What is the nature of your business? (Business Profile)
We are the developers of FACT Realtime Business Accounting Software and PERKS Payroll Software. The company was founded in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata), India in 1987. Since then we have grown to 3 offices in India - Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai. We set up the global headquarters in Singapore in 1993, where I am based. We set up our company in Malaysia, also in 1993. To expand further, we established companies in Dubai (2003), Nepal (2004) and Philippines (2005). FACT has more than 15,000 installations worldwide, with more than 100,000 companies maintaining their accounts and inventory on FACT. Our target market is the SMEs - Small and Medium sized Enterprises, divisions of large companies and small manufacturers. Some of our better-known clients are Philips, ABN AMRO, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, NERA Telecom, Montblanc, Fujitsu, Chevron Phillips, Piaggio, Sushi-Tei, Lei Garden etc.

What made you embark on this venture choice?
I was a science student all through school. I was always interested in how things worked and how to make things better. But I had moved from India to the US mid-way through my 9th grade and completed the 10th grade there as well. So when I came back to India for the 11th grade I couldn't cope up with the syllabus. So even though I did science in the 11th and 12th grade, I ended up doing commerce in college. Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be an Applied Research Scientist with Bell Labs, New York. But The Almighty had different plans. While I was studying in college (6AM to 9AM), I took over a gas station, which I ran for 4 years. But I felt there was no challenge left at the end of the day. So while I was doing this, I went to Hong Kong in 1984 and purchased an Apple IIe compatible computer. I employed a programmer to develop an invoicing program for the gas station. Petrol was sold on credit slips in those days and it took 7-10 days from the end of the month to send the invoices out. I felt that if I could computerise this whole thing and send the invoices on the first of every month, I can receive my payments that much quicker and this would improve cash flow, and since interest ran as high as 24% per annum, there would be substantial interest savings as well. I would stick with the programmer while he wrote the program, learning whatever I could from him. Late at night, I would make a copy of the program and improve on the user interface and programming logic to make it work faster. Then I went on to do some odd jobs for companies, earning a few bucks. When I could not find an accounting software for the gas station a few months later, I spotted an opportunity. By 1987, I had decided that even though I had no formal training in computers, this is what I really wanted to do. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, but I found the software industry very exciting and stimulating. I decided that I was going to develop packaged (shrink wrapped) accounting software, and sell to the entire world.

How does your business work?
Every company in the world needs to maintain their accounts, receivables, payables and inventory. With the ever-increasing globalisation, companies have to be extremely competitive. FACT, our Realtime Business Accounting Software, helps companies to maintain their accounts in a totally integrated manner on a realtime basis. It helps them to reduce the duplication of entries and raises their productivity to never before levels. FACT helps them to take timely business decisions based on up to date numbers without any extra effort. Our software research and development is done in Kolkata, India. Each of our offices around the world sends feedback to the development centre on an everyday basis. The development team fixes problems, enhances features and releases new versions. At the current time, we release more than 200 enhancements to our software each year. The operations in each of the six companies are similar - they do marketing, sales, after-sales support and customer care. Each country has an Operations Head to oversee these functions. I am the chief troubleshooter. I provide the strategic direction, offer solutions to problems faced by the different countries and monitor the functioning of all countries. Besides being very proactive in software development, we pay particular attention to after-sales support. We believe our software (realtime enterprise accounting and payroll system) is time critical and mission critical. We provide helpdesk services to all our clients directly. Companies cannot afford downtime in their invoicing or payroll computation, since their operations are heavily dependent on them for smooth operations. We are just a phone call away for any support requirement.

Did you have the capital to start the business or did you have to borrow from someone to get started?
Way back in 1987, no banks in India were willing to lend money to the packaged software companies. Software business by itself was a very new one, and there were hardly any packaged software developers. The banks did not even understand this business and therefore, one couldn't convince them to fund intangibles. In addition, copyright laws were very lax and the computer population was abysmally low. I had saved some earnings from the gas station and the rest I borrowed money from my father. The initial capital was USD 20,000.

Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another?
Even though I come from a business family, my father was not in business at the time. He had started off his career in business but later switched to become a professional. Amongst the many things I learnt from my father: there is no short cut to success, it takes a lifetime to earn integrity and one bad decision to lose it all. My father inspired me to think on my own and be my own person. He always laid immense emphasis on education and knowledge and said that money could come and go but what goes into the brain stays there. He always stressed on studying hard and get good grades. I guess my main motivation to get straight As was that it helped me get away with a lot of mischief at home.

What was your childhood dream? When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else?
I had two childhood dreams : One was to be an Applied Research Scientist with Bell Labs, New York and the other was to become a pilot. Due to our move to the US mid-way through school, I couldn't adjust to the high school syllabus when I returned to India. That spelt the end of my formal education in science. Along with that went my dream to work with Bell Labs. However, I have no regrets as it opened up new horizons for me. I love flying and really wanted to travel the world and be paid to do that. Even though I did not become an airline pilot, my business takes me flying all around the world, albeit as a passenger. And I am working hard to earn enough to buy my own jet. Ever since I can remember, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I had never considered working for someone. I wouldn't call myself head strong, but I know what I want to do. If I had been working for someone else, I guess I would be fired by the end of the day for not agreeing with my boss. I am much happier working for myself.

Why does someone decide to be on their own rather than join an existing company?
There are more reasons than one. For me, one important reason was that I wanted to create something out of nothing. I always wanted to do something with the brain. My strong inclination and interest in science and technology goes back to my childhood. Even as a child, I was very curious to know how the electrical and mechanical toys worked. So for me the challenge was to go out and do something which doesn't have to do with brick and mortar. Another reason is the passion to create something with one's own idea and hard work and which can leave a mark behind. I think it's a sense of purpose and achievement that would lead one to be on their own rather than join another company. An entrepreneur wants to do it his way, not tow the line.

Are there at any point in your life that you experienced a significant event (WW2, racial riots of the 1960s, the Economic Crisis of the 80s or 90s, SARS, new competition or shifts in market behaviour and trends) which affected or influenced you and your business that made you change the way you think and do your business?
The most recent one was the East Asian Economic Crisis of the late 1990s. Everything one just went against you. Buying decisions got delayed even though the overheads remained. After a while, one had to scale down operations and wait out the bad times. Even though Singapore was not hit that bad directly, the adverse sentiments in the region put brakes on investments here. The dotcom bubble also affected us severely. It was a time when burn-rates were fashionable and there was an enormous amount of venture capital flowing to fund these unsustainable start-ups. This drove up salaries of IT personnel to the stratosphere and companies like ours got badly hit. Even though our costs went up, our customers were not willing to pay more.

What are some of the challenges in starting a business from scratch?
A first time entrepreneur starts on a white piece of paper. There are no existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). One doesn't have any policy templates to follow. This forces the entrepreneur to go setting up the business by trial and error most of the time. The entrepreneur has to get a feel of the market on his own, and also work out how to get funding. Hiring talent is also a major challenge for a new business. All this can be advantageous on the other hand, as one can be very innovative; there are no boundaries. Example : when we started in 1987, we opted straight for word processors instead of the manual typewriters. Even though this was an expensive decision for a start-up, we experienced a huge productivity jump due to this. Another crucial control point is working capital. Many new businesses are profitable but suffer due to inadequate working capital. I had also underestimated our working capital requirements. So the first 5 years, every month-end was a nightmare. On a lighter note, it reinforced my faith in God. On a positive note, it helped as it put pressure on all of us to perform far above targets as there was no other source of money. One lesson we learnt was to live within our means. The second was to be very hungry for sales.

Who/What motivates you?
What motivates me is to leave a legacy. Not a legacy in terms of money, fame or fortune but a legacy which would inspire others to follow. I am reminded of my father's legacy all the time. He didn't leave behind millions of dollars but a legacy of being a good man. He was a man of integrity and principles, and helped people all through his life beyond his means. It is very important to me that I imbibe a very strong sense of integrity in my company. One can't be 99.9% honest. Either one is honest or one is not. Over the last 18 years we have built a reputation of being a company with integrity in its dealings, across all countries. This has paid us huge dividends. Even when we went through tough times, our customers and suppliers both stayed with us solely on the trust of our integrity. I believe that being honest with the stakeholders (shareholders, customers, suppliers, partners and employees) can help any company ride through tough times.

Tell me about the first few customers and the first few years of business.
The first 2 years I was the only salesman in my company, partly because we couldn't afford to hire sales personnel and partly because it was a really tough job to obtain the first few customers. The first few sales were especially tough as we had no references to give. Being a new company with a new product, buyers were understandably sceptical. When asked for references, I would smile and say to the prospect "You shall be officially designated our company's guinea pig". I couldn't see how any salesman could pull this off. And so I set about creating the initial user base. It was a very stimulating time for me personally as this put all my skills to the ultimate test. Another factor, which made the initial years tough, was the lack of proper copyright protection, very high hardware prices and consequently very low PC penetration. Copied software was readily available and it was very difficult to make customers see sense in paying for software. Companies were more comfortable getting a customised solution whereas we were selling packaged software. It was sheer perseverance that got us the initial customers. The good news is that most of the customers we acquired in the first few years are still with us, using our software for over 18 years.

Please tell me some stories of your best day in business or your proudest achievement to date.
I really can't give you big milestones as I believe that success is a journey, not a destination. But, yes, there have been some good times that I can recall. I remember the first time I came to Singapore was in 1992. Before that, in 1991 we participated in Comdex at Las Vegas/USA and blew up 25% of our company's annual revenue, yet came back with nothing. This made us apprehensive about whether we were good enough to step into the global market. But when we came to Singapore, in the first 10 days, I got 2 orders worth SGD 8,000. In addition to covering the cost of the trip, it opened up a totally new market. With little idea of what the market held for us, the initial two orders gave us a glimpse of the things to come. Within a month, we set up a joint venture company in Singapore and received an initial order for SGD 100,000. This single order was more than our previous year's revenue and I promptly paid back all loans to my father and we became a debt free company, declared a 100% dividend. So that was great fun and big high for our company. I also remember the year 1995 fondly. In May, Asian Wall Street Journal carried a front-page story on our company which was reprinted across all four editions in the US and Europe. Later that year, CNN ran story on us three times - 24 hours a day, across the globe. So these have been very exciting and motivating incidents for us as lots of people got to know us and we reached out to the world. I think what drives all of us in the company is challenging ourselves to improve all the time. Right now we are working at a major shift in operations. So every few months we sit back, look at our performance and challenge ourselves to see how we can power ahead. One of the things that really gratify me is that there are people who have been working with me for more than 10 years and we are like a family. It is great to work with people who share the vision.

Do you recall your worst day in business? Have you ever felt like giving up?
1996-2001 was our worst period. It coincided with 9-11 when our recovery phase started. We were the same people, the same company, the same product, yet things were not working out. Everyday I came to work and I remember saying, "We will make it happen today". Five years is a long time to convince oneself and others to make things happen. But it taught us a lot and made us resilient. A number of times, opportunities come out of adversities. This period taught us the value of people and the value of money. No, the thought of giving up never crossed my mind. There is no question of giving up. One of my favourite lines is : "Failure is not an option". For an entrepreneur, giving up is never up for consideration.

When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you?
The realisation came some time in the 4th year. There is saying in Gujarat, India and I think in China as well, about the 1,000 day test. The saying goes : If a business survives a 1,000 days, it will do well. I guess that most the crippling problems would normally come in the first three years of a new business, notwithstanding something drastic. We were not flush with funds, but by the 4th year, we had got the basics set in place. We could see the future. There were no major worries by this time.

What are some of the things you have had to overcome to succeed?
When people came to me and said that one market was different from the other, it was a challenge for me to overcome the internal mindset. I believe that every customer around the world is the same. Whichever country you go to, the customer wants 3 things - the best product, the finest after-sales services and the lowest price. So if a colleague tells me that customers in Malaysia want different things as compared to Singapore, it seems to me that an excuse is being touted to cover up non-performance. I would even speak with the customer or make a customer visit with my colleague and close the sale. Getting the entire team to look in the same direction is a huge challenge. There is no war outside the company. It is all in the minds of people inside the company. One must work with conviction. If I think I can succeed, I can. To win, one must have the mindset of a winner. Tackling local culture is also very important to tackle. While a customer in any country wants the same three things, every country has it's own style of working. This does not mean that we work differently in every country. We work in each country with the same strategy and internal policies. The key is to allow the country head to adapt the company policies to local conditions and sensitivities.

What are some qualities that you feel you possess which differentiate you from someone who works for others?
The first one is "I don't give up". Failure is not an option. The second one is "Passion". I am totally passionate about my product, my company, my work. When I am working with my development team, I fight with them to get the best product for my customer. When I am with the customer, I will do everything in my power to persuade and cajole the customer to buy my product. The third one is "Integrity". I have walked away from business because I felt my software was not suitable for the customer. Lots of times, the customer is not aware of his requirements and how my software will fit in. I could easily sell my software despite it being inappropriate for them. We shall not sell under these circumstances. We would rather create the goodwill than make some short term money. Passion and integrity make a winning combination.

To succeed in business, what qualities are essential? What are some of the "secrets" in making a successful business?
There are no shortcuts in building a successful business. There will be sleepless nights and tough times. An entrepreneur must be determined to make the business succeed. He must believe in the mantra : Failure is not an option. He must also believe in the vision he creates for the company. His team will be following his vision. Everyone must work towards a common goal. Finally, the entrepreneurs must give his best, and then some. He has to know how to balance the priorities and work with unshakeable conviction.

Who or what inspires you?
Men of steel have inspired me at all times. These are men who travelled through unbelievable adversities, and never strayed from their mission. They stayed their course, fought all odds and inspired others to work with them. Mahatma Gandhi : he chose the power of non-violence and got freedom for an entire nation as large as India, against the mighty British Empire. Lee Kuan Yew : I hope to meet him some day. He built up a nation with no hopes of survival after being thrown out of the federation, fought the communists and turned an obscure island into a vibrant economy recognised globally. He is a man who fought all odds to pursue his dream and took on the detractors with vigour. Nelson Mandela : he personally lived in prison for decades and came out to say that he shall take revenge against his captors. It showed how compassionate a person he is. He stands tall in times where there is rampant killing and terrorism.

Have you ever thought of expanding the business in some way or in multiple locations? How and where?
We want to have a presence in every country in the world. We believe that we offer the best value for money for what we do. Of course for a small country, there are challenges to overcome but we are scaling up. One country that keeps me awake at night is China. The Chinese economy is growing beyond imagination. We also find that the average Chinese company is not using any proper accounting systems. We believe that we can fill this gap very well. Due to the rapid growth and expansion of the companies in China, we see a huge market for our software there.

What aspects of expansion would you like to see for your enterprise?
Currently, we are looking at enlarging the footprint into some of the major markets (China, Europe and USA).

In your opinion, how would you define entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship is the combination of passion, integrity, and a never-die attitude. A true entrepreneur is not just about money. While money is important, a true entrepreneur is one who wants to create an organisation which delivers a product and/or service in a manner which has not been done by anyone else before.

To what extent does one's educational level help or hinder entrepreneurial-ship?
Formal education beyond a certain level is not necessary. In fact, for myself, I am glad that I did not do a Masters. At one time, I was very keen on doing an MBA from USA. But I am happy that I did not because I had to burn the midnight oil just to keep up with my colleagues. This gave me the capacity to look beyond boundaries. Universities and colleges teach the discipline of thinking but not a subject. Ultimately, it all comes down to a disciplined way of thinking and working. A student never deviates from this. Today, when I work with brilliant people much more qualified than me, I am the one who can see the bigger picture. I can understand the product, the development cycle and the market. This helps me build a bridge between the company and the customer. It is very important to have the appreciation of the other side.

As we try to select the final 41 entrepreneurs, what qualities would you think a person should have to inspire others?
To be able to communicate with others can be most inspiring. Communication is key to inspiring people to make them aware of the tough (and rewarding) journey of entrepreneurship.

What are some of your own values in doing business and what do you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation?
Integrity in every sphere is the most important and crucial aspect of running a business. We have seen many business cycles and having integrity in our dealings has paid us rich dividends.

What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business?
Jump both feet in. Don't be afraid of failure. You never know whether the business will do well or not. But if you want to play safe, doing business is not the right option for you. When you bounce back from a low cycle, there are lessons one learns which are not taught at Harvard. Be passionate.

In general what do you have to say about how your entrepreneurship has come along the way and about your experience as a self-reliant entrepreneur?
Some good experiences and some not so good. But for me, the most important thing we have created is an entrepreneurial culture in our organisation. We encourage every single person to be innovative and creative and to come with totally new ideas. If an idea is not accepted, one is challenged to think harder. And this has made us develop new products and new operating methods. We allow and encourage people to think. Experimentation has become an internal mantra.

As you have been working with students, who do you think you've been able to inspire some students of the present generation or the youth in general to become entrepreneurs by facilitating interaction, communication and knowledge dissemination between students?
If I could do it, they can. Students today are much smarter than I was at their age. They are much more innovative in thinking so there is already a head start. The only thing needed is the courage and conviction to strike out and to believe in themselves. To believe in oneself is not to be arrogant. Everyone has the power to be what he or she wants to be.

What makes you stand out amongst other self-reliant entrepreneurs operating in a similar nature of business? (If you are the only one in your area of business, what do you think is most outstanding or distinctive feature about your entrepreneurship style?)
I think it's just that one is never really satisfied with the where one has reached. What will stand out most in my case is that I am my customer's biggest champion. Therefore, I am constantly in touch with my customers, acting as a bridge with my development team. It is a constant process of innovation and improvement that makes us so distinct from other companies. The second thing is that I trust my people. Not only that, I empower them. I manage by exception. If things are going well, I don’t need to know. But at the first appearance of a problem, I must be brought into the picture.

Your Personal Comment [Optional]
Personally, I feel, he is a very compassionate, pleasant and amiable person who has the conviction and courage to make things happen and the vision and foresight to do so with integrity and build relationships for a lifetime with customers as well as all the people he works with. He is truly a successful first generation entrepreneur and a people's person.