No Fear of Failure

As a young boy, Nityanand Shetty from Mumbai used to frequently hang around Nariman Point to watch English movies and visit his friend's house, where he used to share his dream of being an entrepreneur and dealing with tough clients to strike a successful deal. These childhood aspirations of becoming a successful businessman played a vital role in nourishing Shetty's dream, which was fulfilled when he started his own company, Essen Vision.

A dynamic entrepreneur with 20 years of industry expertise, his energy and commitment towards his clients is exemplary. He is the best judge of the present and future trends in the security and networking arena of the Indian market. His venture into the IT security industry began way back in 1989 with increasing dependency over networks in the corporate domain and the growing demand for security services.

Entry into business
After completing his Engineering degree in Electronics, Shetty started-off his career as a customer support executive with a computer hardware company, Minafax Computers, located in Mumbai. Then the wheels of destiny took Shetty to Trivandrum to gain more industrial experience. While donning different roles with various associations, Shetty recalled that he was upset and confused that time, but never gave up his ambition of being a successful entrepreneur.
He once again got associated with a company, Quantum Systems in Mumbai, and worked as a partner. There he met Seema Shetty and married her. He said, “Although that was a happy period in his life, I still harbored the notion of doing something different.” Gradually, focused Shetty started observing the happenings in the security market by reading business dailies and magazines.
At this juncture in his life, he decided to start a business in this space. One fine day, when he told his family members that he is going to quit the job, they were reluctant that he is quitting a secure job. Fearlessly facing the different strides of his life, Shetty said, “It is one's attitude to look at things that decides the course of one's life. It is up to us if we see glass as half full or half empty.”
Then bringing in his wide experiences in different organizations, determined Shetty ventured out on his own and started a hardware company by the name of 'Gray Systems' in partnership with a friend. Later, in April 1995, after having a discussion with his wife Seema, he fulfilled his entrepreneurial dream and came up with Essen Vision.

Turning Point
Starting off his business in the ever-changing security industry with a lot of caution, Shetty sold the products with three employees. The investment was too meager which also added to the challenges. “I used to work day and night, without taking any break,” added Shetty.Crossing several bottlenecks through his entrepreneurial journey, Shetty took five years to stabilize the business, to learn all the nitty-gritty of the trade and to appoint the manpower in his organization. Holding onto his convictions, he explained, “For anyone who is stepping into business, determination and clarity of thought are the significant factors to climb the success ladder. Understanding the organization's needs is important and one should work towards it. Just doing 'one's best' is not the only solution.”

Managing Business at Present
Today, Shetty feels that perhaps the seeds of the passion for achieving something big were already sowed in him since childhood but the strong support and trust which came from his wife, who equally struggled with him is immense. “In fact, one of my main strengths is that I have no fear of the failure,” added Shetty.
Today, Essen Vision is betting high in the area of enterprise security and network management and is equipped to fulfill the most advanced demands of its customers. “We aim for total customer satisfaction by providing solutions to the customers' security needs. Our products address these issues in any environment,” claimed Shetty.Essen Vision has strategic alliances in 68 cities and remote locations across the country to cater to the customer's support requirements. The company today employs a dedicated team of 43 professionals, specializing in technical and marketing skills in the information technology industry in which a core team of 21 executives specialize only in security products.

His USP: Believe In Yourself
Making money should not be the real attitude of a businessman. Believing in yourself and following the principles and ethics are the key factors which lead to win the entrepreneurial race. As a business leader, he explained, “Lead and inspire people.
Don't try to manage and manipulate people. Instead lead them to believe in themselves and create more leaders. I believe that training a person in any aspect of your business creates a well-qualified employee, but when you create a leader you give rise to multiple generations of qualified employees who are also leaders.”

Work-life Balance
In spite of leading a hectic schedule, Shetty has always been able to strike a balance between his professional and personal life. Sharing his work-life balance mantra, Shetty said, “As a person I nurture and develop my personality from time to time, as a son, husband, father, friend and boss I am very conscious of what is expected of me and try to fulfill all these roles, without being curtained by schedule and stress. I am very particular about the quality of time I spend with my son, I am very glad and satisfied with the quality of time I spent with my 14 year old boy. As my son says that we are a 'remix' family, a very genuine mix of the values, morals and culture. This is because we take our old values and mold them according to our modern thinking and outlook.”
Apart from spending time with his family, Shetty loves music. He also keeps himself updated with the latest gadgets and technology and during his vacations he loves to go for adventure sports.

Future Plans
By the end of this year, Shetty is certain about reaching an annual turnover of about Rs 30 crore. He concluded, “I would love to see the company grow immensely.”

SIKTA SAMANTARAY
(siktas@cybermedia.co.in)