Technocrat – Growing from failures
"Business is like cycling on a single-wheeled cycle in a circus. You need to keep on paddling because if you stop, you will fall.”
Success is just around the corner –
Mr. Vinod didn't let the failures of his previous businesses hold him back from pursuing yet another business idea - Technocrat. He wanted to make sure that Technocrat was successful and he focused hard on quality, delivery and customer relationships. He started off in a small room with 20 employees and he grew it into an Rs 40 crore+ business model. He focused on stringent checks and balances, higher quality vendors, best in class operations and international manufacturing units. What sets him apart from his competitors is his 3x3x3 customer service policy which means that a customer complaint is lodged within 3 hours, responded to within 3 days and corrected within 3 weeks. This value addition is one of the many innovations stemming from Technocrat Systems.
Valuable lessons learnt from hard times –
Mr. Vinod had a tough childhood. His father, Shri T.C.Pahilajani, migrated from during partition leaving behind large acres of farm land and wealth. The struggle of making a livelihood in India taught him life lessons that served as the building blocks of entrepreneurship. Throughout his journey, he had his own share of failures, but he continuously learned the tricks of running a successful business as he progressed from one level to another. He first began a courier delivery business which didn’t turn out to be a success. He then started a filter manufacturing unit for automotive applications which couldn’t succeed due to limited resources. He didn't allow his failures to keep him down and he finally found success with Technocrat.
Awards and merits –
Mr. Vinod’s focus towards successful profitability led Technocrat from a turnover of 6 lakhs a year in 1994 to a turnover of 48 crore, two manufacturing plants, state-of-the-art machinery and more than 200 employees. His vision for the industry shines through and the multiple awards he has won are a testament to his passion. In the year 2010-2011, Technocrat was awarded the prestigious “Rajeev Gandhi National Quality Award″ from the Government of India. The company has won several industry awards ever since. Besides this, Technocrat has been getting the “best supplier award” frequently from their core customers. Technocrat has also being conferred by ACMA a prestigious Manufacturing Excellence Award. One of his proudest achievements is that he’s been able to grow the company at a 20% CAGR for the last 4-5 years and this is a staggering achievement by any sense of measure.
Starting small and thinking big –
Mr. Vinod started his organization from humble beginnings. He began his company in a small room with smaller capacity jobs. He gradually learned the business and developed it slowly. Initially, he focused on driving revenue and production quality. As the business began to pick pace, he increased margins and profitability. Following the challenges he faced while growing the company, he also implemented back-ward integration of child parts that are elemental in the overall production of the finished goods. Recently Technocrat is setting up a manufacturing unit in Indonesia to cater ASEAN countries and in discussion with distributors in Sri Lanka Nepal and Bangladesh for further expansion to SAARC countries. Learning from mistakes in his stride and continued his forward march under all circumstances. If there is anyone who truly symbolizes the meaning of the word entrepreneur, it is HIM.
A tough battleground -
It’s usually the case that most SMEs face shortage in finance, infrastructure, human capital and basic support system for their organization at the start of their business. Mr. Vinod also faced similar challenges in the automotive component industry owing to the fact that the OEM sector is highly competitive and the customers are very demanding. The positive side though, is that the pros outweigh the cons. The industry size is massive and one can learn a lot from working with clients in this space. He recommends that entrepreneurs work harder than their competition and ensure that high quality standards are always maintained in order to succeed.
Focused charity work –
Mr. Vinod organizes Pulse Polio camps and blood donation camps. He also ensures that his plant is an environment-friendly unit. Technocrat is almost completely paperless in its operations and the company works diligently to lower its carbon-footprint.