Hi, I’m Rajiv Talreja!

India’s MSME business coach

That’s what people I work with and my team call me. But if you ask me, I would say that I’m a forced entrepreneur – not one by choice!

However, today I love being an entrepreneur and a business coach.

So what inspired me to become an entrepreneur?

My Dad!

I would give all the credit and dedicate the journey to my dad. I can’t picture what would have happened if he hadn’t torn my job offer letter back in 2006.

I had this great Indian career planned for myself. I also got a comfy job at my college campus but my dad said,
“If they’re willing to pay you so much, it only means that you are way more valuable than what offer you have gotten; start your own business”.

He didn’t give me any other option. He said, “Go, start your own business.” That was the first push. The only thing I knew back then was training as I did an internship during college. That’s how the idea of Quantum Leap was born in 2006.

That’s how a 20-year-old along with his business partner started a corporate training company in 2007.

As of today, we have been partners in business for 14 years. Everyone says partnerships don’t work. But when it comes to Karan, I could have never asked for a better partnership.

Even though we have different personalities and strengths, we complement each other. It’s like both of our imperfections together have created a beautiful space and a strong foundation for the business.

Back then, my thought was to train the people and impact their businesses and organizations. I even generated my first logo using a free logo generator. (Which I had to change later… obviously!)

I was very young and passionate about starting my business journey. But it was not a smooth sail.

I went and convinced every person possible, carrying my laptop, explaining how I could train and handhold them. “You are too young to train our team” – this was the response I got. I can’t help it, because I had a baby face.

In May 2007, I got my first client after facing 102 rejections.

(I know, that’s a lot!)

I then stopped convincing people and instead produced the results they wanted. And it spoke for itself. I started recruitment, outsourcing, and even project management.

But something was not going well.
I failed in the early stages of building a business; I went into debt. At the age of 23, I was in a 45 lakh debt.

What comes next is the reason that made me who I am today.

2012 – 2013 were the lowest years of my life. I had lost hope in everything; my business, and even myself. I was bitter toward my life and god. The anger, the rage, and the frustration within me were at its peak.

But I don’t relate to that today, and a lot has changed in me because of the people I met during this time.

I realized that I needed a coach if I wanted to build something big. For example, Virat Kohli has a coach and not the one who is playing gully cricket. I needed to learn from someone who has been there, done that, has expertise, knows what works and what does not, and achieved something.

This was a turning point in my life when I started investing in coaching programs and mentoring sessions from people across the globe.

This decision changed everything.