Sathya Prasad : From Hardware To E-Business Dreams

It was a dramatic move when Sathya Prasad decided to switch over from his finance business to selling hardware in 1994. This move led to the birth of Vanpac Systems. Sathya’s exposure to business from early childhood held him in good stead and helped him to take certain key decisions towards quick growth.

Sathya, who studied at the BDT College of Engineering, Davangere, was offered the post of a lecturer by the principal of RV College of Engineering, Chitradurga. "I was fresh out of college and inexperienced. Overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, I accepted the offer immediately," says Sathya, recollecting his tenure working as a lecturer.

Two years later, Sathya decided that he wanted to try something even more challenging than teaching and took up marketing. He joined the marketing team of Blue Land Agencies to sell telecommunications products. It was here that Sathya got his first glimpse of the market and understood its changing trends and needs. Later, he started his own finance business. Armed with his experience in marketing and finance, Sathya decided to start his own IT-related business with the help of his brother

Sudharshan.

The two brothers founded Vanpac in 1994 with an initial investment of Rs 5 lakh. Working from their residence at Chamrajpet, they bought an office space the very next year. Two years later, Syed, with whom Sathya had done engineering together, joined Vanpac as a partner. Syed brought along his experience of working with a hard disk manufacturing company. The new entrant's presence catalyzed the internal and external operations of the company. His previous experience helped him understand the demand and supply chain and plan strategies for the hardware market.

Vanpac's turnover touched Rs 30 crore during 1999-2000. "Last year’s turnover has added another feather to our cap. Our target for the current year is Rs 42 crore," says Sathya. Today, Vanpac is a distributor for Seagate, Logitech, LG, Samsung, Microtech and Acer products. Within a short span, Vanpac has added Computer Network Services, Computer Links, Smart Bite and many others to their list of customers. And more are joining on a day-to-day basis.

"We have been dealing with Vanpac systems right from day one and we have seen it grow to what it is today," says SN Gowda, Managing Director, Computer Network Services. "It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Vanpac is the result of the services, dedication and hardwork of Sathya Prasad, Syed, Sudharshan and their team," he adds.

An avid reader, Sathya makes it a point to read IT-related and reseller-oriented magazines to update his knowledge about the market and the growing competition. He plans to open branch offices in and around Bangalore, which would help him reach out to customers effectively. "I dream about launching an IT-related B2C portal that will help end-users buy IT-related products online," says

Sathya.

Venturing out into the online business should strengthen Vanpac even more and help in the future growth and profits. Their in-depth knowledge of IT business should take Sathya and Syed to greater achievements in the coming days if the on-line business to catches up.