|
'Grow assiduously' appears to be Compuage Incofom's mantra for 2001-02. Though revenues grew from Rs 161 crore in 1999-00 to Rs 240 crore last fiscal, the company admits to have been hit by the slump. Nevertheless it has chalked out plans to keep bottom line healthy by branching out into software as well as hardware services. Both these initiatives will take off by the year-end.
The company's strategy to beat the slowdown is very simple -- "Hold on to customers, push sales more aggressively and curtail expenses as much as possible." This is how it managed to hold on to its No 6 position in the Silver Club, improving from its growth of 18 percent in 1999-00 to 46 percent in 2000-01.
Interestingly, Atul Mehta, CMD, points out that with the economic downslide, the channel too has shifted its focus. There has been a definite movement from reseller business to SI business. This is because reselling is more about selling boxes, breaking bulk and extending credit.
The smaller resellers have moved out and the bigger ones have repositioned themselves as VARs. "We have more than 2000 channel partners, but typically top 300 account for 75 percent of our business. Our channel has not shrunk, as we keep adding new partners all the time," he adds.
Compuage Electronics changed its name to Compuage Infocom in 2000 as a result of its reverse merger with Worldwide Technologies. "Infocom reflects on the wide array of products that Compuage carries. The name gave a boarder perspective to the business it is in, given the fact that the company had plans to venture into software and services," says
Atul.
Last year saw Compuage welcoming LG Electronics to its vendor list. At the same time, it expanded to newer locations including Pune, Nagpur and Chandigarh. This fiscal, the company will focus its attention on consolidating its operation in these B class cities.
A lot of planning will also go into moulding its own brand 'Odyssey' into a sure-fire winner. While sales of cabinets and motherboards have stabilized, the company is still improving upon the quality of other products. "We want to get the entire product line in place and then we will set targets for its revenue contribution. The real focus of Odyssey in terms of contribution to revenues will only be visible from January 2002," says
Atul.
The company had set a target of Rs 300 crore for this fiscal, but soon this figure will be revised. "Business has been slower and I don't think that we can grow at the same pace as we did last year," states
Atul.
Also, after eight months of planning, Compuage has reached the final stages of ERP implementation.
Compuage Infocom has a clear-cut agenda for 2001-02 and that is to get its software and service business up and running. In addition to this, it will keep adding more brands to its portfolio and more partners in its network.