BHA Consulting, Anil Karakkattu
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there” -Theodore Roosevelt
Having been born and raised in a middle-class family in India, I did pretty much everything that was expected of a middle-class child – good education, a well-paying job, and marriage. I progressed well in my career of over a decade and a half with a niche in the manufacturing and IT industry. I was fortunate that every role I took on was heavily focused on strategy and operations.
While I thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing, deep down something was gnawing my heart. There was a feeling of a big void and dissatisfaction with my job. I wanted to work for myself. I wanted to start something on my own. However, the fear of the unknown, along with financial and family responsibilities kept me from pursuing this dream. But I never stopped dreaming.
In early 2014, the urge to pursue my dream got much stronger. I seriously and meticulously began to put a plan together to begin my journey of starting my own business. I started from scratch with a self-assessment to identify my strengths, weaknesses, and core expertise. This helped me identify what area of business I should pursue for success. And finally, my extensive experience focused on strategy and operations, helped firm my decision to start a management consulting firm. This decision was a huge milestone – but it was still a dream that needed a solid plan of action for realization. I knew where I was headed, just did not know how to get there. Given all the commitments, it was a big decision to quit my job and follow my heart’s calling. Thus, I let go of my dream once again.
As they say – “Let go, if it was meant to be, it will come back to you”.
God’s Will, Destiny, Power of Manifestation – whatever you call it – in December 2014, my wife got an opportunity to move to Alberta, Canada with the family. This was a big change for us as a family – it meant I would have to quit my job and move to keep the family together; my daughter would have to leave behind her friends and change schools, and as a family, we would have to start from scratch in a new country. We were nervous, but we realized that this move could bring about a lot of positive change for each of us. For me particularly, it would be a big leap towards my dream – a decision I dreaded for years now seemed inevitable. A lot of my colleagues thought I was crazy to quit a lucrative job and move to an unknown country. After multiple conversations with immediate family, we decided to embrace this change. I became an independent business consultant and for the very first time put a plan together to get me started. I began by defining my target audience, identifying their business challenges, and matching them to the skills I could offer. I used this data to attend the right networking events, initiated meetups with professionals via direct connections and social media platforms, and leveraged my personal and professional network for referrals. I began to see some traction, but I knew I had barely scratched the surface – there was a long road ahead of me. Nevertheless, I was happy that I was slowly inching toward success. As it’s said – The road to success is full of bumps and detours – recession struck Alberta and we had to relocate to Colorado, USA in 2016, once again as part of my wife’s job. I was back to square one and had to start all over again. But my desire to succeed was far greater than my fear of failure and the unknown. With focused hard work I was successful in grabbing a few small projects. These small wins built my confidence and affirmed that I was on the right track.
Well, in a life full of uncertainties, change is the only constant. In less than a year of our move to Colorado, we were forced to move yet again due to my wife’s job. It was heartbreaking not just for me, but for my wife and daughter as well. We moved to Austin, Texas in January 2017. We were stressed, exhausted, and extremely worried about our future. We were pushed to the brink of our perseverance, and we began questioning our decision to move from India. Words from my colleagues that “this is a crazy move” began haunting me. However, we were too deep into this, and the only way forward was to accept the situation and brave our way forward. I invested my time and energy into re-building my confidence and staying positive – I read inspirational stories of entrepreneurs, began meditating, and listened to motivational podcasts. It was hard to keep the spark alive and start all over yet again – but I was determined to make this happen. While my past experiences helped me plow through the initial phase of market research and target audience with ease, the past roadblocks kept weighing me down as well. It took me over a year to build a solid business model, but I utilized the time judiciously for my professional development and got certified in Strategic Management from Wharton. I also heavily invested in building my brand.
Fast forward to 2018, I registered my company BHA Consulting LLC in Austin, Texas, with a focus on solving strategic and operational challenges of businesses in the Information technology industries.
Patience, persistence, and perseverance are the keys to success, I finally landed my first large project at a billion-dollar IT organization. This was my “Big Break” moment – and an affirmation that I was on the right path. Over the years, I have continued to refine my skills, focus on the evolving market, and develop strategies to quickly adapt and respond to market needs.
Starting my own business has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences I have had. I am proud of the progress I have made, but I still have a long way to go, lots of milestones, and dreams to achieve. My journey continues…
The business world is dynamic & constantly changing. New ideas and strategies are brought to light every day as businesses endeavor to beat and remain ahead of the competition. Growing and sustaining a business can be challenging in today’s competitive business world.
That’s where I come in. I help my customers consistently increase profitability through efficient growth operating system. As an expert growth strategist and operational excellence leader, I develop profit-boosting strategies and efficient operating models to solve the operational and positioning challenges that will help,
- Increase profit margins
- Reduce operating costs
- Generate positive cash flow
- Maximize operational efficiency and achieve excellence
- Create a unique and sustainable competitive advantage
What makes me unique is,
- My proficiency in solving strategic and operational challenges which I have gained over the past two decades through deep insight into the nature of the problems.
- Customized solutions from strategy to execution. Additionally, the unified integration of proven frameworks and business intelligence guarantees you real results.
- Looking beyond the status quo or traditional practices toward genuine innovation.
The main reason that inspired me to start my business was to become my own boss and have the freedom and satisfaction to do what I love to do.
Even though I progressed well in my career, deep down something was gnawing at my heart. There was a feeling of a big void and dissatisfaction with my job. I wanted to work for myself. I wanted to start something on my own.
I started from scratch with a self-assessment to identify my strengths, weaknesses, and core expertise. This helped me identify what area of business I should pursue for success. And finally, my extensive experience focused on strategy and operations, helped firm my decision to start a management consulting firm.
The idea is to disrupt the expensive consulting industry.
- High-quality affordable solutions combined with excellent customer experience.
- Helping my customers reveal new possibilities and directions that even their sharpest competitors may not recognize.
- Building strategies that help my customers achieve greater organizational growth and accelerated progress toward their goals.
I was looking out for advisors/mentors to guide me through the initial phase of my business and how to build a strong foundation. Through research, I came across the SCORE organization. I remember attending an online webinar initiated to answer all business-related questions or challenges. This is where I met my mentor Steven Martin.
SCORE has helped me build a strong business foundation. Mentoring and all the other resources available have strengthened my business knowledge. This has further given a boost to my confidence and enhanced my ability to develop strategies to improve my business performance.
I have been very lucky to have found Steven Martin. He has been and continues to be a great motivator to me. Steven has been instrumental in helping me build a strong foundation for my business and continues to guide me in the right direction. Another key area I have immensely improved under his guidance is to think differently and come out of my comfort zone.
Apart from his decades of experience and expertise, he
- Always has enthusiasm for sharing his expertise.
- Has a very respectful attitude.
- Shows interest and eagerness to invest in my success.
- Gives honest and direct feedback.
- Start something that you love to do. Be clear about what you want to do.
- Starting a business is easy, but growing and sustaining is difficult. You have to be focused and resilient.
- Do not hesitate to reach out and ask for help/advice.
- Never stop learning. Invest in yourself.
- Learn from failure.
SCORE is an organization that has business experts from all business functions and provides free advice to grow your business. The various resources viz. mentors, programs, workshops, and webinars provide insightful and valuable business tips.
Additionally, you will have the flexibility to reach out to multiple mentors to seek advice in all the business areas that you need help.
SCORE is committed to investing in your success but the same applies to all individuals. You need to be committed and disciplined to put in the time and effort to achieve your business goals.
With the help of SCORE,
- I was able to start my business and at a very early stage gained knowledge and advice to build a strong foundation.
- It has helped me to uniquely position my business in today's crowded marketplace.
I can help you start, run and grow your business. I am an experienced entrepreneur, owning and...
