On the third day of DARE Entrepreneur Week, May 2011 edition Farook Merchant, founder of Messung Group of Companies, addressed the audience. The modest engineer from Pune gave India its first indigenous programme logic controller (PLC).
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| Farook Merchant Messung |
Started with Rs 1000, Messang today is one of the leading automation brands in India with a turnover little shy of Rs 200 crore.
The entrepreneur with an experience of 30 years spoke to the audience on ‘How to overcome entrepreneurial challenges.
He said there are certain focus areas which need more attention than others. When he started his company, he focussed on the following aspects to ensure growth and smooth functioning-
1.) A stable and competent HR
2.) Strong R&D team
3.) Good Branding
4.) Wise spending on infrastructure
5.) Focus on indigenous product strategy
6.) Focus on business ethics and government rules and regulations
An unflinching focus on the following helped Merchant reach higher. Today, he proudly says that he started his career in a garage but his focus and determination brought him so far.
As his parting word, he left some hints for aspiring entrepreneurs who are struggling to establish their business and see it grow. According to him, an aspiring entrepreneur must be-
1.) Sure of his core competencies
2.) Ready for any contingency once he starts the business as there can be no looking back
3.) Very customer and market focussed
4.) Conscious of spending and should keep fixed cost very much in control
5.) Not be afraid to invest wisely in business
6.) Get a good set of managers to work with him on a long term business
7.) Ensure innovation and timeliness
8.) Focus on growth and value addition on a continuous basis
9.) Ensure good advertising, good branding, etc.
At the end of the session, he also answered few questions from the audience.
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written by Kishor Vyas, May 21, 2011
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