Unlike traditional businesses, technology-based businesses need leaders with more than just leadership qualities. They should possess the technical expertise to understand the clients’ needs and to deliver the expected. Having a technological background also allows them to interact with every team member, especially the CTO and developers. Furthermore, to lead the new age businesses, leaders must be able to transform themselves with the changing business scenarios, they should be able to deliver contemporary solutions and/or services, should be able to sustain their teams in vulnerable situations, and they must be able to predict the future of the market space they operate in.
Salman Lakhani, Co-Founder and CEO at Cubix, is showcasing a perfect example of being a new age leader by building and sustaining technology-based businesses.
Transforming with the Changing Scenarios
Born in a family of entrepreneurs, Salman decided to start his own company after working a couple of years for prestigious global corporations. Possessing technical expertise and working for the latest technologies at the time, Salman realized that there was a gap between the demand and supply for business solutions. He further perceived that the changing technology would yield pristine opportunities in the coming years. This led to the foundation of Cubix in the year 2008.
Initially, Salman and his team started with websites and web applications. With time, he realized that he needs to target a specific industry instead of doing everything. So the team turned their entire web idea into social media application and games. In 2008, as Facebook was booming, Salman decided to tap the ripe market. He hence started building Facebook apps and games. Having his feet in the technology sector, Salman sensed that the businesses around the world would need mobility solutions for their organizational processes. This inspired him to invest heavily in the Research and Development activities of mobile technology.
Delivering Most Contemporary Solutions
With the changing technology trends, Cubix has developed multiple solutions and services, which reflects their passion for building solutions. Their portfolio of the most successful products includes a 360-degree e-commerce solution, an RPG engine for game developers and game entrepreneurs, and a social media platform.
The e-commerce app of Cubix, Cubix Commerce, is an A to Z solution for all organizational and operational processes of e-commerce corporates. It allows enterprises to build product pages and oversee the buyer’s status flow on the website. The app further provides the capabilities of warehouse management, QR code management, customer management, and marketing management. This complete ERP solution allows companies operating in the retail or e-commerce space to execute their strategies skillfully.
Cubix has also built cutting edge Messenger and Chatbot. Here, clients can integrate these two and utilize it as a personal messenger as well as set up a Chatbot, which can answer the queries according to its knowledge base. Salman and his team are currently working on an HR Solution, which aims at empowering enterprises to overcome all the human resource related complications.
Sustaining Teams at Vulnerable Situations
Capturing a new market comes with uncountable complications. Although Salman has successfully thrived into the newly arrived mobility market, it was not a walk in the park for him. As aforementioned, after perceiving the scope of mobile technology, Salman invested heavily on the R&D of the technology. This shift in the target market exposed Cubix to the most vulnerable phase of its journey. The company lost a significant number of clients. This time was so unfavorable for the company that they didn’t have sufficient capital to pay salaries to their employees. Reminiscing those days, Salman shares that he briefed his team members about the phase they were going, and informed them that the company would not be able to credit their salaries that month. He also promised them that he has some prospects that they need to convert, following which, he would not only credit all the salaries but would be presenting more than that.
Even during such a difficult period, Salman and his team were very dedicated to seeing the new future. They strategized all their moves; they revamped processes of all the departments including management, sales, and marketing. They set up dedicated departments for IoS, Android, and hybrid development. They started to pull clients from various sources and started building a few projects. Eventually, they began to get a good response and turned their time around. And as promised, Salman paid his team members and even allotted incentives to everyone.
Over the years, Salman has grown his team and leads it by being an example. As Salman has a passion for building a solution, every team member strives to leverage the latest technology practices to deliver innovative solutions for their clients. Salman shares that being for about ten years in the business; his work has become more than just work. He works for 12-14 hours a day and likes to interact with every member of his team. This enthusiasm motivates his team members to go an extra mile to make their solutions superior.
Preparing for the Future
Preparing for the FutureTo sustain a venture, in the long run, it is essential that the leader has a clear understanding about the future of his industry and how the company will operate along the time. Talking specifically about the mobility industry, Salman shares that mobility is no more a luxury thing; it has instead become a necessity for everyone. Walking towards the future, the world will become more mobile, which will provide more significant opportunities for Cubix to grow. This excites Salman as he will be able to build more futuristic products and expand his business on the global front. However, we asked Salman what his long-term goal for Cubix, on which he revealed, “If you ask me one thing which I see myself or my company 10 years down the line, is to take it to IPO is.”
