What started with his kids falling ill due to jaundice, has now become a company with almost 45% market share in the RO Mineral and RO segment. Mahesh Gupta, a Delhi-based, first-generation entrepreneur, shares with us his journey from being an employee to becoming a successful businessman
Can we begin with a genesis of the Kent RO System?
To begin with, Kent RO Systems is not my first business venture. I graduated in mechanical engineering from IIT Kanpur and then did my master’s in petroleum from the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun. I joined Indian Oil after that and worked with them as a manager in their technical services department for about 10 years. In 1988, I realized that I needed to do much more than just a job. I had some brilliant ideas for petroleum products and I decided to quit Indian Oil to work on those. That was the beginning of my first venture, S.S. Engineering Industries, which was started with a meager investment of Rs 20,000. This company has been in the business of manufacturing innovative oil flow meters and oil testing kits. Even today, this company is a profitable business with an annual turnover of Rs 5 crore.
 |
| MAHESH GUPTA KENT RO SYSTEMS |
Kent RO System happened in 1999 due to an incident in my family. Both my children fell sick due to jaundice, which is a water-borne disease. At that time I was not using a water purifier in my home and after this incident I started looking for one. I soon realized that none of the purifiers available back then met the standards I was looking for. So I decided to make one of my own—an RO purifier—by importing components from abroad. When I saw how well the purifier was working and how helpful it was for me, I thought of launching it out in the market.
Today, Kent RO System has a much bigger turnover at Rs 25 crore as compared to Rs 5 crore of S.S. Engineering, my first venture. Hence, more people know me as the founder of Kent RO Systems than my first company [chuckles].
How difficult was the decision to quit Indian Oil and start a business of your own?
I had the desire to do something innovative and earn a living that was much better than what I had at Indian Oil. It was a tough decision as I was doing well at Indian Oil and was progressing fast. I was the manager of technical services there, which is a position of certain prestige. People used to envy me and in fact were surprised when I decided to quit all of a sudden. My family resisted my decision too, initially, as financially there could have been a lot of risks involved with taking such a decision. I had no prior experience in doing a business, but I had dreams and I was determined to fulfill them. Looking at my passion and determination, support from my family started coming in.
When I started off, I had been working in the garage of my house. I had to take care of everything, including being the peon, typist etc all by myself. I had to let my ego dissolve at that time. I did not want to approach any of my contacts because I didn’t want anyone to feel like they were doing me favors. I knew that if my product was truly valuable I will be able to convince people I didn’t know to buy it. Once I was able to convince those people, the other people would follow. It was only after the first year that I bought a place to put up my factory.
What was your first taste of success then?
My first taste of success came when the first two pieces of my oil testing equipment were sold for Rs 5,000 to a company in Hyderabad.
Was there any failure that you learned from?
I don’t consider failures as failures, but rather as experiences that I learned from. I never regretted any of them. For instance, I don’t come from a finance background, which is really important when you are running a business. But I never looked at it as a setback. I decided to learn by experience and today I am good at finances and whatever knowledge I have has been accumulated over a period of time. Same goes for negotiation, sales etc.
What has been the biggest challenge in your entrepreneurial journey?
The biggest challenge that I have constantly faced and in fact am still facing today, is finding the right talent. It is difficult to find someone great who will be ready to work for a small company. So I had to bring my expectations down and train people to get the best work out of them. I took it up as a challenge to train them and to bring them up to the standards I was looking for.
Coming back to RO Systems, how are your products positioned in the market?
What makes Kent RO different from other water purifiers is, first, its technology. It uses a reverse osmosis process, followed by an ultraviolet process, which is followed by a system to retain essential natural minerals in the water. This product is patented. Technologically, it offers a great advantage as it removes dissolved impurities like salts and heavy metals, while retaining essential minerals. Other RO purifiers don’t retain the mineral content. Also, the UV process in Kent RO kills the bacteria that pass through the membrane. Of course, other than technology we also differentiate our products in terms of performance, servicing, branding etc.
Over the past few years, a number of competitors have come into the RO segment. I have had competition from Eureka Forbes, Whirlpool, Phillips etc, but my product still performs the best. It has an X-factor that is difficult to quantify to the public. We have the same components as other manufacturers, but it is that slight modification in the way we use these components that gives us an edge over the others.
Today, a major chunk of our business comes from household consumers. We have noticed the demand comes more from homes than offices. I created a competent marketing team that approached institutions that would be interested in ordering the product. But the problem with most of corporate purchases is that they don’t differentiate on quality and go for the lowest prices.
How did you go about launching your first product in India? What is the R&D that goes behind making of products?
The first product that we produced was a simple under-the-counter RO purifier, which was popular in foreign countries. But within two years I realized that that product would not succeed in India. First, back in 1999 very few homes in India had modern kitchens. Second, we Indians have very different cooking habits. Our kind of cooking, which includes making chapatis and frying, requires intricate cleaning of the entire kitchen. Therefore, under-the-counter RO purifiers and counter-top purifiers were not feasible in India. That is when I manufactured a purifier that could be mounted on the wall of the kitchen. This is the first time such a concept was introduced to the world. Then I kept on innovating the purifier by including UV filters and control systems. Recently, we have modified our purifier to have a computerized control system so that an alarm rings whenever you have to change the filters. I would say that innovating our product from time to time has been the mantra for our success. In my opinion, it is extremely important to spend on R&D to keep coming up with products that are different from the competition. Our R&D team keeps looking at new ideas and studying the requirements of the market and we try to create a product accordingly. To find out the needs of the market, we conduct surveys, followed by lots of debates and discussions.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
written by rupali nijhawan, June 13, 2011
With due respect I sorry to say that service provided by Kent is very pathetic and they treat customer in very bad manner.
mr.Rakesh sood he promises me that he will collect the veg purifier but he is not picking up my phone. My purifier is not working since i purchase it. i request your people to do the service but tthey are not responding our request.
I made big mistake by purchasing product from Kent & I will not recommend it to any one.
Rupali Nijhawan
written by Khader Basha, April 05, 2011
I am khader basha, staying in KR Puram, Bangalore. my mobile number is 9060304644. I brought a Kent Grand Plus RO system(Order Number: 5726)
on 15-Mar-2011 from Good Mineral RO #58, 14th Main 22nd Cross H.S.R. Layout, 3rd Sector, Bangalore 560034.
It makes lot of sound when switched on. after making phone calls repeatedly, the technition came and told that there is a problem with the pump.
He promiced to correct this problem but till now he has not turned up.
Please get this problem rectified as early as possible.
I would suggest you to route a proper channel for addressing customers’ queries by assigning time slots for the service
so that we may not have to depend on a single person for service and not end up in calling him repeatedly over phone.
Regards,
Khader
919060304644
written by Ashish Ahuja, March 01, 2011
I am requesting you as I have still some faith let in IIT brand specially Kanpur where you have studied.Would wait for some kind of initiation from your side.
written by pravin joshi, November 05, 2010
please avail or manage for me technical guidence about maintanance kent RO.
I want to stablished as best service provider of KENT RO.
-
JOSHI BROTHERS
(Auth. distributer of KENT RO)
Sai Ram Complex, OBRI
Dist. Dungarpur (Rajasthan)
PIN 314401
Mo. 9983003355
written by D V MEHTA, October 28, 2010
1) The pump makes to much of noise
2) Without using water from storage tank, the filter starts ON and oFF intermittantly thereby wasting lot of water and power.
3) water wastage in normal mode is 7 times of filtered water. The Overhead tank gets emptied ,
Complaint registered vide REF NO.: 85143 DT 25.10.10 yielded no result as technician visited and said pump is to be replaced but is out o f stock.
About the water ratio of 7:1 ( wastage vs filtered) he was unable to comment and make adjustment.
Don't you think we have been cheated ???????
D V mehta
J-130 K irti Nagar
New Delhi-110015
9811410707
written by Fred Benson, October 27, 2010
Hello,
Now, if you really need this loan for your purpose you are in any
or make financial mess
You need funds to start your own business? You need to loan
settle your debt or pay your bills or start a legal business? Do
do you have a low credit score and you are finding difficulties in obtaining
capital loan from banks / financial institutions? Do you need
a loan or financing for any reason, such as:
Loan Company
Personal Loan
Loan Business
Xmas Loans
Email us with your personal information so we can proceed with your
transfer of the loan will soon contact: paylessloanfirm0@gmail.com
Personal data necessary
1) Full Name:
2) Country:
3) address:
4) Status:
5) Gender:
6) Status:
7) Occupation:
8) Phone Number:
9) Currently position in the workplace:
10) The monthly income:
11) Loan Amount Needed:
12) Duration of loan:
Once you complete the form and return it, I'll send you my loan
terms and conditions of others so we can continue this
transaction.
FRED BENSON
written by Shivani Saxena, October 21, 2010
I had purchased a Kent ‘Grand’ filter in March 2010. I was told that this would require servicing once in six months. Ideally, the company should have contacted me. However, they did not. When I called them up, they said that "I was supposed to call them." I logged a ticket - 100520399 on 9th October on the numbers 40532406-8. I also told them that as Saturdays were holidays for me, it would be better if the servicing was done on a Saturday. However, no one came. Two Saturdays have elapsed. I also called up the other number: 40532424.
After repeated calls I managed to get in touch with a technician. He said he would come on October 20th evening. I left office early, but he did not turn up. I called on his mobile many times, but he was alternating between switching off his phone and not picking up.
I also tried to log a complaint through the Customer Grievance page:
http://www.kent.co.in/contactus/customergrievances.aspx
However, the form does not work. It has no ‘Submit’ button.
If immediate action is not taken, I may need to go to the consumer court.
Regards,
Shivani Saxena
written by gurmeet singh, October 07, 2010
FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS OUR RO IS GIVING PROBLEMS, FINNALY PARTS WERE CHANGER.
THE VERY NEXT DAY MOTOR STARTED GIVING NOISE. REPEATED CALLS TO THEM HAVE GONE DEAF YEARS. NOW THEY ARE ASKING VISIT FEES FOR CHECKING FAULTY MOTOR FITTED.
THERE ARE MANY WRONG DOINGS ON THEIR PART. CURRENTLY I AM DISTURBED BY NOISY MOTOR.
KINDLY INTERVENE.
written by ashutossh pande, October 03, 2010
written by amita solanki, September 29, 2010
I purchase KENT R.O. System from Ahmedabd - paldi (beacon distributors) after 1 yr. i got problem in S.V. i told distributor and he told me to change .S.V. , i purchase new .S.V. from distributor but my problem is not solved. he chaged S.V. 4 times but our problem is not solved
what can i do. pl. give me solution
written by Sandip Joshi, September 12, 2010
I would like to speak with you regarding your dealer in Pune Global Distributors. I am having problem in getting proper service and this is within just 8 days of the product is sold to me. Could you ask some one responsible to call me and understand the complaint and get it resolved?
I great product will loose its value due to such dealers. I hope you understand the seriousness of this.
Regards,
Sandip Joshi (9850149859)
written by sravan Kumar, September 12, 2010
Pls let me know the process for becoming sales & service partner for Kent RO systems..
written by Kishore, September 08, 2010
We have sent lot of payment reminders and we asked your Company Purchase department to return us if cannot pay if any problem you are facing with our meters as till now we have not received any single complaint for our meters and our payment we dont know why you have stopped if any problem kindly let us know.
We thought KENT means a BIG CORPORATE COMPANY but as we are facing problem with your company for Payments initially your Purchase department has told lots words saying we will prompt our payments will very prompt practically when we are facing you are forcing us to think that you for name only CORPORATE we have sent lots of requests and your purchase department suggested us to go to court if you are not paying we hope for it is a regular practice as taking materials and not paying and ask the supplier to go to court but we once request you pl.clear our very small payment of Rs.64,521=00 as we supplied our meters on 24/09/10 almost you have kept and dragged for nearly one year.
we will be very much greatful to you if you solve this issue on high priority because we trusted simply your company & brand hoping you are NOT a CORPORATE CHEATER and only CORPORATE COMPANY.
thanking you,
for B.S.K.Technologies
B.S.K.Kishore
Mobile : 9849904339
written by naresh kumar soni, September 06, 2010
written by Devendera Ahuja, August 13, 2010
I am in your dealer network and I want to discuss with you for your marketing and some problem like duplicate product by your staff
09312296237
Devendera Ahuja
written by Devendera Ahuja, August 13, 2010
I am in your dealer network and I want to discuss you for your marketing and some problem like duplicate product by your staff
Devendera Ahuja
written by Ajay Agarwal, August 07, 2010
Please give ur mail Id.
written by Indian Share Market Tips, August 06, 2010
Stock Market Tips || Nifty Tips || Commodity Tips
written by vishal kapoor, August 06, 2010
written by niti jain, July 28, 2010
Mr. Mahesh Gupta,
Sir,
It is very sad to inform you that you are having a team of unprofessional people in your Delhi office & Ahmedabad, Branch Office.
Sir, on the worst day of our life(11th April, 2010), we purchased the product of your Company, the details are- Product- KENT GRAND+, Serial No.: KR100316546 from Delhi direct from your Company. We were assured by your Executive that your COMPANY provides the free service for full one year, ALL OVER INDIA. Now, we got transferred to Ahmedabad in the first week of July, 2010. As pure drinking water is the basic need of everybody and we were not having any details about your REgional Office here,we got the machine installed from a local plumber. Now as all members of our family fell sick(by stomach) the doctor here advised us to get our RO system CHECKED. So, today Afternoon, I talked to Mr. Amit in your Noida Office and asked him for transfer of the free service of our KENT RO in Ahmedabad. He gave me the number of your Dealer Aggarwal Beverages who further routed me to your Ahmedabad Regional Office where I spoke to the Branch Manager, MR. CHANDRESH BHUJ (Mob. 9099033743).
He said that you have to either pay the charges or bring the SERVICE MARGIN MONEY for us from KENT RO Delhi Office only then we will provide the service.
I informed him that the machine was not purchased from any dealer and it was directly, purchased on bill from your KENT RO Systems LTD., Delhi.
To this he replied, You talk to Delhi Office and tell them that the Dealer Aggarwal Beverages has refused to provide the Service in, Ahmedabad.
Again I talked to Mr. Amit in Noida Office who asked me to call MR. R.S. RAO, GENERAL MANAGER, NOIDA after 2 P.M. To this, my husband talked to Mr. Rao, who firstly agreed and asked us to send a mail to him for providing the service in Ahmedabad. then,
ALL OF A SUDDEN, Your General Manager called my husband and asked him that we will get the free service in Ahmedabad only, IF WE PAY RS. 500/- as the Machine was installed by the local plumber. In the meanwhile, the Branch Mgr., Ahmedabad also rang me and said, "So R U told by Noida Office to pay Rs. 500/- here or not."
Sir, Here I would also like to mention that on 28th June, 2010 when we were shifting from Delhi to Ahmedabad , We got the machine de-installed there from the local plumber as your your person Mr. Binod Kumar Emp, Code - 2712 (who came from Vikaspuri Branch)came late to de-install the machine and it was the only item left for packing by the packers. But still he charged Rs. 225/- only from us . The s.no. of the receipt he gave us is 31317 against Bill No mentioned on receipt is D10064221 DLDT42496.
Sir, The highly, dissatisfying things happened in these episodes are:
Firstly, the two state offices of your great Company are asking the customer for the SERVICE MARGIN as it is your internal matter.
Secondly, They are not at all ready to help or find a solution rather they are asking for Rs. 500/- as we have got the machine installed from a local plumber.
Sir, If payment of Rs. 500/- is th only solution of this matter I w'd like your company to refund Rs. 225/- which was paid by me while your man had not de-installed the machine in Delhi.
I regret that I purchased the Kent RO.
As You r the last hope I would request you to kindly, give a look into the matter and ask your people to provide us the free service here
Regards,
Niti Jain, Ahmedabad
9712982401
written by Chaya Budhraja, July 20, 2010
I purchased a "Kent W - Purifier Grand RO +"machine for water purification from Croma at Juhu, Mumbai on the 12th of June 2010. The said machine was installed on the 16th of June 2010. The machine stopped working on the 24th of June 2010. I logged a complaint immediately. On the 30th of June 2010 a technician visited my home after much follow up. He inspected the machine and informed me that a part had malfunctioned and that such part was out of stock. He informed me that he will back the following week with the necessary part.
However, since then I have not heard from the Kent RO people altogether. I have made more than two dozen phone calls to the Kent RO Service Center 022-40532407. All these efforts have been of no avail.
I called the Service Center as a final effort to get the new machine that is within warranty period repaired and was told that the complaint does not exist and has been closed.
I demand a refund of my money.
Yours sincerely,
Chaya Budhraja
Cell +91-9967355808; +91-9987548808
written by Ramanujam Parthasarathy, July 15, 2010
I have sent to you one letter email to salesdepartment. contacted your rep in chennai here. No action sofar. Unless you send the required part by courier as indented by our dealer Ur Kent RO cannot function to the optimum level.
Dealer's Name: Jai Vignesh Electronics
Sl.No of Kent Ro Supplied: KRO90705449
Telephone of the dealer: 04424727523/9840129524/9841583813
M/s Suresh/Anand have been contacted. There is no action sofar.
Is it because the part mentioned costs Rs.1900 you are hesitant in sending thro courier?[ though warranty period still exists] Please dont delay. Your service after sales seemed to be very poor. I see inthe website failures in the AMC service.
Parthasarathy[169/1 Loga Surya Flats,SA2 2nd Flr,Lakeview Rd W.Mambalam,Chennai-33 Tele No.04424747467/Cell 9444455076
written by priyanka, June 20, 2010
written by surabhi, May 26, 2010
written by Anil kumar, May 04, 2010
15500 against MRP 16500 and at other house same model had sold 13500 in less the two days difference when two customers meet what happened one felt cheated other astonished, so this company is of being marketed by foolish people where no pricing stregy is no services , no foloow ups , this company will not last more so avoid to recomend any one to save your face value
written by k.s.Negi, April 05, 2010
wr/
negi
written by KHILLAN SINGH, April 05, 2010
written by neetu, March 09, 2010
i would like 2 get in touvh with a person who deals in the R&D dept.i would like to know ABOUT THE WATER WASTAGE IN THIS SYSTEM.
written by Arunsingh4162, March 08, 2010
Your dealer and service engineers are taking you and customers for ride.
very poor service.
regret purchasing Kent ro
with warm regards
arun
written by pinal, March 07, 2010
DEAR SIR,
WE ARE AUTH. DISTRI. / DEAL IN FOLLOWING PRODUCTS, IF U REQUIRE,
I REQUEST TO U, PLS CNTCT US.
1. NTC - PTC THERMISTOR .
(USE IN ELECTRIC MOTOR - WINDING PROTECTION)
2. THERMAL OVERLOAD PROTECTERS - TOP.
( VDE-CSA-UL-CE apprvd.)
3. THERMOSTATE. (UL-CE APPRVD.)
4. RTD / BTD / PT100.
5. FLOAT SWITCH - WATER LEVEL CONTROLLER - SPP / DRY RUN PROTECTOR.
pls check attchd file.
BEST RGDS./ PINAL JOSHI.
09825215244.
SALES OFFICE :
SHREE GAYATRI ENGINEERS :
G-15, SARTHI COMPLEX, JASODANAGAR CHAR RASTA, AHMEDABAD -382445.GUJ.
written by kishore, February 22, 2010
we have great respect for your company and your Brand so we respected your company Purchase order and supplied our meters in the month of December but now february also ending and we have received only 70% of the total amount but it is written in your company purchase order that 30% advance and balance againt the delivery of the meters as 30% advance has been sent and after that only your purchase department started to trouble us.
we will be very much greatful to you if you solve this issue on high priority because we trusted simply your company & brand
thanking you,
for B.S.K.Technologies
B.S.K.Kishore
Mobile : 9849904339
written by Kishan Bhatia, February 17, 2010
We had purchased this machine Kent Water RO a month back. We have already logged complaint thrice and till date our problem is unresolved.we have fallen sick after consuming the water.
Please look into this complaint personally and help us to resolve this issue.
written by Shiv Kumar, January 14, 2010
My Self isShiv Kuamr and my firm Name is M/s Sant Sales in Khanna in Punjab. Today i am sending a letter to your Punjab RM Mr. Atul Markanda & Cc; Mr Lambha & Vikram Suri.
Please take care.
Handphone No 9814504711
Regards
Shiv Kumar
written by Vinod B C , January 03, 2010
written by abhhishek, September 21, 2009
written by SANDEEP AGARWAL, September 21, 2009
written by Shrenik Shah, August 31, 2009
written by dileep kumar, August 17, 2009
my contact no. is 9900000997 and 9379779991 or visit www.dkwaters.com
written by dileep kumar, August 17, 2009
my contact no. is 9900000997 and 9379779991
written by ps dhindsa, August 08, 2009
written by Kiran, July 25, 2009
Mr.Lamba least bothered to come on phone and the receptionist is very rude.
I made big mistake by purchasing product from Kent & I will not recommend it to any one.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
I am using one of your finest product (Kent Super+) for last one year (since June'10), Also at the time of installation we were assured of few free services for one year.
However, it is really very disappointing to say that after number of times calling to customer care centre, no one has ever attended service issues at home.
Now as one year has lapsed, we are continously receiving calls from certain service agency to sign AMC contract for Rs.1800.
Would appreciate your efforts if you can look into the issue and arrange some good & dedicated ervice provider of your company.
I would also like to tahnk you for the time given for my email and your efforts well in advance.
Regards
Chetan Anand Bhatt
D-3/14 rail vihar, Indirapuram
Ghaziabad (UP)201010
Phone:9958566442, 0120-4169528