Dreams are the basis on which you can build the future. This is the belief that drove four young and dynamic people Mahesh Kumar, Prashant Behl, Jalaluddin Kokan and Naveen Nag Pal to start Infonet Solutions in 1996.

What started as a dining room initiative gained strength as the four put together their collective hard work to grow Infonet. Today, Infonet Solutions is one of the leading system integrators in Chennai which has clocked a turnover of Rs 12.5 crore in 2003-04. "This year, we are aiming to achieve Rs 17.5 crore turnover," says Mahesh. 

NEW OFFICE, NEW BUSINESS
The foursome started their business in Prashant's dining room and within three months moved to his father's office. After two whole years, the quartet set up their own office in Mount Road, Chennai, which gave them more visibility.

FOURSOME POWER: Background (l-r) Mahesh Kumar and Prashant Behl, Foreground (l-r) Naveen Nagpal and Jalaluddin Kokan

With the new office, came a new business opportunity. While Infonet was earlier in reselling, it started picking up crucial orders which were more solution-oriented. The promoters previous work experiences helped them a lot in reviving business acquaintances and converting them into customers.

Mahesh, an instrumentation engineer, looked after marketing and focussed on getting new projects and enhancing the existing accounts with the company. Jalaluddin who is an electrical and electronics engineering graduate, looked after finance operations for raising capital. Naveen took care of human resource and administration activities, while Prashant, a computer science graduate, handled logistics, project implementation, service and support.

Prashant reminisces how they used to convince customers to give cash in advance to them as they did not have proper capital.

Although, the four toiled day and night, they made it a point to compulsorily meet during the lunchtime to discuss all business issues.

ALL-ROUND SOLUTION PROVIDING
Infonet Solutions has grown mainly by providing HP's complete solution including desktops, notebooks, servers, storage solutions, imaging and printing products. In networking, they have tied up with Cisco for active components and Molex for passive products. It also occasionally provides solution based on Nortel Networks.

"We entered business during the boom time and before we could stabilize ourselves, the boom was over," says Prashant.

The market was flattening without any growth and challenges were thrown at Infonet to sustain itself. But the four promoters put their focus and energy on moving up the value-chain which helped them in the longer run.

S GOPIKRISHNA

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