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Business Strategy with Hirav Shah AUGUST 14, 2026 | The Indian Eye 39

Stop Asking ROI. Start Asking ROT

The businesses that will dominate the next decade are not those that work the hardest.

They are those that build the best Return on Time

petitor both get 24 hours.
The question is — whose 24
hours are working smarter?
A Simple ROT Audit
Before accepting your next op-
portunity, ask yourself:
• Will this opportunity still create
value if I step away for one week?
• Does it build a long term asset or
only generate short term income?
• Can my team execute it without my
HIRAV SHAH
constant involvement?
• Am I investing my time in growth
T he Old Game Was ROI. The or simply staying busy?
New Game Is ROT.
Business Strategist Hirav Shah
Every Gujarati entre-
preneur knows ROI — Return on believes that entrepreneurs should
review their calendar with the same
Investment. Since childhood, we’ve discipline they review their finan-
heard it at the dinner table, in the du- cial statements. Time leaks, just like
kaan, in every business meeting. “Aa money leaks, quietly reduce long
deal માં ROI શું છે?” That one question term business value.
has driven generations of business The Next Generation Is Already Thinking
decisions. This Way.
But here’s the hard truth: ROI
Gujarat’s business community is
alone is no longer enough. evolving. The next generation of en-
Welcome to the age of ROT —
Return on Time. trepreneurs — your sons, daughters,
the young founders coming up —
Money Has a Second Chance.
Time Does Not. they are already thinking in terms of
time, energy, and systems. They will
Money lost can be recovered. A
bad investment can be corrected. A not grind 18 hours just because their
father did.
failed product can be relaunched. And they are right.
But one hour spent in the wrong
The businesses that will dom-
meeting, one year chasing the wrong inate the next decade are not those
business, one decade building some- Warren Buffett once said he can always make more money — but he cannot make more time (File photo) that work the hardest. They are those
thing that never scales — that time is that build the best Return on Time
gone forever. A ROT-focused business owner ed — or will it always need ME? — where every hour invested mul-
The most successful entrepre- takes on 5 clients — carefully cho- If a deal demands 80% of your
neurs I’ve worked with across indus- sen. He builds systems. He trains his time but brings only 20% of your reve- tiplies, compounds, and eventually
works even when the entrepreneur is
tries — real estate, entertainment, team. He creates processes that work nue — that is a bad ROT deal, regard- not in the room.
manufacturing, retail — all share without him being present every min- less of what the ROI calculator says. So the next time someone walks
one common shift in thinking. They ute. His revenue may look similar in The Smartest People Guard Their Time through your door with an excit-
stopped asking only “How much will year one. But by year three, he has First. ing opportunity — before you open
I earn?” and started asking “How built an asset. The ROI owner has Warren Buffett once said he can the spreadsheet and calculate ROI,
much of my TIME will this take — built a job. always make more money — but he pause for just one moment and ask:
and is that trade worth it?” 3 Questions Every Entrepreneur Must cannot make more time. And Buf- What is my ROT on this?
That is ROT thinking.
Ask fett, one of the world’s greatest ROI That one extra question could
ROI Business Owner vs Before saying yes to any business minds, is also one of history’s great- be the smartest business decision you
ROT Business Owner deal, project, partnership or oppor- est managers of his own time. make this week.
Let me give you a simple contrast. tunity — ask yourself: The shift from ROI thinking to
An ROI-focused business owner 1. How many hours of my time will ROT thinking does not mean you
takes on 10 clients because each pays this consume — weekly, monthly, stop caring about returns. It means Hirav Shah is the Global Business
well. He is busy. Revenue looks good. for how long? you add a second filter — a more Strategist, Game Changer, and Author
But he has no time to think, no time 2. Is the return (financial, strate- honest filter. Because time is the of 19+ books—trusted worldwide for
validating big decisions of entrepre-
to strategize, no time to grow. He is gic, relational) worth that exact only resource that is truly finite, truly neurs, sportsmen, and entertainers.
running the business — the business amount of time? non-renewable, and truly equal for
is not running for him. 3. Can this be systemized or delegat- everyone. You and your biggest com- Email : Business@hiravshah.com

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