From Typewriters To Networking

Hailing from a business back-ground ensured that business came naturally to
Delhi-based Sanjeev Bhatia. He joined his father’s already booming typewriter
business way back in 1988 after graduating from the University of Delhi with a
bachelors in commerce.

But like a true entrepreneur, he saw to it that the horizons of his business
expanded. And keeping this in mind he diversified into the IT consu-mables
trade. "It was a logical extension from typewriters," says he.

But the limited growth opportunities of the supplies trade had Sanjeev
craving for more. And then in 1996 he took a plunge into the hardware business.
And as the saying goes, there has been no looking back since.

A bumpy start

The migration from supplies to hardware was not smooth for Advantage
Computers. Its dependence on one particular vendor for the supply of goods
caused supply chain problems. This fed rumors that the company was going to shut
down, and his bad debts shot up. "We also incurred huge losses to the tune
of Rs 40 lakh on account of pressure selling," says Sanjeev with a sense of
loss in his voice.

But the hardware trade saw him make up for all the losses. His entry in the
business was appropriately timed as the industry was booming. Advantage
capitalized on that growth and moved from strength to strength. Sanjeev started
with a product portfolio that included Mercury motherboards and cards, Seagate
HDDs and Sony FDDs. Advantage recognized that support from vendors was not as
forthcoming as their efforts to connect with the customer while making the sale.
It was on issues of support or rather lack of it that created a number of
differences between Kobian and Advantage and finally led them to part ways.

These differences had many a partner disgruntled with Advantage too. Says
Pankaj Sureka of Sureka Compunet, "The dealers had to bear the brunt of the
rift between the two companies." This acted as a trigger for Sanjeev to
recognize it as an opportunity. And in June 2001, Advantage launched a series of
peripherals and networking products under the Adcom brand.

Adcom: The beginning of a journey

Choosing the products to bear Adcom’s brand came after much thought.
"During my visit to Computex, Taiwan, I recognized the fact that networking
was the way to go in the future," says Sanjeev. He used that trip to speak
to a number of manufacturers there to supply exclusively to Advantage and
convinced them to sign on the dotted line.

After the initial advertising and promotions, Adcom has come to occupy a
fairly decent mindshare within the trade community. And now Advantage is all set
to catch the most important person in business –the customer. "For our
peripherals, we are planning a huge investment to capture the customer mindshare,"
informs he.

Sanjeev has always worked with the philosophy of pumping money back into the
business to nurture and grow it. And grown it has. Revenues for its first year
in 1996 was Rs 2 crore. Growing to Rs 45 crore in 1999-2000, Advantage expects
to touch Rs 100 crore for this fiscal. Its employee strength has also seen a
fascinating growth from 10 since inception to over 150 now.

The passion and excitement pertaining to Adcom is the high that Sanjeev
enjoys and this passion is translated into all that he does. "To be
successful in this industry it is imperative for a businessman to have a vision
and the ability to adapt," he muses thoughtfully.

Says Bharat Bhushan, Director, RR Systems and a regular Advantage customer,
"We have got very good after-sales support on all Adcom products that we
carry." And he rates Advantage and its team very high on the
professionalism scale too.

Sanjeev has a clear vision about the brand that he is nurturing like a
devoted father. After establishing its credibility in the domestic market, he is
all set to take it overseas. "We have started to explore overseas markets
and will move in that direction once the time is right," adds he.

To maximize the customer experience behind each product, Advantage does a lot
of work. "We have a product development team in India that works closely
with our partner-manufacturers in Taiwan," he tells.

The markings of a leader

Sanjeev feels that a vision and the ability to adapt to these rapidly changing
times are essential components of success. "His vision and his high levels
of EQ and IQ give us the energy to work even harder," praises Akhil Lal,
Business Manager of Advantage’s networking division. Chimes in Nitin Chhabra,
Director, Advantage Computers, "His commitment to goals are unshakable even
in the face of difficult situations." He adds, "Sanjeev has always
come up with a way to overcome hurdles rather than buckle under them."

Another one of Sanjeev’s virtues is his hard work. "Without hard work
success is difficult to come by," he remarks. And Nitin bears testimony to
that by his close association with him. "His thorough knowledge and
understanding of the market and issues related to imports, sales, accounting and
every other functional area are a stark reminder of his hard work,"
compliments Nitin.

The future is bright

Sanjeev is waiting for the annual budget to be presented before he finally takes
a decision on what to manufacture, but the manufacturing bug has bit him.
Advantage is expected to start the manufacturing of add-on cards and peripherals
in the next financial year. "The budget will help us to decide the
direction in the sense as to what really to manufacture," he says.

Next year will mark the beginning of the export of Adcom products to
neighboring countries. The horizons will be widened after learning lessons in
the region to take Advantage to greater heights. "I aspire to make Adcom a
household name in the next three years," says Sanjeev, with a glint of
confidence in his eyes.

Mohit Chhabra in New Delhi