We recently connected with LAVIK BHOJWANI and have shared our conversation below.
LAVIK, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
I came to NYC 11 years ago on a school picnic and as a 11 year old kid I fell in love with NYC and I was too young to understand this but, I felt that I had a calling from this place and I always wanted to move here in my 20s and initially I wanted to come here but because my father had some financial troubles in his business we couldn’t afford it so I applied to canada and australia and I got in the all top 8 colleges in both of those countries but, destiny as I would say during the visa process for australia there were some errors on the financial paperwork and the fees was way out of our budget I dropped it with a heavy heart and I paused moving abroad and decided to do CPA in India and I was doing pretty good but, during the second level I felt mentally burnt out and I decided to quit and I gave my family the ultimatum that I want to move to NY and well see on how everything goes and then I took an education loan which was a nightmare for me because we had never taken a loan before and just seeing the numbers and the interest piling up still made me feel shaken to my core and I was hesitant for 10 days and I didn’t tell my family that I had gotten in the school that I wanted to go, St. John’s University and after thinking I eventually my father consoling me that everything would be alright I decided to take the leap o faith and I got my visa and I moved to NYC (my dream) in Fall-24, Initially everything was perfect or everyone calls it a honeymoon phase I came here I networked I got a Graduate Assistantship on campus which helps me waive off 85% of my tuition in return for some office work and I found an internship in asset management but, coming january-25 it felt like a roller coaster drop because, coming political changes the funding to my school was cut and I lost my position and I had to pay the school the fees that they waived and I couldn’t find help through any means possible and I was just issued an apologetic email in return for this and the internship that I had decided they wouldn’t hire me because I am an international student. So, I was really in a depressing mood because I lost everything that I worked hard for plus I didn’t had any family here to reach out to and to top things off I lost my nana who I was really close with and I couldn’t meet her because of my school. But, I decided to pick myself up and look forward because life doesn’t stop for anyone and I am taking it day-by-day and I met really good friends who are my extended family who I look up to here and they help me out with everything and I am currently aiming for summer-26 Investment banking opportunities which is a really uphill battle because I am in a non-target school plus I have the constant anxiety of having a loan over my head but, NYC has taught me something that if you’re not willing to take risks you wouldn’t succeed here because this city has opportunities hidden on every street and avenue. So, this is my current story of the biggest risk financially, mentally and with a big dream to make it in the concrete jungle that I have ever taken and I hope I become something that my hard working sacrificing parents can see in their life and I can provide for them in return for their efforts.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I got into the finance industry because I was also studying the same as my CPA and my undergraduate degree in finance and the best motivator would be that I was in a business family where we sell wholesale industrial ice through blocks or tube ice to pharmaceutical industries, clothing dye manufacturers,organic chemical producers,fisheries, restaurants, hospitals, paint industries, food catering, farms, meat shops, construction areas, morgues and speaking in retail terms to local shops like dairy, juice centres, small restaurants and we have our facilities in ambernath and badlapur and our firm name is Badlapur Ice and Cold Storage. Our uniqueness is that we are the only facility in badlapur to provide this service and were in this industry since 1964 when my grandfather bought the first facility from his best friend at the time. Our service delivery is 24/7 and 365 days and we ship the goods through our owned delivery service on the same day that we receive the order.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
1- Rich dad poor dad- my first book that shaped my financial and psychological thinking
2- can’t hurt me- david goggins- book that shaped my mental resilience
3- Steve Jobs and Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson- These books made me understand the mental toughness and the patience I needed to build something big in life
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
We have created brand loyalty and client retention through communication because your customers are the reason why your brand exists in the first place so, listening to their needs and constantly solving their problems is the best way to retail clients also, we have quarterly business dinners with clients to create a family belonging instead of just professional environment
Contact Info:
- Instagram: lavikbhojwani
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lavik-bhojwani/