Service-Oriented Assembler

It is this

incessant approach towards ensuring customer satisfaction that has made his

organization Geonet IT Mall a well-recognized name in the assembled PC segment.

Business was one of the last things Bimal Kumar had thought of entering into

while he was pursuing his BTech in computer science from University of Pune. And

considering his family background, where rarely anyone tried his hands at

entrepreneurship, this mindset of Bimal was not too surprising either.

But that was story four years ago. Unexpected it may be, but the fact is that

today Bimal runs a successful business of PC assembling and his venture Geonet

IT Mall, in a short span,has made its mark as one of the leading assembled PC

shops in Navi Mumbai.

STRONG CUSTOMER BASE



Started in Feb 1999, Geonet IT Mall today has three branches and a very

strong customer base in the home segment. Right from the beginning Bimal focused

on this segment and today he is in a position to offer PCs to meet different

budgets of customers.

To Bimal, customer satisfaction has always remained the key to his success.

"Right from day one, we have tried to offer maximum value for customers’

money while he purchases a PC from us," says Bimal. And this value was

delivered not just in term of quality product but also excellent service,

after-sales support and most importantly Bimal’s own personal interaction with

each of his customer.

Needless to say, all this resulted in a success that by any standard is

enviable. Geonet started with a capital of Rs 5 lakh and broke even in less than

a month itself. From its initial days, when the company used to sell about 10-12

systems a month, today its sales cross over 100 PCs a month. "In the very

first year of operation, we recorded a turnover of Rs 2 crore. And we doubled

this up very next year, ie in 2000-2001," informs a proud Bimal.

As was the case with the entire IT industry in general, FY 2001-2002 was not

as good. "But we still recorded a far better growth than others and clocked

Rs 7 crore in revenues," adds Bimal. Also by this time, he had started a

training center for Jetking, which started to bring in additional revenues.

"This year, when we close the books in March, we would have had at least 20

percent growth," says Bimal.

However, he insists that despite a sharp fall in the topline growth, Geonet’s

bottomline would have got strengthened. This, he adds is the result of

maintaining fair practices and having strong cost controls. "To some extent

my management education has also helped me in running the organization in an

extremely professional and efficient manner," quips Bimal. Bimal also

attributes his success to his five-year stint with different IT companies before

he jumped into business.

BETTER VALUE PROPOSITION



After finishing his BTech in 1994, Bimal joined HCL as a marketing executive

and worked there till 1998. Then he joined Delhi-based Multiple Zones but soon

realized that it was not one of the best career moves that he had made. He quit

the company in less than a year. Then he went into another Delhi-based company

called Integral Computers and was responsible for managing its operations in

Mumbai.

"It was during this period that the idea of starting my own systems

assembling business struck me," says Bimal. And with his extensive contacts

and experience in the local market, he did not face much difficulty. In less

than three months time, Geonet had got two branches for itself.

But all this instant success did not get into Bimal’s head and he

constantly increased his efforts towards offering customers a better value

proposition either in term of product itself or related service. "In fact,

right from day one, our focus on service has been much more than on actual

sales," tells Bimal. He informs that for sales, his staff strength has

remained constant at seven, while his service team has grown nearly ten times.

According to Bimal, he has never shied from charging more from customers as

compared to the competition. "But what we have ensured is that we have

justified the price differential by offering the kind of service and support no

one else provides," adds he. And it is this confidence that has led Geonet

to constantly increase its customer base and create a brand name for itself in

the home segment.

MAINTAINING PERSONAL INTERACTION



Bimal says, "Being a player in the home segment, Geonet gets a strong

word-of-mouth publicity and also because of the fact that despite company’s

growth, I still interact with customers on an individual level." And it is

this personal interaction, which he thinks, makes a world of difference to

customers.

This became apparent, when while talking to DQCI for the story, one of the

customers walked up to him with a problem concerning his web camera. Bimal

instantly directed his service staff to look into the matter and offer immediate

replacement if necessary.

"Customer expectations are very high today and if one needs to survive

in these competitive times, one has to meet all these expectations,"

remarks Bimal. According to him, after-sales service plays a very crucial role

towards meeting customer expectations and hence generating publicity for the

organization. And having realized this, Bimal is also very confident that very

soon his service division will emerge as an independent profit center.

"By now we have well understood that if you can offer excellent service

to customers’ content, they wouldn’t mind paying you a bit extra," says

Bimal adding, "And it is this realization that has made us seriously work

towards making our service division an independent entity by itsel."

Bimal is hopeful that in about two month’s time, Geonet’s service

division will break even and after that will start showing profits. "This

of course will be made possible by creating a strong buffer of manpower on

service front and exerting tight control on costs," adds he.

DIVERSIFICATION’S ON THE AGENDA



Bimal is also envisaging setting up a service network across major cities in

the country. "We are already working in this regard and have readied our

infrastructure in Bangalore and Delhi," informs he.

Bimal is also looking at a model, where in Geonet would offer service packs

to users irrespective of where they buy their PC from. He believes that this

model would also help those who have transferable jobs and have to keep moving

to different cities as the service packs could be utilized in any city within

its network.

In addition to this, other things on Bimal’s agenda are to slowly increase

its penetration in the corporate segment and look at some diversified IT

activities as well. "Now that we are an established player, we feel

confident of entering the enterprise space," adds he.

Bimal also informs that he is seriously considering getting into the

IT-enabled services arena. "If things work out, you would soon see us

setting up a small call center catering to the needs of small banks here in Navi

Mumbai," adds he.

But would he completely diversify into some other activities with time?

"No. That is never going to happen. Systems assembling would still continue

to be my main business though, the business model may get more refined with

changing times," says Bimal. But before ending he adds with a chuckle,

"I have always wanted to have a discotheque of my own. That has been a

passion for me and I am going to realize that dream someday!"

GOLDIE