ORTEK COMPUTERS: Loyalty Encasher

In the busy and crowded textile market of south-Mumbai, a cheerful and
pragmatic businessman Pravin Dhoka of Ortek Computers is busy convincing a
customer about a newly launched product, over a cup of tea. And in less than
five minutes the customer places a huge order for the product.

Hailing from a Marwari family, business acumen comes naturally to Pravin. But
business was not what he intended to do after finishing his BE from the Mumbai
University in 1990. "I was planning to go for higher studies abroad. I was
even preparing for GRE and TOEFL, but my family was against it. So I took up a
marketing job at Foremost Systems selling security software," reminisces
Pravin.

SOMETHING OF HIS OWN

After working as a salaried employee for six months, Pravin decided to start
his own venture. "Getting into business was not a problem with the kind of
background my family had, but doing it at the age of 22 was a challenge,"
says Pravin.

This was where his experience at Foremost came handy. Pravin teamed up with a
college friend, Ashok Jain, to start Ortek Computers. But, Ashok left the
partnership in 1994 to start his own business.

Servicing and supplying parts became an important part of Ortek in its early
days. Starting as a small reselling organization, the company went on to become
a sub-distributor; buying directly from Tech Pac, SES, Ingram Micro and
Redington. It was also one of the distributors for BPL monitors.

Ortek has been an Intel GID since 1995, star-elite partner for Samsung, and
premium partner for HP, Epson and many others.

The company today has a team of 16 employees catering to over 400 customers
across Mumbai, of which around 100 are regular clients. "My business
approach is very simple. I keep my customer base small and this has helped me in
giving focused attention to each and every buyer who in turn offers loyalty to
me," says Pravin.

CONCENTRATE ON BOTTOMLINES

Pravin reveals that he started trading with an initial investment of Rs
50,000. "Considering the investment, the profits were reasonable in the
first year. I was doing well because there were very few people in IT reselling
then," says he.

The period between 1995 to 1999 was best for Ortek when it grew on an average
of 30% every year. For the last few years, the growth rate for Ortek has come
down to 10-15%. However, Pravin is glad that he could maintain healthy
bottomlines.

"My strategy has been to concentrate only on the bottomline, which was
never damaged," he adds.

30% of the company’s revenue today comes from servicing and AMC activities.
The rest is from reselling. Ortek’s focus is mainly on SOHO and SMEs. Very
little focus is given on the corporate and government segment.

KEEPING EMPLOYEES, PARTNERS HAPPY

According to Pravin, the recessionary trend is forcing resellers to
diversify into different product segments and take up retail operations. He
feels that diversifying without charting out a long-term plan is not a right
move.

"As far as business expansion is concerned, I am happy working with my
SIs who are loyal to me. I ensure that they get the most out of me and are
always kept happy," he adds.

Pravin has maintained the same attitude towards his employees as well. This
is one of the reasons that attrition rate in Ortek is very low.

Pravin was also one of the founder members of Mumbai-based association, TAIT
(Traders Association of Information Technology). He continues to be an active
member of the association and has been efficiently executing his duties as the
general secretary of the association for last two years.

NELSON JOHNY