Co-founder of foreign exchange and international payments company RationalFX and Xendpay, Paresh Davdra is a well-known name in the business world. RationalFX was founded by Davdra and partner Rajesh Agrawal, when the former was just 24 years old and a fresh university graduate with student loans to deal with. Setting up the company was nothing less than a gamble for the two.
“Neither of us had any money,” Davdra said to a media source. “Rajesh had only been in the country for about three years, he'd come from India, and I'd only graduated from university the year before, I had all this university debt. Rajesh went to the bank to get a loan to start the business. We'd done somewhat of a business plan, not having done one in our lives. The bank, unfortunately, rejected him.” However, 12 years later, RationalFX is now turning over £1.4 billion and processes $10 billion in payments.
“We've weathered more than one storm, to be honest, but you get them in different forms in different ways. People for example. As the company gets bigger and you employ more and more people, you have to manage these people and ensure their interests and the company's interests are both aligned. Sometimes that's not necessarily easy,” he said.
In his tips to budding entrepreneurs, Davdra said to “Persevere”, “Get the right people”, “Watch your cash”, and “Plan your exit”. “As long as you're doing the right things and you keep doing them, it will pay its dividends,” he said.
