EMERALD INFOCOM: The Unwilling Entrepreneur

Sanjay Tayal was forced into the channel business, when his friends handed
him a one-way ticket to Ahmedabad to manage Emerald Infocom. But, the business
that started as a compulsion soon became a fascination for Sanjay, who has made
Emerald a Rs 2.6 crore company in just a decade.

Sanjay Tayal got into the IT channel business by default. A graduate in arts,
he tried his hands in the hospitality segment, did some bar-tending and designed
jewelry, without having a clear idea which direction he would like to head
towards.

Finally, his well-wishing friends gave him a one-way ticket to Ahmedabad and
forced him to look after their PC manufacturing unit in the city. This was how
Emerald Infocom came into being in 1992.

Initially, Sanjay would travel to Delhi twice a week, sulky about being
forced into a business he had no clue about. But, gradually the intricacies of
the channel industry got him interested. "My friends knew that I had found
my path in life, when my Delhi trips came down to once a month," Sanjay
laughs.

FROM MANUFACTURING TO TRADING

Though Sanjay initially started Emerald as a PC assembling company, he
shifted tracks to trading soon. "Once economic liberalization and excise
exemption took place in 1994, it made more sense to import PCs than assemble
them nationally. So the next logical step for us was to get into trading,"
he reminisces.

A jovial person, Sanjay was one of the early channel partners in the Gujarat
market. And from the very start, he realized that he could carve an identity for
himself only if he became a distributor for niche products. "I knew that IT
was going to be the future, and everyone would want to cash in on it. That is
why I decided to stick to those products that were not meant for
mass-consumption," he adds.

Sanjay has stuck to this decision till date and even now deals in only
upcoming technologies like Bluetooth, Infrared and Wi-Fi.

Emerald currently is a partner for Gemini, Acard, Intel, Krone, Samsung and
Bafo.

Sanjay prefers not to get into the rat race and would rather sell niche
products, where the margins are higher and competition is lower. To drive home
his point, he notes that there were only four partners when he started business
and today there are over 400.

Like most other dealers, Emerald too is battling with high attrition rates.
The company currently employs 13 people and the average life of an employee in
the organization is three years. But there are some employees who have stayed
with Emerald for several years.

Says Dharmesh Bhatt who works with Sanjay, "Working with him is like a
picnic, because he is not a hard taskmaster. At the same time, he makes sure
that your potential is not wasted."

CARING FOR CUSTOMERS

A proactive approach also helps in creating demand, which might be latent.
Citing an example, Sanjay recounts how he merely sent a mailer about a new USB
drive product that he had recently started dealing in to a customer for merely
enhancing his knowledge base.

Instead, the customer placed a huge order for the same product within days,
realizing that it would be very useful in his business. Sanjay also provides
hands-on demo for all the products he sells to his customers, irrespective of
whether they are corporate clients or home users. He would now like to move into
the notebook market by launching laptops and accessories under the 'Emerald'
brand name.

SECURE IN WEST

Emerald is a strong player in the western region and Sanjay is happy doing
business within this periphery. He says that the potential in the western market
itself has not been tapped well and unless he is able to do this, there is no
reason to spread his wings to other geographies.

Sanjay is also an active member of the Ahmedabad Computer Manufacturers
Association (ACMA). He works with the body's president, RG Patel to devise
technical workshops and seminars, which will help members improve their knowhow.

Very few people know that Sanjay is a die-hard fan of the singer-poet Jagjit
Singh, and has a compilation of all the songs sung by him. In fact, Jagjit has
often borrowed the tracks from Sanjay, as he has misplaced the originals
himself.

VINITA BHATIA in
Ahmedabad

SECRETS OF SUCCESS