Mukesh Infoserve : From humble beginnings to glory

Just a piece of invoice paper changed yet another reseller to a distinguished system integrator. Thirty-seven-year-old Mukundh, along with his colleagues-turned-business partners, Varadharajan (Varadha, as the friends fondly call him) and Senthil, started Mukesh Infoserve in 1997 with energy and enthusiasm as a humble reseller firm, which is now one of the leaders in South India.

EARLY CHALLENGES
With a bachelors degree in Physics, Mukundh worked in a private firm for 3 years. He also holds a diploma in cyber law from the Asian School of Cyber Law. Mukundh frankly admits that he did not face many hurdles in the initial years. "The initial days were very smooth for us and nothing was very tough. We all worked with integrity such that we grew day-by-day, which has made us what we are today," he says. However, Mukundh claims that the real challenges started when his organization wanted to fly high by expanding its wings. "We expanded our horizons in various places like Sriperambudur, Madurai, etc, and thus the challenges mushroomed one after the other. In fact, we might have lived a cushy life with a regular bunch of customers," says Mukundh, adding that maintenance of manpower and cash flow were the major challenges in the time when expansions were carried on.

THE ‘INVOICE' STORY
Mukesh Infoserve, which had implemented a SAP internally for their official use, had pre­pared an invoice for their own customer, who got impressed with the invoice prepared and asked Mukundh to make a deployment of the same for his organization also. The very invoice transformed the face and fate of Mukesh Infoserve. "Practically speaking, yes, the invoice made a great transformation within us. Also, we thought that greater heights could not be attained with the hardware business only, so we planned to get expertise with the solution business," he says.

LESSONS LEARNT
Mukundh says that the major lessons he learnt was from the mistakes he committed. "We started multiple operations in various locations, which really made our time tough. Eventually, we learnt that expansion of footprints should be done one location-by-location," he says.

NESS FORMULA
As a reseller, when Mukundh wanted to shift as a system integrator, he wanted to apply the NESS formula which clearly defined the way the organization reshuffled its go-to-market strategy. "We were very particular on four areas-net­wor­king, enterprises, software, and ser­vices (NESS), with our team moving ahead in these areas where opportunities were aplenty," Mukundh says. The complete transformation towards the next level happened in CY 2011-2012 which helped Mukesh Infoserve move ahead, bagging a lot of orders.

FUTURE PLANS
Mukundh says that he wants to grow his organization across the country. He also adds that if possible, he is ready to find opportunities off-shore. "We are aggressively planning to take our organization to newer heights and our recent orders are really good. We want to be #1 in the country through our hard work," he says.

POLICIES
Passion is the one word Mukundh thrives on. "When you do anything with passion, success automatically follows you," he says, adding that his organization works solely with unity and integrity. "In my team, we get inspired by the good qualities of others and this internal-inspiration model is our mantra, and thus we are growing step-by-step," he adds further.

SOFT LIFE
Mukundh's day starts at 5.30 am in the morning and ends at around 7.30 pm. Mukundh is married to Sukanya, an MBA graduate, who he feels is his greatest support both officially and personally. "She understands me and my business a lot, however sometimes she demands time," he says. "My 6-month-old daughter Srinidhi makes my life very beautiful. Every day, playing with her gives me complete joy and she makes my day happy," says Mukundh, who finds utmost happiness with the new member of his family. Cricket and reading are Mukundh's hobbies. "I read a lot of books, especially books related to management and spiritual thoughts," he adds. Mukundh is an ardent fan of actor Kamal Hassan. "Chak De India, Lagaan, and Ezham Arivu are my favorite movies," Mukundh says. In business life, Mukundh has picked Warren Buffet as a role model for his financial achievements through investments. Mukundh admires Steve Jobs for his out-of-the-box thinking and his manner of doing things differently. In his personal life, Mukundh's father Boovaraghavan has been his role model. "Who else can be a good role model other than your parents? I also admire Gandhi ji very much," he says.