The Pursuit of Success: Giorgi Gulua's Inspiring Entrepreneurial Journey

By Team Newsable | First Published Jun 1, 2023, 11:06 AM IST

Born and raised in a post-soviet country Tbilisi, Georgia, Giorgi's passion for entrepreneurship started at a young age, and he has since started multiple companies, each with its own unique challenges and rewards.

Giorgi Gulua is a seasoned entrepreneur with an impressive track record of success in various fields, from telecommunications to IT and beyond.

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From an early age, Giorgi discovered comfort in his passion for languages. By 14, he had already mastered four languages—Georgian, English, Russian, and Italian—and developed a strong interest in entrepreneurship.

At 16, Giorgi took his initial leap into the entrepreneurial realm by launching a bakery in his family's garage. He employed a baker and provided bread to nearby restaurants and markets. This experience taught him that operating a business entailed much more than what is depicted in films or written about in magazines. It involves numerous mundane and monotonous tasks such as handling taxes, complying with laws and regulations, and so on.

He went on to study Artificial Intelligence at Georgian Technical University, but soon realized that practical experience was more valuable than theoretical knowledge. So, he took a job as a help desk at a newly established Money Transfer company Intel Express Money Transfers, where he quickly proved his worth by introducing VOIP that connected all the offices of the company worldwide into one virtual network, cutting the company's communication expenses by 90%. This was a time when there were no messenger apps like WhatsApp or Viber and Apple hadn't even launched its App Store.

Gulua's implementation of the VOIP telephony system had a tremendous impact on the company, not just financially, but also by improving communication between the teams in different parts of the world. This technology gave Intel Express an edge over other money transfer companies at a time when faxing was still the standard way of communication.

The founders of Intel Express were impressed with the success of the VOIP telephony system and extended an offer to Giorgi to establish a telecommunications company utilizing the same technology. By the age of 18, Gulua became the youngest CEO of a telecom company in Georgia. Intel Phone (Now Inexphone), competing with large, well-established telecoms in the region that had been on the market for decades.

To counter the disadvantage of being a small, new company in a market dominated by multinational giants, Gulua harnessed their agility as a strength. He assembled a small, highly effective team capable of quickly developing and launching new products, adapting to market needs in real-time, and essentially adopting agile methodologies before they became mainstream. This approach contrasted sharply with the bureaucratic decision-making processes typical of larger companies.

One of the products that Gulua and his team introduced was a new service for immigrants that provided them with a local Georgian number that could be used anywhere in the world to call their families back home at local rates.

Gulua eventually transitioned from the CEO role to serving on the Board of Directors for an additional seven years. His current portfolio of companies includes TELE1, a telecommunications enterprise he co-founded with experienced industry partners, with the goal of delivering innovative VOIP services on a broader scale.

Throughout his career of 17 years, Giorgi has co-founded multiple businesses all in very different fields. Some of them are: an IT company SNS (Smart Net Solutions) tackling the hardest infrastructure projects in the region, started a medical devices distribution company GMSG (Global Medical Solutions Group), and Flywash - waterless car wash service on demand.

He stresses that starting a business requires a team of people who are fascinated by the concept and eager to learn. "Whenever my team and I choose to undertake a new venture, we spend weeks immersing ourselves in that industry. Over the years, we've had to explore a wide variety of sectors, from marine navigation aids to chemistry," he elaborates.

Despite his numerous accomplishments, Giorgi Gulua acknowledges that he has experienced his share of setbacks. He candidly admits that not all of his ventures have been successful, such as the food and beverage distribution and medical devices distribution companies he started. Regrettably, these endeavours did not generate the desired revenue. Nevertheless, Gulua adopts a philosophical attitude towards these failures, asserting that the lessons gleaned from them would be difficult to acquire at even the most prestigious Ivy League institutions.

He maintains that each failure presents an opportunity for growth and learning, and he has never regretted taking the risks associated with launching these businesses. "The main thing is to learn from your mistakes," he says, quoting Albert Einstein: "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

As previously noted, Giorgi Gulua's entrepreneurial drive has prompted him to establish businesses across a diverse range of sectors, including an on-demand waterless car wash service.

This unorthodox venture was a clear demonstration of Gulua's readiness to embrace risks and venture into new industries. The waterless car wash service was founded with an underlying objective to minimize water consumption in the car washing process.

The service employs a unique liquid and microfiber cloth to clean vehicles without the use of water, thereby reducing water consumption from 300 liters in a traditional car wash to a mere 700 milliliters—less than 1% of the water used by conventional methods. This eco-friendly approach to car washing has enabled Gulua's company to differentiate itself in a competitive market.

Gulua believes that inspiration and knowledge can come from anywhere if a person is looking for it, and this was evident in how he solved a problem his company was facing.

The on-demand car wash service was taking too much time, with some employees taking hours to wash a single car. This was causing bottlenecks in the business, and Gulua knew that he needed to find a solution to streamline the process.

One day, while watching the movie "Founder," Gulua got inspired by a scene from the movie "The Founder", there is a scene where Ray Kroc, a struggling milkshake machine salesman, visits the original McDonald's restaurant in San Bernardino, California, owned by the McDonald brothers, Dick and Mac.

The brothers take Kroc through their innovative "Speedee Service System," which they developed to streamline their restaurant operations and provide fast and efficient service to customers. They explain how they redesigned the kitchen layout, eliminated unnecessary items from the menu, and created a standardized cooking process that allowed them to serve high-quality food quickly.

Inspired by this, Gulua and his team standardized the way the cars were washed, implementing new techniques that resulted in cutting down the time required from over an hour to just 30 minutes, and making it easier to train new employees with standardized methods.

This was just one example of Gulua's willingness to learn from other industries and apply that knowledge to his own businesses.

But it was in 2019 that he joined COTT ELECTRONICS UK as a shareholder and top executive, a company that would change the game in the IPTV industry. Their first product was Hospitality IP Television, which has since expanded to the European market, amongst many boutique to five star hotels, two of the largest hotels in Europe are using their innovative IPTV and they now have their own factory in China, manufacturing Hospitality Grade TVs for hotels, computer peripherals, and military-grade tablets sold in the UK and USA.

Company has recently announced the launch of their groundbreaking AI assistant, which functions as both a butler and a receptionist for their guests. This innovative AI is seamlessly integrated into their IPTV system, allowing guests to interact with it using the microphones on their remote controls. This marks a significant milestone in COTT's journey of embracing AI and integrating it into their range of services.

Giorgi's unconventional approach to entrepreneurship has earned him numerous awards and accolades, including the Georgian Government's "Startup Georgia" Grant for innovative businesses and recognition from the top tech university in Georgia, BTU.

Giorgi's dedication to constantly evolving as an entrepreneur is evident in his current endeavors. He believes that taking on new challenges is the only way to improve and has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. With his passion for entrepreneurship, mastery of multiple languages, and fearless approach to starting new ventures, Giorgi Gulua is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with in the world of business and technology.

Here are the top 5 qualities that make a successful entrepreneur according to Gulua:

1. Embrace Failure: Understand that failure is not the end, but a learning experience. Every failure brings with it a lesson to be learned, which can be applied in the future to increase your chances of success. The greatest entrepreneurs are those who are not afraid to fail.

2. Build the Right Team: A company is only as good as its team. Surround yourself with passionate, driven individuals who complement your skills and strengths. This includes not only co-founders but also your first employees. The right team can make all the difference in achieving your business goals.

3. Understand Your Market: Make sure you fully understand your target market, including their needs, wants, and behaviors. Validate your ideas through market research, customer feedback, and continual iteration.

4. Innovate or Die: The market is ever-evolving, and so should your business. Always be ready to adapt and evolve your products, services, and strategies to stay ahead of the curve. Make innovation a key part of your business culture.

5. Focus on Customer Satisfaction: Your customers are the backbone of your business. Strive to provide excellent customer service and exceed their expectations whenever possible. Happy customers can become brand advocates, helping to grow your business organically through word-of-mouth referrals.

Author - Leena Antony

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