From Services to Entrepreneurship- Kailash Gupta

From a humble beginning as an R&D engineer, Kailash Gupta today is one of the most prominent partners of Rajasthan

Jaipur, the capital of India’s Rajasthan state, evokes the royal family that once ruled the region and that, in 1727, founded what is now called the Old City or “Pink City for its trademark building color.

In this Royal tradition follower City based ETSC Computers Pvt Ltd formerly known as Electronics Trade & Service Centre and popularly known as (ETSC) was started in 1985 by Kailash Gupta, M.sc. (Tech) Instrumentation from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.

Early Days

According to Kailash Gupta, his initial days were full of struggle as due to family background; opted to jump into Business just after 6 months of graduation from BITS Pilani.  Early days of career was engaged in taking up Service jobs from Various Pharmaceutical Units and was mostly the field work.

“Early days was struggling for me. I began my career as an R&D engineer at New Engineering Enterprises, Roorkee. It was related to my branch Instrumentation engineering and helped me gain confidence to start my own enterprise” said, Kailash.

About the company

ETSC, earlier known as (Electronics Trade & Service Centre) is engaged in complete IT Infrastructure solutions and Managed IT Services for SMB/Corporate/Govt segments. It has business associations with leading IT Companies and has a team of Pre-sales and Post –sales personnel . Established in 1985; it has completed its 30 years already and poised for year on year growth.

How did he got into entrepreneurship

“My family background is Business and my eldest brother who also happens to be B.E . Electronics from BITS Pilani 1971 has been the major inspiration to help me foster entrepreneurship. In fact right from my entry to college; the mindset was very clear to be an entrepreneur” he shared.

He took over the Service Company floated by his brother and started expanding it for services and supplies related to my interest area: i.e. Electronics, Instrumentation and later Computers when they were launched in 1989. There was no look back after as we expanded in whole of Rajasthan with Computers and Services in almost all segments.

In year 1991; ETSC partnered with WIPRO as an exclusive distributor for its Peripherals range in entire Rajasthan.  In 1992 ETSC was awarded the Authorized Service Centre also for WIPRO Peripherals. In year 1995, ETSC also partnered with WIPRO to market their complete range of Desktops, Laptops, Servers and networking products. In 1997 ETSC also became the Franchisee to support all WIPRO products across Rajasthan.

ETSC has also handled EPSON EASC operations for 5 years for entire Rajasthan.

Today ETSC has association with almost all leading IT vendors to provide one stop IT Solutions to our customer base of more than 2500 satisfied customers

Professional achievements

According to the Kailash Gupta, the major breakthrough was their association with ET&T Corporation Ltd (A Govt of India Enterprises) which had launched “Peoples Computer in 1990. It helped the company in gaining major market attention both in Private and Govt. market.

Also, one of the major acheivemtn which gave ETSC a boom was Business Partnership with WIPRO. It was another breakthrough and this was the strongest partnership which lasted almost 2 decades upto 2012. Company had received various awards during associations with WIPRO.

“There are many achievements for us as a company and professional. Our associating with many major companies like WIPRO and working with government sector gave us the exposure in front of Govt. and Private sector. We have been rates one of leading partner and awards by various IT Media Publications like DQ Channels” he expressed.

As a professional, Kailash was founder secretary for Rajasthan Computer Traders Association in 2001 and later was elected as President in year 2011 and officiated over 2 years.

Challenges and roadblocks

There have been various roadblocks in his career. While interaction with DQ Channels, he shared his thoughts that, while the volumes were low in initial years of the ETSC operations i.e. 1989-1999, but due to exclusivity in some areas and thin competition, margins were higher.

However; as the market expanded, the Volumes expended but margins became thin and so the payment defaults. Company had to revamp and change the business model from Majorly Distribution to Majorly Direct selling in 2000.

The e-tailing was another blow to market and soon company had to again change the model of Products selling to Value Added services and managed services in 2010. The challenges of moving from on premises Hardware to IAAS is fast catching up and again throwing business challenges for the company.

Success mantra

In all these over 30 years of ECTS business career, the Philosophy of providing Pre-sales and Post sales Value added services to their customers and giving them personal attention at all levels with highest integrity and commitments. This has helped retain loyalty of customer as well as Vendors.

Advice to young entrepreneurs

“You advance with baby steps; there will be stumbling and roadblocks in journey of entrepreneurship; those who get up and move ahead only conquer the desired results as each failure is an experience and not the end of journey. At the same time one should not be complacent with spike success and handle growth with same dignity and be consistent in achievements”, he shared his thoughts.

Personal life/Hobbies

As lover of Music and dance, Kailash like to watch Movies, TV News, Travel and Social Media enthusiast. He always love to learn and use latest technology.

Married to Mamta Gupta who is post graduate and he is blessed with two children. Son Harshil Gupta who is B.tech ( CS) from NMIMS and pursuing MBA from Christ University after 2 years work experience. Daughter Priyal Gupta, who is Pursuing degree in Communication Design with specialization in Graphics Design and User experience from Symbiosis.

Future plans, professionally and personally

Kailash’s future plans is to be the most admired IT Solution provider Company by providing best IT solutions to his customers . He also plans to diversify in Software/application development for overseas customers both on web as well as Mobile platforms.

“We are empty nest for another 2-3 years; hence want to catch up with my good old school and college buddies with frequent re-unions. Also I want to impart the best to both my Son and Daughter” he shared.

He also wants to be as much social with family, friends, and relatives and on social media and also want to participate in CSR activities.