Where empathy shapes the business plan

This article is part of the Business Insights Series, where we listen to business owners and professionals who build impact without headlines. Some build software. Some scale fast. Others, like Henal Chotai, build steadily by showing up every day for their customers, their community, and their own values.

Henal has worked in hospitality, real estate, coaching, and ran a family-owned café. The most compelling part of his story focuses on emotional depth, presence, and how life experience can become a powerful business advantage. What happens when you lead with humanity before strategy? What if resilience became your best metric?

Henal is a UK-based entrepreneur who grew up surrounded by small-business life. Later, he ran a local café with his wife and is now focused on coaching, grounded in lived experience. Through his practice, Inner Vision Life Coach, Henal helps clients navigate personal and professional transitions with clarity and compassion. He offers support in areas such as mindset, resilience, and purpose-led growth, drawing directly from what he’s lived, not just what he’s learned.

His story is not an exception. It’s the ongoing reality of many small business owners who keep showing up, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard. So the question becomes: how do we build businesses that last, in real lives, not just spreadsheets?

Henal has a few ideas worth listening to for .

Emotional intelligence from the front desk

Henal spent years in hospitality, and not behind a spreadsheet or strategy deck, but face-to-face with customers. From managing hotels to running restaurants, he was the one dealing with overbooked rooms, late-night arrivals, and frustrated guests whose expectations had just crashed into reality. He didn’t study conflict resolution or customer psychology in a formal way. He learned it in the places most of us try to avoid: in moments of tension, miscommunication, and human need.

“People can shout at me, people can scream at me, but it doesn’t affect me in the same way… You have to understand their pain, understand where they’re coming from.”

It’s easy to talk about emotional intelligence now, it’s on leadership books and LinkedIn posts. But Henal practiced it years before it became fashionable. Not from a seminar, but from staying calm when people were angry. From spotting signs others missed, like a customer’s swollen legs after a long flight. In that case, he brought her ice and towels without being asked. She was pregnant. Exhausted. And touched by the gesture. That interaction led to him being named Employee of the Year by Hilton.

So how do you train someone to notice what’s unsaid? Can you teach someone to spot discomfort before it turns into complaint? Henal didn’t use checklists or scripts. He listened. He observed. And he responded without ego. His response reflected attentiveness rooted in direct observation and instinct.

That skill, to tune into what isn’t obvious, is exceptional. And it helps shape a different kind of leadership. Because real leadership starts by understanding people.

Henal often returned to a simple principle he learned early on: you don’t have to shout to be heard in business. You just have to listen properly. And most people don’t.

A café that felt like home

When Henal and his wife opened their café, it reflected everything they’d lived and learned about hospitality. It became a space shaped by how they see people and the role of products within those relationships.

“People come in with nothing and they only walk out with a full stomach. But it’s that whole experience that was the main thing.”

That experience carried a personal touch, grounded in everyday interactions and genuine warmth. They posted unfiltered moments on social media, like Henal dancing in the kitchen while prepping food, and invited their customers into the rhythm of their day. His wife, the chef, often stepped out of the kitchen to talk to guests face to face. That one small act changed the dynamic. Instead of a silent transaction, it became a moment of connection.

Why does that matter? Because in a world full of automated greetings and digital menus, warmth is becoming a competitive advantage. Would you rather eat at a place where someone knows your name, or just your table number?

Their café evolved into a community fixture, welcoming guests with food and a familiar sense of belonging that made it a reliable part of daily life. Community value grows through consistency and real conversations that leave a lasting impression.

Henal shaped his approach through personal memories rather than relying on standard branding formulas. The same kind of energy he saw in his dad’s shop decades ago, asking after customers’ kids, remembering birthdays, pausing for a proper chat, was now part of how he ran a modern café. What some would call old-fashioned, he simply called necessary.

This reflected something current and meaningful, shaped by real-world needs and values. In an era of scale and speed, many people still crave the thing that tech can’t deliver: human presence.

Emotional openness as strategy

Henal spoke openly about how life shaped his approach to business, how real-world challenges can sharpen empathy, and how emotional awareness plays a powerful role in leadership.

“Even as a man, I still have emotion. You should be allowed to let that out before it affects you.”

During the UK lockdowns, when many small businesses faced sudden closures, Henal and his wife responded with resourcefulness and speed. With the café unable to operate normally, they transformed it into a pop-up shop, sourcing bulk ingredients, repackaging them, and delivering essentials to local residents.

He describes the kitchen filled with containers of flour, ready to be distributed in direct response to local needs as they emerged.

They launched a Shopify store, helped customers find essentials that were out of stock elsewhere, and hand-delivered them. In a time of distance and disruption, they restored a sense of closeness.

Beyond that, Henal also organised webinars for small business owners, pulling together experts like accountants and marketers to offer support and advice. Their response to crisis became a way to contribute meaningfully to the wider business community.

Running a business like a person

Throughout the conversation, Henal returned to a single idea: business should feel human. Many talk about this, but few truly embed it into the way they operate. Henal was one of the few.

He reflected on the atmosphere of his father’s newsagent shop in the 90s, a modest corner store that left a lasting impression through small, genuine gestures. There was no branding strategy, but there was care. His father took time to chat with customers, remembered their stories, and treated each visit as more than a transaction.

“You could go to the supermarket and buy a little bit cheaper. But they wanted to come in for the experience of talking with my dad.”

This quiet attentiveness stayed with Henal and became part of how he approached his own ventures. Rather than focus on growth tactics, he prioritised connection. He created environments where people felt seen and appreciated, and that left a deeper impact than any marketing push could.

Even in moments that could have been gimmicks, like the “Invisible Chips” menu item, a playful way to raise money for hospitality workers, he found ways to build connection. What customers remembered most were the shared experiences that turned a simple meal into something meaningful.

So what’s your version of Invisible Chips? What do you do in your business that makes people feel like they belong?

Henal’s choices in hospitality and beyond reflect a consistent approach. Authenticity came through naturally in the way he treated people, the way he listened, and the way he made the everyday feel meaningful.

Don’t copy, connect

Henal cautioned against comparing your business to others, a trap that’s easy to fall into when everyone else’s milestones, awards, and viral posts are just one scroll away. But what if the thing you’re comparing was never meant to look like yours in the first place? What if the goal is to build something distinct?

“You and I could open the same business right next to each other. But you bring your style to it, and I bring mine.”

Henal spoke from decades of watching businesses lose their spark by chasing what worked for someone else. He has seen how easy it is to slip into mimicry, copying price points, tone of voice, even visual identity, because it feels safer than inventing your own path. Connection often grows from originality, the willingness to bring something genuinely personal into the business.

Too often, entrepreneurs try to solve the wrong problem: how do I fit in? Henal would suggest a better question: how do I stand out while still being true to myself?

Authenticity takes ownership. Owning your story, your values, your way of doing things, even when it doesn’t look like the market leader’s playbook. That’s what creates loyalty. The way you offer your product or service often holds as much value as the offering itself.

Big brands can afford to be faceless. Small businesses carry the gift of personality. You get to make someone feel seen. Heard. Remembered. No algorithm can do that.

As Henal’s journey shows, what often stays with people is the way a business makes them feel, connected, seen, and valued.

And if you want your business to be remembered, maybe the best place to start is with yourself.

Discovery, resilience, and meaning

Henal’s story doesn’t follow the usual “exit strategy” plotline. He didn’t build his business to flip it, franchise it, or turn it into a lifestyle brand. He built it to survive, to serve, and to make meaning out of experience. His version of success lived in conversations, community ties, and the steady discipline of carrying on.

That kind of resilience takes shape through real loss, rebuilding, and deep reflection, far beyond what you’ll find in business books. Henal navigated through intense periods of uncertainty and change, moments that demanded resilience, adaptability, and a deep sense of purpose. And he didn’t use those moments to build a personal brand. He used them to build empathy, patience, and perspective.

We often talk about resilience like it’s a muscle. But it’s also a mindset. A way of showing up. And what Henal reminds us is that emotional intelligence helps you read a room, stay calm in uncertainty, and lead when no one has answers.

Henal began by focusing on people and relationships, allowing the rest of the business to grow around that core. With presence. With a willingness to act even when he didn’t have the full map. His journey suggests that some of the best businesses grow out of how we respond when things don’t go to plan.

Because anyone can follow a strategy. Few have the patience to follow people.

Ready to build a business that actually feels human?