Thriving On Repeat Orders

When Umesh Asher Morarji started Krupa Electronics in the last quarter of

1991, the only capital he had with him was his last job’s salary and a lot of

technical expertise. To begin with, he rented a 100 sq ft office space and

appointed a helper. The helper is still employed with him but has graduated to

become a engineer!

Umesh started his career in 1983 as a electronic calculator technician at K

Jagmohan Das. After working for a few years he took up technical jobs at two

other places, Sujata Electronics (1985) and Ashtech (1986), when he decided to

start out on his own.

Krupa Electronics is primarily into systems integration and services, but

"a little bit of trading is unavoidable," says Umesh. All his

customers are end-users in the corporate and semi-corporate segment.

"Trading activity is limited to end users and not in the dealer

market," he clarifies.

Nothwithstanding the initial testing times, business started growing quickly.

He got his first order from American Express Bank for a 386-PC with a laser

printer for Rs 3.75 lakh. In 1992, Krupa clocked a turnover of Rs 12 lakh, and

"a major part was profit," says Umesh.

With more orders coming in, another company called Shyam Computers was

started in 1995 with similar activities. The combined turnover of both entities

comes to around Rs 1 crore. He has a team of eight engineers and three support

staff.

According to Umesh, the initial two to three years were peak period in his

business. Krupa’s growth during this period was over 30 percent every year.

Points out Umesh, "Now there is growth in volume terms, but when it comes

to profits, there is saturation."

Umesh attributes his success to the personal relationship that he keeps with

his customers. "My customers don’t come through the marketing channel.

All my customers have come through the ‘word-of-mouth’ channel. And that is

the way I prefer to work," he asserts.

"I work my way, I don’t follow the market trend," he adds. His

customers range from corporates in the chemical, tea, textiles and finance

business. Around 15 big customers give him repeat business throughout the year.

His relatioships in the market have never let him down. During all these

years, he has never been a victim in the hands of defaulters.

During the recent slowdown, Krupa looked out for alternative businesses like

renting out PCs, selling refurbished machines, etc.

For Krupa, the future is well planned. Umesh’s assessment is that business

in IT may not be bright in the coming days and hence he has planned to take up

maintenance of V-Sat Terminals of Hughes Escorts. The talks are on and Umesh

hopes to get into a formal agreement very soon.

Umesh is an active member of TAIT and represents the most prominent region

for IT trade in Mumbai–Lamington Road and Tardeo area in the trade

association.

NELSON JOHNY in Mumbai