Wearing multiple hats is nothing new for Kanika Gupta Shori, Founder and COO at Square Yards. An entrepreneur, mother to two children and philanthropist, she is a Wharton Business School alumna and recipient of numerous laurels. From Young Achiever and Woman Icon awards to finding a place on prestigious lists like Business World Disrupt 40 Under 40 and Times 40 Under 40, she has played a pivotal role in taking Square Yards to its current position as the country’s biggest integrated real estate platform. Kanika Gupta Shori is keenly interested in home décor and spends time unwinding with DIY activities related to beautifying her home while also being interested in gardening and traveling.
In exclusive excerpts from an interview, she revealed that after her maternity break, she and Tanuj Shori, her husband, were inclined towards making investments in the Indian real estate market. They strongly realized in the process that the market was massively unorganized and there was a need for an unbiased guide for buyers throughout the search and recovery procedure. Square Yards was thus founded in the year 2014. She talks of gaining new experiences, being open to learning and having belief in overcoming hurdles. She also believed in setting clear goals in her journey towards becoming a successful woman entrepreneur.
Kanika Gupta Shori has drawn inspiration from Indra Nooyi and she highlights the latter’s ability to strike a perfect balance between her professional and personal lives along with her charisma and humility. She also talks about how it was possible to enhance customer service and growth in a highly fragmented industry by putting the hearts of people situated at different steps in the hierarchical ladder ahead of us. She hails Indra Nooyi’s optimism, the can-do attitude and confidence and these traits have greatly inspired her.
Some of the biggest learnings for Kanika have been that an idea is nothing until it is executed and also that resisting change and adversity can stagnate you. The latter may only fill people with animosity and frustration towards the whole system. She has learnt to keep making plans and executing them one by one. She also believes that being good is enough instead of striving for perfection always. Her advice to women entrepreneur is straight off the bat- If you want to learn to swim, jump into the water. On dry land, no frame of mind is ever going to help you. She talks of living by these lines uttered by the iconic Bruce Lee and highlights how women entrepreneurs should possess agility, an accommodative approach and support their own insights or instincts. She feels that women are born multi-taskers and should channelize their energies and vision in a suitable direction. Mompreneurs, according to Kanika, should learn prioritization and patience while remaining perseverant and ambitious simultaneously. She recommends taking a leap of faith while learning and adapting to shifts and needs of the market. One should avoid complacency while adopting a firm approach without losing one’s identity and femininity in the process.
