NotableTalks with Ajay Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director at Abhinav Immigration (Group Abhinav)

28.03.22 02:41 AM By Aishwarya

NotableTalks about: #globalmobility #startupecosystem #hybridwork #marketingautomation #digitaltransformation #datasecurity

NotableTalks By AnyTechTrial

In this NotableTalks episode, we got a chance to have an interaction with a very talented thought leader Ajay Sharma, Chairman & MD at Abhinav Immigration (Group Abhinav). NotableTalks about Global Mobility, Startup Eco-system, Hybrid Work, Marketing Automation, Digital Transformation, Data Security, and a variety of more hot topics.. Stay tuned for more episodes of the NotableTalks Series with cross-function thought leaders from across the globe.

Rapid Fire Round with 
Ajay Sharma

How does Abhinav Migrations ensure data safety of its customers in does hybrid work environment?

Data Security

Alongside the global shift of hybrid workplace, yourself being a founder of an immigration and visa consultant company that includes duties of handling an individual’s personal information would make data protection one of the top priority considering your line of business. How do you tackle this issue and what are the key steps you take to ensure highest standard of data security for your customers as well as your proprietary datasets in this hybrid work model?

To start with, I think there are two or three different components to your question. The first is  the agreement part, because when we signed the agreement with the client, that itself has a privacy clause. So we have to ensure that the client and in between the different internal external stakeholders privacy has to be respected. Secondly, I think privacy is important whether we are working in hybrid or non-hybrid space, it's very relevant at all times. And to ensure that while earlier, in the earlier days it still continues to be in some ways the paper-based exchange cannot be avoided. But the fact that the technology has been driving the data a lot so it becomes much easier also sometimes complicated to control the privacy of the component and ensure there's no leakage. 

As a company we've been having client relation packages, the database management packages which ensure that from beginning to end the data moves through authorized people, personnel and between the client and the internal-external stakeholders.

There's a certain format in which the data movement is happening of documents, otherwise information. 

Another way is that when you work in a hybrid space so you have a combination of office and home environment space. So you try to ensure that the IP addresses which are used even at home have that required protection to ensure data safety. Overall I would put it this way that you can have the best of the packages but intent is the most important thing. And again hybrid or no hybrid doesn't matter. But yes, I think we as a company and otherwise do have the systems in place to ensure that the clients or all of the stakeholders have the required protection that is required. 

What is digital transformation & how to plan a roadmap for adopting digital transformation for an organization?

Digital Transformation

As the founder of Abhinav Immigration, since past 27 years, you must have seen a lot of changes across your business ecosystem, such as digital transformation and automation. How do you look at digital transformation for your company, and what advices would you give to our audience for planning their road map to digital transformation?

Well, to start with, of course, when you look at from where we started, we used to type on the electronic typewriter and then physical documents used to be attached sent through the mail. So, from 1994, the transformation has been a constant, ongoing process. Now, the way it is, whether it's the government agencies or in the company, so it's mostly the electronic exchange that's happening in terms of the digital transformation is complete. In fact, as complete as it can get in the majority of areas, right from booking an appointment for a visa interview or otherwise, right from filling up the application form, the documents are to be attached. It doesn't matter which country. Almost all countries have systems in place for offering documents in a digital format. There are some specific applications that specifically leads to investor programs or business programs that are still paper-based. But I expect that even those areas will undergo a total transformation in the coming one to two years. My advice to anybody who is still not within the internal systems they have is not to use technology as the initiator. My advice would be that because having in house technology can be very expensive. So my advice would be that depending on the size of your business, you may be in the best interest because, first of all, there is no choice. 

To not being a digital compliant company or a business, there's no choice for the companies. Considering that situation, the second option is what to do. Because developing a technology, developing software, customizing it requires a lot of effort and a lot of thought process. A lot of roadmaps requires to be defined by the promoters or otherwise the team members. That takes lots and lots of time. So my strong recommendation to anybody who's just getting into play as far as putting their operations on the digital platform would be to the maximum possible outsource it or to use systems and applications and technologies which are readily available in the market. And all that is required to be done is after that simple customization, minor customization to suit the specific requirements of the user. So that in my opinion is much quicker and even in terms of pricing and costing a much more preferable I would say roadmap to digitally transform then trying to start from ground zero and try to develop a technology of your own. Yes once the company extend privacy becomes crucial that you cannot really speak outsourcing at that time it may be viable, but SME and midsize corporates. I don't think there's an issue in outsourcing that's much better. 

How marketing automation is effecting customer's brand experience and engagement?

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is also another valued use of digital technology to connect and engage better with your customers. How do you see the future of marketing automation changing the customer’s brand experience and engagement with your business, and its impact to the ecosystem as a whole?

Well as a company. For example,  we are available on all the possible digital platforms, be it LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. One cannot do without the other. And there is no choice except to be totally in terms of marketing automation, there's no choice. And I hope I've got your question right. There's no choice but to use all available digital platforms for the purposes of your marketing exercise. There's no choice to that. 

But again, marketing through a digital platform is a two-sided sward, as I call it sheer. Because you don't have control, you have control over what you release. You don't have control over the reactions. So that's one huge disadvantage of marketing automation. So only concerns that I have and which takes a lot of time for the company that's involved in marketing automation is how to really speak, address concerns that are maybe not actually speaking genuine concerns and which may actually speak the company's reputation. So it becomes challenging to really put forward the content, and address the other side of digital marketing. But there is no choice. So what you have to do is you have to, you need to have a team. If you're into marketing automation, then you need to have a team. There's no choice but to control both sides, plan your digital marketing strategy and also be able to supervise the follow-up actions once your campaign is out. So in terms of strategies, one of the areas that I think marketing strategy is finding a face. So for any brand face of an internal stakeholder is very important.  In the case of our company, I think I become the face, and I have a lot of passion for it. But as the company grows, finding that face becomes a bigger challenge at times because the external stakeholders or brand investors may not have the knowledge that's required to really speak effectively to present the message that you want to give. Otherwise, whether it's webinars or whether it is Zoom sessions or alternatively, we are using, for example, lots of interlinkages between three platforms, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp there's a lot of activity that's happening between the three platforms. 

 So that's being very effectively used and a very significant change that I've seen is in fact, it's a very interesting thing that, of course, you can make broadcast groups between your existing clients and the prospects and send one message to that group of many people whatever the number is, within a quick. So that says it's takes a lot of your time. So that's how we use it. In terms of the initial stage, unless your content is of course always a king. But content always may not really be speaking well because especially for the first couple of years, because content needs to go out and you need to have a good marketing budget for that. Because each of these platforms, be it Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn. Beyond a particular point, unless you don't invest, you don't get more views. You must have that marketing budget. Unless you don't have that marketing budget for the initial launch and carry on, it becomes often difficult. A very interesting development we have seen in the last six months and now becoming more effective, in my opinion than a WhatsApp is that. Earlier, your SMS used to come as a simple worded SMS, a brand promotion message. But now the technology has so beautifully grown is that when you get the SMS itself, that SMS beautifully designed with proper branding and direct click option to the message that you want to take or wherever you want to drive the traffic to.

Between a beautiful design message received an SMS be more receptive than a message received on WhatsApp? That's a significant change that we have seen as far as the clients are concerned. Clients have seen more comfortable on surprisingly, Zoom is very popular, as we all know, but the clients are often more become the challenge because almost everybody somebody is using Microsoft teams and somebody's using Google, somebody's using Zoom, somebody's using Webex, it often becomes a challenge. So learning is ensuring that you are acquainted with each technology of digital interaction with the client in terms of marketing or selling or otherwise messaging. So that it becomes a challenge that you have all started applications downloaded and you're able to interact confidently in the right manner.

How is technology powering immigrants for a smooth transition at global scale?

SaaS for Global Mobility

What tips would you like to give to the recent immigrants or people who are planning to move overseas in the near future in context to how they could leverage technology for smoother transition into new environment and also to stay connected with their homeland?

Well, actually speaking, there are applications for everything now. So earlier it used to be a challenge that you need to have a post standing package. If you're going as a new immigrant, somebody's there to pick you up the airport and you would arrange for some kind of a temporary accommodation for 15 days to a month, and then somebody is taking you around for a tour and everything. But these days, there are applications that are offered by respective governments as well as private agencies. So you can use any of those applications irrespective of the country that you are going to and book your arrival comfortably and enjoy it the way you want it. The applications have taken over and the majority of new immigrants use those applications to make their transition hassle free. And because that's been given mostly by, I would say, third parties, in fact, they end up getting better service. So normally when one is going through simply blood relations of friends, it's not as friendly as it looks. But so third party providers end up providing much better service than otherwise. So applications is what is driving the plans of the new immigrants, not only in terms of lending, also in terms of losing getting jobs. So once they have a confirmed immigration process is being completed and they have the likely date of arrival in place,  they can immediately start approaching again using the technology they can start using, approaching the employees through various this time applications are job applications, job sites. You can start using those applications to ensure that you have a maximum reach to executive search agencies as well as the employees.

Because employees are normally comfortable offering you an interview only if they know that your intent to reside in the country immediately is clear because you'll be surprised. Many times it happens that people live in their comfort zones of their home country. So even after the visa company, they are very hesitant at times to move out immediately, leaving their comfort zone within the country. So the same concern even the employers on the other side have that okay, we introduce this gentleman or lady or whether they're actually going to be landing on this particular date or not, we don't know. Even the employers feel comfortable with a clear arrival date and otherwise the newly lending immigrant let them know that he/she is now available now available. The apps, again, are the best way I would put it this way. The best way, in fact, is that, of course, in India the biggest platform is LinkedIn. It makes sense to update your profile on a regular basis. And one most important advice that I'll give to you and we give to all our clients is that the way we structure our resume in India is very different from the way resume and profiles are presented internationally. It will make so much sense that before going, you have used technology to prepare professional profile, which meets the international standard.

Tips for budding entrepreneur to build a scalable global business?

Global Startup Eco-System

With your seasoned knowledge of entrepreneurship, finance and business ecosystem as a whole, what are the key things entrepreneurs should keep in mind when starting their business and hitting their business objectives?

Well, let's start with the fact that if you want to be an entrepreneur, you can be an entrepreneur at any age, any stage. So that's the first thing that comes to my mind, second thing is this, the scale doesn't matter. The most important thing is whether as an entrepreneur you could be a one-man company, one-man show, a consultant, be self-employed and entrepreneur and be more satisfied than an entrepreneur who is having a company with 5000 employees. You know being an entrepreneur is a lot of state of mind. That's the first submission that I have to make, second submission I have to make is that whether on a smaller scale or a global scale, the core skill that any successful entrepreneur needs are learning the art of managing cash flow. Even when you want to reach the global scale, that's why people often say that you don't need money really to grow once you have the idea. But that's not true. You do still need money but you need backup. But this particular stage in every business where you need to choose to scale up your operations from one city to within the country and then from within the country to global scales. At every stage, you're going to face the challenge of cash crunch. I think the art of managing cash is the most important, also second is understanding that of course, all the countries have their programs that welcome startups, entrepreneur, investment from other countries. But the most important thing when you want to move on to a global scale is your networks.

I think that's the second key component is to scale up your operations and that way the generation that seemed like you belong to or Abhishek belongs others but your generation is very lucky that you have access to social media. Creating and managing those networks becomes that much easier. Taking advantage of the current social media ecosystem, you can use it to expand your network. Having the right networks. Don't look at the age of the network. The person might be 65 years old, you might be 25. But you have the right concept idea, right business. They will talk to you irrespective. Networks are not created overnight. It's a very painful process of reaching out to people, trying to make connections and after making connections, reaching out to them with the message, having those networks, creating those networks and after making those networks, maintaining those networks to pursue your business goals and how you can do the value addition to their needs is important. And the last thing that I would like to say at a global scale, the domestic scale doesn't matter. Maintaining the relations majority of entrepreneurs fail because they're not able to maintain relations with different stakeholders, be it your team members, vendors, auditors, contractors. Whether or not you are working with somebody, you should always be able to maintain relationships on an ongoing basis. Never part on a bitter note and even if there's a parting on a bitter note, still ensure that relationships stay on a smooth side. There are some of the areas which I would advise is for entrepreneurs going on a global scale.

Impact of Russia Ukraine conflict on Immigrants

Russia and Ukraine Conflict

With current ongoing conflict between Russia & Ukraine, what impact could be expected on immigration globally in both short and long term?

Okay, It's a very, sad situation that's currently in a very unexpected situation that's currently enveloped the world is really speaking this Ukraine and Russia conflict and the war. It has cleared it's brought in very different dimensions to the mobility part. 

Before we move forward into the reaction from the current situation, we must, first of all, go into why immigration is required. Immigration is mostly required majority of these EU countries which are doing well, be it Germany, France or Italy or Spain. All these countries have a major demographic deficit. That means they have more people ageing than the young people who are joining the workforce. So they had those challenges. And it is very sad that it took a war to fill up this deficit. But when you say 2.5 or 3 million people have moved out as refugees, that's actually evident. If you look at it, try to look at the fact that they are leaving their families behind. Maybe the male between if I'm not wrong, certain males between certain ages are not permitted to move out of Ukraine and they are fighting this war. Once this war is over, they will join their families. This number could reach very sadly, four to 5 million people now. Where are they going to be? In terms of the impact on immigration, what is going to happen is that the EU member countries are going to be beneficiaries, are going to be sudden and unexpected beneficiaries of this particular movement. And they would like to, in due course, retain this particular movement. Because of the way we see the damage that's happening across the country, it's not clear whether even those who have moved out may be willing to move back to the country very soon. So I would put it this way for the EU as a whole. I think this is very tragically it happened because of a tragic event. But in terms of immigration and for the EU to address their demographic deficit, this is going to be a positive addition to their workforce. Not now, only keep in mind the demographics always move, not only with the ones who are joining in the workforce. Now, demographics is always a long term plan. You have these families moving with kids. These kids, after 10-12 years, once they grow, will also join the workforce of these countries. So it has a very long-term impact in terms of demographics for all these new member countries who are right now accepting them as refugees. That's one and that's very tragic that it happened because of this unfortunate war.

The second is that in terms of countries globally otherwise, Canada, USA, Australia, they will have a limited inflow of these citizens from Ukrainian, but still, they'll have limited inflow but that limited inflow considering the population that they have will also make a significant impact. For one area where it's not going to impact in any way, in fact, more and more, these countries are going to need investors and businessmen who will go there and settle down. It doesn't matter whether it's an EU country or North American country or a Pacific country, all of them because there are a lot of costs that go into supporting the refugees. So there's a cost of a lot of costs that goes into providing them jobs and opportunities. So to support all that expense they definitely will need HNI and entrepreneurs and investors who can invest in their economies and the startups who can provide new technology ideas and create employment opportunities. I see two diverse areas happening. The skilled professionals will continue to be upswing the tradespeople who are otherwise getting more opportunities from countries like India and the Philippines. They may face a little bit of competition from this movement that's happening because the majority of these Ukrainians, they are excellent, very good in trades, they're very good in traits of different kinds. But as far as high-end skilled professionals are concerned because they do have language issues so they're not as good in the English language as Indians are. So all the major countries which are accepting immigrants are mostly English speaking countries so they might not be able to replace the unfortunate refugees as we call them. Nobody should be a refugee ever in one slide. They will not be able to replace the requirements of all these English speaking countries, be it the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Ireland, Malta, it doesn't matter which country you talk about, they will not be able to replace the skilled professionals that form the bulk of immigrants out of India because they're good in English speaking and definitely they're not going to replace the entrepreneurs and startups that are moving out of India to any of these countries.


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