Vinay Kevadiya

Vinay Kevadiya is a passionate entrepreneur and the man behind Upmetrics, an AI business planning software based in Surat, India. Upmetrics helps aspiring business owners and new-age entrepreneurs build business plans without any prior financial or business planning experience.

Vinay is a fellow computer engineering grad who started off his career as a software developer at NeoSOFT Technologies over a decade ago. He’s been actively contributing to the industry one way or the other.

His first startup was Infizer Technology, which offered development and cloud solutions. It was founded in 2014.

Vinay is currently the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, a business plan software for new-age entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Today, Upmetrics is trusted by over 110K entrepreneurs across 160 countries to help them transform their business ideas into actionable business plans.

What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?

Simple things work the best, so I try to keep my routine very simple. It may sound boring, and sorry if it does, but it surely is productive. I wake up at 6 and head to the gym to start my day off with some strength training.
A cold shower and a hot cup of black coffee, and I’m ready to kick-start my day. I start by creating a to-do list for the day, listing the important tasks.
As a founder of a business planning software, I, myself, believe in planning very much. There’s no way I can be productive without planning my day ahead. It’s been over 5 years since I’ve been following this routine, and it’s simply been amazing.
I’ve blocked out time in the evening for my family to find balance and harmony. It helps me stay motivated and productive for the next day.
To be more productive, I spend time learning new productivity hacks, provide teams with all the necessary details to execute their tasks upfront, avoid unnecessary and not-so-productive meetings, and use project management software to keep track of my everyday tasks.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I feel bringing ideas isn’t something that you intentionally sit brainstorming them, and they strike—no. However, spending some time sitting alone or walking around the block helps me get new ideas.
But, I also believe that ideas are no good unless you act upon them. I bookmark these random ideas, map them out, and try to understand their impact before prioritizing them for execution.

What’s one trend that excites you?

AI in technology is the one trend that excites me the most. It is helping entrepreneurs and working professionals be more efficient and productive. It’s been revolutionary for entrepreneurs in tech.
Today, AI can write, assist as a chatbot, plan marketing strategies, create images/presentations, and more. It’s just the start; there will be more of it—a lot.

What is one habit that helps you be productive?

As I said earlier, planning my day ahead helps me be more productive every day. I do it by listing the important tasks or what needs to be done, and keeping track of them.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I was very impatient when I was a teenager; I’d do things recklessly, being impatient about the results. Now, if I could share a piece of advice with my younger self, it would be to have patience and keep improving by 1% every day. Consistency is the key to long-term success.

Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.

I think failure is an integral and necessary part of an entrepreneur’s life. I cannot say everyone would disagree with me on this, but some people would. Speaking from my very own experience, I’ve learned so much from my past failures, and those failures have made me who I am today.

What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?

We entrepreneurs tend to prioritize money above everything else, but it’s important to take good care of your body and health. What I suggest to everyone is to have a good quality sleep cycle and exercise every day.

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?

I’ve learned a lot about the feeling of being overwhelmed or unfocused due to certain failures. Now, I understand if something’s not working out, it won’t—at least at that moment when I’m unfocused or overwhelmed. So, I sit back, spend some time alone, or go for a walk around the block.
This is the best way to rejuvenate yourself when feeling overwhelmed.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?

Taking care of two things—customers and team, solving the right problem for the right customer, and building the right team to solve customer’s issues have certainly helped me and Upmetrics grow.
We’ve created an open environment where everyone can contribute ideas to grow the business. And when you have a team that understands your business inside out, it becomes easy to take care of your customers.
I say, you take care of your customers and team, and your business is already taken care of.

What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?

Everyone has failed at some point, and I’m no exception. To be honest, I’ve been on that path a certain few times. I remember failing to build SaaS products, launching and marketing them, and hiring an excellent team to help us grow.
But these failures have only made me stronger. I learned to overcome failures with proper planning and understanding of the process. In fact, one of these failures led to the idea of Upmetrics, so I’ve nothing to complain about.

What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Having a few failed startups under my belt, I would say a proper action plan is a way to reduce your chances of failure.

What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

Sorry, if you were expecting a fancy and extraordinary software, but I am going to say Google Sheets. I use Google Sheets for my to-do lists, create content and marketing campaigns, set goals and milestones, and do financial analysis. I am quite used to it.

What is the best $100 you recently spent?

I recently spent $300 purchasing Wordfence website security software. Our site was hacked several times, so it was an important investment considering the cyber risks involved.

Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?

Well, I am not a very big fan of books, but I have read a few. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki was a good read for me.

What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?

I recently watched a web series titled “Panchayat,” which means a village council in English. It is the story of an engineering grad born and raised in a metro city of India who joins as a Panchayat secretary in a remote fictional village.
I have spent my childhood in a village, so I’m very attached to village life. Since I can relate to the conversations between Indian villagers and urban residents shown in the series, I could enjoy and appreciate the humor.

Key learnings:

• You simply take care of your customers and team, and your business is already taken care of.
• Upskilling as an entrepreneur is important. You can’t be sleeping with the same knowledge as yesterday.
• Your health is equally, or perhaps even more important than making money. Take good care of it.