the company regain profitability.

Additionally, MARC identified breaches in Astra’s internal controls and established a management information system (MIS) to enable real-time performance tracking. This proactive approach allowed Astra to take immediate corrective actions, ensuring financial stability.

Diversifying to Thrive:

The COVID-19 pandemic presented unique challenges for businesses worldwide. Rather than focusing solely on demand, MARC took the opportunity to strengthen its supply-side capabilities. The company diversified into new product categories, including wardrobes, outdoor furniture, internal doors, and paneling.

MARC also launched Bizpally, a free DIY fintech platform designed to enhance financial literacy among entrepreneurs and startups. This innovative tool assists users in understanding profit and loss statements, cash flow, valuation, and more. Furthermore, Bizpally offers information on relevant startup schemes, state policies, and connections to potential angel investors.

Championing Financial Literacy:

Ashutosh firmly believes that investing in research and analytics is essential for MSMEs to gain valuable insights and operate effectively in their respective sectors. However, the challenge lies in convincing businesses to embrace consulting services and share their financial data.

Ashutosh’s dedication to empowering MSMEs extends beyond his business ventures. He actively mentors entrepreneurs through programs at 91 Springboard and BITS Pilani, fostering growth and knowledge-sharing in the startup ecosystem.

A Global Vision with Local Values:

As MARC continues to make a significant impact in India, Ashutosh has his sights set on global expansion while maintaining the brand’s commitment to local values. He envisions MARC becoming a “glocal” brand—a trusted partner for entrepreneurs navigating the complexities of scaling up their businesses.

In a world where multinational corporations are well-networked, Ashutosh aims to make MARC the go-to destination for MSMEs and small businesses in need of guidance and support. His mission is to ensure that these businesses not only survive but thrive, contributing to India’s economic growth.

Through his unwavering dedication to financial literacy and business transformation, Ashutosh Kharangate is helping MSMEs turn challenges into opportunities, one step at a time.

Entrepreneurs

Exploring the Legacy of Hussain Sajwani in Real Estate

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Hussain Sajwani, the man who took a journey from basically nothing to becoming a real estate giant, is the extraordinary story of vision, resilience, and strategic brilliance. Founded by him, DAMAC Properties is now the largest and most luxurious property development company in the Middle East. More than its massive contribution to Dubai’s skyline, DAMAC has made an impression on the global scale of real estate. Sajwani is known for his elaborate marketing campaigns and cooperation with international brands, including the likes of Versace, Roberto Cavalli, and even the Trump Organization. He has transformed Dubai into a great luxury property hotspot and boasts an empire now valued at $5 billion. But his journey reflects not only his individual success but the tremendous pace of development in Dubai as a global city for investment and real estate innovation.

He comes from a family that had a small souk shop selling imported goods from China. His mother was a textile trader with a variety of goods. Such early exposure gave Sajwani an acute sense of the nature of trade, commerce, and business dynamics. Sajwani is able to earn a government scholarship to attend a medical college in Baghdad and within a short period, he moved to the United States, where he pursued industrial engineering at the University of Washington. This was Sajwani’s first experience in business as well as his education. It helped him build a solid foundation to begin with his entrepreneurship journey. In 1981, he joined Abu Dhabi Gas Industries in the finance department, but, actually, it was in 1983 that he launched his first big venture, that of a catering business catering to clients including the U.S. military, besides major corporations such as Bechtel. The venture is today named Global Logistics Services and is still operational to this day.

In the year 2002, Hussain Sajwani decided to take a shift in his life—a shift that would enormously affect his future and also alter the condition of Dubai’s real estate sector. Following the law had changed and facilitated foreigners with the right to own property, especially in freehold areas, in Dubai, Sajwani founded the DAMAC Properties, aimed at luxury residential, commercial, and leisure properties. It proved to be a milestone, considering that Dubai was booming in real estate at that time, the city undergoing a fast-paced transformation into the world’s business hub. The move saw DAMAC quickly building its name into one associated with luxuriously designed projects to attract high-net-worth and international investors. At the current moment, the company has delivered more than 27,000 homes while 35,000 units are currently under development.

He saw an opportunity to stand out with grand marketing for DAMAC. The company allowed the owners of a place to buy the property and take away a Lamborghini. Developing properties in collaboration with Versace, Fendi, and Roberto Cavalli, DAMAC projected itself as a top luxury developer. Among its projects is a golf course by Tiger Woods and managed by the Trump Organization.

Hussain Sajwani’s vision goes beyond Dubai. He acquired the Italian fashion brand Roberto Cavalli in 2019. The move sounds like an extension of his diversification efforts in investments. He invested £600 million in the UK by commissioning DAMAC Tower, which will carry the Versace brand, in London’s Nine Elms district. This is a demonstration of Sajwani’s international ambitions as he works to develop developments that are upscale enough to appeal to the refined tastes of the world in general. Personal Life Hussain Sajwani is a family and business man. Being married with four children is a modest description of how personal Sajwani’s life is to his professional life, since his son Ali Sajwani is the Managing Director of Operations for DAMAC Group. Several lists have featured Ali as a new star rising in the Middle East, and one can easily see that the future of the future generation of Sajwani leaders is bright. His daughter, Amira Sajwani, has a vital role at DAMAC that reflects a commitment to shaping the future of the company.

Sajwani is also notable for his close ties with former U.S. President Donald Trump, working in association with the Trump Organization over a couple of luxury projects spread all over the world, including the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai. However, it would appear that Sajwani has kept his business acumen on the sharp end, having widened the global reach of DAMAC with its award-winning luxury developments.

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Entrepreneurs

Motors to Healthcare: The Diverse Empire of Samir Mohammed Gargash

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Samir Mohammed Gargash has become the name of successful individuals in the UAE business environment. Through his family business, becoming chairman of Gargash Group, he has turned it to a diversified verge: it started from automotive, healthcare, investments, and went on from there. His influence is felt across diversified sectors – through Gargash Motors, Gargash Hospital, Daman Investments – cementing himself as part of the top Emirati businessmen in the country. Obviously, the visionary leadership of Gargash has revolutionised the automotive sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council and extended the company’s wings into all the geography of Europe and the Middle East.

Gargash Motors is one of the outstanding ventures as it has dominated the GCC region. Known as Gargash Motors, this company was established back in 1958 and has managed to grow into the only distributor of luxury automobile brands such as Mercedes-Benz in Dubai, Sharjah, and the Northern Emirates. Earning good reputation with top-quality vehicles and unmatched after-sales services, the company has become a familiar name in the luxury automotive industry. Under the management of Samir Gargash, this company has continued to grow in response to the increasing needs of the high-income populace in the region with exclusive premium cars from Mercedes-Benz all the way down the gamut to Alfa Romeo and GAC Motor. His strategic vision and change-sensitive ability in dealing with the demands of the market have ensured that Gargash Motors maintains its continued dominance in the marketplace of luxury car sales.

While Gargash Motors is probably the most prominent of all, Samir Gargash has business ventures spread over healthcare, real estate, and investments, among others, which have been successful under his leadership. Among the most celebrated ventures by the group is the Gargash Hospital, which is a multi-specialty health facility in Dubai that sets the healthcare standard in the emirate. Equipped with high-quality, well-trained medical teams and state-of-the-art technology, the hospital operates highly specialized departments in cases of obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, cardiology, and general surgery. His approach to quality healthcare endorses him as a contributor to the well-being of citizens and residents in the UAE.

Samir Gargash has led the investments sector also. Its financial group arm, Daman Investments, is the largest investment management company in this region. Daman Investments provides wide investment solutions to high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors in the UAE and more. It is a proof of the great depth and breadth of Samir Gargash’s capabilities in identifying lucrative opportunities and managing complex financial portfolios. Samir Gargash does not have ambitions inside the UAE. His influence stretches too many parts of Europe and the Middle East, where he leads a chain of other businesses. Gargash, with his foresight for growth and expansion, seized opportunities for emerging markets for which the Gargash Group now stands competitive globally.

Samir Gargash further brought international knowledge and innovation through strategic partnerships and collaborations, thereby further promoting the group’s ability to offer world-class products and services. For example, through his forays into Europe, he shows concern for a much more robust global agenda for the group, yet always true to the core values that have driven the success of this group in the UAE. What makes Samir Mohammed Gargash a business leader is his visionary approach with which he welcomes the changing market outlook. His leadership has been characterized through prudence and risk-taking while keeping an eye on excellence.

Whether it is the automobile industry, health care, or investments, Gargash’s companies have always exceeded expectations regarding quality and service delivery. His philanthropic activities also earn Samir Gargash accolades. Like most successful Emirati business owners, he believes in giving back to society and supporting various charitable causes while contributing to the socio-economic development of the UAE.

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Entrepreneurs

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer: Leading the Al Tayer Group and Shaping the UAE’s Financial Future

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Obaid Humaid Al Tayer is a name that is identified not only with the successes of business and government in the UAE but also with leadership and innovative orientation. As the head of the esteemed Al Tayer Group and as Minister of State for Financial Affairs, the stake that Al Tayer holds cuts across fields and service in the public sector. Again, his career trajectory reveals more of the entrepreneurial spirit of the UAE, while depicting the crucial role of dynamic leadership in the country’s economic development.

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer has immensely contributed to the growth and development of the conglomerate Al Tayer Group. His group was founded more than four decades ago, and he has hugely led the group successfully through different sectors-automotive, luxury retail, real estate, and engineering. One of the key ventures of the group is the Al Tayer Motors group, which distributes many leading luxury cars in Dubai. Which can display the most expensive car ranges, the showroom includes Ferrari, Jaguar, and Maserati brands. Al Tayer’s success in the management of these diversified businesses epitomizes his creative vision and strong management capabilities.

Public Sector Contributions: Obaid Humaid Al Tayer’s contributions to the UAE’s public sector are no less valuable either. Since 2008, Al Tayer has been the UAE minister of state for financial affairs, making the country set up proper policies and strategies concerning its financial needs. His function is vital in deciding the economic nature of the UAE, especially with how it holds fiscal policy, taxes, and monetary regulation. Al Tayer’s balanced approach in finance will keep the United Arab Emirates competitive yet responsive to national development objectives. Among these, notable ones are his decade-long tenure as Chairman of Etisalat, a leading regional telecoms company, and the impact of his management at Etisalat in demonstrating the strength of his influence both in the public and private sectors.

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer’s entrepreneurial ventures go well along with the governmental responsibilities. The dual role allows him to leverage business acumen in advocating for policies that will eventually serve as the foundation toward the economic vision that the UAE is taking. He is credited by the business and political elite for ensuring fiscal sustainability, digital transformation, and innovation for the UAE. The strategic engagement of Al Tayer into the business and government sectors speaks to the salience of private-public partnerships in driving national growth. He connected two worlds, strengthening the UAE’s reputation as a global business hub while at the same time ensuring that there would always be economic policy in place.

Well, whether he is a businessman or a public servant, Obaid Humaid Al Tayer no doubt is a treasure of the UAE. Whether it is to expand the reaches of Al Tayer Group further into great success or to propagate financial policies for shaping the future of UAE, Al Tayer would remain at the heart of a progressive nation with continued growth. His entrepreneurial and public leadership, laced with integrity and innovation, would be a benchmark for the coming generations of entrepreneurs and policymakers.

The significance of this journey assumes importance given the visionary leadership that he has displayed both in the private and public sectors. Thus, he is always going to be a part of the continuous evolution of the UAE as a global economic powerhouse. Under the strategic leadership that he has been displaying, both within and outside government, Obaid Humaid Al Tayer is always a source of success, propelling growth, and fueling innovation in the UAE.

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