N Gopalakrishnan: A man of all seasons

Whenever the devotees of Lord Mur­ugan climb the top of Sri Subra­manya Swamy Temple at Marudha­malai near Coimbatore, they have to cross a notice board sponsored by Velmayil Group of Companies, which welcomes the devotees to the sanctum sanctorum. With 3 years of stint with a leading networking company, N Gopalakrishnan started a new venture and entered into IT services.
Born to an orthodox and traditional GR Narasimhan and Usha Narasimhan in 1971,
Gopalakrishnan did his graduation in engineering from Kumaraguru College of Engineering, Coimbatore, and later did a Masters in Business Administration degree from Newport University, California through distance learning education.
"Our family is an ardent devotee of lord Murugan, so we named our organization as ‘Velmayil'," said Gopalakrishnan. Before starting his new company, his family was in the business of exporting plastic sheets, lamination films and adhesives. Later in 1995, with the support of his parents both morally and financially, Gopalakrishnan started assembling the parts of computers. In 1997, a new office named Emrald Info Systems (which was later renamed to Velmayil Info Services) was started, which was a turning point in his life.

Challenges
Even though Gopalakrishnan had not met much of tough challenges, there were a few to name. "Though the incident has no relevance with the IT trade, but the bomb blast which happened in Coimbatore had an impact on the IT business-the sales went down," recalled Gopalakrishnan. He further said that the rece­ssion during 2009-2010 was also a tough time for part­ners in Coim­batore. However, with the motto ‘Sell through service', we ser­ved our custo­mer with the best of our level. Apart from that, Gopalakrishnan terms a com­petition which is ‘unhealthy' in nature, as one of the biggest challenges. But he said that his customers believed in him and supported him during his tough times.

Lessons Learnt
Gopalakrishnan, though supported by his family in business, had learnt many lessons in these years in the IT trade, through failures. "There were a lot of bitter moments like finan­cial loss, order loss and manpower obsession in the initial stages. But in the later stages, with that experience, we framed a parallel system to overcome all the odds", he uttered. Gopalakrishnan also advised the same for wannabe entrepreneurs. "Be straight, keep margins safe, clear your commitments, and do not spend more," is what he advises. He also suggested that too much of bank loans and over drafts are not good for a healthy business.

Diversification
According to Gopalakrishnan, having multi-business approach will always help to succeed in all businesses. "Diversification of your business into different verticals is the best method to balance the financial needs of the trade," he said. He further added, "When I started my business, many customers came only for the trust that my family earned through other business." He also added that having various businesses will also help in increasing the client strength.

Future Plans
"We have tied-up with Eagle Information System and we got the privilege of being the authorized multi-brand laptop service center, which is about to get commenced from Vijaya­dasami (an auspicious day for starting new things). In the forthcoming days, Gopala­krishnan want to enter into web-based solutions and document management solutions.

Family Advantage
Anyone who has a family support in business will be a successful person. "It gives me a peace of mind, an elderly advice and great support, when my parents guide me during some moments when I find myself confused," he said, adding his gratitude to his parents for the success he earned till date. Gopalakrishnan married Chennai-born Nandhini, who is an MBA graduate. The couple is blessed with 2 kids, Aishwarya and Akshaya. Asked if there is any overlap of family matters with office, Gopalakrishnan simply refuses that in office, no matters related to family is discussed. "In fact I call my wife ‘Madam' in office and she calls me ‘sir', from the moment we enter the office, such is the understanding we have. I am responsible for outside activities like meeting the clients, marketing, roving around for service, while she is in-charge of inside activities like purchase, administration, tele-marketing, etc," he added. There are at present 15 employees working in his IT business.

Beyond Business
Gopalakrishnan is always active in activities other than business. "I am a member of a Coimbatore-based Rotary Club. I do social activities like free medical camp, tree planta­tion and have adapted a school." He finds enthusiasm in spending time for the Confed-IT association and other social activities. "I am the secretary of Coimbatore Information Technology Association ‘CIMITA,' and I am trying to do my level best of it," he said. He also wants to formulate some formulae, which would work more aggressively in the insurance policies of any diseased member. A believer, Gopalakrishnan has sponsored a separate building inside the Marudhamalai Temple and never fails to visit the temple at least once in a month. He also makes a visit to Tirupathi once in a year with his family. However, Ooty and Kodaikanal, are his famous tourism spots. Velmayil cultural mahal, a mar­riage hall owned by him often conducts religious events. Gopalakrishnan finds his leisure time in extensive driving of cars and motor bikes. "I still remember my college days where, me and my friends drove to Ooty from Coimbatore on our bikes, which is one of the most unforgettable experiences of my lifetime," he concluded.