Entrepreneurs have a tendency to dream big. And Vivek Agarwal is no exception. Being an entrepreneur has always been in his blood, but it’s now that he is starting to see his dream become reality. Vivek’s MBA at IESE gave him the know-how, tools and confidence to start a successful business of his own: Strand of Silk the designer clothing company he founded and now runs has become a successful online business, based in both London and India, that supplies the finest Indian apparel direct to consumers worldwide.
Vivek grew up in Mumbai, where he trained as an accountant. He then took a master’s degree in finance and started a career in auditing and accountancy. Later on, he worked for his family’s real estate business, before becoming a strategic consultant for Nokia’s supply chain operations in India.
Developing International Ambitions
Working with international clients at the Scandinavian telco sparked an interest in studying abroad. "I felt I could develop myself further. I didn’t have the perspective or the experience of working internationally and it drove me on to consider an MBA more seriously," Vivek explains. "I’d never lived abroad before, although I’d travelled extensively. The professional drivers for doing the course were to get international work experience outside of India."
Vivek knew he wanted to live in Europe and, after looking at several schools, decided that IESE had what he was looking for. "One area where I felt I could develop myself was in management in general – and that’s where the fit with IESE was almost perfect," he says. "It was a case study-based network, the focus was general management, and there was encouragement and support for entrepreneurs. I come from a family of entrepreneurs so that was very important for me."
Unexpected Outcomes
But Vivek didn’t immediately settle on following the family tradition. For him, even more important than the course itself was the variety of career options the MBA opened up. "I was very focused on consulting and I thought I enjoyed that, but, during the MBA, careers services and my colleagues said I should be looking seriously at investment banking."
"That was certainly not on my agenda when I went to do the MBA, but I thought I’d give it a shot and I did a summer internship at Citibank in their investment banking team and then went back to work for them full time. To have worked in investment banking in London would not have been possible without the MBA."
Entrepreneurial Know-How
When Vivek eventually developed the idea of starting his own international fashion business, which he launched in London and India in 2011, he found his MBA training in entrepreneurship hadn’t gone to waste. His schooling in data analysis and decision-making has been key in helping him to interpret the data generated by his business. Equally importantly, his solid analytical skills meant he could determine the preferences of his customers and strategies for converting them return and higher paying clients.
Building a Diverse and Global Network
Vivek’s MBA experiences brought him together with a broad diversity of contacts that has helped him shape and grow his business. "The diversity of experience helps you to see the same situations from very different perspectives. I was fixated on certain ideas and I learned never to look at something from only one perspective." He had always assumed that only Indian people would want to buy Indian clothes – until his international peers encouraged him to extend his reach to people from outside the Indian culture; to customers wanting to attend Indian weddings for instance.
He also draws advice, input and support from the alumni network, which operates at the tier of global business. "The IESE network in Europe was amazing – I have to say that a lot of the value of the MBA comes from my network. We have an active alumni chapter in the UK and I got to attend all the meetings, where I made around 30% of my contacts."
Opening Doors to Future Business
Vivek also made invaluable contacts via IESE’s online alumni database and he says support from the school itself has continued, as his business has grown. Recently, one of Vivek’s professors connected him with another previous student, now a director in a large fashion company. "That was tremendously helpful," he says. "We might even start a new part of the business, because his ideas were so powerful."