Today many know Chetan Saligrama as “Neil Saligrama" in the business community.
He is the CEO & Managing Director of Compare & Connect, which is also called Domain Connections, one of Australia’s largest utility comparison and connection business.
His Australian journey began in 2002 when he arrived as an international student to study at RMIT in Melbourne.
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“After I completed my graduation, I worked as operations director for an Australian firm for eight years and gained immense expertise across several industries both locally and internationally,” he says.
Having worked for others, though, there came a point when he decided to back his instincts start his own business.
Chetan began his entrepreneurial career in 2009 when he launched Thought World - a customer acquisition business.
During his initial period, he faced several challenges but one of the main ones was finance. His business was in debt and it came to a point where he had to pledge everything including his house to stay in business.
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He says he thinks this was the toughest phase of his life where everything was tested.
“When you are successful everybody is your friend but when you fail there is hardly anyone around you”.
His wife and brother unconditionally supported him, their support enabled him to convert obstacles into opportunities.
His mantra to success is: “In business, the best dividend of your work is to avail more work.”
He worked relentlessly on this principle and soon he started seeing the results; there was no looking back once he got past initial hurdles.
His company grew leaps and bounds to become one of Australia’s leading businesses in the utilities sector.
By 2015, his company was ranked number 20 on the BRW Fast 100 list.
He says in 2016 the Domain Group/Fairfax Media organisation knocked on his door with an opportunity to work together; it was the beginning of a new era.
Both, his companies (Thought World & Compare and Connect) were merged and they established Domain Connections, part of Domain Group Holdings which is an ASX listed entity with a market cap of over $2 billion.
“Over last 5 years, our business has helped over 250,000 customers save money on various products and services,” he says.
Chetan attributes his success to his 175 staff for having played an incredible role in building this business.
