INTERACTION WITH AN ENTREPRENEUR

Roll No. 30
Name NEHA SIMON
Name of Entrepreneur SUNIL NEVATIA
Mobile no of the Entrepreneur 9789016397
Define his/her business TRADERS OF ENGINEERING STEEL
How many years in Business 33 YEARS
Location of business CHENNAI, AMBATUR
Time spent in interaction in 45
Minutes

“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” Steel as we all know is
the backbone of the economy. When Mr. Sunil Nevatia was 18 years old
his dad was into manufacturing steel. Back in the 1980’s there was a
huge scope for trading steel as engineering steel was booming back
then. Somehow Mr. Sunil was inclined towards working but not under his
dad, he wanted to start his own business and do trading instead of
manufacturing. Mr. Sunil never worked under his dad or understood how
business works. Hence, the concept of doing business was completely
new to him.

He decided that he wanted to start trading steel and start something of

his own therefore he stopped going to college and sat each and every
day with the seniors from his dad’s business and started learning things.
This was one of the main obstacle faced by him before starting his
business. He overcame them step by step and his godfather (friend and
elder brother like) really helped him learn how business works and what
pre work needs to be done.

When he was ready to take things forward it was the goodwill of his dad
that helped him start his business. Materials they bought were
completely in credit and eventually they took a business loan to expand
the business. Through his days of running the business he realised that
his biggest strength was his patience. He was patient enough when it
came to learning and starting the business at the right time and he also
had a vision in place. The weakness being planning, lack of
professionalism and delegation of work.

In terms of diversification there has been none ever since he started his
business 33 years back although he has plans to do so in the coming
years. Sunil Enterprises mainly supply steel to the automobile industry to
make components like gears, piston etc. But currently there is a 40%
decrease in the automobile industry, sales are being affected majorly
and showrooms and being shut across India which is in turn is affecting
their turnover. To overcome this, Sunil Enterprises is now catering to
other sectors like textiles, sugar, glass, cement etc.

When asked about short term goals he wanted to focus a lot more on
marketing, sales and increasing his revenue and long term goals is to
get into manufacturing steel components, forward integration as trading
has no future. Sunil Enterprises has a very small team which consists of
10 employees. They have a manager, two typewriters/PR to help with
sending out quotations, orders and other things, one marketing
executive, two-three helpers around the office. Sunil works everyday but
he is a firm believer in not working post work hours which is generally
post 6pm. They have huge competition when it comes to this industry, to
name some: International Steel Traders, N.G Sales Corporation etc.

The steel industry as such is very well connected. The market

information generally comes from the customers itself and apart from
that it is collected through manufacturing units, logistics and
transportation companies etc. If he were to redo any business act it
would be to get professionalism inside the business. He wants the
business to be relied on the process and not the employers or people.

Sunil Enterprises follow all government rules and regulations. They have
both pan card and GST no registered with the business. Salaries are
generally credited 4th of every month to the employees and they are
allowed to take 15 paid leaves every year. Sunil worked hard from day 1
to get his business where it is now. It is safe to say that he is one of the
top first stage dealers, stockist and importers of leading manufactures of
carbon, allow and tool steel in the city.

Through this productive conversation with Mr. Sunil I couldn’t help but
notice how dedicated he is as a person. Right from having a vision when
he was just 18 years old to fast forward now he has really brought the
business to great heights especially for a person who knew nothing
about business. Another major takeaway from this conversation is
patience and being decisive. When he knew that the automobile industry
was crashing, he immediately took a decision to start catering to other
sectors and he is managing things well without a huge drop in his
turnover.