Outdoor expert

My Big Idea

Two incidents changed Ramesh Talcherkar's life. While Talcherkar had wanted to become a doctor, but didn't get admission.

He ended up with a pharmaceutical company as a medical representative for two years. One day his colleagues, jealous of his success, got Talcherkar into a sticky situation.

When Talcherkar heard his boss yelling at him, he resigned immediately and decided to be his own boss.

That is when Talcherkars Private Limited "" a company that sets up exhibitions and outdoor displays "" was born. With zero investment and just a table in his father's office, Talcherkar's today has crossed a turnover of about Rs 5 crore.

My father was a famous commercial artist who had designed logos and labels for companies like Parle Products and Wimco. We were ten siblings and though we were comfortable we were never well off.

We used to stay in Borivali and all around us we had Gujarati neighbours who were extremely enterprising and had all the comforts in the world. When I would look at them, I would think about the reasons for the disparity and I always wanted to change that.

I completed my schooling in a small school in Borivali. I wanted to become a doctor but unfortunately didn't get in. So after completing my science graduation I joined Fairdeal Corporation, a pharmaceutical company that was in Jogeshwari, a Mumbai suburb known for its cow sheds and dirty neighbourhood.

Doctors would shy away from buying our medicines since they thought the location was unhygienic. I brought a batch of doctors every Saturday for a plant visit to show them that while the factory was located in such surroundings, internally it was clean. This strategy worked and we got lots of business.

Due to this, I had an extremely good rapport with the managing director. At the time I got a stipend of Rs 150 per month which was later increased to a salary of Rs 350.

One day my colleagues instigated me to go ask my boss for a car for my sales rounds. In my naivete, I did so and my boss who happened to be in a bad mood asked me to get out of his office.

When I came out and saw my colleagues laughing at my stupidity, it hurt me so much that I resigned immediately. My boss asked me to reconsider and I told him that if all my hard work and honesty had led to this result, I wanted to be my own boss.

My father was furious with me and wanted me to take up a regular job. I told him about my idea of making pamphlets and promotional material for pharmaceutical companies and he was livid.

So much so that I ran off to an aunt's place for two months till he called me. He told me that if I wasn't successful in six months I should give the idea up and take up a regular job.

Being a commercial artist, my father had set up an artist's studio and my eldest brother used to work with him. So I asked them to give me enough space for a table and chair. That was the only investment.

I started by going back to my former boss, telling him about my business and he promised to send work my way. I would go door to door to pharmaceutical companies and sell the power of outdoor advertising. By the end of the first year I had six clients and an annual turnover of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000.

Six months later, I bought a Fiat car for Rs 2,000. To support myself initially I gave tuitions to a lady who used to supply tiffins to offices.

She introduced me to this company called Dr Writers and several other people which helped expand my business. The business kept growing and my other siblings also joined in.

Initially I would give business to my father and brother, but later I switched to my own professional team. My big break was an exhibition in Bangalore where I handled Pfizer's exhibition and product display and got the first prize.

In 1973, my brothers and I parted ways after they decided to do something on their own. The business has survived through sheer hard work and personal contact. It is an extremely competitive environment now and we strive to be dynamic.

We are well known in the industry and we work out of two more branches in Delhi and Bangalore with a team of 200 people. I'm 74 and still working though my son also manages the business of about 100 regular clients. We want to be bigger and better in the future.