Asia

Saloni Malhotra

DesiCrew

Age: 25

Company: DesiCrew is a socially motivated business process outsourcing (BPO) company that provides access to the untapped workforce in small towns and rural areas through its distributed outsourcing model.

Education: BS in industrial engineering, Bharati Vidyapeeth's College of Engineering, India

Prior work experience: Assistant project producer at Webchutney Studio, an interactive consultancy

On being an entrepreneur: "I realized that a good way to impact millions of lives is through the medium of a commercial business. I have learned three important lessons: A good team is the first thing one needs to put together. No matter what challenges arise, the idea is to remain focused and always have an open mind. DesiCrew's biggest challenge has been to convince clients about the productivity of rural areas and shape the mindset of its rural workforce on service-level agreements required by the BPO industry."