Inspirations, multitasking and perseverance- What drives one of India’s most successful young women entrepreneurs?

Business World Disrupt 40 under 40, Times 40 under 40, Woman Icon, Young Achiever and countless other laurels. Alumna of Wharton Business School. Founder and COO at India’s biggest real estate platform Square Yards, which she established in 2014 with husband Tanuj Shori. Mother to two kids, avid gardener, philanthropist, traveler and home décor enthusiast with a penchant for various DIY projects in this domain. Kanika Gupta Shori is a roaring success story amidst the choppy waters of the fragmented real estate industry and the Indian business ecosystem in general.

What drives her? What does it take to succeed? Kanika started Square Yards with her husband after they considered investing in Indian property after her maternity break. This is when they found how the market was largely unorganized and people needed a proper unbiased guide for the search and recovery process. This led to the inception of Square Yards and the rest is history. Kanika has always thrived on establishing clear objectives, her own self-belief in combating obstacles and her openness towards learning and getting newer experiences.

Indra Nooyi is one of her biggest inspirations and she has tried to emulate what the PepsiCo boss stands for- humility, charisma, a can-do attitude, optimism and perseverance. Kanika has followed in Indra Nooyi’s footsteps with regard to achieving an ideal balance between her personal and professional lives. She is also greatly inspired by Bruce Lee’s quote- if you want to learn to swim, jump into the water. On dry land, no frame of mind is ever going to help you. While she prioritizes taking that leap of faith, she also recommends lessons she has learnt along the way. These include being non-resistant towards both adversity and change in order to avoid stagnation and also the importance of executing an idea to make it worth something.

Her mantra is to keep creating new blueprints and implementing them one after another. Instead of going for perfection at all times, sometimes, being good is enough according to Kanika Gupta Shori. Her advice for women entrepreneurs is to be agile, accommodative and back their own instincts and valuable insights. She believes that women can naturally multitask and only have to channelize their own vision and energies in the right direction. What about Mompreneurs? Kanika feels that the biggest lessons here are perseverance, patience and the fine art of prioritization while also staying ambitious at the same time. She recommends constant adaptation and learning as per market shifts and changing needs while avoiding any complacency. She also talks about remaining firm in her approach without losing her own femininity and identity throughout the journey. These core philosophies and learnings along with abundant inspiration, drive Kanika Gupta Shori even today. Her story comes as a much-needed dose of inspiration for every entrepreneur out there and not just women!