STARTING OUT
I was born in 55 in a middle-class family in Mumbai. My father was a quality control manager in Glaxo. An average student, I graduated in statistics from Ruparel College and then secured diplomas in computer and marketing management from the Bombay University. My first job was in Wellcome as a medical representative in 78. I was awarded the best sales recruitment award in the first year and the best salesman in the next. I learnt the craft of selling here. However, I became restless as I had excellent superiors and it would have taken years to reach the top. I quit and joined EST, a US-based communication workshop firm, in 80 as the centre manager. But anti-US sentiments were riding high then and the centre was about to close. By then I had clocked in three years and it was time again to call it quits.
TESTING THE WATER
In 82 I decided to bat for myself. Istarted a marketing service firm. Activities included consultancy, training the sales force of firms, etc. Identifying this line was easy: no capital was required. I operated from my home in Worli and ran sales promos for companies like Voltas, P&G, GTC, etc. But as we grew in number, residents in the building started cribbing. Besides, the turnover barely touched a lakh in that year.
So I rented a place in Tardeo against an advance of Rs 5,000 and Rs 1,500 as monthly rent. That year, in 84, we cornered two prestigeous cigarette campaigns for GTC and notched a turnover of Rs 10 lakh. Next year, sales were up four times and the tax sleuths came sniffing. In my hurry, I had overlooked some labour laws. High penalties left dents in the profits. It was impossible to continue as margins dropped drastically.
But I had made my million by then. I was also running an advertising agency, Excalibur, in partnership. We had some successful campaigns such Bigen, some Shaw Wallace brands, etc. In 86, the two-year agency was raking in Rs 3 crore. However, my partner opted out due to ill health and with little understanding of this line, I closed down both the firms. It was not that I was flummoxed by the sudden turn of events. All these years, I had always wanted to start some manufacturing unit. These odd jobs were the route to save enough capital for I had already identified my line: selling packaged atta (wheat flour). Frankly, the idea was born in my student days, when I would walk to the local flour mill to grind the wheat. The inconveniences, losing out on both quantity and quality, told me that packaged atta would be a worthwhile venture.
More From This Section
Make or break
Despite the lack of a model to guide me, I went ahead with the project on a small scale. I would buy wheat from the market and my wife (I had married in 82)and I would clean it. Then to the flour mill and back, strain the flour and finally, pack it. I would make endless trips on my motorbike to sell the 2 kg packs. Initially, people scoffed at me; they were sceptical about the quality. So I would visit shops with homemade chapatis to convince them. On the days when I was able to sell five packets, I felt like a king. The first year went without marking either profit or loss.
In 87, I took a loan of Rs 7 lakh from North Canara GSB bank, put in Rs 3.5 lakh of my savings, bought machinery and set up base in Dahisar, 45 km from Mumbai. The next two years saw huge losses. I made plenty of mistakes; suppliers cheated me on quality. Sales were good but there was no profit in the balance sheet. Moreover, I was trying to ensure quality without hiking the price and it reached a stage where the business became unviable. I took all the setbacks philosophically; it was the fee to be paid to gain knowledge to run a business successfully.
The lucky break
Following the Asian games, in 1989 TV became the hot medium and I began to advertise on it. I had nothing to lose as I was already in the dumps. The agencies used to give 90-day credit and I was taking a calculated risk. It clicked. The turnover in the first year 92 was Rs 45 lakh and the next year Rs 2 crore. Yes, I had learned from my failures.
In 94, I took over a sick company in Silvassa with a production capacity of 20 tonnes per day. Atta business is not unit value product, it is all about volumes. I leveraged the production capacity and storage facility and sifted the atta into fine, medium and coarse brands to cater to different taste brands, delegated work and got better staff. Now my main markets are in Maharashtra and Gujarat
IN THE Future
Today, there are big players in the market and many are waiting in the wings. As a pioneer I do not want to lose the competitive edge and am planning to diversify by shortly introducing designer bread, frozen chapatis and baked chapatis. I want to retire in my ancestral village near Mangalore when I am 45, experiment in wheat cultivation in the southern states and indulge in spiritual pursuits... Belive me, I am working very hard to fulfil these dreams.
Money does not excite me. Being a pioneer does. I use money as a means to pursue this goal. As for creature comforts, from two-wheelers, Silver Plus and Yezdi, I graduated to Marutis and a Jeep. Otherwise, lifestyle has remained the same. Simple.
(As told to Madhu T)