Climbing the ladder of success step by step is what Park Electroniks’ Ajaya Kumar is determined to do. Last year, the company reached a record turnover of Rs.72 crore and this fiscal, it is determined to touch the Rs.100-crore mark. Managing to grow consistently, Park has been positioned as the chosen partner of almost all the vendors of big brands.
In his entire professional life of 28 years, Ajaya has dedicated each and every second of it to IT. Working initially with companies like SNG Group and Western Electronics, it was the entrepreneurial bug that bit him to set up Park Electroniks in 1991.With an initial capital of Rs.5 lakh, he first tied up with HCL as one of its retail partners.
However, the seed he sowed started bearing fruit when in 1995 HCL approached him for its regional distributorship for Delhi and NCR. This was the major turning point in his professional life and thereafter opportunities came galore his way. He added Samsung, Lenovo, Sony, Microsoft and HP, TVS-E, AOC, Nokia to his portfolio. From a single office to five branches in Gurgaon,Kurukshetra, Hisar, Jaipur and Haryana, he is now planning to open up a few more in Faridabad and Greater Noida. Park is the elite partner for Samsung, distributor of Sony VIO, aggregator for Microsoft Hardware and TVS-E Mechanical Keyboards and regional distributor for AOC.
Ajaya credited his success to a very distinctive and diversified strategy built over years of experience put in by him. Dividing the entire product range in two categories of “Push” and”“Pull” products, he has kept Samsung and Compaq in one category, while Sony, Microsoft Hardware, AOC and TVS-E Mechanical Key boards belong to the other. “Push” products are the ones, which Park has to accelerate in the market, while “Pull” are the ones which do not need any effort for acceleration. Ajaya says,”“I am happy to take up challenges and brands like Sony and Microsoft actually put me to bring out my best.”
As a matter of fact, Ajaya plays a big role in certain marketing and sales programmes and driving of Microsoft hardware products. His feedback is taken seriously by the vendors.
According to him, the strength lies in the fact that he believes in gradual growth and grabs the opportunities that come his way. The qualities like honesty, commitment, hard work and obsession for work, good will are what drive him for more. He also puts in around 50 per cent of his revenue back into the business for services, skill set honing, etc., which, according to him, are very important to sustain high growth.
Of the total turnover of Rs.72 crore, HP Compaq products contribute the maximum with 25 per cent, while Sony and Samsung 10 and 12 per cent, respectively, Microsoft alone provides 7 per cent, almost 8 per cent by TVS-E, Lenovo 7 per cent, Nokia 10 per cent and the rest comes from AOC.
Having more than 400 partners, he has attributed his success in the business to the vendors and his team with whose help he thinks of reaping Rs.100 crore this fiscal year. While his team enjoys absolute freedom in the work ethos, he strives to motivate them to the fullest in whichever possible way he can.
On the product front, he is buoyant about notebooks, LCDs and laser printers. Dealing with corporate sectors as well, he is trying to beef up his infrastructure by inducting more persons in the sales department from the current 50.
With a target of achieving 25-per cent year-on-year growth, he may soon be expanding his geographical area to Greater Noida and Faridabad. Guess this is what “grabbing the opportunity in the right place at the right time with the right people” means! Things might be clear by now for all the vendors. So, now they know what and where to watch for!
