Rising Strong From The Ashes

But that did not stop Delhi-based Dinesh Chopra's ambitions, nor his zeal to grow and do what he intended from the very beginning: make a mark.

"For three days I was in a trance, so shocked that I could not react", is how Dinesh Chopra thinks of the three days after January 18, 1999, the day his Nehru Place outlet was gutted in a fire. "Nothing was left", he continues, voice choked with emotion. 

Starting off as a general order supplier from Kotla Mubarakpur in New Delhi and supplying to a number of government departments, Chopra got into the consumable trade as part of a natural evolutionary process. Chopra added consumables to his offering of products because his customers demanded the same. His first foray into the trade was with tapes and ribbons. And then the business grew and Chopra added more products to his basket of offerings. And with a view to expand further, Chopra set up shop in Nehru Place, an obvious choice, and finally in 1995, Softek Surya was born.

The consumable space

Knowing that speed of obsolescence is faster than the eye can blink, Chopra worked with a maxim to ensure that the spectrum of consumables under his roof would be wider than any in the market. And over the years Chopra established credibility for himself in the trade. He kept adding newer products as part of his offering, and yet did not divert attention form the focus that he had established for himself: the consumable space. 

And Softek Surya is today synonymous in the market with floppies, cartridges and tapes. And it was exactly this careful focus that helped the company to grow from strength to strength. A turnover of Rs 51 lakh in the first year reached Rs 2.31 crore in the year 96-97, an increase of over four times. And this figure further grew to Rs 3.27 crore in 97-98.

Calamity strikes!

But come January 1999 and Chopra's life changed forever. A fire at his outlet-cum-warehouse gutted everything down and with the insurance having lapsed less than a month before the fire, Chopra could not claim a penny. 

"The magnitude of loss, both monetarily and mentally was incalculable", he says. "The very thought of the scene that confronted me that morning turns my blood cold," he adds. There was nothing to salvage from the burnt premises. 

But the amazing aspect is that Softek Surya still showed a growth that year. The year closed with a turnover of Rs 7.35 crore more than twice of the previous year's mark. Cliched as it may sound, but Chopra put the pieces together and started to build from scratch. 

"I owe my second chance to not only my parents, who supported me both morally and financially, but also to a number of principals. They stood with me in the hour, which was the darkest one of my life," says Chopra. And now the comfort in business is back, Softek Surya closed the last financial year with a turnover of nearly Rs 11

crore. 

Distribution muses

Today Chopra stands at a juncture where he is contemplating venturing into distribution, even of a regional nature to start with and is holding talks with a certain principal on the aspect. This decision he feels is not only to attain natural organic growth, but also to get out and reach out to greater number of people outside the confines of Nehru Place and Delhi.

The journey has been long and bumpy for this college dropout, from a family of professionals, who wanted to make a mark in business from the very start. 

Chopra is now an active part of the newly formed Computer Media Dealers Association-Delhi. He cites the reason for joining this association as "doing my bit to make the ride less bumpy for others." He knows the importance of a helping hand. And the self-learned lessons that have steered him towards success are honesty in everything, maintain cordial relationships with all and keep yourself informed. "These are my guiding force and would ask all to adopt", he says of his maxims of life. 

Mohit Chabbra In New Delhi