Designing a business

My big break came when I was helping a blind man cross a street in New York. After helping him across the street, he asked me to take him a couple of blocks away. Not knowing how to say no, I agreed. In the course of our conversation, he asked me what interested me in life. I told him that I was passionate about designing and he said that he would set up a meeting with Oscar D8217; La Renta. I thought the man was joking. But, yes, it was because of him that I first met Renta. It was then that I realised that if you do a good deed, it comes back to you, maybe not in the same week 8212; as happened with me 8212; but at some point of time!

Since then it has been a long journey. In the 1980s, my husband started marketing TVs under the Bush brand. The company did well for a while but by the turn of the 1990s, Indian brands like Bush, Televista, Weston, Beltek were all showing signs of withering away.

This was a challenge as the family had begun to feel the financial strain. In the early 1990s, circumstances pushed me into taking up the reins of our TV company, Baron, and try to turn it around. Forget about making millions, at that point I had to plough all my savings back into running this business. And having made that decision, the course of my life changed.

Baron started its new life in 1993, with a turnover of Rs 5 crore. In the first meeting that we held, I set a target of attaining a million customers in the shortest time possible. A million rupees I was sure would follow automatically.

I recalled my elder son, Kabir, from Stanford to come and help me in the business. I looked after the internal systems of the company, including finance and administration, while Kabir excelled in the outdoor arena 8212; marketing, sales and distribution. And I can say with great pride that Kabir, despite his US exposure, had his hand on the pulse of the Indian consumer. He and I worked together on trying to figure out what the Indian consumer wanted and build up the company to deliver this with a speed that was as yet unparallelled in the market.

We understood the consumers8217; need to update their household electronics gadgets as well as their attachment to them, so we came up with 8220;steal deals8221;. We gave the customer a global brand after paying for his old TV. This ended up making the consumer feel very smart and the popularity of our products spread by word of mouth and got us a major chunk of the market. Today we are a Rs 1,000 crore company which has gradually set up 26 profit centres and a network of 3,000 distributors. And our small but nimble team beats every other company in delivering in the marketplace.

My first million came from the E for entertainment of the ICE industry. My next million should come from the I for Internet and the C for communications businesses.

For me, millions have never been very important. I have no passion for property and jewellery. I live in a modest two-room apartment in Mumbai. But I have a passion for painting and designing, although they have now ended up being only a hobby which keeps me going. The only indulgence I allow myself is driving to my studio in Versova 8212; where I go at odd hours of the night 8212; and just paint. This adds a new dimension to my existence and gives me a sense of fulfilment.

I am also interested in international cultures following my travel for business which takes me to Japan, China, USA and Europe. At some stage in my life, I also want to return to the society what I have benefitted from it. I have not thought of how I will do this 8212; perhaps through politics. But this is still a dream.

8212; The writer is the chairperson, Baron International