HATKE : Business Continuity – An Initiative to reflect Positivity in the COVID-19 Context !

- Created / Updated by : Shirish Kulkarni : 1-Nov-2020
HATKE : Business Continuity – An Initiative to reflect
Positivity in the COVID-19 Context?
LikeSmall and Medium Businesses - How to Grow?
Shirish Kulkarni
Founder & CEO at STROTA
ConsulTech Pvt Ltd
About the Author : Shirish Kulkarni has spent @ 25
years with global corporate global companies in driving
various innovative and transformational programs
across organizations and later has taken up the
mammoth task of enabling growth in Small and
Medium Businesses. He believes in "Reaching out to
the bottom of the pyramid" for bringing the actual
grass-root level changes in the entrepreneurs who
really want to make an impact. He is pursing his own
path to "Commoditizing Business Consulting" - to offer
the packets of transformation which are affordable
and demonstrable to the MSME sector. He has
analysed @ 150+ organizations and demonstrated such
transformations for @ 25+ organizations successfully –
as a highlight : one of the manufacturing companies
Dynalec Controls Pvt Ltd showing the top-line growth
of @ 300% in 3 years
Executive SUMMARY :
In March-2020 the whole business world got hit with a bold question – How do I
maintain my continuity of life, family, basic needs, business, society moving forward, when
there is only DARKNESS within the tunnel and NO LIGHT till the end of the tunnel ... The
HATKE initiative is a platform for reflecting positivity based on successes, innovative
solutions, novel thought processes, different ways to handling the challenges by various
individuals – by reflecting their personal peculiar characteristics of tenacity, persistence,
creativity and examples of how those get applied to their professions or businesses. The
HATKE platform covers interviews of various eminent industry leaders, professionals,
thought provokers, thought leaders to unleash the possibilities that each one of us can
explore in our contexts by extrapolating the examples they have gone through … With
business continuity as the current theme, the discussions are woven around business
innovations, new business models, new industry verticals and through some unique

achievements by some popular, some very well known, but some absolute un-sung Hatke
individuals … A big thank goes to their gesture to contribute to this initiative to spread the
positivity.
The CONTEXT :
When it was evident that there will be a complete lock-down from March-20 and
then, it got extended and extended – everything got closed and hence the businesses came
to a stand-still, halt a pause (not knowing about a restart !) . This sent the whole industry
and the human race into a jolt and panic state … leaving them to figure out ways and finding
meanings to create “ray of hope”, “light at the end of the tunnel” .. It’s clear that if the
leader leaves “hope”, the battel will be lost before it’s even begun … I thought that this is
the time, that we should take views of individuals who are thinking differently, they have
their inherent optimism, they have capabilities to deal with the ambiguities around, they are
innovative to figure out their own ways to sustain - not only themselves, but their families
and business … Their insights, thought processes, their positivity, their way of looking at the
situation, their way to bund back, their way to take this situation as “part of the sine wave –
as it goes up, it will come down” – would create the required positive impact on the rest of
the community / industry / individuals / minds etc. With this motto, the journey of HATKE
interviews was started – H standing for Health, A – Attitude, T – Technology, K –
Knowledge, E – Engagement: which are basis pillars to leverage your positivity in the
context of business (situation) you are in. Have spoken to 70+ individuals from various
industry verticals, professions like Doctors, Engineers, Doctors, CAs etc, to capture their
state of mind, way of thinking, problem solving approach and ability to excel in the most
challenging situations .. This has created a documentation of these individuals to reflect
how they are not-only sustaining but also using this as an opportunity to bring betterment in
their current business process, models and way-of-working.
It’s indeed a gesture of Giving Back to have done “a bit for the industry” that we are
working for and spread positivity and ray of hope for the deserving audience.

The CORE Thought :
In the current context of CORONA Virus Outbreak from March 2020, it’s a very clear
message that “sustenance during this year is the sole measure of success” “if you survive
this time, both physically for your life and business wise, then you can think of any other
things to be done in the days to come” … This is evident and hence the focus of my thought
process was to “talk about business or individual continuity or survival – novel ways to be
able to do that” and how we are getting the current situation turned into an opportunity
and setting our future in the new normal.
One needs to use Frugal ways to run one's business or possible portion of the
business. As the businesses have not running apart from Mar-20, apart from those
required for most basic necessities to be run like Roti-Kapada-Makan like food / groceries /
vegetables / medicines / healthcare / hospitals ... etc .. But rest of the businesses are STAND
STILL - with ZERO revenue, no promise to get the payments for the services / products
already delivered .. having limited kitty of money to be able to run the business for next 6
months .... the daunting expenses like employee salaries, supplier payments, loan
repayments, government compliance costs etc standing in-front and scaring you further ..
doesn't it sound too drastic? it indeed does .. There is a good amount of negativity around
and many of the business owners are losing their patience / hope in their mind ... The key to
success here is to bring the business owner to bring a ray of hope in their thinking, to return
their confidence level, build a possibility of turn-around for his own life, his own business
and start being positive and his conviction starting reflecting across to his employees,
customers, his suppliers ...
The GENESIS of HATKE :
Thought, that we can play the mirror role and reflect the passivity through talking
to, exploring and unfolding thought processes of various industry leaders, innovators,
thought leaders, academicians, professionals – to unearth the way they think, the way they

front-end and tackle the challenging situations, how they respond neutrally and enhance
their own potentials to be able to surpass the questions in front of them, how they nurture
hopes …
A frugal model of on-line interview through a video platform getting recorded at
mutually convenient time and then to publish it with a humble social platform without any
commercial strings attached was thought of and got stabilised as the number of interviews
happen and refinements kept on happening …
To give the credit back to the power of the concept (give the credit back to the
almighty that sent a message to and through me) and hence the smooth execution , have
been able to complete @ 70+ interviews till now – covering who’s who like Dr Raghunath
Mashelkar, Mr Ravi Pandit (MD, CEO – KPIT), Pandma Bhushan Dr Ashok Kukade etc .. its
because they are so much great, that they could appreciate the noble gesture behind the
platform and hence the interview could get organized, conducted and published … I am
playing just the catalyst and interface role to make the positivity getting reflected, spread,
absorbed and inherited further .. It’s a long continuous journey … In Marathi it’s called as
“वसा घेणे – व्रत घेणे” is the way to put it .. it will continue, and self-propel itself.
The CONCEPT of HATKE :
The core thought behind the HATKE concept is about ability to maintain business
continuity with a set of differentiated ways / innovative approaches / lateral thinking /
frugal solutions .. basically, the most appropriate word I found was HATKE (applicable in
Marathi and Hindi हटके – meaning, doing something “in a completely different /
differentiated / modern ways, which is not thought earlier” ... in other words as an “out-of-
the-box” approach.
It's well known that “necessity is the mother of invention” and is aptly applicable in
the current pandemic situation of lockdown – we are forced to the wall and are into
pressing and compelling conditions and hence there are good amount of chances that

“innovation” is going to happen in all areas of possibilities. We just need to keep the focus
and not get deterred from the work / priorities / decisions / actions in hand, but on the
contrary – keep continuing to maintain the life / business-as-usual and aim at eventually
evening out on the current losses / shortcomings / new methods in the new normal to
benefit more.
The 5 pillars of Health, Attitude, Technology, Knowledge and Engagement mark the pillars
for the way for an individual and a business to mark their survival and contiguity in the
current challenging context. First focus on your own Health and Business Health in the
form of managing the cash in hands. The positive Attitude has no options to ensure that
“you don’t become your own death statement”. Use of Technology is a must to be relevant
and become effective leader for the new solutions you want to carve out. Sharing of
Knowledge, reskilling and opening avenues for new domains to be opened. Engagement
with the current markets with existing and the newer markets for new value propositions is
critical to mark yourself a “leader” position to give you the “early mover’s advantage” … This

is the most advantageous state in life that you must encash by adding HUGE value to
YOURSELF and your BUSINESS.
The CURRENCY NOW :
(during the lockdown) With money transactions happening mainly (only!) happening
for the most-essential commodities like Food-Cloths-and-Shelter (Roti-Kapada-Aur-
Makaan) and some degree to transportation – the current currency is NOT MONEY, but the
way you help others, way you have faith in your future and others capabilities, how you
share positive thoughts, new ideas to circumvent the issues / problems, the goodwill you
create to compassionate listening to your employees, by helping the others smaller
businesses to keep surviving, how you leverage your own branding and help others to
create visibility and credibility in the market through various marketing initiatives, the pro-
bono efforts you take for your own survival and others, which will pay them and you back
at the later state, the training, knowledge sharing you drive for yourself and others to mark
your own and others growth. These are some of the key elements on which the businesses
are going to transact for a while and these being very basic elements of human
transactions, are just to be adopted – but unlearning the normal ways of transactions –
which are completely, brutally and materialistically based on MONEY as the CURRENCY. This
new CURRENY will elevate the individual SPIRITUALLY and hence the businesses will
happen on a HIGHER plane of UNDERSTNADING and this alignment will help hugely in the
new NORMAL as the normalcy returns..

THE HATKE PERSPECTIVES:
It has been interesting 8 months to speak to personalities from diverse industry
verticals – Education, Food, IT, Doctors, CA’s, Art, Real Estate, Research, Thought
Leadership, Manufacturing, etc – coming from various backgrounds, with age, location,
education as not a criteria – but the only criteria being Hatke – in the way of working,
thinking, executing, approaching situation, finding solutions, sailing through and
encouraging others …

For more in-depth analysis of the insights compiled together, there is an efforts by 5 MBA
students undergone and will be shared separately.

The EXERPTS from HATKE EXPERT’s
1) Maintain Business As Usual
2) There is “a Light at the End of the Tunnel”
3) This is temporary: it has come and will go
4) This is definitely BETTER than WORSE –
5) Focus on Self / Business – ReAlign, ReConfigure, Rejuvenuate, ReInvent, ReFocus
6) This is like a industry wave – will go down and come up
7) Its throwing OPPORTUNITIES
8) Your CUSTOMER’s mind is AVAIALBE
9) GOODWILL is the new CURRENCY
10) Be RELEVANT
11) Be the FIRST MOVER
12) KONOWLEDGE is POWER
13) Reach out to the Customer – before being your customer, he is a HUMAN
14) TRY it out – FAIL and LEARN
15) Go as REQUEST for HELP
THE NEW NORMAL :
The whole world will undergo a reincarnation / revolution and will come to a new
equilibrium, a new status-quo, a new state-of-being, a new-way-of-life called as “the new
normal”. Some of the dimensions which will be obviously change are evident and could be
documented immediately as depicted by the picture below, but the impact is supposed to
be deep-rooted and have a lasting and perennial effects that need continuous observation,
acknowledgement and acceptance. The new normal could be drawn from the individual, the
business and industry point-of-view and the change of state is definitely going to bring some
welcome changes to bring positive ways of working.

The ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS :
Would like to thank all the individuals who got convinced by the concept of HATKE
interviews and have spared time to share their value-able inputs / insights for the benefits
of the audience. It had been our endeavour to play a mirror role to reflect and pronounce
the learnings from these individuals verbatim and without any distortion to the larger
community. No worlds thank them for the generosity and willingness to spread positivity
further. The blessings and goodwill so developed in the audience has its credit going back
to all of these individuals and we playing a plain catalyst role. Thanks a million, and God
Bless.
The SUMMARY :
The nature has given a severe jolt to the mankind in the form of this event of
pandemic and has brought everyone at the equal level. This brings a “sense of gratitude”
towards nature and other elements of this nature. When so much grounded, there are new
ways of living life, doing business and maintaining continuity and survival have evolved and

will keep evolving. The state of acceptance and then accepting these changes gracefully to
mark the progression of life is the key to success for the individual and the business owner.
The H-ealth takes the highest priority for the individual (physical & mental) and
businesses (financial and operational) – to ensure the survival in this tough situation. An
optimistic and positive A-ttitude is a must have to mark thinking of ways to come out with
solutions. For the businesses, the adoption of Digital T-echnologies will be giving a boost to
the business processes for making them lean and effective. Reskilling, acquisition of newer
business lines and sharing of K-nowledge will be a key to success. The E-ngagement with the
business ecosystem – the vendors, suppliers, investors, customers marks a major element of
progress and mutual existence in the current pandemic situation.
In short – “The Change is the only constant” and “keep adopting and adpting to keep
being relevant” .. This is a “temporary phase” and “there is a light at the end of the tunnel”
Whats NEXT :
This initiative will continue and keep seeking various professions, incorporations and
individuals at various capacities and aiming to spread happiness. Thgouth, that this will end

at 10 then 50 interviews, but now it’s already clocked 70+ interviews and we will have 100
soon. Experts have said that, it’s a valuable documentation (if not documentary) of the
snapshot of the business and individuals state-of-mind and even can trigger deeper study to
relate to the essential leadership traits in the crisis management situation. A
comprehensive book outlining this initiative in greater depths is also in offing to spread
wider awareness.
===X===X====
The REFERENCES :
1. The HATKE YouTube Channel :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOOz0CxkkAuWBkdv4_ac8Lg
2. Some prominent interviews
• 1) Dr Raghunath Mashelkar - https://youtu.be/wR_6yuMwnOo
• 2) Ravi Pandit (CEO, MD - KPIT) - https://youtu.be/7WOr5Cjkw3A
• 3) Pandma Bhushan Dr Ashok Kukade - https://youtu.be/iu61YlKXj_4
• 4) Prashant Damle - https://youtu.be/jsI_bguV02c
• 5) Dr Saleel Kulkarni - https://youtu.be/njUzqSsBWHc
• 6) Niranjan Kirloskar - CEO FleetGuard - https://youtu.be/9xWXsn7ltf0
• 7) Dr Sahastrabudhe- Chairman AICTE - https://youtu.be/bkTW4jKc5cA
• 8) Gaurav Marya - MD, Feanchisee India - https://youtu.be/etNY6t6yOzk
• 9) RR Deshpande - Ex MD Kirloskar Oil Engines -
https://youtu.be/1_n5DEIZNYw
• 10) Dr Girish Bapat - Head, Jnanaprabodhini - https://youtu.be/COry-jIEQFQ
• 11) Shrikanth Moorthy - CIO, Tata Technologies -
https://youtu.be/C76UnM2S3qY
• 12) Narendra Goidane - Founder, Life School -
https://youtu.be/pphGbX5AsXg
• 13) Sundndan Lele - Sports expert - https://youtu.be/UtUmVuI-Vzw

• 14) Dr Prasad Rajhans - head ECU, DMH - https://youtu.be/0G1yJ0ltUec
• 15) Charuhas Pandit – Owner of the Chintoo Concept -
https://youtu.be/YhDW36Bvmow
The CONTACTS :
===X===X===X===

HATKE : Business Continuity – An Initiative to reflect Positivity in the COVID-19 Context !

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