National Ambitions

He spurned many job offers from MNCs on the completion of his engineering degree because he was intent on starting his own business in IT even from his college days. Vinod G, MD, Arcamax Computers Systems proved that he was a born entrepreneur when he fulfilled his ambition of starting his own company as soon as he was out of the academics. 

"In the year 1995 I passed out of engineering college with distinction and there were many job offers in hand," says Vinod, "but I was keen on my own venture." Thus was born Arcamax Computers Systems Pvt Ltd in 1996 with an investment of Rs 25 Lakh. The company started operations with eight people.

Staying ahead

Hard is what he enjoys most and Vinod also makes sure that he stays ahead in business. This thinking has helped him to shape the growth of Arcamax Computers on the fast track and build it into a financially strong company. 

Vinod has plans to expand the company's operations across the country shortly. "I want Arcamax Computers to grow into a national company with offices in 20 locations across the country, which will take us virtually to every state in India," says a confident Vinod. Today Arcamax has its offices at Cochin, Hyderabad and Singapore. 

Arcamax started the business by selling PCs. Says Vinod, "We have seen tremendous growth over the years." Arcamax witnessed a huge growth of 400 percent in the second year itself. Since then growth may have come down but today Arcamax is a Rs 12 crore company. 

Dream come true 

One of Vinod's dream was to roll out Arcamax brand of PCs and take the market by storm, which he did in 1998. With a branded PC in hand, Vinod put his best foot forward in market development efforts. The efforts have paid off handsomely as the turnover has been growing in leaps and bounds.

Today the primary focus of Arcamax is on PC manufacturing which it sells to the OEM segment. "Arcamax PCs will compete very strongly with other MNC brands in the coming years," points out Vinod, "currently we have 10 partners in Bangalore and 10 outside to sell the Arcamax brand." 

Arcamax is a GID and most of its PCs are sold with Intel solutions around them. "People at Intel have been a big support and have helped us to grow fast," opines Vinod. Arcamax has also tied up with Microsoft and Seagate for their products.

Optimistic to the core

Though the overall market is dull, Vinod is very optimistic and is always on the lookout for newer business opportunities. He is looking for government support to make PCs affordable for the middle-class families. "Finance companies too should also play a vital role in funding computers and make them affordable to common man," says Vinod. 

Sunila Paul in Bangalore