Accessories Specialist

What makes Pushparaj Vasani of Mumbai-based Carrypaq Asia Pacific Pvt Ltd,
stand apart from others is his decision to deal in a totally unconventional
product segment–notebook accessories. He started his venture in 1998, and
today Pushparaj is the sole distributor of Targus range of notebook peripherals
and accessories in the country.

Pushparaj started his career as a Compaq reseller in 1993 under the banner of
Telebyte. Back then too, he introduced those Compaq products that were not
available in India. And the zest for introducing newer and unconventional
products has seen him achieving success over a period of time.

SELLING CARRY CASES

A commerce graduate, to get line as after a few years of dealing with Compaq
products, Pushparaj realized that he was not satisfied pushing boxes. He learnt
about US-based Targus and decided to sell their products. However, the first two
years of association with Targus was that of sweat and toil, as Carrypaq
primarily dealt in testing and creating a market for carry cases of notebooks.
But Pushparaj managed tie-ups with many OEMs like Compaq, IBM and HCL for
supplying these carry cases.

When the results finally started showing in the third year of operation,
Pushparaj was quick to bring in other notebook accessories as well. Today
Carrypaq has offers products like notebook security devices, foldable keyboards
for PDAs, universal auto-air adapters, port replicators, USB mini business card
scanners, fingerprint scanning devices, USB charge sync cables and so on.

UNIQUE PRODUCTS, ENVIABLE MARGINS

Carrypaq it achieved an impressive turnover of over Rs 2 crore in 1999-2000. It
nearly doubled its turnover to about Rs 4 crore last financial year.

What is remarkable though is the fact that while most partners today are
working at margins of five to 10 percent, Carrypaq offers them a margin of
anywhere between 20-25 percent on its products. "At times our partners have
earned more margins selling our accessories than they have earned selling a
notebook itself!" remarks Pushparaj.

SELECTIVE CHANNEL

Presently having a channel base of 45 partners, Pushparaj is looking at
expanding it by 30 percent in the current year. He has also launched a ‘Carrypaq
Access Partner’ program, wherein he will be able to select the right kind of
partners for his business.

Pushparaj is now keen on exploring newer products from different vendors and
as focused on creating a brand name for Carrypaq.

GOLDIE in Mumbai