Brought up in a small town in Gujarat, India, the softly spoken and refreshingly humble co-founder of IT firm Illuminance Solutions<\/a> has become a beacon of hope for migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From selling glow in the dark stickers to his friends in the playground to running a successful consulting and software application development company, Nilesh has made it his life\u2019s work to embody Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s philosophy and be the change he wishes to see in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2021 Illuminance Solutions, which employs staff from 26 different nationalities, won the State Government\u2019s Western Australia Multicultural Business Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before that, the inaugural 2019 Microsoft Global Partner of the Year – Partner for Social Impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That same year, Nilesh received the Rising Star Award for Diversity at the Belmont and Western Australian Small Business Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe open the door for minority groups because at the end of the day everybody has some sort of skill to offer \u2013 we welcome everyone whether you are disabled, young, old, student or a refugee,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n At his core, the Master of Commerce in Information Systems graduate isn\u2019t driven by a desire to conquer the business world. Instead, Nilesh is on a mission to ensure others are given the opportunities he wished he had when he first arrived in Perth as an international student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverybody says \u2018be the change you wish to see\u2019, but how do you live by that on a daily basis? We talk about a fair go here in Australia but when there are people struggling and they want a chance, do we really give them a fair go?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Nilesh arrived in Perth as a student in 2012, he encountered the all too familiar hardships many other migrants face. Despite more than a decade\u2019s worth of tech experience in the United Kingdom and Mumbai, he struggled to find a job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Up against the outdated tropes that migrants were only useful for cheap labour, Nilesh decided to create his own business opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMigrants sadly were seen as only good for driving Ubers or working in petrol stations, or cleaning jobs, but not necessarily in a professional services role and it is still the case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Together with his business partner Vincent Lam, he started Illuminance Solutions in 2012. With their competitors focused on the resources sector and government work, the pair went in the opposite direction and focused on the non-profit sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While his entire business philosophy has been built on making a strong social impact, Nilesh\u2019s desire to encourage other migrants to break through unjust barriers has gone a step further with the release of his award-winning book, Terminal 4 \u2013 An Entrepreneur\u2019s Journey from Bicycle to Business Class<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Booktopia bestseller tracks his journey from high school dropout to visionary entrepreneur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Terminal 4 serves as a blueprint on how to succeed at university, build a business, nourish a network and bounce back after a failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But true to his character, the book was never intended as a tool to blow his own trumpet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nilesh hoped that by sharing his experiences as a migrant, he could help ignite that little spark for international students, immigrants and budding entrepreneurs everywhere to overcome their own adversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe whole purpose of the book was to help migrants settle into their new country or entrepreneurs who are starting a business\u2013 the book is designed for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Propelled by his ambition to live a life with purpose, Nilesh encourages the next generation of leaders to build a eulogy instead of a resume and to develop real human connections instead of just making contacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you die, people will talk about what a great neighbour you were, or a great colleague, son, father, or boss, not that you were a CEO or a chairman,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you’re building your eulogy and people actually like you, they want to promote you, they want to hire you, and they want to do business with you. Your resume and your contact list will start to get built up anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the second thing is don’t network but connect. People usually network because of the title but when you connect with the person, you are connected forever and that person could be employed or unemployed, or they could go on to achieve amazing things.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Creating opportunities<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Top takeaways from Terminal 4<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Creating an exemplary eulogy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n