The CEO Magazine:

Lakshmi Gadiraju's inspirational interview with The CEO Magazine

Since few decades, women entrepreneurs have proved their needful role in economy. India is definitely the hub of entrepreneurs worldwide. Women-owned businesses are highly increasing in the economies of almost all countries.

The hidden entrepreneurial potentials of women have gradually been changing with the growing sensitivity to the role and economic status in the society. Skill, knowledge and adaptability in business are the main reasons for women to emerge into business ventures.

Breaking in like thunder, women across the globe are sending out messages that can no longer be easily dismissed. Once again we are entering a period in time where certain values and norms are being questioned, and 2016 has seen more light than ever shed on the importance of gender equality in the workforce, in order to promote gender.

There are few women who are working on the here and now that are influencing how the world will look tomorrow. One of these women is Lakshmi Gadiraju, CEO of BoB eProcure. An engineering graduate, Laksmi has 15 plus years' experience of working in IT field.

She is mother of 2 chilled kids, w/o workaholic husband, daughter of caring parents and daughter-in-law of relaxed in-laws. Lakshmi has been working for the organization which (Bob eProcure) has positioned itself as a noticeable name among the very few procurement specialist firms in India.

Headquartered in Bengluru, Bob eProcure was incepted in the year 2010 and have catered to Customers like BHEL, RPG group, Titan, Welspun, Landmark group, TATA Housing, Relaxo, FoodWorld, Biological E, MRF tyres and many more.

The company provides end to end solution, outsourcing and advisory services.With over a  decade of technology and market expertise gained across industries, Bob eProcure offers Customer centric solutions made to fit and enhance an organization's procurement process.

The CEO Magazine interviews Laksmi Gadiraju 

TCM: What was your dream as a business lady?

Lakshmi: My dream was to create an organization as an extended family, highly technically competent products teams and build an internationally recognizable products.

TCM: What is your greatest professional accomplishment to date?

Lakshmi: The main accomplishments are:

• When our products replaced the market leaders' products at various customers.

• Being the only Indian company to be recognized by Gartner in our procurement and sourcing space.

• Building a P2P solution for an international assignment with goes live in 80 days' notice. Just to give a reference our competition took 1 plus years to deliver the same.

TCM: Have you ever failed in your initiatives? What have you learnt from your failures?

Lakshmi: Yes, I have failed and I have learnt a lot from my failures.  The lesson learnt from that is don't wait for the whole product to be live always work on Minimal Viable product and the market teaches us from there on.

In addition to, don't judge to develop product with few prospect opinions. Understand the domain thoroughly before building a market viable and acceptable product.

TCM: Who are your ideals?

Lakshmi: My ideals are Indira Nooyi and my mother.

TCM: What is the best decision you've ever made?

Lakshmi: I think being an entrepreneur is one of the best decisions which I have ever made in my life.

TCM: What stimulated your ideas to start a new business venture or to bring significant changes in an existing business/at work place?

Lakshmi: Whenever I have been to street shopping (flee Market) there were always heavy bargaining (negotiations).

I am a popular among my friends and relatives for shopping / bargaining, this led to the thought of checking what happens in corporate buying and eventually build products that facilitate efficient procurement mechanisms using appropriate tools.

TCM: What effective strategies you have implemented/initiatives you have taken to achieve success?

Lakshmi: Building an agile team was the biggest and the best strategy which helped us to be successful.

TCM: How do you define success? What is your take on the ways to achieve long-term success?

Lakshmi: Success for me is to enjoy every moment of Life and look forward to a new tomorrow. When I see the smile in all my colleagues every morning when they come to office and have the same passion to build products that would delight customers.

TCM: Please tell us about your future plans.

Lakshmi: We want to expand to new geographies and build mobile apps to give better experience to our customers.

TCM: Who has been your greatest inspiration?

Lakshmi: My Parents and my husband have been my greatest inspiration. Especially the way they dealt with issues and the approach towards solutions without losing hope at any time and having self-belief.

TCM: Whom do you attribute your success to?

Lakshmi: I would like to attribute this success to my husband. He has always been a great pillar of support and whom I could always discuss any topics with.

TCM: Do you think your personal life is affected by your professional life? How?

Lakshmi: Yes, there have been a lot of good effects on my personal life.  You tend to meet a lot of ambitious and successful people at work that rubs off a positive impact on you to help you plan better for your personal life.

TCM: What do you think is the biggest challenge to female leadership?

Lakshmi: Any leadership role will have challenges as it needs you to be always inspiring and motivating.