"I Don’t Consider Challenges as Challenges but as Opportunities" - Shanu Mehta

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1. Tell us more about your company and your journey.

My company is MMC Convert, that I co-founded with my husband, Ankit Mehta. MMC Convert is today an exclusive data migration partner with leading global Cloud Accounting Softwares including Xero, Clear Books, Freshbooks, and Billy App.

Our company helps SMEs and enterprises to move from any accounting software into a cloud-based software solution. In simple terms, we help companies migrate from one accounting software or offline accounting to other software.


Companies buy migration products from our website by clicking on filters that automatically create a customized product for them. For instance, someone from Australia chooses a certain migration basket; he may then filter with options such as multi-currency invoices or multiple users etc. He clicks on the order button, and while checking out, he knows the final price he is paying with all the add-ons he chose. He makes the payment, and gets credentials to use our solutions and check status.

Even while delivering these services, 80% of the process is automated, 20% involves professional expertise that we provide. We have standardized our services in a way to enable people to order software migration services the way they order other tangible products.


2. How did you come up with this idea and go about executing it?


That’s an unusual story. My husband and I were holidaying in New Zealand. We took a cable car ride at Hawkes Bay. After the ride, when we were returning, we overheard a conversation. A man in the group was sharing how his team could not resolve a hiccup in an accounting product while the launch was due soon.


Ankit, being an accountant himself, could not help jumping into the conversation. He offered the man an alternative solution while I shared the logic behind it to implement the solution. Next thing, this man called his team and asked if what we said was do-able. His tech team called back in the next 15 minutes confirming that the solution had worked the way we had explained it.


Turned out, the man was the founder of the top 10 most innovative companies in the world listed by Forbes that year. It was the founder of Xero - Rod Drury. He offered us to join him.


Instead of taking up jobs in his company, we offered him an alternative – an accounting software solution. Soon after coming to India, both of us created a product which could enable any company considering moving their financial data from one software to another. MMC Convert was born.


3. What has been your biggest challenge that you faced and how did you overcome that?


I don’t consider challenges as challenges but as opportunities. So it’s hard for me to point to a challenge or two. My biggest lesson is “don’t just point to the challenges, it’s perceived as complaining, no one will listen. Instead, point to the solutions and act on them.”



4. What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful entrepreneur?



There are two qualities that stand out for me when I think of a successful entrepreneur. One, your ability to take calculated risks is everything. In fact, it is the very definition of entrepreneur - one who takes risks.


At the same time, I would like to add that this is also a determining quality because it’s rare, not everyone has the appetite to take risks, even though calculated. This is a mindset - you either have it or you don’t.


Second, a successful entrepreneur is someone who can take both the blame and responsibility for his/her actions. It’s easier to take the credit while shifting the blame on others. Recently, I came across a news piece that only validated my belief. It spoke of an IT company that had to lay off employees due to accumulated losses arising out of COVID-19.

Instead of asking team leaders and managers to inform their team-mates, the founder of the company came forward and conveyed the same to his employees. He accepted this as his personal failure that he could not keep their jobs. This is a stellar entrepreneur in my opinion.


5. What are some of the most important factors for running a successful business?


There are two important factors that are important for running a successful business. First, your sales curve. It’s crucial to focus on sales from the MVP stage itself. Don’t wait for the whole product to roll out and then ramp up sales. I believe if you are able to get, say 10 customers, with just the basic features of your product - you have got customer validation.


Now, you can scale up because you successfully sold the initial product to a bunch of customers. When any company goes out for investments also, the first thing an investor would like to see is your sales growth figures. Your ability to sell matters from day one.


Second, your ability to jump the curve. For instance, the famous ice factory story. The producers of ice were not the same people who invented the refrigerator. That means we get caught up in our day-to-day business activities so much that we fail to see the need for invention. A successful business is the one that’s able to jump the curve.


6. What are your tips for the first time and aspiring entrepreneurs?


Focus on your sales and ramp up your ability to take calculated risks. There’s no way to succeed other than this. Another important factor for Indian businesses is this - don’t ever shy away from leveraging from government schemes.

Most of us think it’s such a hassle to take government funds or use subsidies. I want to tell you it’s not; it’s all in mind. Government subsidies exist for your benefit, and you must avail them.


Thirdly, always focus on building good relationships among your employees, former employers, colleagues, customers and friends. When you go out to ask for funds, there’s a good chance someone familiar may come forward to invest in your business. It can be a former employer, a customer or a colleague. It’s like if your friends and community trust you, your investors will trust you as well.


7. How can one overcome a hurdle of lack of funds when starting up?

MMC Convert is really customer-funded. We focused on our sales from the start so we could get enough money to build the business. So that way, we are neither bootstrapped nor funded.

As I told you how we began, we actually had no plan that we would startup. Ankit was a successful accountant, and I was using my MBA degree in a company as an HR manager. So when the idea struck, the first thing we did was ramp up our sales and use that money to invest in our business growth such as office, staff and infrastructure.


Interview by- Anshul Chauhan

About Shanu Mehta:



Shanu Mehta is the Co-founder of MMC Convert - an accounting migration firm based out of Indore India and catering to customers in Asia, Australia, the UK and the USA. She grew up in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh. She is a B.Tech (Computer Science) from Modi Institute of Technology and Science, near Jaipur and an MBA in Human Resource from Pune. She is also a Faculty of Entrepreneurship at Indian Institute of Management, Indore. Shanu wishes to empower women of all age-groups and social strata towards effective measures of Financial Literacy. She holds workshops and camps among the lower-income group women for educating them towards better finance practices. She is also in talks with various government and non-government agencies for assistance in her cause.