Blessing in disguise
Books for Entrepreneurs
Documentary
eChai Wall of Love
How I Met My Co-Founder
In Focus Today
Insight Reports
Movies for Entrepreneurs
Notes from Podcasts
Slice of Startup Life
The First Hire
The First Welcome in Silicon Valley
The Reading Room
Unforgettable Lessons
Finding My Place in a Family Business
.jpg)
After spending time in the US and working at Apple, I came back to India to join our family business. I was full of ideas and wanted to prove myself. Like many second-generation entrepreneurs, I thought fresh energy and questions would be enough to make a difference.
At Sheth Info, we provide refurbished IT hardware like laptops, servers, and even Apple products on sale as well as rent that help businesses cut costs while still getting reliable machines. Schools, hospitals, IT firms, and manufacturers all depend on us to keep their systems running. Many of our team members had been doing this work for more than a decade, and they knew details I had not even begun to learn.
I still remember one meeting where I pitched a bold idea to a client. I thought it was brilliant. The client listened, then turned to one of our senior team members and asked for his view. He explained, calmly, why it would not work in practice. The client agreed with him, not me. That was a humbling moment. It taught me that trust does not come from titles or big ideas. It comes from lived experience and consistency.
My last name gave me authority but not respect. That had to be earned. It meant listening more, working beside the team, and helping with the small but important problems they faced every day. Over time, I began to contribute in ways that mattered to them. Slowly, deal by deal, I started to feel less like an outsider and more like part of the team.
Even now, it feels like running a startup inside a family business. I am still unlearning, still experimenting, still earning trust. Maybe that is what finding your place really means. Not the position you inherit, but the one you are always learning to earn.
When Thoughts Become Things
Sometimes I think about how a single thought, if it refuses to leave you, begins to carve its way into reality.
Journalism was one such thought. At first, it was only an image in my head: the hum of a newsroom, reporters chasing stories, the clatter of keyboards. On paper, it wasn’t meant for me. I cleared the entrance exam of IIMC twice but failed to get through the interview both times.
But I couldn’t let it go. I kept circling back, reading late into the night, taking small assignments, telling anyone who asked that this was what I wanted. That persistence mattered. The thought survived because I kept speaking it, acting on it, however small the steps. And eventually, the door opened. I finally got into the Times School of Journalism, thanks to a push from my childhood friend who saw the ad and urged me to apply.
Not because I was extraordinary, but because the thought refused to be silenced.
The same pattern repeated with organizations like UNICEF and Humane Society International. They felt far away, almost unreachable. Yet I stayed close to their work: following campaigns, building skills around social issues, and talking often about how I wanted to contribute. It wasn’t wishful thinking; it was thought turned into practice, sharpened through learning and preparation.
Over time, those aligned steps created the possibility to step inside.
UrbanVoices, too, began as nothing more than a thought. First, just a Twitter handle. Then other social media channels. And eventually, a website of its own where articles began to pour in, not only from me but also from others who believed in the idea. What started as casual conversations about the city slowly grew into a platform that gave citizens a voice. The thought stayed alive long enough to attract others, and together it became something real.
Looking back, the how feels simple: thoughts become things when they are kept alive through words and small actions. The why is harder, but perhaps it is this, once a thought is spoken often enough and practiced in little ways, the world begins to organize itself around it. Not perfectly, not instantly, but slowly and surely, until it becomes part of your reality.
That’s why I say Thoughts Become Things.
The Small Wins That Keep You Going
The hardest part of building is often not failure. Failure is clear, you know when it happens. What really gets to founders is the silence. The emails that never get a reply. The posts that sink without a reaction. The long days of work that seem to disappear without notice.
In that silence, it is the small wins that matter. The first order from someone outside your circle. A short message from a customer saying, “This helped.” A second order from the same person, proving it wasn’t chance. A bug that finally gets fixed after nights of trying. A teammate telling their family about what is being built. A friend forwarding your update to someone new. Even a like or comment from a person you admire.
There are other kinds too. When a customer comes back with feedback instead of silence. When a vendor gives you credit because they trust you will pay. When someone at an event introduces you by saying, “You should know them, they’re building something interesting.” None of these change your revenue overnight, but they change how you feel about carrying on.
Big wins are rare. Most days are quiet. Then something small happens, an order, a thank-you, a fix, and the silence feels lighter. It makes you think that maybe the real story of startups is not written in the big peaks at all. It lives in the small things that give you just enough reason to keep going.
How Retail Supermarkets Became My Launchpad for a Complete Food Company
.jpeg)
When I look back, I see how one supermarket in Juhapura in Ahmedabad became much more than a store. It was the launchpad. What began with shelves of groceries in 2004 has grown into supermarkets, HoReCa supplies, exports to the UK, New Zealand, Iraq, UAE and other Gulf countries, and even a business consultancy in Dubai. Each step was part of a larger transformation, the journey of building Hearty Mart into a complete food company.
Hearty Mart became known for its rural retail model. We built supermarkets not only in cities but also through franchisees in small towns and villages across Gujarat. Our stores gave families in underserved areas access to the same experience that city shoppers enjoyed. More importantly, the franchise system empowered local entrepreneurs to run their own businesses with the support of our brand. It was retail with a community heart, and that became our identity.
From the start, retail was my classroom. In supermarkets, customers rarely tell you what is wrong. They simply stop coming back. That silence taught me to listen harder, anticipate needs, and treat trust as the most valuable currency. Expanding through rural franchises gave me another lesson: growth is not only about selling, it is about creating systems and enabling others to succeed alongside you.
So when we entered the HoReCa segment with Hearty Mart Enterprise, it did not feel like a leap into another world. It felt like the next stage of the same journey. Many of the restaurant owners we began to serve had once been our supermarket customers. The chefs and hoteliers valued the same things retail shoppers did: consistency, reliability, and the comfort of being understood without having to explain.
Those retail instincts became our strength in B2B. Just as we once checked in on supermarket shoppers, we began making service calls to HoReCa clients. Just as we had once worked hard to curate the right product mix for households, we tailored our supplies to match the needs of professional kitchens. The lanes of our supermarkets had prepared us for the demands of enterprise.
Over time, Hearty Mart grew into a food ecosystem of supermarkets, HoReCa supply, tea brands, logistics, and farm-to-market distribution. Growth also meant knowing when to pass things on. We exited our bakery business by selling it to an aspiring entrepreneur who promised to take it to new heights. We handed over our Farm@Market vertical to a group of farmers, empowering them to scale it themselves. These exits were not retreats; they were ways of ensuring focus on our core while letting others grow.
In 2022, we opened our Dubai office, beginning with a marketing and overseas base to strengthen our international presence. More recently, we launched Hearty Mart BizHub, a consultancy to help aspiring entrepreneurs set up ventures in the UAE. These steps marked another dimension of becoming a complete food company, not just serving markets but enabling others to build within them.
The lesson, for me, is clear. Retail was not just an entry point, it was the foundation. It taught me how to listen, how to earn loyalty quietly, and how to use every interaction as preparation for the next level. From rural stores in villages to restaurant kitchens in cities, from households to hotels, and from Gujarat to global markets, every stage was connected, each building on the other.
And that is how one supermarket in Juhapura became the launchpad for a complete food company.
The Hard Part of Building With Friends
Starting something with classmates in engineering feels easy. You already share trust, long hours, and the belief that you can figure it out together. That trust makes the first step simple.
The hard part shows up later. When the company begins to grow, friendship alone is not enough. Growth brings clients, salaries and choices that not everyone agrees with. Some friendships stretch with it. Others break.
In 2019, Viraj Rajani started Digipple with his engineering classmates Sid and Rushi. “When we started it was like we will do everything which is one Google search away that we can learn, design, SEO, content, anything in digital space,” Viraj says. They were nineteen. “It was very hard to get clients to believe us because we were young. But eventually we proved outcomes. We ranked keywords, we increased visibility, we designed better.”
Five years later, Digipple is a 25-person team. The work has changed. “Earlier my problem-solving skill was just to search and implement. Now it is about managing client expectations, managing people expectations and aligning short term and long term goals.” The friendship that started in an engineering classroom had to become leadership inside a company.
The hard part of building with friends is not the first idea or the first client. It is what happens when growth demands more. Can the friendship grow at the same pace as the company? Can trust survive when roles change? Can you still sit on the same side of the table when the decisions get harder?
The eChai Effect - In Their Words
"For me, eChai is a second home. I've been associated with it since the early days, when it was already setting a different tone for how startup communities could work. As a traditional business owner entering the new-age D2C space, eChai supported me in every direction. Over the years, it became my window to the startup world — and also gave me lifelong friends who continue to show up, for business and beyond."
Pankaj Bhimani
Founder, 58miles
"eChai isn’t just a startup community … it’s a mindset . eChai has been one of the most impactful communities in my entrepreneurial journey. It’s been a turning point . In a world where building something can often feel isolating, eChai gave me a sense of belonging. I’ve found mentors, collaborators, and friends here — people who genuinely want to see you succeed. It’s a space where ideas are challenged, actions are celebrated, and founders grow not just in scale, but in clarity and confidence. From late-night ideas to early-morning pitches, this community has quietly but powerfully shaped the way I build, think, and dream. I’ll always be grateful for the way eChai creates spaces where founders don’t just grow businesses — they grow together."
Koumal Kalantry
Founder, Bignano Ventures
"eChai has been a game changer in my journey. It connected me with real people, real support and real opportunities. From building HMMBiz to launching Mindalcove, eChai has played a key role at every step. Grateful to be part of a community that truly believes in growing together."
Hardik Manwani
CTO, Mind Alcove
eChai Partner Brands
eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner - working together to explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.
