MEDIAMAN GROUP: Philosophic Approach To Business

Becoming an entrepreneur at a young age of 21, Dushyant Mehta has turned Mediaman Group into a Rs 126 crore business entity today. Starting from scratch, he now runs a range of business activities and owns a brand of his own. Dushyant attributes his success to the philosophical education he acquired at a tapovan after dropping out from college.
Dushyant Mehta likes to live life on his own terms. 

At a time when most of his friends were wondering what career path they would pursue after graduation, he was desirous of knowing about religion, asceticism and its application in real life. Defying all norms and shocking his middle-class parents, he dropped out of college to pursue philosophical education in a tapovan. 

Dushyant feels that this unconventional education that he acquired, forms the basis of his success in the dynamic IT channel business. It was here he realized that success is often followed by failure; and only he who learns to move forward despite these events, truly succeeds in life. 

And succeed he did. Starting from scratch, Dushyant is today the proud owner of Mediaman Group, which posted a revenue of Rs 126 crore in 2002-03. Mediaman held a place of pride at #15 in the DQCI Silver Club 2002-03, moving up from #18 in the previous year.

LEARNING THE ROPES 

Dushyant soon learnt that getting a job without a graduation was a daunting task. His father recommended him to Raj Saraf of Zenith Computers in 1986, which kickstarted Dushyant’s career. At that time, Zenith was selling Super Brain computers and was a disty for Texas Instruments. 

Though he did not have any technical background, Dushyant was put in charge for setting up Zenith’s manufacturing unit. From here, he moved on to marketing peripherals, where he learned the skills of IT trade. “It was during this phase that I learnt the nitty-gritties of the channel business,” Dushyant reminisces.

He quickly observed that with the growing usage of computers, there would soon be a demand for media and consumables. Fired with a zeal to make his fortune in this business, Dushyant borrowed Rs 25,000 and started Mediaman. “The name was coined simply because I was the media selling man,” he chuckles.

In the first year, Dushyant used the contacts he had developed during his stint with Zenith, to visit customers and took orders from clients on advance payment. Whatever profits he earned, was invested back into the business. Within a year, Mediaman had posted a revenue of Rs 7 lakh. Dushyant employed a person and bought a 40 sq feet office at Lamington Road, the heart of IT trade in
Mumbai. 

“I soon got into selling TVSE DMPs for Rs 5,000 and as business grew, I expanded my office to a 200 sq feet setup,” recollects he. Soon Mediaman was selling a wide range of IT components, with Dushyant delivering the products to customers personally on his bike. 

TESTING NEW WATERS

Within three years of setting up his company, Dushyant was doing good business, selling roughly 2,500 printers monthly.

Slowly he started expanding his team and delegated all his work to them. He now concentrated his energies on coming up with new strategies for improving his business. 

“I realized that the reselling business has its limitations. I decided that since my team could manage these activities without me, I would explore new and emerging business opportunities,” says
Dushyant.

And this new area was networking. With most companies going in for networking, there was a good demand for components.

Dushyant started another company, Wales Technologies, to focus on this business and opened offices in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi. “I recruited fresh engineering graduates, personally trained them and made them branch heads,” adds he.

ADDING FUEL TO BUSINESS

As Wales Technologies started making a name for itself in the NAS and SAN environment, Dushyant decided to push the envelop further. He set up yet another company called Notebook Lab to sell mobile and laptop accessories, and followed this with the opening of a retail outlet ‘Here and Now’ in Mumbai. “I had great plans for the retail business. But then the market crashed two years ago and I had to curtail all incremental investments,” Dushyant rues. 

He also started his own brand of products called ‘Bravish’. The range comprised keyboards, color scroll mouse, foldable keyboards, digicams and LCD monitors. Although Bravish did not live up to market expectations, Dushyant still has great hopes for the brand.

A year ago, Dushyant got into another business line–servicing and repairing of all kinds of laptops. “I have over 70 skilled people, who are well-trained in the latest technologies. With such a valuable knowledge bank available, there is no reason why I should limit myself to just one or two business lines,” remarks
Dushyant.

His employees too are happy to get a chance to try their hands on new technologies and appreciate the trust that Dushyant places on their skills and acumen. Says Alok, Product Manager, “When I joined as a fresher, I did not have the confidence about dealing with technology. But today, I am very comfortable talking technicalities and dealing with clients, thanks to Dushyantbhai’s constant support.”

MAN OF MANY FACETS

Dushyant has two passions in his life, besides his work. The first is reading. “I read everything from Dalai Lama, Sri Ravi Shankar, Tolstoy to works of other great philosophers,” states he. He has even selected one wall in his spacious work cabin to house books on every subject, and is enthusiastically building it up. 

His other passion is to travel. He calls himself a globetrotter by chance and choice. “In my line of business it is important to travel and expose oneself, in India and abroad. This helps me to learn about the markets and study technologies that I can add to my portfolio. And I make it a point to combine these business trips with pleasure,” Dushyant smiles. He recently took a sojourn to Computex and from there went to Europe. 

This does not mean that Dushyant takes his business very lightly. “I know that my physical presence is not required to manage the day-to-day activities in office. But I keep myself abreast of each and every thing in Mediaman,” adds he.

So where does he go from here? “Nowhere. I want to retire by the age of 45, devoting time to my wife and daughter and learning more about life, than being cooped in an office,” he muses. Unlike other partners who are harried about margins and sales pressures, Dushyant has a smile on his lips and a song in his heart. Because he has finally learnt that life is all about living one day at a time. 

VINITA BHATIA