Navin Kapur: Hitting the Bull’s Iris

The oft quoted saying, ‘The real secret of success is enthusiasm' best suits the focused and zealous Navin Kapur. Hailing from a humble family in Delhi, he is armed with a graduation degree in Commerce from Delhi University. For this Chartered Accountant, creating a deep-seated impression on the IT sector was never an easy task. But his strong will power and determination kept him going and at present, he is heading one of the most well-known companies in the city, Iris Unified Technology.

Born in Delhi, Kapur always wanted to do something different in life and earn a name for himself. Since his childhood, he has given his best to achieve the desired goal in whatever work he does. Like any other aspirant, he had to undergo a lot of struggle to just make an entry. In his first job, he worked as a manage­ment trainee in a manufacturing company. After the internship, he was deputed as Manager-Commercial and Assistant to Director-Operations. "I wanted to have such a role that would enable me to have an insight on how businesses are managed," affirmed Kapur.

Beginning of entrepreneurship dream

However, the above venture did not provide him with the potential to grow and experi­ment. But, Kapur was not discouraged and the entre­preneur in him directed him towards a different format all together. It was while working in Multiple Zone India, a subsidiary of the Nasdaq-listed company, Multiple Zone Inc, as CFO that the embryo of his entrepreneurial dream implanted. With the e-commerce boom, Multiple Zone India was acquired by another e-commerce US-based organization. Before starting this venture, he had an experience of over 12 years in the industry in varied fields of finance and accounts, legal, commercial, capital markets etc.

"I always had a dream to build an organi­zation, which would create value for not only shareholders and stakeholders but for emplo­yees, vendors and society at large. This acquisi­tion finally helped me to pursue my dream and my passion, and hence the new journey started in 2001-02," said the confident

Kapur. This became a stepping-stone towards success.

Turning Point

When Kapur started this venture, it was not an easy expedition. "All the major players in the space disregarded me and did not extand their support. Even my family members were skeptical about the new venture," recollected Kapur. The market was not very hopeful of Iris Unified Technology Ltd being a success. "The major reason was that although I had experi­ence in IT industry, I had no direct exposure to technology, sales and marketing, HR etc, which were important constituents for the success of an IT organization," lamented Kapur.

But this never discouraged Kapur, and through his sense of judgment, coupled with hard work and determination, he managed to set his firm foot in the industry. Hence, he focused in converting his weakness into strengths by hiring the right people who shared common vision and mission and built on his strengths. "I knew that first three-four years were critical and if I succeed then I had all the qualities in making and building an organi­zation of repute," affirmed Kapur.

He Became an Example

Undeterred by the financial difficulties and with a desire to turn the world upside down, Kapur who is a firm believer in God, feels that the almighty has always been immensely respon­sible for all his success. He also feels that his Chartered Accountant wife, Roma has been a great source of inspiration. "She is the key factor of my confidence on being successful. She stood by me when I was going through turbulent times to settle my business," he said.

Today, he is the perfect example for his family who want to follow his footsteps. A team player, he acknowledges his team's efforts and contribu­tions to his business as well. As an entrepreneur balancing a professional and perso­nal life is very critical and important. "I do not carry my office to home and get myself discon­nected from office once I am with family. This way I can spend constructive time with family," said the joyful Kapur. After working for almost 12 hours a day, when he is back home from work, he ensures that he should dine with his wife and sons. "We as a family love traveling and make it a point to have two holidays a year." Apart from traveling, Kapur also loves garde­ning, reading management and religious books.

Holding onto his convictions, Kapur advices the upcoming professionals to be patient and focus on the job they are pursuing and work profile rather than monetary gains. "Build strong ethical standards and creditability in your field and rewards follow you automatically."

Managing Business at Present

Today, realizing the tricks of the trade, Kapur has managed to build a company where strong organization values, culture and customer centric approach, strong OEM relationship has made it stand above competition. Currently, Iris Unified Technology has adopted latest technologies to manage business like Microsoft Dynamic CRM, Microsoft Business productivity suite, Help Desk and Tally ERP. This has enabled the organization to reduce human interaction and drive productivity.

Today, Iris Unified Technology is a Rs 40 crore company with its head and corporate office in New Delhi. The company has four branches with an employee strength of around 100 people.

Future Plans

Riding on success, Kapur foresees Iris as a well respected brand in its field of providing total IT solutions in India and overseas. The company will have four new offices in next 12 months. Iris would focus on its core strength of mid-market solutions at affordable prices.