Stay Hungry Stay Foolish_4

07_At your Servicejuly4.qxd 7/19/08 2:38 PM Page 86 STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH 86 “We compete with the big names - the Taj and Windsor Manors of the world.” For the first time since we`ve been speaking, Baljee smiles. “You have both ups and downs in business...You need to have staying power.” So what if the IPO happened 20 years after it was first planned? “I never felt disheartened...God has been very kind.This is all part of life.” 07_At your Servicejuly4.qxd 7/19/08 2:38 PM Page 87 AT YOUR SERVICE 87 ADVICE TO YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS Identify what kind of work you want to do.I love the hotel business - food, making menus, everything to do with the business. If you love the business you take up, you will definitely make a success of it. Learn the business you want to get into for a couple of years. Raising money is not so difficult today. There are VCs, or at least angel investors. There is even lease financing, for example, unlike my time! Your family life may get affected - for example you can`t take long holidays and when you do take a holiday, phone calls and emails may follow you. But if you enjoy your work, you won`t feel it is an intrusion. 08_Such a long Journeyjuly4.qxd 7/19/08 2:39 PM Page 88 STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH 88 SUCH A LONG JOURNEY Madan Mohanka (PGP `67), Tega Industries In the 1970s it took Madan seven years to get government approval for a foreign collaboration. But he persevered with his dream of excellence in engineering and today, Tega Industries is the world`s third largest company designing solutions in the field of mining equipment. 08_Such a long Journeyjuly4.qxd 7/19/08 2:39 PM Page 89 SUCH A LONG JOURNEY 89 The first generation entrepreneur is technically someone who does not come from a ‘business family’.But it is often as difficult - or even more difficult - to scale up and professionalise a family run business. It is a challenge thousands of second and third generation entrepreneurs are facing in India today. In transforming a small business dealing in electrical installation into a multinational engineering company, Madan Mohanka faced all the hurdles and challenges of starting up from scratch. But then Madan had what you would call - ‘junoon’. A passion, which one is driven to pursue at any cost. That passion is what led to the creation of Tega Industries, and kept it alive through the most trying of times. It is no coincidence that Madan`s home and office are right next to each other, in the peaceful New Alipore area of Kolkata. On a Sunday afternoon, you can catch him having lunch with colleagues in the Tega canteen, overseeing a training program, instead of enjoying a nap. I marvel - how do you get a kick out of the company you started after over 30 years? Let’s find out! 08_Such a long Journeyjuly4.qxd 7/19/08 2:39 PM Page 90 STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH 90 SUCH A LONG JOURNEY Madan Mohanka (PGP `67), Tega Industries Madan Mohanka is one of the very early graduates of IIM Ahmedabad. In those days the institute didn`t have much of a name.In fact, Madan`s was a business family and it seemed rather pointless that he should go and learn how to do business. “I had done my engineering and my family thought it was time that I started doing something.” But Madan did join IIMA and it changed his outlook towards business. “In the environment in which I was brought up,” reflects Madan, “the only thing that mattered was the rate at which one increased the family fortune.” * Despite these reservations, Madan did eventually join the family business after completing his MBA.The company, Techno Electric Pvt Ltd, was in the business of electric installation. It was fairly traditionally run and this was something which Madan decided to change when he joined. For example, despite the nature of its business, Techno Electric did not employ any qualified engineers.Madan hired five graduate engineers and added new lines of business involving a higher order of complexity in technology. Techno Electric started undertaking the design, supply and erection of Fuel Handling systems. Very little investment was required and the profit margins were attractive. But apart from the money, this diversification changed the character of the company. From an outfit which merely supplied materials and labour for electrical installation, Techno Electric was transforming into an engineering company. * some of the information in this chapter is based on a series of cases on Tega written by Prof V L Mote and Prof Jahar Saha ... - tailieumienphi.vn