Asia Pacific region is known for its diverse cultures and languages. Despite this, the language industry is quite fragmented and unorganized in this region, especially, in India. The requirements are highly managed by small setups or freelancers resulting in challenges such as no price regulations, no processes to manage complex and high-volume language requirements, i.e. translations, subtitling, etc. Addressing all these challenges, Sheetal Ramkumar (CEO) founded a platform White Globe. The reason behind the establishment of the White Globe was to create a professionally managed language services company that will help break language barrier & support businesses across the Globe.
Her goal however at both personal as well as on an entrepreneurial level is to create meaningful job opportunities for the language experts and help them become employable & Her aim is to be the pioneer in creating platforms that will get the language experts in the mainstream business and not limit them to only translation or teaching jobs. Sheetal believes that these linguists are underrated and further states, “There is so much that language experts can do with these niche skills.”
Young, Vibrant and Successful Language Service Provider
Today, the big obstacle for the company is to get the language experts to take the assignments as an employment opportunity. Another huge obstacle is to get the customers to an Indian company as Language Service Provider (LSP) as large MNC’s continue to outsource the services to the US and Europe for the lack of professionally managed LSP’s in India. Where other LSPs are still struggling to overcome these obstacles, White Globe is emerging as a young, vibrant and successful translation and localization Services Company.
The journey towards the top was not easy. Sheetal has been ferocious with her decisions for the company. White Globe is known for its higher-than-average risk appetite, although these risks are not random. The company took up assignments that most companies would refuse to owe to the magnitude and complexity. Sheetal thought these risks would push the envelope and support the customers through steep deadlines and price pressure. She was right as the decisions helped to build stronger relationships and creditability, which in-turn rewarded repeat business. “We understood in the beginning that no matter how well you plan and how well you execute, you’re going to encounter obstacles that make you want to quit, or break down in some other manner, we have somehow managed to push past that so far,” concluded Sheetal.
Upgrading Offerings and Customizable Services
White Globe provides translation, localization, interpretation, website localization, software localization, subtitling, dubbing, language training in over 300 languages and is already serving more than 400 corporate customers. The company offers a suite of translation and localization services, which is supported by advanced technology, innovative knowledge center, impeccable project management, and highly evolved processes and quality systems. White Globe puts a lot of effort into continually upgrading these offerings and realign the same with the customer requirements. This approach has benefitted the company with no service denials or delayed deliveries over the last 3 years.
Some of the company’s services are highly customized, thus giving it an edge over the competitors. Sheetal asserts, “Our deep involvement with large customers from stage zero has helped us understand the requirements clearly and deliver top-quality assignments to our customers.” Her team always ensures that the stakeholders are always involved from stage zero for a clear understanding of deliverables. Also, in all the projects data security and content confidentiality is a non-negotiable parameter. In order to make this process more genuine, there is complete transparency in the pricing and deliverables. There is a High Response Team (HRT) to take care of all the urgent changes and modifications whenever required.
Remarkable Wisdom and Exceptional Leadership Skills
Sheetal’s wisdom is as remarkable as her exceptional leadership skills. She is an authentic leader and is well aware of her weaknesses and strengths, which is a big part of her authenticity. She has been handling the company’s engagement model that has helped the company to get visibility amongst the language experts looking for assignments. She led the team of White Globe that is continuously engaging with the language experts globally and blending their language expertise to create a 360-degree solution for the customers.
A good leader is a good learner as well. As few leaders get discouraged by the failures, Sheetal embraces these failures and take pleasure in small success as well. However, her belief is that she still needs to practice being patient with the team. The continuous change in the industry gets overwhelming sometimes, so Sheetal makes sure that the team is nimble and patient.
When Sheetal first commenced on her entrepreneurial journey, she had to face a lot of challenges. At first, the Language Service Provider Industry in India was highly fragmented with no documented methods of assessing the competency of language experts. She had to invest a lot of time and effort to develop a multi-dimensional competency assessment for language experts and facilitate their collaboration to offer high-quality services based on competency mapping.
She also had to keep on learning to remain relevant to the industry’s needs. However, she faced challenges with an open mindset. She says, “Every time there is a crisis, take a deep breath and say ‘we will overcome this, let’s do the most logical thing first!’ I would like to say this to all aspiring entrepreneurs, if you want to do something, just do it, with an open mind that you may fail, but you will learn and there is no fixed formula to make this work and there is no perfect setting to start something. Your customers will throw challenges at you, be ready to take risks and give it your best shot, you will either come out as a winner or you will become wiser!”
The Multifaceted Leader of White Globe
Sheetal’s job does not limit to her cabin as she is handling the everyday affairs of the company. To stay in the competition, it is important to be aware of emerging trends. Her mantra is to stay relevant with the changing time and be continuous in the process of learning. Sheetal interacts with many stakeholders from the Industry and Corporate Sector to understand these trends in content management, communication, and technology. Thus, her day is divided between regular operations, networking and brainstorming sessions with various stakeholders.
Being innovative, agile and penchant for quality in the services and a very happy committed team is required to stay in the business. The multifaceted leader ensures that the same is practiced in the company. As a result of her hard work, the company is now serving more than 400 corporate customers.
Innovation and Expansion as the Goals For 2020
White Globe believes that 2020 is going to be a huge year as the team moves aggressively to consolidate the gains and have a deeper, strategic engagement with the top customers.
With the rapid technological advancements, White Globe’s target is to move miles ahead in terms of automation, CAT Tools, Translation Memory, and Customer Engagement. The company has also started the global expansion and engaged with clients globally. This will help further for the eventual expansion planned in Asia, Europe, and America.
Quick Q&A
Q. How do you distinguish yourself as a leader?
I would like to think of myself as someone very focused and customer-centric, however, I also feel to accomplish that you need a happy and passionate team that is aligned to your goal, and also resonates with the company’s mission and vision. I feel I have a high EQ and can engage my team to work on a common goal.
Q. How overwhelming has been your journey? Has it changed you?
My journey has been incredibly enriching and exciting, to say the least. The beginning of White Globe has also been the beginning of saying goodbyes to my limitations, fears, doubts, and vulnerabilities, not that these emotions have deserted me completely, they still come to mind when things don’t go as planned, which happens often in your startup journey but I think I am much more in control now. Also, I would like to say that its important, one goes thru all of these emotions as they help you navigate through the difficult times which are plenty in the beginning.
Q. What will you share about your idol?
My idol even before I decided to be an entrepreneur is Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. His perseverance, his never to give up attitude and the way he builds a world-class brand and staying relevant and ahead of competition says, a lot about his grit, perseverance, customer focus & leadership style. I live by his quote “Play by the rules, but be ferocious ”
Q. What will be your message for the aspiring leaders in heels?
I would like to say this to all the aspiring entrepreneurs if you want to do something just do it! With an open mind that you may fail, but you will learn & there is no fixed formula to make this work and there is no perfect setting to start something. Have a horizon of at least one year to build your services and capability stack. Be prepared for cash burn during this period. Invest in technology and automation and focus on quality right from the beginning.
