11. Aditya Infotech: Focus On Niche Markets 

CEO: Aditya Khemka START-UP YEAR: 1996 NO OF PARTNERS: 1,300 BRANCHES: 14 PRODUCTS: Motherboards, CPUs, monitors, memory, storage and networking products, multimedia products and peripherals VENDORS: LG, Microtek, Epson, Logitech, AMD, Seagate, Asustek, Comp ADDRESS: B 254, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi - 110 020. TEL: 011-6223810, 6223811, 6452211, 6452212 FAX: 011-6227979, 6232212 WEBSITE: www.adityagroup.com  POINTERS TO PERFORMANCE Engaged in box moving Added more peripherals to its portfolio POINTERS TO FUTURE To play dominant role niche markets To tap the interiors of the country

While last year was predominantly one that occupied the company with box moving, the future is not likely to have Aditya Infotech playing a similar role. The company has expanded its channel base from 1,000 channel partners to 1,300. It has added three new branches. 

The company has now committed itself to deal more in niche products, which will provide it an opportunity to add value. "We will work with products that may be commodities tomorrow, but are definitely niche today," says Aditya Khemka, CEO and Director, reiterating the company's focus on products that would need greater hard sell and value addition to move in the market. 

This is part of a two-pronged strategy that the company will follow to ensure that margins will remain healthy. And playing in a niche should grant it immunity from the ongoing slowdown. "We will take a diversion off the bumpy road," states Khemka, matter-of-factly. 

The last FY saw the company growing by a massive 81 percent, with its agency revenues shooting up from Rs 89 crore in 1999-00 to Rs 162 crore in 2000-01. It even bettered its Silver Club ranking by climbing a notch higher to 11. 

The company enjoyed a very good May to September 2000 period and anticipating good times to continue, piled up huge inventories. The slowdown that hit the market somewhere in October last year saw the company warehouses flushed with inventory, eroding its bottom-line in the process. 

Stability has now set in, but post-October was a shaky period at Aditya Infotech. "We now have to work for better bottom lines now, top lines don't really concern us that much," says Khemka. They plan to grow the bottomline at a rate greater than their overall targeted growth rate. 

And better margins are being are looked at by developing markets for niche products. While it has signed up with Pinnacle for the distribution of its complete range of business and consumer products, Aditya Infotech is ensuring that it does not miss the commodity bus too. 

For that line of business, it tied up with Logitech. Another initiative has been the distribution of its own brand, Crusader. The brand currently has webcams and speakers but will soon expand to other products. "With the addition of such peripherals in our product portfolio, we are addressing the already installed base of 10 million computers in the country," says

Khemka. 

The future lies in the interiors of the country. The balance between the commodity and niche markets will also be struck, as the niche products will predominantly be a metro phenomenon. "The up-country markets will provide healthier margins and keep the commodity business moving, while the niche markets will absorb the new products," says Khemka.