A Shipping Magnate on the Mentoring Deck

Twenty-seven years ago, just like any other Malayali Ajai Joseph flew to Dubai to try his luck on any job that will come his way. He got a secure, comfortable job at Ministry of Health as an X-Ray technician with 5000 dirhams per month with lot of allowances. But he chose to work for a logistics firm for three years at a much lower salary much against the wishes of his uncle and aunt working in the Health Ministry.

There after he became partner in an Arab sponsored firm having a Briton and a Malayali as co-partners that was focussed on air cargo business with just three people. Ajai set up the shipping logistics division which became profitable. Once huge revenues started coming that’s when the Arab sponsor took over the company unexpectedly.

Undeterred Ajai teamed up with the Malayali promoter to start a new logistics firm. In 10 years, the company had grown and had 500 employees worldwide, with operations in India, Dubai, Qatar, Canada, Bahrain Pakistan, Kuwait but he subsequently fell out with the partner after differences cropped up about handling of finances, debt, inducting new investors and other issues.

Following the split with his partner in 2004, Ajai got the Indian operations which had to be totally revamped and subsequently set up a new company in Dubai on his own which he sold three years later to a Kuwaiti multinational firm for a huge sum.

Looking back, Ajai Joseph, Chairman and CEO of Consolidated Shipping Line (P) Ltd in Kochi is happy as logistics industry is recession proof as there is demand for movement of goods even in times of war and natural calamities. He finds time to do corporate mentoring and entrepreneurship development activities too.

He shared his views on investing and entrepreneurship:

#When should someone think of becoming an entrepreneur?

Preferably when you are a bachelor. You may have to forego your job and if the business doesn’t succeed you can always try for another job. Whereas, if you are married and children are studying, a loss in business can be devastating. When I was working, I used to team up with a friend working in an ice cream company in the spare time to sell readymade garments. After sometime, we stopped because it was quite tiring and went into full time business. But my friend continues to work for the same Ice-cream company 27 years later and every time I see him he regrets his decision. I had told him long back, if you can’t take a risk at a young age, you can’t do it possibly 25 years later.

#Is entrepreneurship for everyone?

Definitely not. Your success as an entrepreneur depends on risk taking. It accounts for 50% of your success. However, if you are a natural risk taker, you should be cautious. The first step is to have a proper project report. When you have a business idea, you tend to think positively and avoid the negative thoughts. If you spend Rs 1 crore in the first year and your revenues are only 50% of it and in the second year you have the same costs and your revenue is Rs 75 lakh, do you have the financial strength to bear this shortfall? Be conservative about revenues because you never know whether it will come, but cost projections will be achieved 100% or even more.

#What all safeguards a prospective entrepreneur should take?

In the beginning, it is natural to save costs wherever possible but there are certain compromises that you shouldn’t make. For eg. You need a good accountant to not only to manage costs but also revenues when it starts coming. Most people get the best marketing people but hire an average accountant. It can prove to be a disaster. If possible have all the key departments in place from day one- Marketing, Finance, IT, HR and legal so all systems are processes are ready when the business starts to grow.

#Is it advisable to do partnership business?

I would say it is not advisable to do partnership business. If ever you do, have three partners instead of two. If differences of opinion crop up between two partners, the third can person can mediate. Set out all the terms and conditions for partnership foreseeing all possibilities. It should cover operation of bank accounts, debt management, what value each will bring to the company, cheque authorisations, appointments and so on.

#How do you train yourself to overcome setbacks in business?

If you are involved 100% in the business, no setbacks can stall your growth. I used to go to the customs office for import-export licenses, open LoC (letter of credits), stand in queue for shipping clearances, go to ports to oversee loading of cargo into ships and so on. When you are aware of all the procedures in your business, no one in your company or outside can mislead you. It also helps when you suffer setbacks and has to start all over again.

# Is it wise to diversify once you succeed in a business?

I would advise to diversify with caution. You shouldn’t get into a business which isn’t your core competency and end up making losses on your flagship business too.

#Is it easier to work or do business?

People think it is nice to be your own boss. But it is not. When you are an employee, you get your salary whether the company is profitable or not, you have leave privileges or try another job. You can go for vacations or holidays. In business, you have to think of salary payments, sales, regulatory issues, payments to suppliers and so on.  The moment you think of a vacation, some important client may visit you at short notice and all your plans go awry.

(For republishing, syndication of this interview mailto: sreekumsree@gmail.com.)

Easter thoughts: Faith and how vital it is in business too

The week that went by was marked by festivities- we had the Holy Friday that commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and Easter that celebrates the resurrection of Christ.The millions of people who thronged to churches on these days no doubt believed in The Bible and the role Jesus did to redeem the sins of mankind.

Religions may differ,people do not worship the same God but what unites the Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or any other community is their Faith in the lord.

I was thinking about this even as sometimes religion is being blamed for some of the divisions that have formed in the society and consequent turmoil. The other day my son Darshan who is quite adept at making coffee was talking about making a new business out of coffee. His basic question was- after spending lakhs of rupees,  if the business flops.!

This kind of thinking is not unusual for many who do not ultimately enter business. Here again faith in one's own ability and support systems are important for any business idea to succeed. There are people with any number of ideas which may or may not be tested in the market before it is launched. Ultimately, the success of any new venture depends on the faith the promoter has in his idea, how he does the ground work, how he does the market survey and ultimately pool the resources in terms of money, human resources and regulatory approvals to get the business going.

Karl Marx said religion is the opium of the masses. The Left and the ideology based parties believe in the doctrines of their founders and hope such beliefs can be translated into action and hence benefit mankind. They persuade the party workers to think on those lines. Without faith in the founding principles, no worker could meaningfully co-operate with the activities of a party.

In a corporate organisation, workers or employees not aligned to organisational goals tend to be ousted as they don't add value to their services.

People like Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela who took up public causes had an unwavering faith in what they stood for despite the many hurdles they may have initially faced before they became international movements. It is said faith can move mountains, such is its power.

Now, perhaps, amidst geo-political tensions in Yemen, the fear over Iran's nuclear bomb and the deal and corruption and atrocities everywhere, a firm belief or faith in change alone can bring a transformation in society.

I am happy to share an insight from Dr Deepak Chopra, the alternative medicine advocate. He feels Wall Street executives need to have two hours meditation to get the required rest and tackle high stress. This is in turn should help them become more productive. Even just 15 minutes of meditation provides more rest than deep sleep. Among those who follow his work is hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, who has his entire staff meditate daily.


(The author is a renowned business journalist/market analyst. He is now providing content development for websites, social media (FB Twitter, LinkedIn), and blogging  services. Please contact : sreekumsree@gmail.com for your requirements)

Power Point losing charm as a presentation tool

Thinking of making a Power Point to brighten your presentation before a large audience? Think twice. I have sat through many presentations solely backed by Power Point and found it disgusting. I think it could be the case with most people in the audience.

Last week, our company itself had an investors program in Kochi and speaker-after-speaker tried to use Power Point but with little effect. Some of the tables and points were hardly legible to an audience sitting in the middle to back of the auditorium. Even those sitting in the front rows had to struggle to see the fine print.

I think the problem crops up due to lack of knowledge on how to use Power Point in the first palce.

If you clutter your presentation with too much bullet points, each sentence appears smaller for the audience and hence has to take a lot of strain reading it.

If you are showing data in a table, and if it contains too many columns and rows, it's again a recipe for disaster. Most people may not be able to grasp the figures and understand your argument related to it.

I think Power Point works well in a small audience of 10-12 people in a discussion room provided you don't clutter it with too much words and data.

Pictures and video in Power Point can be effective provided it is very relevant to what you are talking about.Here again, clarity is a must-- if it's downloaded from You Tube or Google, poor resolutiion can spoil the show.

However, I have found many experts who don't use the Power Point at all gaining attention of the audience and with a little bit of humour, they can really keep the audience enthralled.

The benefits of PowerPoint are continuously debated. The term "PowerPoint hell" has been coined for long, tedious PowerPoint presentations that bore the audience, according to Wikipedia.

These points taken from WikiHow are worth noting:

-Don't use too much text in one template. Otherwise it would look too crowded and strenuous to the eyes. Not to mention boring.
-Don't use too many special effects as it can get distracting and annoying.
-Remember the more objects embedded in a PowerPoint, the larger the file. So if you're planning on saving it on a disk, you have to keep the file small unless saving the file on a thumb drive (jump drive) or burning it on CD.

Microsoft Power Point was launched officially on May 22, 1990, as part of Microsoft Office suite.It no doubt helps in creating presentations in no time compared to slides of yesteryears projected on slide projectors which consumed a lot of time and energy to produce. Properly used slide projectors had much more clarity and effectiveness to take the message across to the audience.