Rahul Kulkarni

A few days ago, I was stuck near Ghodbunder Road in one of those slow, crawling patches where the car keeps moving, but you still don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere. That’s the best metaphor I can offer for many business owners I meet. Everything is moving. Everyone is busy. Calls, approvals, meetings, follow-ups, WhatsApp messages, late-night fixes. The day is full. The week is full. And yet… progress feels strangely flat. As we step into 2026, it’s worth asking a blunt question: Are...

The first few days of a new year carry a strange mix of hope and honesty. Founders look at numbers. Second-generation owners look at legacy. Leadership teams look at targets. And somewhere beneath the spreadsheets, a quieter question surfaces: Are we actually ready to grow… or just eager to grow? Over the last year, through The People Paradox and The Boss Paradox series, we explored something many Indian SMEs experience but rarely articulate: growth does not fail because ambition is low. It...

Most businesses don’t stall because of strategy or capital. They stall because the people story quietly breaks before the growth story begins. Every Indian SME founder knows this moment. Orders are coming in. Customers want more. The market feels ready. And yet, something inside the organization feels… off. Meetings take longer. Decisions get reworked quietly. Good people seem tired, not lazy. Managers appear busy, but outcomes feel thinner. Nothing is technically broken. But momentum feels...