From Engineer to Entrepreneur
Steady steps, a positive attitude, hard work and faith, is the combination that led Brijesh Sethi, a production Engineer from Mumbai, transition into a successful entrepreneur in Auckland. “There are no short-cuts,” says Mr. Sethi.
This year Mr. Sethi’s New Zealand School of Education turns ten. In the funky lobby of NZSE’s newly acquired design school in central Auckland, he is formally dressed to take on the week, but his manner is relaxed and he comes across as extremely approachable.
Adding to NZSE’s already robust portfolio with this acquisition must be an important milestone of note. “Yes, but it’s about tweaking it and making it better. For instance, we’ll be revamping some elements of the courses offered and underpinning some with IT modules, which we find have excellent synergy with creative arts or design,” he says. That must be the engineering in him responding: not overly concerned about much else except good ideas and making them more efficient. It doesn’t take long or a lot to confirm this. “If you’re satisfied and don’t want to go to the next level in whatever you’re attempting, you’re finished.”
Mr. Sethi moved to New Zealand with his family in 1998. “I have never really chased money, but I wanted a balance. And I wanted the freedom to pursue my own ideas,he says. His decision to go solo didn’t materialize overnight. “I was able to do what I did due to the unconditional support from my wife, Nivi. She stood besides me through all my ups and downs.”
Initially, Mr. Sethi’s trajectory began from a point as it does for many new migrants - with odd jobs. He sold books, Sky TV. He completed a business course majoring in IT, which in a sense was a turning point. “It allowed me to nurture my plans and ideas,” he recalls.
This followed with a stint as a business analyst at Westpac. Sometime between 2000-03, the bend in his journey with a road-sign that said ‘No Looking Back’, appeared with his first business venture.
Since then, the couple together have successully transformed innovative ideas into viable businesses. Their Kuddles Home Care, anchored mainly by Nivi is an example. It has slowly made a space for itself as a unique child care service that matches children to carers with similar cultural and language backgrounds.
The travel agency ‘Travel Point’ subseqently grew into a reputed agency specializing in travel to the Indian sub-continent.
Mr. Sethi’s interest diversifying in the education sector was driven by clear logic of course, but also the aspect of touching people’s lives and the element of serving the community.
Today, NZSE has the stamp of credibility earned through following best practices and delivering on promises. It is one of the largest providers of IT education in the country, it is approved by the Ministry of Education and has sponsored the Vodafone warriors as their education provider.
Mr. Sethi is not only closely involved with all aspects of running NZSE, but also plays an important advisory role on many occasions to the government in connection to the education sector in NZ.
“It is an important sector and often the policies that govern are not in the interest of the overall ecology of the sector. Education is a very challenging area, it is policy driven and we pay close attention to quality. Often, we have to respond quickly to policy changes and at times we get no lead time at all,he says.
Many other challenges exist too, like substandard education providers making the ecology murky with bad practices. Mr. Sethi feels that the solution is to sift the good providers from the others, and ensuring that the good ones are taken seriously. At all levels at NZSE he asserts, integrity, honesty and transparency of communication is implemented in ernest.
It isn’t all work all the time for him, he assures, even if it can sound like it. So what does down time involve, surly not more business? “Well, yes and no... these days, I have an interest in wine and wine-making,” he says. His latest venture, a winery specializing in innovative fruit wines, seems a perfect fit with Mr. Sethi’s personality. Much like good wine, the process rewards slow but sure evolution; of an engineer maturing over time into a many faceted entrepreneur.
Steady steps, a positive attitude, hard work and faith, is the combination that led Brijesh Sethi, a production Engineer from Mumbai, transition into a successful entrepreneur in Auckland. “There are no short-cuts,” says Mr. Sethi. This year Mr. Sethi’s New Zealand School of Education turns ten....
Steady steps, a positive attitude, hard work and faith, is the combination that led Brijesh Sethi, a production Engineer from Mumbai, transition into a successful entrepreneur in Auckland. “There are no short-cuts,” says Mr. Sethi.
This year Mr. Sethi’s New Zealand School of Education turns ten. In the funky lobby of NZSE’s newly acquired design school in central Auckland, he is formally dressed to take on the week, but his manner is relaxed and he comes across as extremely approachable.
Adding to NZSE’s already robust portfolio with this acquisition must be an important milestone of note. “Yes, but it’s about tweaking it and making it better. For instance, we’ll be revamping some elements of the courses offered and underpinning some with IT modules, which we find have excellent synergy with creative arts or design,” he says. That must be the engineering in him responding: not overly concerned about much else except good ideas and making them more efficient. It doesn’t take long or a lot to confirm this. “If you’re satisfied and don’t want to go to the next level in whatever you’re attempting, you’re finished.”
Mr. Sethi moved to New Zealand with his family in 1998. “I have never really chased money, but I wanted a balance. And I wanted the freedom to pursue my own ideas,he says. His decision to go solo didn’t materialize overnight. “I was able to do what I did due to the unconditional support from my wife, Nivi. She stood besides me through all my ups and downs.”
Initially, Mr. Sethi’s trajectory began from a point as it does for many new migrants - with odd jobs. He sold books, Sky TV. He completed a business course majoring in IT, which in a sense was a turning point. “It allowed me to nurture my plans and ideas,” he recalls.
This followed with a stint as a business analyst at Westpac. Sometime between 2000-03, the bend in his journey with a road-sign that said ‘No Looking Back’, appeared with his first business venture.
Since then, the couple together have successully transformed innovative ideas into viable businesses. Their Kuddles Home Care, anchored mainly by Nivi is an example. It has slowly made a space for itself as a unique child care service that matches children to carers with similar cultural and language backgrounds.
The travel agency ‘Travel Point’ subseqently grew into a reputed agency specializing in travel to the Indian sub-continent.
Mr. Sethi’s interest diversifying in the education sector was driven by clear logic of course, but also the aspect of touching people’s lives and the element of serving the community.
Today, NZSE has the stamp of credibility earned through following best practices and delivering on promises. It is one of the largest providers of IT education in the country, it is approved by the Ministry of Education and has sponsored the Vodafone warriors as their education provider.
Mr. Sethi is not only closely involved with all aspects of running NZSE, but also plays an important advisory role on many occasions to the government in connection to the education sector in NZ.
“It is an important sector and often the policies that govern are not in the interest of the overall ecology of the sector. Education is a very challenging area, it is policy driven and we pay close attention to quality. Often, we have to respond quickly to policy changes and at times we get no lead time at all,he says.
Many other challenges exist too, like substandard education providers making the ecology murky with bad practices. Mr. Sethi feels that the solution is to sift the good providers from the others, and ensuring that the good ones are taken seriously. At all levels at NZSE he asserts, integrity, honesty and transparency of communication is implemented in ernest.
It isn’t all work all the time for him, he assures, even if it can sound like it. So what does down time involve, surly not more business? “Well, yes and no... these days, I have an interest in wine and wine-making,” he says. His latest venture, a winery specializing in innovative fruit wines, seems a perfect fit with Mr. Sethi’s personality. Much like good wine, the process rewards slow but sure evolution; of an engineer maturing over time into a many faceted entrepreneur.
Leave a Comment