Market Research expert, Ritika Malik believes that business insights and consumer perceptionareinstrumental in Delhi based company, Combine Ways’ industry analysis, Competitor and Correlational Analysis and much more, Ritika ensures high level decision making in the more than nine years of experience in providing market research and business consulting for the B2B, B2C and B2G market segments across multiple industries. With an aim to increase awareness among businesses and individuals in the country about the value of market research, she laid the foundations of the market research wing at Combine Ways. Ritika draws from her prior corporate experience of working with start-ups, SMEs, and established enterprises and renders appropriate research and consumer insights to help develop customers' businesses and their product portfolios. In an in-depth interview with the Women Entrepreneur Magazine team, Ritika shares her leadership thoughts and professional experience as a market consultant.
Give Us A Brief Overview Of Combine Ways. What Are Some Important Features About Your Expertise As A Market Research Specialist?
Formerly, Combine Ways started as IT & Telecom Consultancy, founded by my father, Mr. Rakesh Malik in 2014. He has been at the helm of the company and brings 35+ years of experience in the convergence area of Telecom and IT, as well as key expertise in business development, sales, marketing, and corporate and regulatory affairs, including industry partnerships and much more.
In 2018, with the goal of raising awareness among businesses and individuals about the importance of market research in the country, I came on-board with Combine Ways to establish our market research segment and position the brand differently. Combine Ways,now pertaining to three core services : Market Research, Strategy Development and Business Consultancy, aims to provide comprehensive, professional, and cost-effective services to clients and associates domestically and internationally. As a full-service provider, we offer market research, business consultancy services, and strategic solutions to assist clients in developing their firm as a whole or in specific areas such as day-to-day operations and functionality. To accomplish aimed task, we provide a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods that allow us to analyse your organization's growth and expansion potential.We specialize in managing global Market Research projects in India for clients across multiple countries such as India, USA, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Dubai, Singapore etc. in numerous industries, such as Healthcare, Education, FMCG, IT, Telecom, Automotive, Infrastructure, aviation and many more; thereby providing market research for pre, post and on-going service categories.
Take Us Through Your Early Educational Journey And Prior Industry Experience That You Bring To The Table. What Motivated You To Venture Out On Your Own To Establish A Market Research Firm?
Having successfully completed B.Sc. in Information Technology and MBA in International Business and my MBA tenure. Prior to founding the Combine Ways Market Research Segment, I have been associated with IBM, The Research Pacific Group and Chaos Global. Apart from research, am quite passionate about writing, and some of my works keep onpublishing online and offline as well.Being an integral part of the editorial team for an NGO called Pinkishe in the past, has given me a sense of achievement.
“As a business and market research consultancy located in india, we aim to provide comprehensive, professional, and cost-effective services to our clients and associates locally and globally”
Throw Some Light On The Various Roles And Responsibilities That You Currently Shoulder At Combine Ways. What Are Some Of The Most Challenging Aspects Of Leading The Organization? How Do You Overcome Them?
My current roles and responsibilities include assisting organisations in forecasting their exponential development from a technical standpoint. Webegin with ideation and progress to conceptualization, construction of numerous questionnaires based on the client's needs, getting the fieldwork done and finally, evaluating the report on the basis of qualitative and quantitative data analysis. We also make sure that we be with our clients for the actual business applications as well.
Consumers may not even be aware of all the pending demands they have. Therefore, we, as marketers, not only have to understand a company's target audience but also what exactly a customer or end beneficiary wants and how they can help us understand their needs. Our team has an extensive network of over 300 outsourced associates and partners across the country, and we're constantly expanding and hiring more personnel as we grow.
Tell Us About Your Vast Expertise In Terms Of Market Research & Business Consultancy. How Do You Facilitate Sound Go-To Market Strategies For Brands looking to capture the Indian market?
Being industry agnostic, we have worked with global and local consumer goods companies to test upcoming new and existing products, automotive and IT behemoths with their product-service feasibility and gaps, Telecom companies to enhance their servicing models, Infrastructure companies to develop their distribution network channel, global governments to analyse healthcare and education market scope in India and so on and so forth. We work for consultancies and NGOs as well. Among the multitude of services we offer, some are concept/ product/ service/ advertisement/ packagingresearches, predictive/ judgemental/ experiential researches, target segmentation/ demographical/ geographical researches or branding/ competitive/ pricing researches. We formulate Client’s requirements into analysing key drivers influencing the market, opportuni- ties and challenges faced, key players, emerging trends and their impact on present and future development of brands and product portfolios.
In Your Opinion How Has The Indian Consumer Landscape Evolved Over The Past Few Years? How Has This Evolution Impacted The Approach Taken By Brands To Build A Loyal Customer Base?
India is a giant market for growing industries and innovatingproducts and services. There havebeen critical fundamental shifts in Consumers, Businesses and Governments advocacy & behaviour across industries.As a result, companies are attempting to prioritise theirofferings, while simultaneously discovering methods to effectively utilise resources so as to maintain robust and digitally sound processes. This means embracing technology from a new and differentiated perspective. Modern organisations need to adapt to the ever-changing operational and technical environment by implementing new structures, policies, and strategiesin order to thrive.
As A Successful Business Leader What Would Your Advice Be To Young Women And Girls Aspiring To Become Business Leaders And Entrepreneurs In The Future?
My advice is that if we want to achieve our goals, we must first dream bigger and get ample sleep. This will enable us to have more focus and concentration while working. Never doubt yourself, try again, and never give up. Another aspect of reciprocal growth is that no one can advance and reach new heights without the support of theirpersonal and professional network. We must cherish those people who have been with us in our time of need. You must strive to make India “Atmanirbhar” and constantly endeavour to make a difference in any way we can.
Ritika Malik, Co-Founder
With over 9 plus years of work experience in Market Research and IT collectively, Ritika curently manages end-to-end market research projects (both qualitative and quantitative studies) and provides strategic expertise to local and global clients for the Indian market.
