Am not sure what the most common surname was in our COEP Mech 90 batch, but the most common first name was definitely Atul. There were at least 4 of us who responded to that first name, yours truly included. Here’s the story of the most creative of the Atuls. Atul Desai’s turning point in engineering was flunking Engineering Drawing -1. He decided to opt out of the grades rat race after that. I remember having a similar story for Engineering Mathematics -1, where I just managed to get one mark more than the passing grade. Later on in my MBA days, instead of having one horror subject, I found myself in the very first months with a term load of horror subjects. It was the proverbial liquid oxygen situation that the Ajit jokes talk about. You did good enough to survive, but bad enough to never thrive. One of the interesting things happening thanks to the lockdown is a new grading system in US universities – Pass or Fail. That’s the kind of academic system I would love to have in our schools. Ensure that all students pass. And if they pass, we know that there is an adequate level of competence in that subject.

Atul’s dad had a great corporate career in sales. He worked in the pumps industry for 28 years, last being VP with Kirloskar Brothers Limited. In 1985, at the ripe old age of 51, against the advice of all his relatives, this Marathi Manoos decided to jump into entrepreneurship by starting Ameya Fluid Control Systems Pvt Ltd. – dealing in pumps and valves. Atul was – and still continues to be charmed by the amazing energy and tenacity of his dad. Around the time his dad started the business, Atul had decided that he too would be in business. Dad advised him that working in a bigger company for some time would be helpful. There would be a better understanding of systems and processes, something that SMEs are not very strong in. Atul followed his dad’s footsteps by joining the Kirloskar group, Kirloskar Cummins to be precise. Being a true Punekari, he preferred a company close to his Navi Peth home.

After being ‘engineered’ by the engine maker Cummins for a couple of years, Atul was ready to jump into business. Atul’s first training assignment at Ameya was vasooli. In hindsight, probably the best way to get initiated in a business. One gets a feeling that a lot of creative osmosis happened then. Atul would hear such a diverse set of reasons for clients not paying up. A few years after Atul joined the business, his dad put Atul literally in the driver’s seat. This meant of course visiting factory locations in Chakan and Talegaon for meetings , but more importantly, Atul was given the freedom to drive customer negotiations. Dad cut down his working hours – and left most of the customer facing roles to Atul. His dad is 85 today – and still continues to come to work every single day. The wisdom of letting go – and yet staying active – is something that all of us need to imbibe from Desai Sr.

Along the way, Atul made some formal investments in education. He and Sameer Agashe both managed to complete a part time masters in management from SIBM. And Sameer, the Marathi Manoos who joined Tata Motors expecting to retire from the same company, has followed best friend Atul, into entrepreneurship. The risk averse nature of the Marathi manoos got discussed. Atul strongly believes that what is required for becoming an entrepreneur is daring. Having said that, Ameya has charted a relatively low risk path. One of the biggest killers in a sales and distribution set up is overtrading – trying to stretch your working capital. A case in point is a supermarket chain that went from zero to hero and back to zero in a matter of years – Subiksha. The guys used vendor credit in order to ramp up the number of stores. And when vendors at one point refused to sell on credit any more, the Subiksha story ended. Conservativeness in finance leads to longevity in business. From 1995 to 2005 Bank CC limits were taken by Ameya. Internal accruals were not taken out of the business. The money was converted into FDs. Ameya nowadays continues to use CCs, but against FDs. The bank headache and heartache is now much reduced. 

Atul remembers advising our batchmate Makarand Kulkarni, against becoming an entrepreneur. Makarand was the quintessential design engineer – and did not understand that it requires the non specialist jack of all trades to run a business. Mak would have become much better later on as a self employed consultant. White hair is a sine qua non in the consulting business. White hair also helps in risk management. Makarand did not end up listening to Atul’s advice – and we know the sad way in which Mak’s story ended. People should know why they want to join business. The first 5 years of business are very important. And the challenge is not failure, it is success. Because success in very early days does not prepare you for failures in later years. And these challenges are seen in almost all kinds of businesses – starting from Paan Tapris to Pump Tapris. 

Atul was asked about what were the advantages and disadvantages of being a second generation businessman. Given the nascent stage that the business was in when Atul joined – I would not really call Atul second generation. But Atul believes being his dad’s son gave him a leg up in business. Clients were receptive. Though we talk of a corporate DNA  – it works better in a literal sense. Decades of dining table education teaches our younger folks about not just business operations and our ethical boundaries. I remember a conversation two decades ago with the then Chairman of the Pune Vidyarthi Grihapeeth. We were discussing the best way to hire teachers. I received a nugget of advice from him. Interviews, demonstrations and probations can be gamed by candidates. DNA cannot be. The best teachers are the ones whose parents have also been teachers. 

Parents start priming kids for career decisions around the time kids reach secondary school. For most IAS aspirants, it is actually parental ambitions that drives. The typical IAS aspirant parent is a mid level government official, who is awed by how young their IAS bosses are. Having failed to join the elite services themselves, they push their kids to sacrifice years of their youth to prepare for civil services. Parental job satisfaction is also another thing that drives career advice. Nowadays you have very few army officer kids who join the army. Instead most of the current cadre of officers are guys (very few girls, but promise a separate blog on gender disparity in defence) whose fathers were non commissioned officers in the army. 

In my secondary school days, my dad had taken me once to meet an entrepreneur, who was a vendor to DRDO, my dad’s employer. We visited his house to chat up about entrepreneurship. I remember it as a particularly uninspiring conversation – with the single take-away being of what I don’t want to be doing as an entrepreneur – being boring. I work with a lot of students on goal setting – and I find that their decision about getting into business depends a lot on a certain threshold value of business. If a parent has a business with only 2-3 employees, the chances are quite high that the kids would not be interested in joining the business. If there are more than 20 employees, the chances are quite high that he (in a few rare cases – she) will end up joining. Kids seem to have got their career math in place.

About 5 years ago, Atul went through a phase where he considered divesting off his business. Life had become too routine. Atul had gradually seen quality deteriorate amongst the corporate buyers. The flow of knowledge had now reversed. Atul was spending more and more time in educating his buyers. What got him back was the realisation that he has now reached the same stage as his dad was in 1985. Time to become a mentor. We asked him about next gen’s plans to join Ameya. His son Rounak was listening in to the conversation – so we ended up hearing a very diplomatic – let the kids decide kind of answer. His daughter Riya who is finishing her third year of engineering, will possibly be the first of the progeny, who will decide whether to take the call. I assume that, like Atul and their grandfather, the kids will have a stint in the corporate world to make up their minds. Atul has spent his entire working life in Pune. I hope the kids are kicked out of their hometown – and spend some time picking up non Puneri cultures and friends.

We discussed values. One question which Atul gave a characteristically undiplomatic answer was about bribes. He was honest that bribes have to be paid – not just for lubricating the order issuing process – but even for procuring mundane things such as the now obsolete C forms for sales tax. A pragmatic entrepreneur defines boundaries beyond which trespassing does not happen. Atul is quite Ok with wining and dining buyers. He believes this is important for relationship building.1-2% of order value is something that he sometimes has to let go – in order to handle the nuisance of corrupt buyers. But Atul always ensures that the quality of the solution never suffers in this process. 

The last theme for discussion was life outside the workplace. Atul follows an interesting professional rule – no customer calls after 1930 hrs. His philosophy is that there is hardly anything that Ameya can do at a late hour to help a stranded customer. We all have a right to say No. We need to exercise it. We don’t need to suffer our client’s incompetence. One management practice that Atul dislikes is – JIT, which he figures is just fire fighting in disguise. Corporate fire-fighers send CAD drawings on WhatsApp – and expect Ameya to act on it. Cholbe na! Entrepreneurs should have a life outside office. 

Atul made a wishlist when he turned 40. Swimming, acting in drama, cooking – one by one the bucket list is being ticked off. The hobby of music was left in the competitive times of 10th and 12th. So Surilee was nurtured – to highlight the whistling talents of friends like Sunil Godbole. Atul has also for a decade dedicated his time and effort to run a Medical Trust . Atul always has time for all his friends – in fact he is the first port of call for any of our visiting US / outside India friends. Atul truly believes in the philosophy:

किसी की मुस्कुराहटों पे हो निसार 

किसी का दर्द मिल सके तो ले उधार 

किसी के वासते हो तेरे दिल में प्यार 

जीना इसी का नाम है…

COEP questions for Atul Desai

SECOND GENERATION BUSINESS

Your father was running a set and successful business how were your first few months under his watchful eyes – Sunil G

As a second generation entrepreneur what advantages and disadvantages did you find? If you had not inherited the legacy of business from your father what do you think you could be doing today? – Sameer A

Marathi manoos and in self owned business; why /how /what pushed him into this when specifically all our friends went for jobs – Bharat O

We have seen Reliance’s empire partly falling apart in the second generation. As the third generation of your business gets ready to join, what would be your advice to them connected to the longevity of family owned businesses? – Atul G

BUSINESS STRATEGY

Trading has become a very cut throat margin business. What strategies do you plan to adapt in coming years to offset this challenge and stand out unique in the market? Sameer A

What is your niche area – Bharat O

How does he handle credit sales recoveries – Bharat O

How he created / maintained his  market share in this tough times – Bharat O

You have closely dealt with hundreds of guys from purchase, projects, commissioning and maintenance. What change do you observe in the knowledge and attitude of these people over the years? What has changed from the 1990s to present situation? – Sameer A

PASSION

How do you manage your office without much over time 9 to 6 pm . What is the secret – – Sunil G

If not in pumps what would you been doing – – Sunil G

What would have been your career plan (in the short run and in the long run) if the existing business wouldn’t have been there for you to run? – Antya

What are your three advice for budding business boys – Sunil G

What challenges would be there after corona crisis? I would like to know about ur views also on this. – Khodya