Born into a middle-class family, S. N. Rai was conditioned to lead a “financially secure” life.  So he worked for over 20 years as an engineer before taking the plunge into business. In 2007, he co-founded Movico Technologies, a video content provider for the web and mobile. And in 2009, he co-founded Lava International, a mobile handset provider. Within a year, Lava has acquired four per cent of India’s total mobile market and established its presence in 50,000 retail outlets pan-India.

I regret having worked for so long and not getting into business earlier.

For as long as I can remember, starting out on my own was on the top of my wish list. But financial security and stability were greatly valued in my family. It was only after working for more than two decades that I finally dared to take the plunge along with two other friends. We put together our job savings and started Movico. We didn’t know how to raise money.  We were driven by pure enthusiasm. It was while working in the mobile service business in Movico, that I realised there was a big opportunity in handsets as well. My travels had shown me that areas which were mobile-enabled witnessed greater progress. Mobile phones had become tools of empowerment. I wanted to speed up the process. That’s how Lava came into being. Many of our price-competitive models like the KK-1, KKT-11 and KKT-22 targeted the rural populaces with features like a torch, a 30-day battery backup and radio. 

Both Movico and Lava taught me two key lessons, albeit the hard way. We didn’t put much thought into choosing our partners—distributors, supply partners, CSM and retailers. Looking back, it was immature and unwise not to realise the value of selecting the right partners. We often went in with those who were most readily and easily available. Soon, we ended up having to scout for new partners. Our earlier partners couldn’t stay with us for the long-term. Now we make sure we don’t do business with those who don’t share our vision and values, irrespective of how big or small the company is. 

When we started out, we were also very conservative, especially with Lava. Our target was to clock in around Rs150 crore within a year. We achieved that target within four months! We were fools to not have studied the market properly before entering it. I’m sure we missed a lot of opportunities we could have cashed into if we were better prepared. We are way more aggressive now. We’ve made multiple investments in R&D and distribution—our aim is to take our retail presence to 1.5 lakh outlets and add 700 distributors to our existing 1,000 in the next one year. Lava already has considerable presence in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Nigeria. Our plan is to enter 40 more countries by 2012.

Even though the decades spent working in the telecom sector proved invaluable in Lava’s early years, I regret having worked for so long and not getting into business earlier. When you’re an engineer, science dictates your life. But business is not just science, it’s an art. If it was all about the numbers, a genius mathematician would have become Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg by now.