Yatin S. Gupte, Wardwizard: India’s Most Trusted CEO 2020
Selected as India’s Most Trusted CEO 2020, Yatin S. Gupte is a true wizard when it comes to business versatility and accomplishments.
Years of working in the industry, your contribution reflects versatility and volubility. What has influenced your decision making process at various stages?
I have always been passionate about starting something of my own since very young age but due to some or the other external factors the same can’t be established. That was my biggest driving force as to work so hard and to be able to push myself to limits. I gather as much as information to aid my decision. You have to gather every piece of information. Sometimes you don’t have time to gather information, so I weigh time more than anything else. I look at the likely outcomes for the development of my organization. I look at the alternatives and choose among them.
An accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career?
Working in this industry since almost 4 years and have various accolades from various entities for various reasons, but for me I consider seeing my Company being listed in Bombay Stock Exchange as the first Electric Vehicle in automobile to be listed with the market capitalization of 250 Crores. The way every employee worked day and night to make this possible for us as a company. This not only shows my personal achievement but achievement of each and every member of Wardwizard Family.
How do you integrate corporate philanthropy or corporate social responsibility as a part of your business strategies?
As our tagline says “SOLUTION TO POLLUTION”. So it makes our process more inclined towards protection of our nature and work towards greener environment that ways. Wardwizard innovation and mobility limited believes in world where there is no pollution emitted from automobiles.
Being the first company to be listed in BSE in electric vehicle category was one in a long line of milestones for us, as we look forward to being the foundation brick for the new Atma Nirbhar India with our OEM plants and at Wardwizard we aim to empower 55000 plus entrepreneurs, in coming years to facilitate their dreams of starting their own eco systems.
What has been your driving force or philosophy in life?
Resilience, devotion and dedication that’s what makes me move forward. In order to bring some changes you have to break through some walls. Once you have convinced the majority you have to start to execute.
What are the other philanthropic works you are involved in?
As to promote small scale business in rural areas we at Wardwizard believe that we should empower other businesses and encourage them by helping them anyway possible. Be it a upcoming newspaper who wants to expand their operations or be it a young entrepreneur with a new idea to start it’s ecosystem, or be it an stakeholder who wants to start his/her own OEM plant. Through my past struggles I have always learned and believed that no one should face an issue of the capital when they are thinking of starting their own business.
How do you define success and how do you measure up to your own definition?
Non- dependency of company and my employees on anybody and well-being of near and dear ones. If my employees and near ones are happy I feel like I have achieved something.
We are constantly making things better, faster, smarter or less expensive. In other words, we strive to do more with less. Tell me about a recent project or solution to a problem that you have made better, faster, smarter or less expensive?
So, we are developing battery swapping infrastructure which makes the process easier and faster for customers. We have also opted to removable batteries which makes the transition quite easier and faster. Going with the philosophy of our beloved PM Shri Narendra Modi, of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, we have invested in creating one of the biggest manufacturing and OEM plant in Vadodara to make each and every component here itself and to fulfill the vision of Make In India initiative.
In your opinion what is the most significant aspect of leadership?
Well, first of all, you need to have the aptitude for leadership. And you need to like leading people towards a goal. If you have both of these, it’s a good start! Leadership is not all glamour and authority, it can get pretty tough too. It’s often easier to deal with technology than to deal with people. If you are not currently a Leader, but want to be one, you should ask people, your peers and seniors, if they think you have the talent and ability. Leaders are those who are able to inspire and influence people, even without positional authority! They should be willing to work hard, take risks, and stand by their teams in times of hardship. Leaders should also be able to hold themselves and others accountable.
As a leader, which organisational function are you most inclined to and why? Is it Marketing and Sales, Workplace Culture, Product development, Finance and Accounting, Training and Development, Business Development or any other function.
As a founder and CEO of an organization has the most important role to play in taking the organization ahead. He has to ensure that the organization is growing stronger, not only financially, but also in terms of the foundation and the value systems set in place. As, we learned a lot from building our company, here are a few things which can make a CEO awesome: Take decisions quickly. Hire for passion first, experience second and credentials third. Bring out the greatness in those around you. Sell value, not products. Celebrate moments with/of team members / employees. Be lean but don’t be afraid to spend. Chase the vision, not the money. Try to execute the ideas. Set goals, work for it. Focus. It’s easy to get carried away with multiple projects. If things aren’t working, ask yourself why and change that.
According to you, what are the 5 most serious CEO attributes that contribute to organisational development, leadership development and workplace governance. How do you ensure that these are followed.
1.to take calculated risk 2. good listeners 3. time management 4. Patience 5. grabbing opportunity timely. So this it what makes a good entrepreneur
How do you create balance between target creations, achievements and an effective workplace culture and motivation.
Every employee’s issues are the most pressing. Engineering, marketing, sales, HR are all pulling you in different directions. You have to remain focused on the mission and the most pressing business problems. I would like to change dependency of India on other countries like we should have more evolved tech to get things manufacture in our country and would likely to retain quality and customer support .
PERSONAL GRID
One thing you wish to change and one thing you wish to retain about your industry?
One thing that I would like to change about my industry is the dependency of our country to other countries for technology, cheaper parts, and advanced automation. I would like that our country’s advancement in the technology and engineering field. One thing I would like to retain about my industry is the quality and customer support.
Who do you owe your success to
I owe my success to my past struggles and hard work that I have gone through in my early stages of my life.
Best thing about your job?
As a CEO I am involved in every aspect of business any there are many challenges to face
A message from you to all the future entrepreneurs/leaders?
Get some experience first . Don’t quit too soon. Capital should not be only the reason to back off. And we at Wardwizard have a vision to empower 55000 entrepreneur. The role of the CEO differs from organisation to organisation, according to the unique demands of each business and the structure at board level. But typically, tasks include creating and implementing the vision, mission, and overall direction of the business, and directing and evaluating the work of other executives.
