2025: The year that was…

It was a lonely night on 31 Dec. ’24. I was laid off from my previous role 2 months ago and had been wondering what should I do in the coming months. 

Wanted to go on a long pan-India drive, but didn’t have enough to cover expenses for 3 weeks. Thought of a few start-up ideas that would work in the post-Covid, quick commerce era, but Capital & subsequent scaling was a concern. 

After struggling to attend half a dozen interviews for senior management roles, I realised that the market for CXO roles was not just shrinking. 

It was also getting clear that the closures were happening through references to the Chairman’s / MDs Office from within smaller circles.

I had two choices – to go through the arduous route of connecting with top CXOs within the Retail Industry one by one and seek their support. The other one was to take the “miles” less travelled. 

In the pre-Interval scene of his 2024 outing Jailer, Superstar Rajinikanth would sit down on a chair, slowly turn his face, smile and utter his next steps. 

Similarly, I said it to myself – if I do not get an assured Offer Letter by 15th Jan. ’25, then I would get back to the road less travelled – Independent Consulting. I had bootstrapped Miles2Go Consulting, a boutique Advisory firm in Aug. 2014.

In no time, I was already servicing two prestigious clients, one a 25-year old global FMCG brand at Bangalore and another one - a Fahion behemoth backed with over 50 years’ legacy of the Promoters.

Fashion and FMCG continue to be the two key verticals within organised retail that I am most passionate about in Consulting.

I began my road and rail travel across states and was giving my best, learning every day about the vast ocean that is Retailing, one SKU at a time.

 

In a sudden & unexpected turn of events, I managed to get placed as a “Partner” to be based in Bangalore at one of the Global Consulting & Advisory firms in the world. 

The annual take home package was an exciting 8-figure salary to build from scratch and lead their Retail Practice in the Indian sub-continent. It sounded surreal and I was overjoyed.

After sending the “offer letter” at 2pm on Friday signed by none other than the Chairperson of the Firm, which was after a month of deliberations, discussions and several rounds of interviews, the Firm decided to retract the offer given to me the following Monday!

I was stunned. Sugar levels trebled. Blood pressure shot up. Irregular bowels, coupled with sleep pattern disturbances and a general loss of interest in life led me to several disturbing days and nights. Was being pushed to border-line depression. 

The world came sinking. Not because I lost a job. Not because of someone invalidating my credentials based on hearsay and rumours. 

But the fact that there was zero-professionalism left in several corporates in the garb of international firms, which I have seen one after the other.

A bit of solo-travel and short-bursts of temple visits during April 2025 helped. 

I spent a lot of time alone, speaking less, reading more and articulating more than ever, what was being said and between the words. 

Thanks to a bunch of well-wishers and close friends, I was pushed to restart my Advisory firm – “Miles2Go Consulting Services” – M2G which was on a break since 2022.

And not just to start, those around me suggested that I build the “Practice” along with a team, rather than living and dying as an Independent consultant supported by associated off and on. 

When I mooted the idea to a few other professionals, they too advised that I take this up in a bigger way and lo-behold, on 1st April 2025, I began Ver. 2.0 of M2G.

This time, it was going to be a planned approach on scaling. A crafted, chiselled one, rather. With a clear Vision, surrounded by a bunch of passionate professionals.

First was to decide how will we be different from our earlier avatar, when Shriram and M2G were intertwined and the names simply replaced each other. In Ver. 2.0, I told myself, that shouldn’t be the case. 

M2G should be a team and the outcome should also be credited to the team. 

While I would remain hands-on in every project, I would take a back seat in the day today operations.

Then, I set about to focus on the five key verticals that we would focus on in 2025 – Retail Leasing, Hiring, Training, PR Strategy + Offline / Events Execution. Know more about us here.

These are areas I have chosen to remain afar since I began Consulting in 2014. 

We felt that these could not just bring in additional revenues, but would also provide us with a bigger reach to newer clients and a larger world out there.

On 31st August 2025, we organised our first public event at Spencers Plaza to celebrate the “Madras Formation Day”, now celebrated over a month.

What was most unexpected was the office space we landed upon. 

I have been infamous for not taking my parents advice seriously since childhood, however this time I decided to cold-call at a large office complex as suggested by Dad. 

I was lucky that the place was not only available, but I was able to finalise the place and move-in within a record time. A fully furnished 2,500 sq ft A-grade office in the heart of the city at Mylapore, Chennai.

On the auspicious Vijaya Dasami Day 2025, my parents performed the office pujas and we started working from there since then. 

The team size slowly began to increase, even as knowledgeable and passionate people from their domains agreed to give me a try and to join my team. 

It’s been a good three months in the new office and I cannot thank my personal and professional family enough for their unstinted support all these months.

As we speak, we are serving half a dozen clients across Business Strategy, Hiring & Training, with a team size of 40 members. 

Whenever I sit in my chair, it sounds surreal. This is not what I had vaguely dreamt about 365 days ago. But God had other plans, after all.

As I say every morning when I wake up, “We have just begun. We have Miles To Go…” 

Do drop by our office and encourage us to do more. We are located here.

Good Bye 2022, Hello ‘23

 

Here’s wishing you all a Happy Calendar Year 2023. May this new year bring a lot of happiness and cheer to everyone. On this day last year, I was working for Specsmakers, leading Sales & Marketing for the 10 year-old brand, the largest optical retail network in South India and the third largest in the country with 250+ stores back then. Around the same time, the scare for a third wave of the dreaded Covid-19 infection was all over the place. It had a new code-name: Omicron! Government of India as well as various State Governments advised several measures, including shutting down of retail stores, malls and commercial establishments over the weekends. Andhra Pradesh took no measure and maintained status quo; Tamil Nadu advised shutting down only on Sundays; Karnataka, however advised a closure for the entire weekend. Most Indians remained in a huge sense of anxiety over their careers, professions, businesses, kids’ education and so on. However, all these worries were put in the backburner as Omicron had limited or very marginal impact on most of us.

This is when the government pushed us to take the second vaccine, which ensured a quick and safe turnaround for the ailing Retail sector, which had taken the worst beating for the previous 18 months, ever since the first lockdown began in Mar. ’20. 

My career too, zoomed along with the fledgling economy. I managed to get back to the apparel industry, jumping ship to Indian Terrain, a 2-decade old brand, most famous for its shirts, especially the Madras Checks. The company operates over 210+ stores across India and I was responsible for the entire retail business, managing a turnover upwards of Rs. 250 Cr pa. Sales, Marketing & Branding, Merchandising, New stores expansion, Project Management, Visual Merchandising and Staff training, all rolled into me. In a span of less than 6 months, I managed to visit 96 stores across India, from Guwahati to Ahmedabad, Chandigarh to Nagercoil and many in between. The month of September was among the busiest in my career, according to Google Trips, which maintains a record of where I went, what I did and so on. 

Onam was the first big campaign that I undertook, visiting the state of Kerala 45 days before the festival and screening the markets. We sensed a huge opportunity with the return of NRI Malayalees to their home towns after a gap of 2 years, due to Covid-19 led travel restrictions. Interestingly and unfortunately, the sales uptick that was envisaged didn’t happen. One, there was a severe rain around the festival week; second and most importantly, sales (for most other brands as well) remained flat before and during the peak shopping weak. This was a learning of sorts. It is not necessary that Sales would surge only before the peak season, for the graph has been on the upward trend since Feb-Mar. ’22. We witnessed somewhat the same across North & West India, just around Diwali as well. No surprises here. 

However, sales for the entire retail industry surrounding fashion, apparel, accessories and lifestyle had reached pre-2019 levels or at par. On the contrary, many brands saw a volume decline (in Sales), but these were due to the making of the brands themselves. Wrong choice of (new) locations, unavailability of merchandise at the right moment and most importantly, staff demotivation due to reasons such as salaries remaining flat, lower than expected & delayed disbursement of incentives for the previous FY and overall lack of interest in the working environment are some of the key reasons why many brands faltered. 

I moved out from the company in November due to differences with the Management. No regrets though, every tenure and every day is a learning after all. Over the past 2 months, I have been introspecting on some of the measures I had taken (or rather not) which led to two quick exists in less than 2 financial years. I am hoping (and working towards) that 2023 and beyond is going to be a more stable period ahead. Everything is in my hands, of course! Happy New Year 2023 once again to everyone and may this year be joyful to all of us! Cheers. 

Uttarayan and my Professional Life

On 13 Jan. 2021, I was driving back yet again to Chennai from Bangalore on my XUV500. Even as my playlist kept jumping from 90s Tamil film songs to the latest tunes, spiritual discourses to FM Radio, my thoughts kept wandering from one to another to another. I was driving back in a spacious SUV, all alone and reasonably well placed in life than what I had imagined for myself 24 years back when I first joined the Retail Industry scooping Ice-Cream at Baskin Robbins as a part time salesman during the day, learning computer languages in the morning at NIIT and studying B. Com in the Evening College. I am ever thankful for my Stars, the Creator’s benevolence, blessings of Elders and good wishes of my close friends for where I am today in life. Professionally, Socially, personally and of course, most recently on the spiritual lane. 

It was a Makara Sankrathi / Pongal day that I landed up at Bangalore in 2004 to be part of a revolution in the making, little which I knew when I was interviewed in Oct. 2003. Even on the inaugural day of Bangalore Central in May 2004, none of us back then knew how big the Indian Retail Consumption story would grow to and that some of us would be a strategic part of it with our own tales of success, failure and most importantly, that of abundant learning.

As the playlist kept changing every few hours during my recent drive, I couldn’t help but realise how my life has been such a roller-coaster drive and that I have enjoyed, messed up and have overcome many such moments all along. The morning chills of my bike rides from my temporary stay at a cousin’s house in RT Nagar, Bangalore back in 2004 all the way to MG Road (where the Mall was located) and getting lost every now and then on my way to Jayanagar 4^th block where the Regional Office of the erstwhile Pantaloon Retail was once located gives me the chills in the spine till date. Honestly, I never thought I will come this far in my professional life, that I would write about the last 20 years every now and then and fondly recollect the moments that has made me an eternal Student of Retailing for the rest of my life.

Last Sunday, I had met a former colleague for Lunch at a posh Restobar which was once upon a time a suburban hamlet that was Sahakar Nagar. I was sharing how I could never feel “belonged” at “Bengaluru” although the city has given me so much. My retail resurrection has happened multiple times and Bangalore has lifted me up multiple times. A few other cities hold as much or more importance to me – of course Madras being my hometown is always the dearest. Every time, I enter or exit Bangalore city - the iconic arch at Attibele, the retail library that is Brigade Road / MG Road, the eponymous UB City, the wet markets of Malleswaram or Basavangudi, the Windsor Manor underpass, Mekhri Circle, the new Airport Road towards KGIA and so on – each one of them have a deep meaning and a related anecdote in my life. But the attachment is always temporary. Just that this temporary attachment turns 17 this Uttarayan season and remains an undetachable part of me forever. 

Yet again, I moved to Bangalore during Uttarayan 2020, bag and baggage for my current role at Levista. What was once supposedly a guest accommodation at my current abode in the Western suburb of Bangalore, Peenya and “the so-called home” at Chennai has now been reversed, with me spending more time at my own Bangalore Headquarters even as we march against an insurmountable business target of achieving Rs. 100 Crores of turnover for the 4 year young brand in the next 12-18 months. Am I dreaming, yes. Are dreams good, yes. Do they get achieved, sometimes yes. And how about this one, I am working harder than ever for it. 

I am once again grateful to this once-upon-a-time quaint town which has given me so much yet remains detached from my life and expects nothing from me, other than gratitude and thankfulness in my thoughts. But I vow to make this city proud of an outsider like me, in one way or another and give her the due recognition as I share a great part of my professionally somewhat-successful career to this place. 

I won’t get attached to her ever. But would always ensure that this city is always a part of me and My Retail Journey in the making. Forever.

The Seven Tenets of a Start-Up Entrepreneur

I wrote a column 10 days ago about my completion of one year of Entrepreneurship. It received unprecedented reach from my professional world. Over 2,500 people had viewed it, over 750 “Likes” and more than 75 people took time to comment on the article. A few requested me to keep writing and share more about Entrepreneurship and I am hence writing this as a follow-up article.

I would like to highlight the seven tenets of Entrepreneurship, as I have seen it in the past few years myself as well as from the experiences of those around me. Of course, there could be more but then these would summarise and may include other points as well within them.

All ideas are not monetisable

Most often, as to-be Entrepreneurs or existing Entrepreneurs, we try to build a case on an issue which we think could solve a problem. In some cases, it would solve even an unknown problem that the customer never knew (Read: Apple/Steve Jobs/iDevices). But before you build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or a Prototype, do check if the product you are building would be profitable (at some stage), scaleable (across geographeis, for example) and saleable (potential buyer for the business and not just customers). If these three points have a green tick, then you are good to 

Funding an Idea vs. a Person

Most often, one would hear that the Investor is not funding just the idea but the person as well. This is quite true. Most investors look at how the Founder/Promoter approaches the idea or concept and in general, their view of life. Only a few founders who go to build massive companies focus on the larger essence of life which excludes monetary and material pleasures. It doesn’t mean that the Founder takes a Public Transport to work or operates in a dingy pigeon-hole work environment. It means how frugal they are in their thought process about spending every penny that has been invested into the venture by Investors.

Looking for an Angel Friend

Most Entrepreneurs, mostly first gen like me, do not come with the backing of a family office or hereditary wealth. They save up a bit and start off at some point in their life mostly depending on someone else to fund their ideas. While friends and family would encourage them to move ahead, you would also see them exercising caution, not to be myopic in their view of business and life. Those who talk big stuff, usually end up doing nothing for the Founders. Some avoid emails and calls, let alone introductions to potential Investors. But that’s just fine. Don’t mix up Funding and Friendship.

Age No Bar

There is no age for starting up. If you think you are willing to give up your lifestyle (that doesn’t mean a compromise though) and work a bit harder than you are working for someone else ((I mean like, really hard), then give it a shot. Fix a timeline by when you will return back (unfortunately or otherwise) to a day job if things don’t go your way. There is no fixed time for this. It could be a year to five at the max. In five years if you haven’t got it right, with just one idea or probably a handful, then I guess it is time to move on.

Money, Money, Money

Save quite a bit before you start-up. Things could go horribly wrong with your idea, product or service. You may need money to demonstrate, scale-up and prove that what you have founded works. In the meanwhile, you could have other compulsions – family, health issues, insurance, vehicle repairs, etc. It is wise to keep aside your minimum monthly requirements for atleast 36 months before you start your venture to be on the safer side. That is if you are willing to sail that path for so long.

Reboot – Plan B

If one idea doesn’t work over a period of time (as an Entrepreneur, you would know what’s best), then have Plan B, C, D and so on. Never get stuck with just one idea that you believe could change the world dramatically. Have alternate ideas and plans. Remember, it is you who has to click as an Entrepreneur and not just the idea. It’s a two-pronged approach and you need to keep this in mind. Always.

Never Give Up

You will hear advises from all over the world around you. Believe me, talk is cheap and free. At the maximum, data charges for emails and messages and perhaps call charges. The Advisor loses nothing to preach. However, they could be people like you who have started up and failed and their wisdom is speaking. They could also be those who started up and succeeded but probably know the difficulties. If you keep the above six points in mind, then go ahead with what you believe in. Never Give Up. But do remember, all ideas do not work for various reasons. So have the grace to accept and move on.

Hope the above points have helped you as a budding Entrepreneur or if you are already one. Cheers.

One Year as an Entrepreneur!

It’s already been a year, I wondered. What started as a passionate journey has gained momentum in the past 12 months. Life has been very different, as an Entrepreneur to say the least. It is one thing to turn an Entrepreneur when you are in your fifties – you probably have enough savings to dip in, dabble on experiments and have alternate plans if one thing doesn’t work. The world has indeed seen many successful Entrepreneurs who started late in their lives. And it is completely different to start off on your own when you are in your twenties, which currently seems to be the flavour of the Entrepreneurial ecosystem. Lads that age have successfully demonstrated that their ideas can be converted into mega-businesses, touching the lives of millions of people. So, starting off in my late 30s was something I was not very comfortable, honestly, at the outset. I was having a fixed salary, enjoying air travels and hotels across the country, meeting the high and mighty exchanging business cards of large companies who gave me the identity that I probably deserved.

But things changed. They had to. The past two years have been troublesome for me, at a personal front which had an impact on me professionally. Entrepreneurship instincts come naturally to a few, and many others develop it over time. Mine was the latter. That’s probably because being born and raised up in middle class environments taught me the essence of valuing money. It was not too wise to let go of all what you have earned and saved, forget borrowing and running a business. It’s a bit of a taboo too, for an Entrepreneur is expected to do things which one doesn’t have to otherwise. I too, like any other person thought of all these things before I ventured in to the entrepreneurial journey. To say the least, it has been extremely gratifying and satisfying. I have learnt quite a few things more in the past 12 months, which I may not have seen and learned if I was still working for someone.

The decision to start my own venture was a well thought out plan. My wife, who is my pillar of strength (sounds a bit clichéd but a golden truth) and I planned our goals meticulously for over a year before I finally got on to it. We worked on various business plans and models and finally arrived at something what we thought was a profitable, scalable and a saleable model. Smiling Baby (a baby shop that would cater to young parents and parents to-be) was first coined in my car during a long trip we had undertaken followed by the logo designs on a computer screen. Quite soon, the first store was up and ready. We commenced operations on a Friday. We had sunk in (or invested, if that sounds right) almost all our savings that we had accumulated over the past decade or so. It was a roller-coaster ride that we anticipated. And boy, what a ride it has been. I would have met atleast a 100 potential so-called Investors over the past 2 years. The very first one whom we met chided the idea. The person (and I am not going to identify their gender at this stage) discouraged me to pursue Entrepreneurship and instead focus on a day job which was more stable and secure since I had a family and two little girls. I gave a patient ear. And went about what my heart said. No offence to the person’s thoughts.

We prepared and shared a MS Powerpoint presentation coupled with backing numbers on an MS Excel Work Sheet with numerous people. The first question was – “Have you started off?” and this kept bothering me. It looked like they would pour money once we started. And there were quite a few examples that way in the entrepreneurial ecosystem already where professionals had been backed by “Angel” Investors who went on to build successful companies. So, I decided to quite a full time career and start off – 1^st Aug. 2014 was the day I was officially an Entrepreneur. Wishes and congrats poured on my LinkedIn page along with messages and calls from all corners of the world. Friends and Acquaintances appreciated my gall to quit a full time salaried job and pursue my dreams. It was very encouraging and I honestly enjoyed the attention and spot light for a few days.

We spoke and met a number of so called potential Investors. Some displayed grace. They heard our story. They encouraged us. They offered to support us. Many others said this would fail, probably they were a lot more clairvoyant than me for they were seasoned “Investors” who could predict which way things would go. They knew cock-shit about Retail, forget knowing what it takes to quit a full time job and become an Entrepreneur especially when you have a Cancer patient at home and five dependents including your little ones to take care of.

I should have probably listened to them and should have quit being an Entrepreneur. I didn’t since I was already in the game and wanted to give it a whole try. Things were fine for some time. Not a single instance of brick-bats from our customers, who appreciated what we were doing. The journey was turbulent but we thought it would stabilise slowly. Unfortunately, things didn’t go the way we had anticipated. There were a few reasons for this – we were a bit myopic in our thoughts about the business. I was quite confident I could raise money in a couple of months from starting, since the business idea was a strong one. It continues to remain so. And I had a decent pedigree – I was among the Top 50 Retail Professionals in India as recognised by a top research firm in 2014.  

We went door after door, making presentations and pitches, changing our business course as we moved forward from time to time. Our bank balances were drying. And one day, it was near empty. A few good Samaritans came forward to help us cross the bridge. It gave us a buffer. Although a short one. Those who had promised to support us couldn’t, for various reasons. Many emails, messages and calls went unanswered. We were losing hope on people whom we thought would give us a helping hand. I was willing to offer even half of my equity at some stage, just to ensure survival. Things went awry. My lowest point was for a few days when I gave up even on God.

I finally came to terms. It was my life and no one is expected to make an impact on it except me. Probably my close family and a few friends. I decided to shut the first store we had taken on lease. I had built it more passionately than the three houses we had bought in our lifetime over the last decade. I pulled out everything out of the first store, some personally with my own hands. I was choking. But with a glee in my heart, that this was not the end. And probably it could have got worse.

On 31^st July 2015, the day I completed 365 days as an Entrepreneur. This day and date will be etched in my mind all my life. It was a Friday too. The day we commenced our venture. And on this day, I had to legally cancel the lease agreement. It was a couple of hours’ thing and it was all over. Finally. For a venture which was started with so much excitement, it was not the best way to end.

As I wake up, sip my coffee and write this article, I begin my second year as an Entrepreneur. I have stood up, dusted, come to terms with the Ecosystem and have moved on as an Entrepreneur although I have a bit of baggage left as an individual. I have lost faith in people whom I trusted and those whom I didn’t know much – I would get carried away at times by sweet talk, but not anymore. I have realised that people come and go out of our lives for a reason. The “going” and let-go part seems to be more important, on a lighter note.

I always thanked my ecosystem for making me a reasonably successful professional over the past 18 years. In my first job when I used to scoop Ice-Cream 18 years back at Baskin Robbins as a part time job during my graduation, little did I realise that I would be blessed to offer jobs to a few people one day. “My Retail Journey” has been a very exciting one. And it continues to be so. I felt that an important reason for my success was the ecosystem. And I also feel that the same ecosystem let me down as a first time Entrepreneur. Am not sure how much importance should I give anymore to the ecosystem though. But I will continue to respect the views of people around me, although I may not be able to abide by what they say at all times for all issues, unanimously.

I have a few plans for the next couple months on what I should be focussing on. This time, I have not one but multiple back-up plans. Although they are just plans on paper and computer at the moment. But am sure, I am going to crack this, come what may. I cannot and shall not allow life dictate terms to me. This is my life and I shall live it the way it suits me and those around me the best.

I have Miles to go, before I sleep. This is not the end of year 1, this is the beginning of Year 2.

Watch this space.