Ren Invent Solar Power (RISP): A Solar Sector business management consultancy

 

Ren Invent Solar Power is a Vadodara based company but they have presence in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and many part of country. Ramkrishna Shirhatti is the founder of Ren Invent Solar Power (RISP)

 

As a startup founder, I am always looking out for new ideas and ways in terms of contacting potential clients or directions to make my clients happier. But what keeps me awake these days is the fact that the growth of the firm has become stagnant, says Ram.

 

We at Bangalore Insider had the opportunity to catch up with Ram, the founder of RISP and to know more about the startup, read his inspiring story.

Give brief info about your startup?

Ren Invent Solar Power (RISP) is an international business management consultancy, based in Vadodara, India. Our main expertise lies in the solar sector in terms of transfer of technology to Indian client, representation of International clients in India and providing business consultancy for their Indian operations.

 

What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?

– My younger self in college days has always been passionate about owning a company and had a vision in clean energy for future energy needs.

– Currently, RISP solves complexity in business operations, market intelligence for International clients.

 

Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?

I finished Electrical and Electronics Engineering from VIT, Vellore and immediately after passing out was placed in Hewlett Packard, Bangalore. I joined it but 9-5 corporate jobs never bring me happiness and I decided to resign and continue to proceed with my dream business.

For 6 months I was jobless and have been brainstorming on starting my solar energy firm. I then took a job in a renewable energy business consultancy startup in Bangalore, this company working was similar to what I had visioned for my own. I was the first employee for this firm and had a great amount of learning from this experience.

By 2009-2010, the policy of national solar mission was announced by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, I saw things falling into place. The year 2012, RISP was born in Vadodara, I preferred to start from this city, since initial capital was also limited I decided to start with consultancy services which were the only option which required less capital.
Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?

We are based out of Vadodara, but for me, it actually doesn’t matter much. Being a tier 2 city, Vadodara has good connectivity to its major airports and railway network is stable, too. Also, most of the times I am on travel to Delhi/Mumbai/Bangalore etc. for the meetings. For us, a city like Vadodara is appropriate since the operations cost is quite less. These days we generally reach out to the clients via video calls, wechat app etc.

 

 

As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?

As a startup founder, I am always looking out for new ideas and ways in terms of contacting potential clients or directions to make my clients happier. But what keeps me awake these days is the fact that the growth of the firm has become stagnant. We have some new concepts and ideas but there is a challenge of capital in operations and marketing. This is a phase where we know exactly what needs to be done but aren’t able to execute due to investment constraints.

 

Who are your competitions and how are you better than them?

There’s a huge competitive spirit in this industry so to name a few competitors would be Bridge to India, EQ international and First view consultancy.

Our USP is that we consult only for the solar sector, especially for solar module and solar cells industry. This specialized knowledge in the field makes us very unique in terms of others. My focus has always been on the best customer service that we can do. So, our quickness to respond and providing value has always helped us in making a solid impression.

 

How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?

Initially, it was pretty difficult to have a work-life balance. It had been a challenge to make the ones who belong to a service background understand certain things and challenges of business. After some years of operations now, we had built a strong operations team that has over the period helped to make processes smoother and reduce time. Delegation has greatly helped me to save a lot of time for me and my family.

 

Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

No, we have not raised any funds, yet. We are definitely trying out to raise investments to support our vision and mission.

 

What’s the biggest misconception people have about you? Why do they have that? What’s the reality?

Since I look quite young as compared to age, at times people doubt my seriousness about work. Whereas, it’s totally opposite, I am very serious and strict for work deliverables.
What gets you excited about this company?

The most exciting part is that there is no mundane moment. Your brain is challenged constantly, there is so much to do and you always feel the lack of time. The excitement is also about bringing a shift in the mindset, looking at a situation in a completely different manner which I never thought I had. Then there is the sheer joy of doing what I love.
Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.

My day begins at 6:00 am with a yoga session that helps in keeping active all day. At 9:00 am I reach my office and the day begins for work, the first thing at work that I do is revert back to important emails and work as per the schedule for the day. I have a habit of conducting a short team meeting every day, just to have an update of tasks happening and how support can be made to them.

It all winds up at 08:00 pm and then I spend time with my family, have dinner, and also give time to myself. It is super important to learn & know who you are (spiritually).

 

Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?

This was the biggest challenge for me, creating a team. Initial stages were very tough with less capital and a lot of them hesitated to join a startup. We started with a couple of sales executives whom I hired through some personal references, the iteration was also quite high in starting. After some years, the operations got stabilized and same with the team too.

 

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