Today we’d like to introduce you to Shouvik Ganguly.
Hi Shouvik, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was an executive with the Coca-Cola Company. Having worked in the India & US markets and a global role over 18 years, I had not only a fulfilling career but also learned how to work with various countries, markets, cultures and most importantly with consumer and customers.
I had always wanted to be in entrepreneur. While in my corporate job I started considering franchise businesses and signed up with Sport Clips Inc. which at the time was perfect for me . They have a manager model, ie. the day to day operations were run by managers, That allowed me to continue in my corporate job.
With some extra work and effort in the weeknights and weekends, I got the business up and running in 2014. Based on my comfort with the franchise business and combined with my passion for delivering outstanding consumer experiences, I expanded to 2 locations. After doing this for 2 years I was comfortable enough to stop moonlighting and go all in and with confidence diving into the entrepreneurial world away from the corporate role that I had. Over the next 5 years I not only expanded my Sport Clips franchise business but also co-founded a startup ( I was part of it for 5 years) and opened a boutique brand consulting business ( www.veloxcatalyst.com)
Today, 11 years later , I have 12 locations of Sport Clips with about 90 employees all in Greater Metro Atlanta, spread out across this great city and some further out locations like Flowery Branch and Athens, GA.
In my consulting business I leverage my experience of being in storied brand teams like Coca-Cola and help start ups, entrepreneurs as well as established brands and companies in developing brands, businesses and lead innovation
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
First thing first it is scary in the beginning 🙂
There is a comfort of a corporate job, getting a check with regularity . Of course , does not matter what you do, one has to work hard both sides of this equation. But the early days of entrepreneur life before I would settle down with a significant scale in my Sport Clips business, of course one has to worry about how it will work, financially and will it ?
The other big struggle was COVID times. A lot of things changed a lot in terms of employees as well as consumer
In my start up business inspite of outstanding results in the first 3 years COVID got us to screeching halt as the supply chain broke down and the cost of money became higher and higher
In my Sport Clips business , we were so badly hit with a 60-70% drop in employees willing to even work .
Many evenings were spent wishing I had continued with the corporate job 🙂
However with an incredible management team in my Sport Clips business, we survived and stabilized the ship in about 2 years of hard work and dedication and got out of the crazy times .
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
As a franchisee of Sport Clips we provide what we call incredible “championship” consumer haircut experience.
Being a brand and marketing professional, I was always very very aware that if I were to invest and grow a business I must get excited by it and feel the passion. The founders and the management team in Sport Clips had indeed created such a brand and a very focused haircut for men and boys in a Sports atmosphere sounded like something that I can add a lot of value to breathe a lot of life into
A haircut, one would say is a haircut, until you experience Sport Clips’ signature MVP haircut experience. Its really about transformation from a brand standpoint. You look better , you feel better, very refreshed, look sharp all in a guy’s sport themed environment. The delivery of this experience is not only a cut ( or two ) above most but also super consistent across time and geography, You will get the same consistent experience in any of my 12 stores or for that matter any of the 2500 stores in US and Canada markets. Thats a sign of a good brand
I am known or building exceptional brands and for leading people. The intersection of these 2 skills is what was required in running the business of a franchise of Sport Clips . No wonder the passion was infectious 🙂
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I believe in the fusion point of art and science. Something I had learned a lot of in my brand Coca-Cola work in my corporate roles
That I believe is the basis of how I approach
Science – I do think that a significant amount of structure is needed when you are leading large organization of 90-100 people to more. There have to be systems in place. The idea of “substitute leadership” via clarity of policies, delegation of responsibility is invaluable but must run well too. Sometimes my management team would say that we have a document and a playbookfor everything that we might need on our ever expanding shared drive for the business
And then there is the the art of being open minded, respecting every thought, making the time for the team and leading it such that their mind is with no fear. I keep telling my time – make time to think, to feel that is as important as the “do” .
Dont get me wrong , if we dont execute , nothing will matter, but to evolve, grow and scale we are constantly collaborating inside our team and pushing boundaries of thoughts . You never know where a gem of an idea is and can be nurtured.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sportclips.com and www.veloxcatalyst.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shouvik-ganguly-83a1921/
