People warn me that I think too fast, too soon, and that I want to run too quickly. ”

In early 2008, when Disha Doshi joined her family’s printing and packaging business, it was an 7-crore company run out of a single plant in Mumbai’s Vasai industrial area. Her father and uncle, who together managed H.K. Printers, were content with the 18-year-old firm’s slow but steady growth. Like a typical 22-year-old, Doshi wanted to shake things up with her brash, new ideas. But, her father and uncle indulgently laughed most suggestions off till a huge crisis lashed the business.

On March 25, 2008, the company’s Vasai unit went up in flames due to an electrical short circuit. The stocks of paper and chemicals lying around ensured the sparks quickly became a raging fire. “We were reduced to ground zero and couldn’t salvage anything,” says Doshi. Clearly, this was a big blow to an extended family for which the printing press was the sole breadwinner.

Doshi’s father and uncle quickly transferred operations to a temporary, rented site. “Within 20 days, we were at 40 per cent  of our capacity,” she recalls admiringly. Still, the future seemed shaky. Employee morale had hit an all-time low. And, many were worried they’d be asked to go. “They didn’t have faith in the company’s ability to bounce back.” Doshi realised they couldn’t reconstruct the business without employee buy-in. “I had recently read Narayana Murthy say in an interview that, ‘my assets go in and out of office every day’. It’s a thought that stayed with me.”

Doshi thought of a day-long employee meet to which families would also be invited as the perfect way to forge deeper bonds. Not surprisingly, her bosses were hesitant. It wasn’t the best time to spend 50,000 on a fun picnic. In any case, such employee engagement tricks were untested concepts her father and uncle, both cut to a more traditional business owner mould, had little hopes from. 

But, Doshi pushed the idea. And, with their backs against the wall with the fire, her father and uncle decided to try out whatever it might take to help things along. On a weekend in May, the company’s 60 employees, with spouses, children, and parents in tow, met at a small resort on the outskirts of Mumbai. Old employees were recognised for their contribution to the company, newer ones were told how much they were valued, and a series of fun games made the outing enjoyable for the families. “At the end of the day, wives were so proud of their husbands. Each one of them felt they really mattered. We had managed to instil such pride,” says Doshi.

The event was also a great platform to ask for support and ownership in rebuilding the company. Her father, Harish Doshi, admits to the huge impact those few hours had.

There was such an attitude change towards the company. We told their families to help our employees be more productive, more involved. In fact, absenteeism went down by over 50 per cent over the next few months.”

It also made sure that not a single employee left H.K. Printers at that crucial point. Today, the annual family outing has become a tradition that is much-awaited. “If it gets delayed, people begin asking us when the next meet is,” says Doshi Senior. This deep focus on employees is now a core value within the company.

Emboldened by her first big win, Doshi was determined to try out her other ideas. It was a good time to try new things anyway as the company tried to piece itself together. She knew “real” growth couldn’t come from their existing roster of micro, small and medium clients. They had to cast their nets wider to take advantage of the booming packaging industry in India.

Her elders didn’t have access to spiffy multinationals or big domestic players though. Through an article she read in a business magazine, Doshi found out that Ferrero Rocher, the chocolates brand, was setting up a test plant in India, and were on the lookout for packaging and printing vendors. She pursued them aggressively. H.K. Printers was still working out of their makeshift location but Doshi didn’t baulk in calling the Italian chocolatiers for an inspection visit. She told them honestly about the company’s recent troubles, and hoped her prospective clients would appreciate the can-do spirit the company had displayed. “They visited our factory and were very happy. They were confident we could be reliable suppliers because of the positive reaction they got from our employees.”

Ferrero Rocher quickly signed them up to print three crore marketing leaflets. Today, Ferrero Roche contributes to 10 per cent of H.K. Printers’ turnover, and is keen to expand the scope of work including sourcing from them for their international operations as well. Already, they order more than 10 crore leaflets a year. Such dramatic successes helped her win the trust and confidence of both the employees and her own family. “When she began, employees wouldn’t respond. But, respect and confidence in her has grown by leaps and bounds. They are very, very positive,” says her proud father.

Doshi knows there’s been similar change in his attitude, as well. Maybe it’s this gut feel for the business that has led to such transformation.

My father and uncle didn’t expect much when I joined the business. I was a young girl, nobody thought I was going to have a huge impact,” she says honestly, though joining the business was a given for her even as a young school girl. “I started coming to the factory when I was just seven.”

And, Doshi’s achieved much more than just smart HR tricks and aggressive selling. She enrolled into S.P. Jain Institute of Management Studies’ course on family management of business and diligently applied classroom knowledge to the shop floor. She introduced her company to favourable export regulations, smarter bank financing schemes and worked hard to get an ISO certification—none of which were priorities before she came in.

These efforts have meant a doubling of capacity over the last three years. They now convert more than 400 tonnes of paper monthly. And, the exporter tag has helped them avail duty waivers on equipment as well. So, inputs costs have gone down  and upgrading machinery has been manageable. Buoyed by such positivism, H.K. Printers now has a turnover of 15 crore and three productions units across the world—the original one in Vasai, another plant they bought in Mumbai in 2009, and a new one, believe it or not, that’s coming up in Lusaka, Zambia, at an investment of 2.5 crore. 

In 2008, H.K. Printers expanded its export portfolio as well tapping the huge west Africa market. The decision helped them build on their fledgling export efforts to a handful of companies in east Africa which they had begun in 2003. Again, Doshi went in fearlessly. And, now with the new plant in Zambia, their future inroads into the continent seem very well-mapped. “This will give us a major push. Africa is the next growth story. We have tied up with big FMCG companies and soon over 80 per cent of our production will come from there,” she says calmly, adding that she now spends up to three months a year in Africa. A plant in Zimbabwe is next on her wish list. “That’s something I want now. As one plant gets ready for production, we should have another one on paper.”

Not willing to stop at anything, it seems, the “turnaround heroine” as many call her, is also enhancing their production capabilities. By June 2011, they will get a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) licence (a food production safety licence) that will allow them to manufacture packaging which directly comes in contact with food. They already manufacture external packaging for pharmaceuticals. “The HACCP is going to instantly impact our bottom line. I am in advanced talks with fast food companies in Africa,” Doshi says confidently.

Her father admits that in hindsight the fire was almost a silver lining. “Most importantly, we aren’t afraid of anything. Nothing more than that could have gone wrong and we came out of it. It’s given us the guts to take on and try anything.”

That’s a smart realisation for him to have considering how fast his daughter is flying. She laughs, “Everybody is amazed that my ideas are getting bigger and bigger. People warn me that I think too fast, too soon, and that I want to run too quickly.” In the face of a momentum like hers, sometimes giving in is the only option. “She has an answer to every argument. When we have no debate left in us but she still has many more arguments, we just decide to go ahead and give it a shot,” pitches in Doshi Senior. It’s possibly that spirit which made sure that despite walking through hot, burning coals, the Doshis aren’t scarred, only renewed and stronger.

Experts Weigh In

Getting the basics right

Disha Doshi is blessed with innate business acumen. She showed the ability to identify what the company needed. Her engagement with employees made perfect sense. Theirs is a printing unit, not a typical manufacturing company. It’s also driven by the concept of services so people become very important. It was crucial for her to take care of them. When you do family learning programmes, it helps in everybody in getting connected to each other. The company can form bonds with their employees’ spouses and children. People think if we can do it together, we can achieve it. That’s a very exciting thing to happen to a company. She needs to continue these employee engagement programmes so she can further connect with her people. She did a great job with her market expansion efforts as well. I think when the second generation comes in, how they are portrayed by the first generation leadership makes a huge difference to how successful a new entrant will be. If confidence is shown in their competence and ability, great results can take place like in this case. Equally, the younger generation must think of no as just an input, not a rejection. They should know that often the ‘no’ is based on historical reasons, and those must be understood.

Samish Dalal | Professor | Centre for Family Managed Business, S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai

 Continue applying knowledge

The turning point really for any business today, as Disha realised, is employee participation. Blue collar workers now have as much access to the world through media, television as us. They are as much part of the modern world as we are. Many organisations now regard them as their primary clients. With their support and enthusiasm the company has a different energy, you can just build on without worrying about the back end. Disha has demonstrated great business acumen. She really applies the knowledge, like implementing something she’s read about. She’s up there with everything. Getting an ISO certification was a very smart move. Most printing businesses aren’t in gear with ISO. People continue to look at it from a manufacturing orientation. She didn’t. All the models and structures are out there with various organisations, she had the acumen and enthusiasm to take and apply what she needed.

Ranjit Sabhaney | Owner | Genesis Printers, Delhi