Fairfield County Bsiness Journal contributor Brad Scheller recently met with Manish Chowdhary, founder and CEO of GoECart, a Bridgeport-based provider of web-based e-commerce systems to North American retailers.
What attracted you to this industry?
Chowdhary: “I graduated in the height of the dot-com boom. Internet technology was the hottest technology. The Internet was changing the fundamental business model and it was extremely fascinating because it was all happening so fast.
The long-term failure rate of companies is pretty well documented, what have been the keys to your lasting success?
Chowdhary: “Persistence and adaptability. The smartest people aren”™t the ones that survive and thrive. Those that adapt do well. My story is all about adapting to changing business conditions and circumstances.”
Can you give me an example of a shift that you made?
Chowdhary: “We pivoted our product strategy. At first we were servicing small online startups that did not need our level of product sophistication or capability. So we switched to the middle market, where we”™re having a great amount of success. We”™ve changed how we do our sales, how we do our marketing and what philosophy we use in product development.”
What would you say your company does well to earn your customers”™ trust?
Chowdhary: “What we have put together is a really cool, evolved product that”™s highly reliable and easy to use. We top that off with a high-quality and highly responsive customer service. So what we are providing to our clients is an enterprise-grade, enterprise-class of business management but at a SMB price that they simply can”™t find elsewhere.”
Is there a particular story that really comes to mind as an “as good as it gets” moment for you?
Chowdhary: “I think we will stop trying if we ever reach that “as good as it gets” moment. So, I don”™t think we should ever get there because we always want to strive for something better. If you believe you”™ve reached perfection, you stop trying. We are in a good place if our clients are successful, our employees are happy and our stakeholders are satisfied with both the progress we make, as well as the financial returns.”
What do you consider some of the keys to being an effective leader?
Chowdhary: “An effective leader, in my opinion, has a clear vision and knows where he wants to go. He may not know exactly how to get there, but at least he knows what the end goal looks like. A very effective communicator can articulate that vision to others and can inspire them to be part of the journey.”
Do you have certain rules that you follow for success?
Chowdhary: “Show, don”™t tell. Do what you mean and mean what you say. More often in today”™s world people are afraid to take a position. But I typically try to speak my mind.
I also believe in a commitment to excellence. Being good is not good enough; you have to be better than good.”
Describe the culture that you”™ve created at GoECart.
Chowdhary: “It”™s a culture of agility. We service an extremely fast industry. We have to stay relevant. We care about quality and we have to be quick to shift. It”™s all about getting things out, and then measuring and optimizing the results. People who are eager to learn, want to grow, want to succeed and compete with the best would find GoECart to be a great fit.”
What should business schools teach more of, or perhaps less of, these days?
Chowdhary: “Students need to understand that what they learn in the classroom might not apply in the real world. It depends on the circumstances. Schools don”™t inject a healthy dose of realism. They make the real world sound like a fantasyland. Or they inject so much fear that students lack the confidence to go confront the world. Sharing real world case studies with students would prepare them to apply what they learn to situations they end up in.”
What advice do you have for a young person entering the job market today?
Chowdhary: “Young people feel they have to be perfect for the positions they apply for. In pitching themselves to fit the position, they fail to showcase all of their assets and accomplishments. As the employer I like to see all an applicant has to offer. Young people should show what they accomplished during their school career, as opposed to just telling me how they could do the advertised job.”
Brad Scheller is founder of Wilton-based Renaissance CEOs, an organization dedicated to improving business owners”™ impact on their markets, teams and stakeholders through participation in CEO peer advisory groups, executive coaching and best-practice workshops. He can be reached at bscheller@executiveforums.com or (203)563-0628.
