Entrepreneurship! The word itself portrays the capability of an individual on taking financial risks in a hope of profit whilst setting up a business. Only few of the known entrepreneurs were witnessed with such an attribute and have successfully transformed their businesses into a huge empire. One such entrepreneur is Nishidha Kumaresan.
With an entrepreneurial spirit for a customer satisfaction, this prolific personality has been surpassing the shadows of failure and been marching en route to success. Being a Founder, President and CEO of Pioneer Technologies Inc., she undertook various measures and helped her company to reach massive heights. Her understanding over business insights enabled her in achieving a global stature/recognition in IT solution industry.
CIO Look admires Nishidha’s contribution in her industry and feels privilege to feature such leader it’s new edition Transformational CEO’s 2019.
Below is her story,
Born in India, Nishidha came to the United States to pursue her Masters in Business Administration at Pittsburg State University. Upon graduation, she worked as an IT consultant providing Business and Systems Analysis to various Fortune 500 customers.
Growing up in an entrepreneurial family she knew she always wanted to be an achiever. It was not until 2010, when she had a financial responsibility and her mom fell ill that she decided to take the plunge and start Pioneer Technologies.
At Pioneer Technologies, Nishidha started as a two women team and so far they have made careers for over 300 people. They continue to work diligently in order to provide the best services to their customers as well as making sure their team is always taken care of. When she exited the corporate world she had a good understanding of what customer expectations are and so far her company have been able to keep up to that.
It has been quite a journey until now – first came the struggles with being an entrepreneur where she worked 17 hour days, wearing multiple hats but with the determination that she wasn’t going to fail. Then the experiences arrived that morphed her into a better leader. As an entrepreneur, she tend to focus on a vision, customers, revenues and strategies to outsmart the competition but as a leader she also have to do two more things which are impacting lives and taking care of her team. She and her team started with providing services in the area of business and systems analysis and soon after she imitated with system administration, software development and quality assurance. Customer satisfaction, relationship building and retention along with employee satisfaction establish a highly differentiated position. Employees with customer interface are responsible for executing day-to-day customer-facing communication so they link the business and customer. If that breaks down, the business is destroyed. Her employees becomes a trusted member of the customer’s team, ensuring that the product is delivered on time and works as it is supposed to, while resolving any issues quickly and accurately. As for service, it just does not include only delivery and the service provided but all other supporting elements as well which seem like simple components but are the most important. She and her company know how to differentiate on service and makes sure to provide the highest quality services to all of her customers. Nishidha also believes that her employees are the asset and her team makes sure growth of Pioneer’s customers is not just limited to professional but overall as well-rounded individuals too. When employees are well taken care of then there is a lot of positive outcome.
It is a highly competitive market and there is a constant need to innovate and do things differently both in terms of technology as well as retaining the workforce and customers. So that’s what Nishidha strives for “Efficiency and Innovation.” She thinks it’s self-awareness that is most important which is understanding that one is, what one does and what one wants. When one understands themselves, it’s a lot easier to define where to head and how one can be impactful.
In the IT services industry she does face stiff competition. With many companies offering similar services in the market, she believes that she has to think more about what is going to set them apart and how to secure brand loyalty by anticipating trends and staying ahead of the curve. The key is to think outside the box and yet still give customers what they need. She also believes that one has to improve his/her services over time by having direct communication with the customers. The key process is innovativeness, functionality and customer feedback which are necessary for managing competition and creating growth. As an entrepreneur, Nishidha has to face a lot of challenges right from making payroll to every aspect of the business. What has helped her so far and her advice to future entrepreneurs are as follows, in her own perspective:
- Be curious and keep learning.
- There will be times when people may raise doubts about making it through but one must be patient.
Stay positive and don’t spend too much time pondering on the problem but instead focus on finding the solution. - Build a strong foundation and then branch out instead of doing too many things at the same time.
- Finally, make it remember to be humble and stay grounded, always.
Change is a constant thing in the IT industry so one should keep up to avoid becoming obsolete. Having to deal with changes constantly, a transformational leader has a clear vision for the future, one who can distill the values and hopes and needs of followers into a vision, and then encourage and empower followers to pursue that vision. It’s about leading by listening, being a role model and being authentic. For the future, she wants to continue building a great company by meeting customer expectations with exceptional deliverables, mentoring and coaching her amazing team and giving back to the community.”
Being a globally recognized leader, she has been featured in many trade presses such as Industry Era Magazine: 10 Best CEO’s of 2018, and Voyage Dallas Magazine: Inspiring Success Stories. Her contribution helped her company in winning award like Entrepreneur 360’s one of the Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America.
