V S Ramachandran, CFO, Blue Ocean Corporation   2023 has been undoubtedly a great year for Blue Ocean for several reasons!! We achieved record turnover and profits, we expanded our product offerings, we crossed the three-digit mark in employee strength and we also won our first Dubai Quality Award (Appreciation). We were ranked as the 5 th Best Company to work for in the whole of Middle East in the SME Sector while we inaugurated our full-fledged office in Riyadh. And last but not least, we dedicated 2023 as the Year of Happiness being our 25 th Silver Jubilee Year! In fact, the year of Happiness literally started with a big bang as the entire staff of Blue Ocean along with other supporting teams, numbering to about 100 pax, made our way to the Republic of Azerbaijan. We held our first overseas Annual Meeting at beautiful Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. From the humble Annual Meetings at UAE venues to hosting an AGM at distant Baku has been a spectacular journey. And 2024 promises to be even more wonderful as we are all set to travel to God’s Own Country, yes Kerala, in January 2024 with an even enlarged team including our colleagues from Indian units of Kochi, Pune and Delhi!! If I look back on what contributed to this long list of achievements, the mantra for success rings out loud and clear – It is 3D – Dedication, Discipline and Diversity. Without a shred of doubt, the dedication of the entire Blue Ocean team has been the single most binding factor that made these accomplishments possible. While the Senior Management charted the strategy for success, the Sales team delivered the numbers with the whole-hearted support of our elite Faculty and the clockwork precision of our hard-working operating, marketing, IT and finance teams. If at all an example was needed on how teamwork can lead to success, our 2023 efforts can be considered as a case study! Week after week, Month after month, our entire team was dedicated to bringing home growth and glory. Discipline was another factor that contributed to our success, albeit there’s more room for improvement in this area. Blue Ocean has been able to progress at a rapid pace due to the disciplined approach of its entire team. There’s very little micro-management as every employee is aware of his/her role in the success of the Organization. With an enlarged number of team leaders, guidance and help were always at hand, especially for the new recruits, which has seen an explosive growth. From about 40+ members in the pre-Covid times, Blue Ocean has more than doubled its staff strength as we march towards our goal of Mission500 – achieving a strength of 500-member team by 2025. Difficult as it may sound, we are confident of achieving this aggressive target underlined by our expansion plans. Diversity has been another huge factor in our success story. From an organization with staff members largely hailing from the Indian Sub-Continent, we have today become a company that has on its rolls more than 15 nationalities, the recent additions being staff from South Africa and New Zealand! While the UAE itself is a mini world with more than 150 nationalities happily co-existing with each other, Blue Ocean is gradually evolving as a microcosm of UAE! Diversity has brought cultural richness, improved team work and has set the foundation for Blue Ocean to become a global player in the near future. While we cherish our success, we are fully aware that success is always a work-in-progress and as the Ruler of Dubai, Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid famously stated – “Excellence is a journey without a finish line”. We are committed to raising our standards even higher as we look to expand our footprint across the globe. 2024 promises to be even more exciting as we have just established our office in London! We will be rolling out our enhanced CRM and IT systems that will help us to further consolidate our growth. The Mantra for success in 2024 could well become 4D (instead of 3D) as we add Dynamism to Dedication, Discipline and Diversity.