Hello friends,

I welcome you all to the Spotlight series of SMB Connect's the rise.in. I am Srijan Narayan. Business leaders share their knowledge and experience in  our spotlight series. We are very excited to have Vivek Gogate of Gogate Electrosystems who has joined us to share his incredible journey.

 

Q: Namaskar Vivek Gogate, we would first like to know how did you start?
A: Namaskar, I did engineering in Pune in electronics and tele communication and then I did my MBA in materials management in ’78 when I passed, I decided that I would start something of my own. Everyone in my family – my brothers, my elder sister, my father, and my mother were doctors and I was the only engineer We did not have any business background for seven ancestors, no one had ever done business, but I wanted to start something of my own and my family supported me wholeheartedly. Their support mattered to me a lot and their support is incredible. In ’79 I started on my own. I was working as a management trainee in a company in Mumbai. I collected my salary of nine hundred rupees in December ’78 bought a mustimeter and another equipment came to Nashik and told my mother and father told them I wanted to start on my own. I had done my MBA, but I did not do any project reports. and I did nothing, nothing, nothing! I came to Nasik, put a table in the basement of our building, and decided to start from here and there was a friend who had an agency for television and refrigerators, I asked them what they would need to which they replied they needed a stabilizer. So, I started with manufacturing voltage stabilizers that are used in TVs, fridges, etc., I started with that and today we still manufacture it – we haven’t left the product even after forty-five years.

Q: Amazing. That is so interesting. With how much funds did you begin this stabilizer business?

I started with one hundred rupees. As you do it in accounts – I had put a hundred rupees in the capital and bought seventy-five rupees worth of postage stamps from the cash.

Q: So that is how you began?

A: Yes, that is how I began.

Q: Did you also face adversaries after you began?

A: There was always some adversary that came. But we were fortunate to find a place for rent. And we got the necessary NOC from the corporation as our work was non-polluting. –we don’t do air, water, or noise pollution so I could begin easily on rent as there was no hazard. If you manufacture electronics components, then you require large machinery. Electronics assembly was easy as almost a hundred percent of parts could be procured from the market and then made the product according to the design. We did not face much adversity, but we had less capital. The scale of our operation was limited. When we wanted to expand, we took a place on rent initially in the industrial area and we continued from there. We had an old thought of not borrowing, we spent everything in the business, we only took what was necessary for family sustenance, and we continued from there till 2009 we did not take any term loan. We took a loan in 2009 since we had to upgrade the infrastructure of the manufacturing and put in an assembly line. These fifty lakhs were the first term loan we took. Prior to that the place we acquired for our factory, we did it with our own money, we did not go to a bank except for working capital. Now the banks are after us, they are willing to give us funds, they also seek good borrowers, and we make timely repayments. In the forty-five years of my business, not a single time has a cheque bounced. I am stating that proudly. Financial commitment is of the core value for us.

Q: This is very interesting, you took a term loan only in 2009, tell us in your journey, you took a rented place, from ’79 till here, what are the products you have so far?

A: We manufacture stabilizers for TV and refrigerators, servo control voltage stabilizers which we started in ’86, we make online UPS and we used to make offline as well but its market is down now, domestic and commercial inverters, industrial inverters and commercial UPS, this is one vertical, In the second vertical we make panels for the medium voltage switchgear companies  -we manufacture various panels for them - R and B panels, FRTU, we manufacture controllers and battery chargers for them in our second vertical, in the third vertical we make EMS, we have an ultra-modern setup and I am proudly saying very few companies in Nashik have such set up we have end to end automatic conveyor assembly line. We have clients in the Middle East, Malaysia, in South Africa.

Q: From ’79 till now how you have carried out modernization or R&D in your plant?

A: We have a professional team, and we make a five-year plan, and we work on our five-year plan what resources we would need – resources in terms of machinery, infrastructure, manpower, we plan according to that and that is how we move further.

Q: So, you decide on modernization in your five-year plan?

A: Yeah. And our customers, some are from the Middle East, their principles are European, so they need our manufacturing set up on European standards. They do audits, we are a green channel vendor to most of them they come and audit our systems, audit our operations, and suggest additions to our processes. We accept their demands, and we try to improve our quality, it is a horizontal deployment, so the quality and performance improve for all our customers automatically.

Q: This was about modernisation and customisation, what is your employee count and your turnover and the units you have put up?

A: There are a total of two hundred people employed with us. Our turnover this year would be eighty crores. I am happy to state that there are over 50 percent of the employees are women. And they work in responsible positions.

Q: This is interesting you give fifty percent employment to women

A: Yeah.

Q: You have had such a long journey, the accomplishments you have made, you must have received awards and recognition as well, do let us know about that.

A: we have received many awards, The prestigious award in Nasik -  NIMA (Nasik Industry and Manufacturing Association) has given us an excellence award, we also participate in an internal competition held by a teaching and learning community that has about thousand-twelve hundred members from SME sector and we have been given awards for highest customer satisfaction, highest employee satisfaction, overall excellence, best HR practices we have received these awards, Institution of Engineers gave me engineering achievement award, my son got outstanding young engineer award as well from Institution of engineers. We also got silver or gold in the vendor’s meet as well from our customers. And we are proud of it.

Q: Obviously, Sir, this is a proud thing to say. So, what do you think of the future? What will be your initiative for the future?

A: In our vision for the future, we want to build a growth-oriented, profitable, and sustainable organization. I started this in ’79, and now I am seventy, I have my son, he should continue. Whether we are present here or not the company should be able to sustain itself. This is our plan and growth should not just be for the company but also individual growth of the people who work here. If the goals of the employee and the goals of the company align themselves, it is a win-win situation for both. A company can progress if these two match, this is my strong belief.

Q: Amazing sir! When you are talking about systems and beliefs, what is your mantra for young entrepreneurs?

A: For young entrepreneurs, First I want to tell you that on growth – we see sometimes a spiral growth  - first year they do a business of five crores, second year it becomes twenty-five crores, third year it is seventy-five crores, and then it becomes Two hundred crores, this spiral growth only happens if you have excellence on product and service – if there is no other manufacturer in the world then the spiral growth is possible or if you have a Godfather then you achieve spiral growth, when there is a Godfather that continues to give business, this is another condition for spiral growth. Otherwise, one has to work hard to achieve growth, and for that one has to understand what the customers want, don’t try to sell what you are making, sell what the customer wants. Only then growth is possible. This is one, the other is values – always stick to your values. Our value is trust – we trust not only our employees, our suppliers, everyone, the bankers, the society, everyone. When we work in accordance with our values, then we have peace of mind. What you are doing is with your own ideas and values. Then the mind is not conflicted, we are clear about what we have to do. The third is to try to be updated with technology. If you are not updated, then you are thrown out of business.

Q: You recently attended SMB Connect’s the rise programme, what can you tell us about that.

A: I got good inputs in the SMB Connect programme that took place in Nasik. I learned from the success stories of those business leaders whom you felicitated. It was a valuable addition to hear what they have achieved, I am grateful that you felicitated me on the programme.

Thank you, sir. It was a pleasure talking to you. Friends this was Vivek Gogate from Gogate electrosystems who was sharing his days of struggle, his start with just one hundred rupees. He was sharing with us his achievements and his journey. I thank you all for watching the spotlight series on SMB Connect’s the rise. If there is any question you have for a business leader that you want to ask about your business, then do email us at info@smbconnect.in, and we will try to get the answers from our experts. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated with the SME ecosystem.
Thank you for joining us.  We will bring another stalwart in our spotlight series in our next episode.

Q: I hope you enjoyed talking to us

A: It was my pleasure. Thank you very much.