Abhishek Kothari ‪Ye!‬ Coach

Citi Employee

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About me

Abhishek is an Accountant, Banker and A Blogger on Finance, Technology, Economics, Business and Leadership. He began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers as a public accountant. In 2014, he completed his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Coaching offering

Although my areas of focus include Venture Capital, Finance, Business, Economics and Leadership/Team Management, I am a practitioner of general management. I can provide coaching on creating a business plan, thinking about product market fit and overall business strategy and any other aspect the YE would need help on to the best of my ability.

Posts on the ‪Ye!‬ Activity Stream

How often should a business conduct risk assessment? How can a company measure risk? Risk is defined as a situation involving exposure to danger. The frequency of conducting risk assessment varies depending on the size and complexity of business. Also, risk has various components i.e. political risk, market risk, credit risk etc. The best approach is to layout the risks your business is facing into clearly identified categories. Most large companies use an "Enterprise Risk Management" (ERM) framework. Here is a link to that framework: https://www.coso.org/Documents/COSO-ERM-Executive-Summary.pdf

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  1. this is very helpful. thank you

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What Are The Most Effective Strategies for marketing small scale businesses? As a past small business owner, i believe word of mouth is the most effective strategy followed by an online presence on the internet (i.e. Search Engine Optimization, Google Adwords or social media targetted marketing).

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  1. can you explain more about using google adwords? A lot of people talk about SEO but how can a small business compete with the big internet giants?

  2. can you explain some ways to make your marketing strategy effective in the cheapest way possible? For myself I do not have a lot of money to spend on marketing.

  3. Google adwords will direct traffic to your website when people search for certain key words. For example, if somebody searches for a pizza place near him, Google adwords will show the paid advertisements first. I used it to market my coaching business with very low expense. The other option is to seek help from an HTML / CSS programmer that can help you create a great looking and easily searchable website. Then, you can use adwords to drive traffic. All said and done - your business should be sound enough to hold people on your website for longer.

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The best strategy to attract clients is to create products/services that surpass their expectations and delight them. Even before you setup a business, test it on friends, families and the immediate community. Without a strong value proposition, it is impossible to attract clients. Raising awareness through marketing is your next step.

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  1. Can you share come strategies you use with clients for marketing a new product?

  2. marketing should depend on where your market is. So, if you clients are mostly online, that's the way to go. If they are local, word of mouth recommendations and referral schemes are a great way. Sometimes, marketing at local shopping malls or even participating in exhibitions and conferences helps.

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Feedback mechanisms are key. When you establish a business, identify the major Key Performance Indicators (KPI's). For not for profits, these could be books distributed, families impacted, money donated, consulting hours provided. A well defined set of KPI's will help you identify if the systems you put in place are effective. Also, keep talking to the very people you want to help out.

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Hi Juan, Thank you for your question. I am assuming you mean: identifying indicators your business is not working? The number one sign in my opinion is unhappy clients. If you are an entrepreneur on a small scale, you should be talking to your clients. They will provide you feedback on what is and what isnt working? That will tell you whether what you do is providing value and provide clues to improve your model. Everything else, financial indicators flow from client satisfaction. Secondly, pay attention to cash flow. You can google a term called "burn rate" that entrepreneurs guage to see how much time they have before certain failure. Hope that answers your question. Feel free to ask something more specific.

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  1. it helps a lot. Thank you. To follow up, do you think sometimes there are natural slowdowns in business that you should wait to pass and then things may pick up again? If so how long should my "burn rate" go on for before I decide to close up?

  2. The idea is to make your business "weather proof". The way you do it is by diversifying sources of revenue. You need to have multiple income streams to combat slowdown in one revenue source. Typically, cash available only for a six month period is a clear danger.

  3. thank you.

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One of the questions i came across today was: How do we generate revenue from a social business? That's a great question. First, I would say be clear about the objective of the social need you are addressing. Second, there are two approaches : a) you give some value for free before you can start charging and b) you identify organizations and individuals who will pay for a certain talent you have. Coaching and consulting are great services to provide. Third, don't hesitate to market your venture. Social media marketing provides a great way to begin

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Hope All of You Are Having a Lovely Day So Far. My name is Abhishek and I am your coach for the hour. By way of introduction, I work at Citibank within its retail banking business. Feel free to ask any pressing questions you have about your business.

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  2. Good having you sir. One of my main business challenge is to get clients who need my services to pay for the service. Most at times clients try to create personal relationships to dodge away from paying for a service. How can I overcome this as an entrepreneur in a service business?

  3. The answer lies in demonstrating value that your clients understand. Today, very few clients will pay for services such as consulting only if they see an impact on revenue or profits. You will have to create testimonials to demonstrate the value of your services.

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  5. Thanks Sir. Value is imperative for any business. Is it advisable to continue business in an environment where clients recognize and acknowledge value but don’t have the capacity to pay? What are the key things that a young entrepreneur in a service related business should consider in an environment that is not enabling? Because quitters never win and winners never quits despite the hurdles.

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