It took me some time to realize that running a self-funded start-up business is not a sprint but a mountain-trail marathon. The learning curve is steep and constant. Over time, the initial work-pressure and stretch gave way to passion! Having moulded myself with continuous learning on the job, five years on, I know no other way!

“Don't think twice, it's all right!”, Bob Dylan's words were ringing in my head as I took the plunge into entrepreneurship, five years ago when I co-founded Rite KnowledgeLabs. Coming from a business family, it seemed like a 'nutshell evolution'. My father is a second-generation businessman. Our dinner conversations while growing up were mostly around business and commerce. Having studied engineering with a specialization in plastics and like most job-ready young professionals, I dipped my toes in the corporate world as a software engineer. However, my last job before starting this venture, at Tech Mahindra, firmed my business dreams. From Java programming, I had moved to marketing and writing content. That's when the power of content in building corporate trust, reputation and admiration dawned on me.

Once the idea had taken root in me, starting my own company felt like a natural progression. We did a rain check on our career and life goals, and dived into the business headlong. I took my learning from being a plastics engineer to a software programmer to marketing communications and rolled it all into my new-found passion.

My new-found passion

I saw a genuine need gap in bespoke content development; in-house marketing & communications teams struggled for lack of specialized content expertise and external agencies were better equipped to either amplify or carry the message to the external world. Pure-play content focused agencies were missing and are still rare. And, that's when we thought of starting Rite KnowledgeLabs. We took the risk and with good wishes from our peers and friends, we started with a small set of customers. We registered the entity, furnished the office sparsely, put up a sign on the door and got rolling.

It took me some time to realize that running a self-funded start-up business is not a sprint but a mountain-trail marathon. The learning curve is steep and constant. Over time, the initial work-pressure and stretch gave way to passion! Having moulded myself with continuous learning on the job, five years on, I know no other way!

In a niche business like ours, talent and putting together the 'rite' team has been most challenging; it is like a chicken and egg situation – do you wait to hire the right candidate, or do you let the business wait till you find the right fit? In service and people-oriented businesses, our biggest challenge has been ensuring that growth and size don't come with mediocrity. The ability to continue and grow our customers has made us believe that a growth-mindset is a must, but a 'growth-at-any-cost-mindset' can be harmful. I often find that women hold themselves back from adopting a growth-mindset. They hold themselves back when taking up challenging or leadership roles and positions. They often associate these roles with emulating qualities of aggression and assertiveness seen in men. I believe, being authentic, staying true to yourself and creating your own leadership style is the key. People will then look at you with a sense of professional equality and not professional politeness.

For our tribe to grow and make a mark, women should break away from limiting beliefs and planning for growth – be it in a job or a business. From my experience, I can say, a sound support system at home is non-negotiable. My family's encouragement and support have ensured that I can devote quality time to my enterprise as well my two kids – a teenage daughter and a younger son. I don't let conflicting thoughts of neglecting my family for the enterprise come to my mind. Self-doubt and guilt only eat away your time. A balanced rhythm in professional and personal life is tough when you run your own ship.Things will keep tilting out of balance, but practicing self-rigour and discipline will help you maintain your equilibrium.

Ahead of the curve

To grow the business, my mantra has been to focus on being ahead of the curve. If you have better ideas and an innovative approach, you will win in the market. Respect your competition but don't obsess over it. Instead focus on customer obsession and imbibe it in the company's DNA. Go beyond the expected to deliver customer delight. This can be done by continuous improvement and going up the value chain in terms of specialization. Pushing myself to do better and pushing the team to excel is the only way to grow our business.

Today, content is the key differentiator in a brand's journey to earn customer trust and admiration. Be it your corporate website, leadership presence in social media or thought-leadership, storytelling as a service (SaaS) helps us deliver superior content-first solutions across digital assets. Looking back at our journey, without any typical start-up funding, we have been able to build a prestigious set of clients - both MNCs and great domestic companies purely based on our 'content-first' digital approach.

We look ahead to grow by doubling in size in the next two years and entering newer markets with strategically aligned partnerships. We want to build a company which irrespective of its size delivers world-class digitally-aligned content and is admired for its ideas, innovation and integrity. I see this happening on the two pillars of talent for building expertise and technology for efficient delivery.

That said, it's time to remind myself, “It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe…don't think twice, it's all right!” and get back to work.

About Rite KnowledgeLabs

Rite KnowledgeLabs is a full-service, content-first digital agency. Combining research-led content with usability-driven UI-UX design, development and digital execution, it builds compelling stakeholder narratives for customers. The enterprise creates digital assets and social media outreach programs from the ground up by marrying strategic consulting with executional rigour. Be it social media advocacy, corporate websites, subject-specific microsites, investor and cause reporting-led digital assets and reports,  they research & write, design & develop in an integrated manner.

About Zahara Kanchwalla

Zahara is the Co-founder & Executive Director at Rite KnowledgeLabs. As the Chief Operating Officer (COO) she is responsible for providing operational leadership and ensuring service delivery excellence. Across diverse digital stakeholder communication and thought-leadership programs, she works closely with clients, anchoring key account relationships and ensuring the service delivery exceeds expectations right from planning to publishing.

She has over 17 years of experience and has worked with several multinational and leading Indian organizations in various capacities pertaining to business communications, content publishing, e-learning, IT and training. She brings significant business, technology, BFSI and financial content publishing experience and has led engagements with customers across industry sectors. Over the past three years, Zahara has assiduously built and helms some of the most coveted customer relationships with Microsoft India, HDFC Mutual Fund, IIFL Wealth, IIFL Asset Managers, Wadhawan Global Capital and Symphony Air Coolers.

During her initial years she worked with Tech Mahindra in Marketing & Communications and was responsible for global content and knowledge management. Having started her career in IT programming, she has a passion for technology and has consulted organizations in the capacity of a corporate trainer for IT and business communications.