Client
Wadhwani Advantage
Industry
Fintech-Adjacent
SME Growth
Duration
2 months
Role
End-to-end qualitative research (n=37, planning, execution, synthesis, reporting) in collaboration with Founder/CEO and Director of Strategy.
Skills in Action
Applied Systems Thinking, Frameworks, Interviewing
Output
Insights, Opportunity areas, Need-based Segmentation, JTBD + prioritization, Metrics, Solution testing
Scaling a high-touch SME growth program into a self-serve platform
Overview
Wadhwani Foundation, a not-for-profit accelerating economic development in India and Latin America wanted to scale its small-business growth program, Wadhwani Advantage (WA), from a high-touch, in-person model to a self-serve “knowledge + guidance” platform that could reach tens of thousands of SMEs globally. WA serves tens of thousands of SMEs in India and Latin America. The challenge was a systems problem: redesigning how value, trust, and accountability are created across a multi-stakeholder ecosystem (SMEs, advisors, program teams, and partners), while tailoring guidance to distinct SME needs and constraints without losing the program’s “partner, not just matchmaker” role. The research was conducted with SMEs in India and LATAM.
Impact
Enabled WA’s 2021 launch and shift to a self-serve “DIY” acceleration model, including activation in high-SME-density states like Uttar Pradesh (UP), India.
Made progress visible: validated benchmarking + KPI tracking as core to self-serve; WA implemented this via the Wadhwani Index (27 KPIs, longitudinal tracking, industry benchmarks).
Drove verticalization: informed the move to industry-dedicated self-serve accelerators (e.g., Automotive & Industrial).
“We want WA to understand our context and recommend the way forward. We don’t want hand-holding, we want accountability to the recommendation.”
SME Owner, India
Key Tension: Scale vs. Trust and Relevance
A key tension emerged in how WA defined support at scale. Internally, teams assumed “SMEs look for hand-holding from WA. In some cases, they even look for us to solve the problem for them.” SMEs told a different story: “We want WA to understand our context and recommend the way forward. We don’t want hand-holding we want accountability to the recommendation.”
Key Findings
Three need-based customer segments emerged with distinct expectations and behaviors, guiding platform priorities.
Segment 1
Transactional, point in need help
Assess WA based on the output of their advisor and the type of connections made.
Segment 2
Help me raise my potential
Assess WA by the connections and ideas it enables, and the fresh POV it provides.
Segment 3
Strategic partner to super-charge my growth
Assess WA by its ability to support completion through to impact.
We identified SME Jobs-To-Be-Done, mapped them to Problem Statements, and set platform priorities: core Jobs important to all, plus segment-specific Jobs that tailor guidance.
Plenty of solutions existed, but the competitive landscape revealed a clear whitespace: outcome-based, customized support designed for small businesses.
Key Insight: Trust through proof, and direction through benchmarking
SMEs need more than metrics to see the value in the change WA is suggesting. Accountability can’t rely on dashboards alone; SMEs need credible proof points and social validation from experts and peers before they commit.
We also found a mismatch between the jobs SMEs prioritize and what WA typically supports. “Holding up a mirror” emerged as a scalable way to close that gap: lightweight diagnosis and benchmarking that helps SMEs see where they stand and follow a structured path forward.
Design Recommendations
We introduced three concepts in the first interviews so SMEs had something real to react to, then iterated based on what they valued and what built trust.
Hold Up a Mirror
Benchmarking + self-assesment → plan
Valuable to Segment 2 & 3
Diagnose, Then Direct
Symptoms → quick wins + expert/peer-tested guidance
Valuable to Segment 1, 2 & 3
Progress, Together
Cohort Track: peer cadence + light accountability
Valuable to Segment 2 & 3
We created a roadmap to move from problem-solution fit toward product-market fit. We defined the MVP and subsequent releases based on customer needs, technical feasibility, and market viability.
Key Metrics
We tested their content and platform against metrics we defined, like frictionless experience, customer benefit, intuitiveness, and proficiency.
Customer Benefit Metrics that will differentiate WA
Recommends the right growth areas for me
Helps me be better prepared for the future
Is invested in my growth
Helps me habituate to new and successful practices
Learning
When research contradicts internal beliefs, resistance is often about identity and invested effort over data. My role isn't just to surface truth, but to create the conditions where truth can be heard.
This project taught me that research reveals organizational alignment, or lack thereof. WA's journey map went through multiple versions because different teams were operating with fundamentally different mental models of how the program worked. When we presented findings that contradicted leadership's understanding of customer needs, we encountered resistance. In hindsight, this was understandable: we were challenging beliefs that had shaped years of program design and an upcoming launch.
If I were to do one thing differently, I would build shared understanding progressively throughout the project by making customer voice more present from the beginning. I'd share customer stories and video clips in Slack throughout the research as moments people could informally react to with an emoji and sit with. Then, in a mid-project synthesis session, I'd frame emerging insights by tying them back to those customer moments. This approach would surface disagreements earlier, when there's still room to dig deeper into conflicting evidence, and make final insights feel less like a verdict and more like a shared discovery.