Read on how to enrich your life by purpose, i.e. to find depth and, a reason to get out of bed each morning, your own Ikigai.
Rati Rajkumar, Chief Product Officer and co-founder of BankBazaar, finds working and raising two kids rewarding. Rati talks about striking a balance between work and life.
The urge to be an entrepreneur some day was always there, as I come from a family of entrepreneurs starting from my grandparents’ generation. It was one of the natural choices that I gravitated towards when the right opportunity presented itself. Before I began that journey, I was keen on learning the ropes at established businesses and organizations.
When the opportunity to become an entrepreneur did present itself however, it was unplanned and unexpected! BankBazaar.com was a direct outcome of the experiences my husband (and co-founder) Arjun had trying to apply for a loan the traditional way i.e. by visiting bank branches. We found the experience very opaque and time consuming, and became convinced that the entire loan process could be a better experience for the customer if it happened online. The idea was discussed with great passion and excitement followed by long phone call discussions with co-founder Adhil to rope him in on the plan. With the three of us convinced that the idea was worth exploring, we decided to head back to India and from then on, there was no looking back. The last 5 ½ years of exposure to the needs of our customers has enabled us to improve our product and services continuously. BB is the leading online loan platform in India today for loans and insurance and one of the leading start-ups in India to work for. Feels good!
Typically, our team starts the day with a very quick touch base to share what’s lined up on our plates and raise any blockers to our plans, if any. As the Chief Product Officer, my role makes me responsible for the customer experience on BankBazaar.com. You will find me writing specifications for new feature, working with the UX team to create wireframes, kicking off projects with software developers & Quality Assurance teams, talking to Operations/Customer Service teams about issues faced by customers, working on resolving user experience problems etc.
I find that my work and personal life are very complementary to each other. I learn a lot from both places and apply some of my learnings from work to my management of my home/family, and sometimes learnings from my home apply perfectly to work situations.
In the end everything, be it home or work, boils down to how we manage our time. I try to start my day early, so that I have time for myself before the family wakes up. I am very hands-on with my kids and try doing a lot with them whenever we are together. I try to keep my life running without compromising either on work or home and get the maximum possible done when I am at both places in the minimum time. I find working and raising two kids very rewarding and would never give up one for the other. Being organised and structured helps me optimise the efficiency of time spent with both.
Structure is not just meant for work and freedom is not just meant for our homes. Sometimes, adding a good structure into your personal life helps and sometimes introducing a little freedom into work helps in getting things done.
Nothing is impossible and there is no problem which cannot be solved with hard work, focus and creativity. Don’t let anyone stop you and believe in yourself. Achieving your goal is totally in your hands and mind and no in one else’s.
Are you a woman running a business in India? Would you like your story to appear in our Day In The Life Of An Entrepreneur series? Email us at admin AT womensweb DOT in with an interesting account of a day running your business, and we may publish it! (For example, what was the one interesting thing you did that day? Did you meet someone new/had a conversation with a customer? What thrills you at work? What are some business challenges you’re currently grappling with?) Also send us a few pictures of you at work – with your team, at your desk, at the factory, meeting a customer…
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