Seeing the future first

BACKSTAGE

Ramaswami Subramanian saw the potential in the Indian retail industry even before Kishore Biyani did. He may have had a slow start but today, exactly ten years after he set up his first Subhiksha store at Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai, he heads India's largest retail chain with about 650 convenience stores up and running. That's about 1.5 million square feet of space. Now, the first generation entrepreneur is in an even bigger hurry. By the end of the 2007, he reckons there will be about 1,000 convenience stores dotting neighbourhoods across the country "" except perhaps in the north-east "" and by the end of 2008 there could be as many as 2,000.

Not surprising then that the 41-year-old Subramanian, who studied at IIT Chennai and IIM Ahmedabad, travels 15 days a month. But then he always fancied doing the unconventional "" giving up a lucrative career at Citibank to join a sick company like Enfield. But even that was too conventional for him, so in 1991 he borrowed Rs 50 lakh from a friend to set up a finance company called Viswapriya. The idea was to buy back debentures from individuals who had small lots to make bigger ones, sell them, invest the funds in mutual funds and help investors earn a monthly income. The firm was also one of the first to do asset securitisation.

In 1997, Subramanian , who never wanted to go overseas like many of his friends did, toyed with the idea of getting into software but figured he was already late. So, with a capital of Rs 5 crore, which came from the profits of Vishwapriya, he started Subhiksha, using the same customer proposition as Wal-Mart "" Every Day Low Prices (ELDP).

The retailer's ambitions are by no means modest though he says he's not over-ambitious and believes life is all about taking calculated risks. Although the firm's turnover is just about Rs 850 crore, he's hoping to head a Rs 12,000-Rs 15,000 crore retail chain in about five years' time and wants to be the leader in the four verticals that Subhiksha is present in "" fruit and vegetables, groceries, pharmaceuticals and mobiles. Luckily for him, financiers are convinced it's possible "" ICICI Ventures, which first funded Subhiksha in 2000, continues to back it.

Of late Subramanian has been learning to delegate and trust his team a lot more, quite in contrast to the early days when he wanted to be in control of everything. "I'm a changed man and now I offer alternative suggestions, but let the business heads take the final decisions," he says. He wants to be a democratic leader having been inspired by people like Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa, who he believes had the ability to motivate people to work with them even though they were not being paid. Subramanian, who loves his curd-rice, says he is a religious man.

What drives him? "I've always wanted to create an impact on the masses," he says. That's pretty much the reason he's opted for the low pricing strategy, the idea being to create something for the less affluent rather than for the elite. Also, he wants to prove that it's not always necessary to copy a foreign business model and believes that it's possible to do things the Indian way. And he's confident he'll pull it off.