Having completed his engineering from BITS Pilani in 1984, Mr. Kailash Gupta went to start his professional career with a job. He worked for short period of 5-6 months, but coming from a business family background it was just a matter of time that he himself would start something soon. Taking blessings from his elder brother Mr. Ramavtar Gupta, he started his own firm- Electronic Trader Services Center or ETSC as everyone knows it. Those days he provided services to service requirements of various electronic/industrial equipment in several pharmaceutical/industrial units in Rajasthan. Meanwhile, he was also developing a prototype for panel meters but putting in his words “the market was not conducive or rather ready for such a product at that time.”
He adds, “Later in 1987, having established in this segment as well as in the government vertical, we startedComputer Literacy and Studies in Schools (CLASS) project and diversified into Computer education segment. For this project ETSC tied up with many colleges and educational institutions all over Rajasthan.”
Then in the year 1991, ETSC entered the distribution bandwagon by taking WIPRO on board. The company tied up with WIPRO as an exclusive distributor for its peripherals range and services in entire Rajasthan. He adds, “WIPRO was looking for a partner for their printer division. We opted for the same looking to brand image of WIPRO. Then we added their computer division and also the services to portfolio. Thereafter many vendors like IBM, HP, Lenovo, came on board and our product portfolio has increasedmany fold now.” Then in early 2000s the company shifted its focus completely to Direct Customer selling from Distribution to SMBs and corporate sector.
Talking about his current set of business he says, “Change is happening in the Rajasthan trade channel now. We are now moving from box mover to becoming solution provider. We are now providing end to end solutions to the enterprise segment. We also have plans of entering into IP surveillance, IP telephony market, and many more. We have always believed in providing value to all our customers. “
One of the highlight of his professionaljourney is his association with RCTA. He was one of the founding members of the association. Explaining about the reason behind starting the association, he says, “Awareness about computers was much low those days, also many trading issues were there. So our basic aim was to address these issues at a common platform.”
Then in the year 2010, Mr. Gupta came back to RCTA committee as the President. Elaborating more on his role then he said, “In 2010 when I joined as the President, the challenges were different. We worked on the rule of collaborative efforts with Team work and shared responsibilities. Efforts were made to increase the visibility of the association. We were able to convince the government to get major Tax anomalies removed. I have my tried my level best to leave behind a good legacy. Now it is upto the next Executive Body to take this association ahead.”
While talking to him, I couldn’t help discussing with him about the various government policies that he thinks can benefit the IT trade in Rajasthan. Entering in a pensive mood, he says, “I strongly feel that the next five years in Rajasthan will be the golden period. Government should work on some policies that will benefit the local trade and gives them preference in the tendering process.
Policies should be made so that even the start ups are eligible for the tender filing process. This will in turn benefit the government also, as the start ups when they will get orders it will also job opportunities in the state. E-governance is another area that the government should focus on as that is the future of the state.”
When quizzed about the family support throughout the journey, he says “As said earlier I could start business only because of the support of my brother. My wife has been providing a solid support to me by looking after our kids and family in a manner that I don’t have to worry about anything. She also looks after the service department of the company. My son is working in a software company and gaining experience; if he feels like joining me later he is always welcome. That will be his decision completely. My Daughter is in 11th and deciding what to do next in life. So yes my family has been supporting silently but strongly.”
Indeed, Mr. Gupta is humility personified. He has always worked for the betterment of the IT trade in the state. He has been providing the much needed impetus to the trade either by coming on the front stage or from the back stage as and when the situation requires.
