Abrar Ali Kayani

AAK & Co. - Business and ConsultingADVISER OFTHE YEAR

Profile

Abrar is an expert business consultant and serial entrepreneur, who has executed multiple successful start-ups since 2005. He began his first venture, when he was still in college and soon mastered the art of consultancy. Throughout his professional career, he worked with the most prominent companies across three continents supporting clients from Asia to America and Europe, and was involved in everything from growing small businesses into multi-million-pound enterprises, to enhancing and strengthening strategic partnerships for corporate entities. He is also incredibly passionate about start-ups and helped several successful ventures to thrive.

Abrar has also been widely recognized by international experts in the business and consulting field and won multiple awards in recognition of his work. He is a distinguished speaker and has regularly been invited to numerous business conferences and webinars as a subject matter expert. He also writes articles for leading publications and journals in the business arena.

Abrar is a chartered management accountant by profession and also earned his postgraduate degree from prestige Accounting & Finance School of the University of Strathclyde in the UK. He is also a Fellow member of the Institute of Financial Accountants in the UK, the Institute of Public Accountants in Australia, ICMAP & PIPFA in Pakistan, and an Associate Member of the Association of International Accountants in the UK.

He is one of the most successful business consultants & seasoned entrepreneurs, who helped clients with the development and implementation of growth strategies over the last two decades. He has over twenty years of international experience spanning technology, strategy consulting, and large-scale strategic transformation across various industries and governments and delivered industry-leading strategic services at the board level in consultative and client-side roles. He also provides business coaching for SMEs and new start-ups and this year bagged four internationally renowned business awards for his work.

Abrar says to be a successful consultant, one needs to have passion and the ability to put together strategies that can help his/her clients navigate the ups & downs of the business and the industry they operate within.
Many young consultants and entrepreneurs seek his guidance in pursuit of success and he says

“The question I asked myself every time I work on a project is, “Am I resolving the most important problem that I can help with?” unless I am passionate about it, then I am not going to feel good about it. For me without passion, you don’t have energy and without energy, you simply have nothing to work for.”

We asked for his expert opinion and what would be his advice to businesses that are facing challenges in the current stressed economic environment. Abrar lists out some strategies that can help consultants and entrepreneurs to achieve success:

Long-term Game
Abrar strongly believes in a long-term value strategy approach and says;

“I look at companies as businesses, while many looks for the performance in numbers. I analyze productivity as much as numbers despite having strong financial background. Most people in the business focused too much on figures and earnings, so they miss a lot of things that I see in certain situations.”

Study business potential before making a strategy
Abrar says consultants should approach any project with the mentality that they are investing in the business. He advises consultants to take out time and make an effort to understand the businesses whose strategy they want to formulate to be successful.

Focus on 2 Key Ingredients
Abrar said a consultant or any entrepreneur should be wary of two key ingredients for any strategy; acting impulsively or not acting at all. A consultant should stay calm and patient and not make an impulsive decisions. At the same time should also be highly aggressive when it comes to performing else can miss valuable opportunities.

Quality over Quantity
The consultant should avoid herd mentality in the world of business. He warns against falling into the trap of shared collective opinion and says it may not necessarily be wise to go along with a popular opinion or trends always. Further, he advises; most successful strategies are unique and something that is usually against the popular masses. This kind of contrarian can be very successful if one can make the right calls.

Focus on undervalued areas
Abrar says one should try and search for undervalued areas of the business. Many times, an area is undervalued and the trick is to find such opportunities and embrace them. He says the magnitude of success in strategic decisions matters a lot more than the frequency of the success.

Bet big on your best ideas
Consultants and entrepreneurs need to have some bold conviction behind every strategic decision that they make. Abrar advises the consultants to let their belief drive their strategy-making.

Be flexible & adapt to the situation
Abrar advised although having a plan makes it easier to deal with various business situations, one needs to be flexible with those plans as the markets are very unpredictable, especially in recent times. He says one should be ready to adapt to different situations and act accordingly in real time.

Enjoy the journey
It is more important to enjoy any project than just thinking about making money. Abrar advises consultants to love what they do and relish the art.

Abrar has set a benchmark with his smart approach which is studied by professionals and never shies away from taking bold decisions. The tips he shares can help young consultants and entrepreneurs to achieve organic growth and long-term success.