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In the summer of 1979, this engineering graduate of college of engineering, Pune had to make a decision- do his masters from a top US university or take up a sales job in a promising company in India . He chose the latter, and went on to set sales records wherever he worked.
Eighteen years down the line Vikas Khanvelkar was standing at another intersection in life- either head HCL's CAD/CAM division, an entrepreneurial venture of his own.
He chose the latter and built DesignTech taking it to a level where he could choose to take an "any- where- in-the-world" holiday when he wanted to. His company DesignTech Systems Ltd. is a reseller of products of firms such as SDRC, UGS and Altair Engineering. It also specializes in providing engineering services in CAD/CAM/CAE/PLM and software application developments.
Reminiscing about his early days at the Government College of Engineering Pune, he says, " I was a chess champion at college, was good at debating and also at academics." Not surprisingly, he received the 'best outgoing student award' at COEP. "But despite having a technical background, I was more interested in sales than a techie Job,' he says.
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He says despite DesignTech being small it has an identity of its own. "we are small in size but big in mindset. We have the mindset of a big organisation and the agility of a small one." Service standards and total dedication to customer satisfaction led him to chart a high growth trajectory for his firms. He also brought several innovative concepts into India . " our dealership model was also very different. We decide to allow our dealers to make more money than us on sale deeds- this was something no one had tried in high-end software product sales." He says.
'I want business qualities in my managers. I tell my Bangalore regional head to treat the Bangalore office as DesignTech Bangalore and run it like he does his own firm', he says.
He has a strong growth plan for his company. 'product selling, product development and engineering services are the three areas of growth. We will also be opening an office in the US to top the US market for engineering services. From there we will move to the European market," he adds. He is also planning to introduce stock options in the company. Quiz him about investment and he says he is open to the option of private equity placement and willing to divest stakes.
With a demanding job- he travels 15 days a month does he get time to unwind? ' I don't care of my health, exercise and walk six km a day. I also care of my the "switch -off" strategy- I don't think about business ones I reach home.' He adds.
He also makes it a point to spend the little free time he has with his family. His wife Mangal is a lecturer at Garware College and his daughter Priyanka is studying Mass Communication at Pune University . ' I have made sure they are both independent,' he says with a smile.
Today's youngsters, according to him, should get into the field they love and enjoy." After all you spend eight to ten hours a day in office," he adds.
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