With business advisory and consulting experience of over a decade, Raj has worked in India and abroad with firms across IT, retail, pharmaceutical, financial, mining and manufacturing industries. After being associated with leading consulting organizations like Deloitte, Raj Shankar started ichiban Business Consultants Pvt Ltd, an entrepreneurial firm with the passion to enable an Indian SME to negotiate challenges of start, sustain and scale phases. Raj Shankar works closely with aspiring entrepreneurs, start-ups and SME organizations implementing the frameworks and techniques that have been customized to suit both their scale and local context.
Raj Shankar has authored two books. His first book titled “Entrepreneurship – A Life of Commas, not Full Stops” (November 2010) is aimed to kindle perspectives on the entrepreneurial journey amongst its readers. His second book “Entrepreneurship – Theory and Practice” has been published by Vijay Nicole in collaboration with Tata McGraw Hill in December 2011. This title is designed to serve as both a text for students and a ready reference for practitioners.
Raj spear heads the research activities at ichiban and has published papers in both national and international journals. His column ‘Strategy Lite’ features in BFSI World magazine wherein he writes about contemporary thoughts on economics, entrepreneurship and SMEs. He also writes for the web magazine www.yourstory.in related to Entrepreneurship and Small Business issues.
Raj is a visiting faculty at VIT, Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB), Mumbai Business School, Symbiosis institute of Operations Management (SIOM), Park Global School of Business Excellence (PGSBE) and SMOT Business School where he teaches MBA students on Strategy and Entrepreneurship. Raj also works closely with institutions like IIT Madras, Symbiosis International University, , VIT University, PSG Tech, Alpha Engineering College, Anand Institute of Higher Technology (AIHT), and Dr. MGR University to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship in their students and provide assistance to their incubatees and early stage start-ups. Raj is a certified NEN-Goldman Sachs faculty mentor in “Entrepreneurship”. He has been involved in many faculty development programs, mentoring and training of entrepreneurs and students.
Raj is invited frequently to speak at various corporate, educational institutions, forums, conferences and events on areas of strategy and entrepreneurship. Over the last five years Raj has given many key note addresses, guest lectures, industry perspectives and special delegate talks across the country. He has delivered key notes on Strategy, Venture Creation, Valuation, Sales Excellence, Managerial Excellence, Business Modeling and Business Planning.
Raj is a member of the expert advisory committee of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (IEDC) at AIHT, mentor at Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST) and member of Madras Management Association (MMA).
Raj Shankar holds a post graduate degree in International Business from Symbiosis Institute of International Business, Pune and is pursuing Advanced e-Vedanta course from Chinmaya International Foundation.
Domain Interests:Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Vedanta
Twitter Handle: @ichibanraj Contact: ichiban.raj@gmail.com
