Meet the Gurus Promising to Fix India’s Small Businesses
Blending manifestation, management and family mediation, unregulated coaches are charging high fees for guidance many entrepreneurs say MBAs don’t provide.
Illustration: Hanneke Rozemuller for Bloomberg
It’s midmorning, and the ornate ballroom of the Eros Hotel in New Delhi hums with anticipation. More than 750 small business owners fidget in their seats, waiting for the session to begin. Suitcases line the walls, evidence of how far many have traveled. When Rahul Jain, founder of Business Coaching India, strides in, the room breaks into applause.
What follows is an intoxicating blend of management seminar, motivational theater and near-spiritual devotion. Attendees hang on Jain’s every word, copying down each maxim on company culture and strategy. By midday, the entire ballroom is chanting a manifestation in unison: “I am grateful to the universe; it’s March 2026 and I have doubled my profits.”