Plotters are his favorites. It is from selling plotters he launched into big time
business. It is from plotters, Vilas Bhandarkar derives the French name of his firm: La
Plume, which means the pen.
Vilas started selling plotters with Digital Electronics after a short stint at Emco,
which was into distribution of medical equipment. Selling of medical equipment did not
have much attraction to him because his primary interest was in electronics. In fact, he
has a masters degree in electronics from Somaiya College in Mumbai.
If electronics was his academic interest, business kept him going even while he was
studying. He did not hail from a business family--his father was a manager in the finance
department of Godrej. But business was very much in Vilas' blood.
Lamination business
When Vilas was in college, he got into lamination business as a part-time venture. He
got a contract from Film City and had the privilege of laminating the visiting cards of
film stars. But that was only a temporary phase before getting into a regular job of
selling medical equipment after his post-graduate studies.
But a routine job, including the one at Digital of selling plotters, did not hold
Vilas' interest for long. In 1992 with Rs 1,000 in his pocket and an additional phone
connection at his elder brother Ramesh's office, he started trading in plotters on his
own.
Vilas found it easy selling plotters to government organizations like BARC, private
design companies and architects. In fact, he found customers asking him for total CAD/CAM
solutions. This provided an opportunity for Vilas to move from selling only plotters to
market complete solutions.
First showroom of Thane
Marketing of total solutions brought prosperity to Vilas who kept adding new brands to
his offerings not only to CAD/CAM customers but also to reseller segment. He started
marketing Visualan and HP machines from 1996.
The retail bug bit Vilas in 1998. This resulted in setting up of the first La Plume IT
retail showroom in Thane, the adjoining district of Mumbai. The inspiration to set up a
showroom came to Vilas from his visits abroad where the "go-see-buy" culture was
highly prevalent.
The market reading of Vilas on the need for a retail outlet was on the right track
because walk-ins soon began giving business to La Plume. The showroom offered multi-brands
to customers. "Earlier, people from Thane used to go to Mumbai for their IT
requirements. Now they have retailers at their door step," points out Vilas.
The success with the first showroom boosted Vilas to go for a second one. This time, an
exclusive showroom for HP products. Today, Vilas runs two showrooms and one service center
with 21 employees. "The secret of my success is service. I am willing to offer
service to my clients at any time of the day or night," he says.
The satisfactory service offered by Vilas is reaffirmed by his clients. Says Sanjay
Godse, Deputy Manager, Marketing, Bharat Bijlee, "La Plume offers quality after-sales
service. They send technically qualified people to service our machines."
Strong team of engineers
The retail outlets have brought repeat sales to Vilas because of his emphasis on
after-sales service. For this purpose, he has built a strong team of ten engineers who
form the backbone of his service center. Says Kishore Karkera, technical in-charge of
service center, "Giving service to our customers at any time of the day or night is
our top priority."
It is not just service that has made a La Plume a success but the people who provide it
to the customers. Vilas is proud of the team with whom he works. "I have put in
efforts to create a conducive working environment in my organization," says he.
Agrees Kishore, "If I have remained four-and-a-half years with La Plume, it is
because of the learning opportunities I have enjoyed in the company."
The employees at La Plume are a motivated lot because the organization has enabled them
to grow and develop their skills. For instance, Mukesh Dighe joined La Plume six years ago
as an office boy and today he heads the service center.
Of course, it was a bold decision for Mukesh to join in that position despite the fact
that he was a graduate and had done training in hardware. La Plume soon recognized the
fire within Mukesh, promoted him to the post of a service engineer and got him trained at
HP's service center at Delhi. "La Plume gave me plenty of opportunities to learn and
grow in my career," says a happy Mukesh.
Golden rules of retaining employees
Vilas follows his own golden rules to retain his employees. He always pays the salary
of his staff ahead of the due date. He looks for ways and means to contribute towards the
self-development of his employees. For instance, quite often, Vilas brings in outside
experts to lecture on self-development topics to his employees.
Vilas is not only concerned about the well being of his employees but also of the
welfare of the channel community in Thane. That is the reason he joined hands with leading
dealers to establish Computer Media and Dealers Association in 1998. As the secretary of
CMDA, Vilas has been instrumental in creating an atmosphere of bonhomie among channel
partners and represent their problems to the local government in Thane.
Vilas would like vendors to treat dealers in Mumbai and Thane on an equal footing. He
points out that HP and Samsung absorb octroi in Mumbai but not in Thane, which he finds
discriminatory. CMDA has taken up the issue with concerned vendors who have promised to
look into the matter.
Be it the channel partners, employees or customers, Vilas has made his mark with all of
them with service as his front-end. He gratefully remembers the support given to him in
all his ventures by his elder brother Ramesh Bhandarkar who handles finance at La Plume.
"He is the backbone of my organization," says Vilas.
As Vilas prospers in his business, he has to take care that internal communication
keeps growing for a smooth interaction between sales and service teams. More delegation on
his part can help him to concentrate on expanding his business further.