Pulkit Agrawal, the 263rd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, learned a vital business lesson the hard way.

Pulkit’s former business, an SEO agency, was booming, with 10 staff and high profits. But it had one big vulnerability – all its revenue came from just one customer. So when that customer suddenly closed its doors, 100% of Pulkit’s revenue disappeared.

With the benefit of hindsight, Pulkit says, he should’ve used the profits that customer was generating to hire sales staff who could bring in more clients, thereby simultaneously growing his business and reducing his risk.

Pulkit refused to be defeated. He started a new SEO agency, UR Digital, which has a policy of not letting any customer grow to more than 20% of its revenue base. UR Digital is doing so well that, last month, Pulkit was named in Inside Small Business magazine’s annual Top 50 Small Business Leaders list.

Part of the reason UR Digital is thriving is because Pulkit has forced himself out of his comfort zone. He’s an introvert who feels more comfortable behind a keyboard than networking. But he realised that was limiting his company’s growth. So he started putting himself out there – and, by meeting with potential clients and referral partners, was able to build a second business that’s even more impressive than the first.

Clearly, Pulkit is smart, resilient and determined. He’s also a really kind, genuine person. Nice guys can finish first.