Determination Pays!

Customer
is
the 'Boss'. Customer may have many choices, but we have only
one,
ie, customer,' believes Sandeep Bansal, director, sales,
Computer
People. Thanks to this determined approach, the company is
now one of the leading regional distributors in Haryana with a
vendor
list that includes Toshiba and its range of laptops. The company
has
worked with all IT brands in the market. Today, Bansal is
distributing and retailing Toshiba laptops in Panipat and it's a
service partner for TVS Electronics and InTarvo (earlier RT
Outsourcing). The company also has its fingers in the state's IT
retail pie with its shop,the Toshiba exclusive store.

THE
BEGINNING

Before
getting settled into the IT business, Panipat based Sandeep
Bansal
was a college dropout. He decided to leave his graduation and
began
his career with a small desktop publishing house in Kaithal in
the
year 1992. After running it for 3 years, he moved into IT
education
business and opened Aptech Computer Education Centers in
Kurukshetra
and Kaithal, where he spent 7 years of his career. But due to
slump
in the education market, he was forced to shutdown his business
After
the turbulent period, he applied at VSM Advance Automation, as
the
branch head for Haryana region. There his prime role was to
establish
channel for Compaq desktops and notebooks, HP printers and HCL
desktops. “Working with VSM had given a big push to my career.
In
just a span of 1 year, I achieved 300% growth in the Haryana IT
market,” says Bansal. Following his ambition to start his own IT
business, and after gaining market confidence and learning the
tricks
of the IT trade, he decided to set up his own business in the IT
channel fraternity in the year 2005. Bansal started his
own business with a meagre amount of Rs 8,000. The company got a
good
start in the first year of operations, and garnered a turnover
of Rs
75 lakh in the first year of operations.

WHY IT
BUSINESS?

Hailing
from
a doctor family, Bansal never wanted to get into the family
profession. His passion for software/hardware troubleshooting
and
fascination towards computers since his schooling days helped
him to
pursue his IT profession. While remembering his school days,
Bansal
adds, “I was first introduced to PC when my father purchased a
computer for me during my matriculation. Since then, I decided
to
become an IT man.”

CHALLENGES

During the
first year of operations, Computer People initially faced
hiccups in
stabilizing its business in the market. However, with the
support of
old established contacts in companies like HP and HCL, it
started
getting recognition in the market. According to Bansal, “IT
business is a thankless job. As a channel partner, we had
extended
all our support to the vendors to establish their brand in
Haryana
market. Unfortunately, vendors did not give back the same
support to
us.” Another challenge for our business is nonpayment issue from
vendors and channels both. The entire IT business runs on
credits and
we have suffered and lost our hard-earned money. Hence at last,
we
have decided to shift our business focus from distribution and
to
concentrate on consultancy, services and IT infrastructure. In
addition, looking towards the current market scenario and fund
flow
managed by the partners, we have limited our business to the
retailing.”

MAJOR
ACHIEVEMENTS

Having
worked
with many IT companies, Computer People has been awarded and
recognized by vendors for its performance. Companies had
certified it
with Best Reseller reward for selling Toshiba laptops, and it
also
bagged the Best Service Partner Award from RT Outsourcing
Services.

FUTURE
PLANS

The
current
turnover of the company is Rs 2 crore and its focus for the next
2
years is going to be on the retail business. The company plans
to set
up IT retail stores across several towns in Haryana. To further
its
business, the company plans to add IT infrastructural
consultancy,
imparting the off-shore services for website development,
security
implementation and other software or ERP-related services.
According
to Bansal, the future of computing lies in touch-screen
technology,
mini products like netbooks and tablet PCs, and space-saving
AIOs.
So, in addition to laptops, the company also hopes to do big
business
from these products.

ON A
PERSONAL NOTE

“Working
for 15-16 hours every weekday is quite tiring, and leaves a
little
time for family. Therefore, Sundays are reserved for the
family,”
he says. Moreover, this year Bansal will be completing his
graduation, which he had dropped earlier. Despite his busy
schedule,
he gets time to work for social cause. “I have been the charter
president for the Jaycee International Kaithal Chapter and a
member
for Rotary International since last 3 years,” Bansal signs off.