Creating Landmarks

Mr. Ankit Goel Director, Goel Ganga Developments

This 27 year old entrepreneur is also a big fan of electronic music, loves street food yet health conscious, is an early morning person and loves orderliness. Ankit Goel, Director at the renowned Goel Ganga Developments, believes that proper planning and team work is the key to success, and always promotes dedication, precision and hard work within his organization. He proudly says he loves to execute ideas, with his visionary partner and brother, Annuj Goel.

The team of AllAbtYou got a chance to interview Ankit Goel, the youngest member of Goel Ganga Developments, the real-estate industry icon. Here is the crux of the interview.

Goel Ganga Developments is a known builder in Maharashtra and was well-established before you were ready to join the business. So other than the obvious career you had on hand post studies, what else would you have preferred to do? Like IT, Media etc?

Ankit: I would not say this was an obvious career for me. I would say I was inclined towards our business looking up to my father and my elder brother. They are my inspiration. Yes, I did have a few areas of interest that I explored, before joining the family business.

During my early years I realized that I was a big fan of music, and hence I started learning it. I have set up a music studio, where I spend a few hours there every week. It is very essential that everyone has a hobby which is close to their heart. It adds to your regular routine and keeps your mind active.

Joining Goel Ganga perhaps always played in my subconscious mind and hence I didn’t spend much time in evaluating any other businesses. As the 2nd generation who has seen how this empire was created and the struggles around it, it is very close to my heart. I have seen how my father built this company with a 6 people team going to 150 members. I wanted to be part of it and nurture it with all the knowledge I had. I’ve always wanted to and still do put in my 100% here.

My father used to take me to our sites since my younger days. So I have always been around our business and the people since then. In fact, I remember being a regular visitor at my father’s office. I used to love spending time there, watching him. I believe all the business instincts that I have acquired, have been passed on to me by him.

What are the new and different concepts that you bring to the table that is attracting the customers today. How do you differentiate yourself from the builders 10-20 years back?

Ankit: I believe technology is and has to be the base of any business today; it helps us understand what went right and what we could make better.

It is vital to define the process, to automate, as well as to follow standards and cut down dependencies. We differentiate ourselves with our legacy, our journey and our Goel Ganga family which includes our employees and customers.

We have a defined process for construction, which helps us follow strict standards and also allows consistent execution throughout all our projects. Other than sales and marketing our focus is more on execution of projects, because we believe in delivering the best to our customers. This has also helped us see a steep rise in referrals for the past few years. Even after delivering the projects we keep on conducting multiple engagement activities with the societies.

What was different from when you joined the business and today?

Ankit: The industry has evolved since its inception. It keeps on evolving every passing year. As we say ‘Change is the only constant’, our organization too adapts to the needs of the industry. The influx of technology has been most impactful. The way the product is being marketed has changed drastically over the years. We too as an organisation try to be as dynamic and adaptive as possible.

“Interestingly, in the first 2 years the most important thing I learnt was to ‘accept that everything we believe may or may not be right’. When you are ready to learn new things, you have to be ready to unlearn certain things, and make space for the new ideas”.

Ensuring Pune’s cultural and historical charm are intact, how do you think Pune can be converted into a metro too. How in your opinion this balance of tradition and modernisation can be made?

Ankit:. Pune a few years back was a different city. The winds in summer were cool, and the grass was always green. I’m sure everyone misses it. Having said that, can we stop or should we stop development? We cannot!

Pune offers great academics and jobs. People will keep coming and want to make this city their new home, and raise a loving family here. For that development is absolutely essential. It will eventually become one of the most sought after cosmopolitan city in the country, because of its proximity to Mumbai, IT hubs, education centre, connection to Nasik, Bangalore, Goa etc. We have to be ready for this development. Having said that we also have to ensure that the balance is maintained. Punekars have always been traditional people, rooted to their grounds. I am sure we will keep the traditions intact even with the up scaling development.

When you have to take a decision, what is given more weightage – your mind or your intuition?

Ankit: I do a lot of research; refer to facts and data, before taking any decision. I also involve my brother, and employees of the respective departments before taking any decision. Decision making is mostly a joint effort for me, which comes through healthy discussion on a common platform.

Being in a construction industry where we don’t see many women. What are your thoughts on women empowerment in general as well as in the construction / real-estate industry?

Ankit: I believe women are already empowered. They are holding high positions, going places, making a name for themselves. We recruit people based on their talents, and not so surprisingly we have a lot of women as team members in our organisation.

Given a chance, which Indian actress or actor would you choose to be a Goel Ganga brand ambassador?

Ankit: We have an identity in our own way. I believe our brand ambassadors are the stakeholders of our organization which includes our team, our customers, and our big and caring Goel Ganga Family.

www.goelgangadevelopments.com

Article written by :
Sujata Upadhyay
sujata@allabtyou.com