Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Nikhil Maini, Co-Founder of OKR International, located in Mumbai, India.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

My purpose - To help companies and leaders get More Agile, More Collaborative, and More Successful. I am currently the Founder & Managing Director of OKR International, the world's premier OKR services brand. OKR International is a part of the parent group Seven People Systems Pvt. ltd. I started my journey with aviation and spread my wings across Banking and Telecom sectors before I turned an entrepreneur in 2007. Over the last 15 years, I have provided leadership and direction to my consulting practice and grown it to be a truly global company.

I am most excited when I do work that involves systemic organisational change, be it Organisational Culture Transformation, Leadership Development, Strategic Planning, or OKRs (Objectives & Key Results). I am driven by achieving results for my clients in my effort to make them more successful.

Over the last 25 years, I have helped more than 400 organisations in various areas including but not limited to:

• OKR Certification, Coaching, and Implementation
• Strategic Planning & Execution (Balanced Scorecard)
• Organisation Development
• Agile Change Management
• Agile Leadership Development
• HR Consulting
• Culture Transformation
• Executive Coaching

Tell us about yourself

From Strategies to OKRs, from Culture Transformation to Leadership Development - OKR International's solutions provide your organization with the power & scale to grow exponentially. OKR International is a flagship brand aimed at creating practical, workable solutions that are based on 15+ years of repertoire across 22+ industry sectors globally.

How We Help:

We help you create more alignment, better accountability, higher engagement, and better results faster.

With increasing changes in the marketplace globally, we help you stay relevant with higher levels of innovation and agility within your organisation.

Being agile and using OKRs requires you to bring the right leadership mindset and culture to the table. We help solve your leadership & culture challenges.

Our Key Services:

A. OKR Training
Our Certified OKR Practitioner (C-OKRP™)  is the world's first and only OKR Coach Accreditation to be endorsed by ICF & HRCI for continuing education units.

Our OKR Foundation Course(OKR FC™) is a 2.5-hours certificate course that helps you learn the foundations of OKRs through practical industry examples led by experts in OKRs.

B. OKR Advisory
No two organisations implement OKRs the same way. A spectrum of factors like your industry, company life cycle, nature of products/services, existing culture/leadership, internal systems, or even your organisation design could dictate how OKRs could be implemented differently. Our online and on-site delivery of OKR Advisory services comes with expertise from professionals who have decades of experience in strategy, performance management, culture, and leadership development.

C. OKR Implementation
Learning how to implement OKRs is about mastering change management. At OKR International, we are not just experts on OKRs - we also bring a systemic approach that gives you results within the first cycle.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Moving from the role of a CHRO for an 18,000-strong organisation to starting a self-funded company back in 2007 was a radical change. Growing this organisation into a multi-product & multi-geography company has been a learning experience for me. It has not only resulted in creating a positive impact on our client bottom lines, but this 15-year journey has helped me grow personally by changing my professional DNA as an entrepreneur.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

The sense of responsibility towards the organisation, its people, and most importantly, the clients. Once the ball starts rolling, it cannot be stopped.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

I mentor many buddying entrepreneurs, and my advice to them is as follows:

  1. Don't just quit your job overnight and decide to start a venture. Create a transitionary phase where you are setting up the bedrock for your new company before you monetize it.
  2. Be ready to live off your savings for at least two years. Plan for that well in advance.
  3. Be clear; it is not the subject matter expertise that will help you eventually. It's about your ability to run a business. A lot of talented folks out there with great ideas never make it. That's not because they don't have a great product or idea... it's because they don't understand "business" and how to run an organisation.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://okrinternational.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/okrinternational/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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