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Standing Tall on His Own: Alkesh Agarwal

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Dhaval Gupta
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It is indeed an inspiration for many to keep the persona of Alkesh Agarwal who lost his father at a tender age when he was in class IX followed by his mother. Today Alkesh Agarwal stands tall with his two brands of Re-feel and Clublaptop and boasts of an annual turnover of `50 crores and 3,000 employees

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Based in Kolkata, it was in 2007 that Agarwal with his brother and two friends Samit Lakhotia and Amit Barmecha started Re-feel based on Cartridge Refilling product line after a long period of research. The business model was based on franchise concept to develop the network.

STUMBLING BLOCKS

There are challenges in every city in India. In Kolkata, the mindset in itself is considered a challenge and ‘once you move out of Kolkata to spread your product line then the fact that you are from Kolkata works against your image. However, once you succeed in showcasing your product and its effective usage in the industry you have targeted, then people forget about your roots or where you are coming from. Secondly, getting your employers motivated towards work was always a challenge in Kolkata," says Alkesh Agarwal, Co-founder & CEO, Re-feel. Agarwal took a very different approach here. Instead of recruiting experienced professionals in his team, he hired freshers as he believed that the young minds were the ones that could be moulded and trained to get the desired output. Attrition rate in his company is very low. His team settles down once they start working in an environment which speaks of excitement, challenge and motivation. Today with the support of his team, he is not only the brains behind his cartridge refilling company but also Clublaptop, India's largest laptop repair and accessories network with its presence at over 100 locations.

DEFINITION OF SUCCCESS

Success is not easy for anybody and neither has it been for Agarwal. Before establishing his first successful venture, he had failed in two three ventures before that. "For me success is paved by preparation. I had the same conviction to those projects where I had failed too but there were lessons that I learnt from those failures. Individuals ascribe luck to be the factor behind success. Luck comes to play when an opportunity knocks on the door and you are prepared to face it. One needs consistently hard working to prepare himself so that he can make best use of the opportunity when it comes. Having a proper strategy is also essential," adds Agarwal.

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Entrepreneurs are considered to be a different breed altogether. Agarwal describes himself as a ‘crazy guy' who was very clear about what he had to do from his childhood- a rarity indeed. He says that "once you are going down and if you feel you are down scaling, then no one can prevent you from going down. So it is important to be charged up all the time so that no one has the ability to pull you down or affect your self-respect."

FAMILY BEING KEY TO HIS BUSINESS

Agarwal ascribes his family as being enormously instrumental in his success. "I was from a well to do family when in class IX I lost my father followed by my mother. I was then supported by my grandfather and my uncles. I started my own business when I was in class XI. I was always sure I will not go in my family business as they were into mustard oil and the business wasn't very organized. I didn't want to in the business of buying and selling but into the business of management as well. Initially it wasn't a full-fledged business. I used a job to support myself," adds Agarwal.

INVESTMENT CHALLENGES

Agarwal never considered money to be a problem in starting a business. "On one sheet, I design something that I want to do in my life and on another I design what I have and then I create strategy to bridge the gap between the two," is Agarwal's mantra towards starting a business. Agarwal started his venture with a capital of `3.5 lakh and went for investment 3 years back from UK based PE investor PLG Consulting.

PLANS AHEAD

The firm is evolving and the product line is very new. They have very aggressive promotional plan for this year with Clublaptops which has recently announced the launch of its new accessories. The company has revamped its website and collaterals to start their promotional campaign across India and have also invited channel partners as a new model of business execution. "We are not very active in North India but we are picking up in North. Our channel base is strong only in the East but we want partners from all across India now and we have a very new and never seen before product line to market," comments Agarwal.

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