FOUNDER ,CHAIRMAN ,EDITOR-IN-CHIEF E4M AND BUISNESSWORLD ANURAG BATRA EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
New Delhi:
Editor: How did the thought of starting a digital venture came to your mind?
Anurag : I started exchange4media.com with two friends Amit Agnihotri and Nawal Ahuja. We wanted to build a commerce one or Ariba of media industry. We wanted to be a technology company for media and created a transaction platform which was ahead of time. As a serial entrepreneur, I founded digital media company exchange4media.com and more recently took over India’s most preferred business magazine Businessworld to make it digital over next 3 years and hopefully we will make it Digital First in three years. The magazine and its content will be digitally consumed more and more. We as a team are and I’m constantly striving to improve the businesses I’m leading. I do this by regularly asking myself and my team a slew of questions to fine tunes what we’re already doing and fined ways to add value for the future. We have a great team. I helped my wife set up www.stylekandy.com also. You should also look at www.digitalmarket.asia and www.everythingexperiential.com.
Editor: When digital was not at all accepted you started exchange4media and were successful too, e4m is a platform for people in media fraternity to get updated,why it was media related site and not some other?
Anurag: The long-term advantages of building a scalable business are greater profitability and growth opportunities. You won’t have to spend more money on digital platform to bring in a lot more revenue. I decided to jump into digital arena because I have figured out that people will spend a lot of time in online learning, digital information and chatting with one another which is existed today. We adapted to survive and the industry embraced us. In a business community digital worked well 12 years back also.
Editor: How Anurag thinks towards business, team members, life and family?
Anurag: In digital business, if you don’t add anything new, you’re no more valuable than an RSS feed. You are Google Reader. You are replaceable. I am always selective and careful about brands to which I associate with. I’ve had great success with breaking down company hierarchy and removing set hours so that employees have more freedom to work when they want to. I always say that your leadership habits directly affect your entire business. It’s important to stop to question yourself often. Are youseriously micromanaging? What about struggling to communicate with your team? I always self-evaluate and ask my business partners and team for regular feedback. We e4m always stay up to date with industry moves with something as simple as creating Google Alerts and tracking the latest industry news. “I always tell start up entrepreneur that don’t start a company you don’t love and don’t try to solve a problem you’re not truly passionate about”. Take time to really listen to the people in your life – clients, employees, your spouse, vendors, and so on. Do so using the 80/20 rule. Listen 80% and talk 20%. I can personally attest that this helps with interpersonal communication which is a vital part of our personal and professional lives. Try it – you might be surprised. On the occasions when I’m visiting with friends and family, I’m focused and present with them so I don’t regret the time I don’t spend with them, but rather enjoy that time to its fullest. The biggest thing that will throw me off my “work-life balance” is when running company keeps me from spending quality time with my daughters. Nothing should keep you from your kids. So don’t make excuses and say, “I have too much work to do.” When you run your own company, work never stops. So you have to take it upon yourself to stop working. Close the laptop, leave the office…whatever…but make sure you build in time with your children because if you don’t, they’ll be strangers to you when you’ll need them most.
Editor:You entered into print too with pitch etc and now recently your group acquiredBusinessworld which was going through a rough terrain formerly with ABP group, did print augmented your group or is it digital which still remains more stronger?
Anurag: The past couple of years have been an eye-opening journey. I’ve experimented relentlessly, experienced huge successes and even smaller failures. I’ve learned and absorbed along the way. “I make the business work for me, I don’t work for it”. Print edition of Businessworld is like the same boat. I believe to get involved in your community is really important and giving back is so rewarding and, for me, it’s an essential part of my life. When you don’t have a computer to suck your life away, you get creative and find others that are capable and eager to do what you need done. To me, that’s the type of approach great entrepreneurs take. . We have an excellent editorial team in place especially” Prosenjit Datta” who is associated with Businessworld since many years.
Editor: Is INDIA as a market ready for digital expansion if yes what are the reasons for same?
Anurag: In the 1990’s, the concept of digital and Internet marketing seemed like an adolescent idea that would soon fade away. Traditional marketers were extremely skeptical about it, and business investors and marketing consultants throughout the world proclaimed that it was merely a Silicon Valley idea that would go bust from boom. Today, things have markedly changed. India has rapidly become one of the biggest social marketing audiences in the world. Indian marketing professionals today have thousands of digital ways to interact with their audience. An audience that consists of digitally proficient students who’re accessing their profiles in buses, working professionals who check their mails on-the-way to office, and even housewives who know how to access their online profiles. India has overtaken Japan to become the world’s third biggest Internet population. VC funding for the online shopping sites is a great example of this Indian growth story.
Editor: There is always a point in everybody life where a person gets stuck, didAnurag had any and if yes how he got into the forward mode?
Anurag: Setbacks are part of life and business. The best thing about me is if I stuck anywhere, I immediately turn into opportunities. Entrepreneurs like me find it difficult to get away from their businesses, but breaks are vital. Sometimes you have to stand back and not think about it. I always allow my mind to rest in a different environment until I’m ready again. Three things I do to keep balanced. Keep a quiet time. I try most every morning to have a little quiet time to pause and seek direction. My work is of course a priority. I feel totally satisfied when working, so I allow myself to work when and for however long I choose because it’s what I want to do. “Building products isn’t easy, but if you keep working hard, keep throwing things at the wall, you will find a way”.
Editor: You ventured into DIGITAL, PRINT now what’s in store next?
Anurag: We have future plans maybe TV, Digital expansion, Online Business learning videos. We wish to build 60 communities in Businessworld online. The ideate is to strengthen the magazine and create a 360 degree expansion.
Editor: BUSINESSSWORLD commercially has always been low in commercial terms despite fabulous content, when it was formerly with ABP, What is it that your group will do to make this product acceptable in the market commercially, as nobody has a magic wand?
Anurag: We have few business plans to take this print magazine to the great heights.Businessworld is powerful brand in professional communities and we are proud to say that ABP has maintained that brand till our acquisition. Everybody is master in their respective areas and businesses. We have few plans to take this magazine in great heights. Like, we have recently successfully executed few events like India Education Summit, Big Data Analytics, BW 500 and few are in pipeline like Marketing Whitebook 2014-2015, BW INFOCOM ICT Awards, BW International Business Awards, Multiplex Awards etc. We see them as another dimension to engagement with consumers and we’ve had a very good series of conferences. The next 11 months will be of action and transformation. We will be fully on the road to make BW Businessworld 360 degree
Editor: DIGITAL is still the last choice of advertisers in INDIA as TV comes first ,then print and then of course online ,when do you think the scenario will change or in other words how many years would India digital platform require to come atop?
Anurag: Digital editions are going to be a big part of the future for magazine publishers, but digital circulation isn’t rising faster than print is falling, and advertisers rarely pay as much for digital edition ads as they do for print. But expanding and experimenting with new revenue streams gives future a shot at building growth in other areas, and avoiding the reliance on the ad market and declining paid circulation that has hit so many publishing businesses badly. We have to become digital first.
Editor: Does Anurag Batra has some fears in life?
Anurag: Today 9/10 startups fail. The odds are you and I would too. Face the fact. Now, if you fail, you failed doing something really hard. Most people only dream but you had what it takes to ‘try’. Failing doing something spectacular is way better than successfully executing the insignificant. ‘Fear’ inhibits creativity and innovation. It stops you from making the big bets at the crucial moments. Somewhere along the way, though, I developed the wisdom to take things in stride, embrace failure, learn from it, and rise above it. Be Dogged and be in the play. Whatever happens happens for good so go with the flow. I have to keep up the aspirations of my colleagues that work with me.
Editor: You started with a small manpower and now you have a decent manpower who work for your group, how do you manage the retention of employees?
Anurag: Above all, you should work on building a business you’re proud of. This has always been a motivator for me, from my Student days, through to our latestacquisition Businessworld today. We have never fired to anyone since we acquired this magazine from ABP. I can see, at Businessworld, that there are very most efficient and profound people and I just need to create the kind of work environment that will give them the type of skills that they can have to excel. What I am seeing is a group of young people who want to make a difference and they are looking for an environment where they can make that difference and improve the overall brand of Businessworld. We have been blesses to have great colleagues to work with. In three months we will transform the company.
Editor: Your one line valuable message for our visitors and fans of your’s?
Anurag:
“If you don’t dream, nothing happens. And I like to dream big. You have to take risks, believe in people and ideas and start, solutions and money comes by though maybe not so easily. Failure is a stepping stone to success.”
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For more information about this group visit :http://www.exchange4media.com/about-us.aspx
