Rx: A Strong Dose Of Purpose
It is difficult to believe that K B Suri, chairman of Morepen Laboratories, is just 37. While he may display a business acumen that comes with more years of experience, he certainly looks on the wrong side of 40. He admits that setting up a Rs 330-crore business in just 12 years has taken its toll. "When I started out in 1984, I had a crown of thick hair and I weighed all of 45 kilos. Today my hair is gone and I weigh over 80 kilos. Well, you gain some, you lose some," he laughs. The man who started out as a shift supervisor at Pfizer in 1982, managed to go it alone in just two years when he set up his own unit at Parwanoo (Himachal Pradesh) in 1984. Today, Morepen Laboratories has three factories, two in Parwanoo and one in Baddi, again in Himachal Pradesh. His company hires 1,100 people and exports bulk drugs to over 70 countries. Here is his story.
While I was doing my MSc from Punjab University in Chandigarh, I realised that getting another degree was not going to get me far. My father ran a grocery store in Parwanoo and I did not want to join him either. I had few options. All I did the whole day was to go to movies and party. But at the end of the day I always felt very depressed, because I had achieved nothing. I happened to speak to a friend in college and she advised me to meet her father. He worked for Pfizer and could probably help me make up my mind. This gentleman was initially suspicious of me, he thought I might have designs on his daughter. But finally I got around him and forced him to take me to the Pfizer factory. I then literally begged him for a job. And at 21 I was working at a Pfizer ancillary unit in Parwanoo for a monthly stipend of Rs 450. My parents were against my working. But I stuck with Pfizer for over two years.
I remember my first day at work. I was asked to leave at 5.30 pm when my shift ended but I wanted to stay on. I was told I could stay on but would not be paid any overtime for it. I was in the factory till 11 pm and from that day onwards I have never put in a shorter working day. My stint in Pfizer would qualify as a post graduation in pharmaceuticals.
All the time I was there I kept thinking about how I should go about starting my own factory. I planned on starting one with an initial cost of about Rs 50,000 where I would produce two to five kg of ampicillin every month and make a small profit. I set off to Shimla to the Himachal Pradesh Finance Corporation office to get a loan.
I had just Rs 200 in my pocket and a vague business plan. Once there the peon asked me who I would like to meet. I looked around and saw the name plate of the general manager and said I would like to meet him. He asked for my visiting card. I had none. He then asked me for my company's name. I had no name to give. The peon said it was impossible to meet the saheb then.
Saying this he left to go get a smoke and at that very moment the general manager happened to step out of his office and saw me standing there. He simply asked me who I had come to meet and when I said "you," he called me into his office.
I gave him my entire background and asked for a loan of Rs 50,000. He told me that I could not possibly put up a plant for that amount and he sanctioned me a loan of Rs 11 lakh instead. But I told him I have no money of my own to put in. So he also gave me a seed capital of Rs 2 lakh.
That has been the biggest coup of my life so far. I went back to Parwanoo and set up the factory hiring just five labourers at a daily wage of Rs 150. Those days were tough. I had to do everything myself. I remember making a trip to Delhi and going to Bhagirath Place to find clients for our product. We roamed the market and in the end found traders who were willing to buy.
I had no knowledge of what management practices meant. I used to come to Delhi with a list of jobs and the jobs kept increasing. So when my job list touched 60 and it became difficult to cope, I hired a peon and found that my job list was reduced by more than half. I was thrilled and hired one more peon and after that I hired a manager. This is how I built my team and learnt to delegate work.
We made profits from year one. Because margins are high in this business. In the first full year of operations we recorded a turnover of Rs 22 lakh and the first thing we did was to go and pay back the loan and the seed capital even though the loan period was for eight years. My father always believed in doing business with his own money so I decided then to do the same and get rid of my debt.
In 1984 we registered our company name, in 1986-87 we repaid our loans and in the same year we bought office space in Delhi for Rs 4 lakh. This was a big thing for me because just two years ago I was struggling to get a loan.
Once my business was established the first thing I did was to ask my father to retire and I took over the responsibility of my entire family. We are five brothers and two sisters. All my brothers are working at Morepen and this gives me great satisfaction. I believe charity begins at home.