Delivering on a promise

MY BIG IDEA

LOKESH ANAND's lack of experience didn't deter him from starting his company, On Dot Courier & Cargo. He remembers making door-to-door deliveries, travelling in local trains and living as a paying guest in the initial days.

Today, the Delhi-based businessman has come a long way with turnover touching Rs 37 crore.

TEMPORARY PROFESSIONS
After completing my graduation in English honours from G D Salwan college in Delhi, I took up a temporary job in Oriental Bank of Commerce in 1987. Jobs were hard to find. It was an 89-day contract and I was earning Rs 2,000 a month.

The contract got over and I landed another temporary post as the personal assistant to the deputy minister for transport who later became the minister of state for petrochemicals and chemicals in New Delhi. Being temporary, these jobs made me feel insecure.

I wanted to do something on my own.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Though there were no restrictions from my family, finances were never taken for granted.

My father was a Hindi teacher in a government-aided school in Delhi and our family of five lived in a one-room rented accommodation for years in Delhi's Karol Bagh area.

I am the youngest of three brothers and was able to start my education only from the fourth grade. We survived entirely on my father's salary, which was roughly Rs 1,700 a month.

CHANCED OPPORTUNITY
Sometime in 1989, after more than a year of being a temporary personal assistant, I saw an ad in a newspaper from a courier company inviting people to take up the agency for an area in Delhi.

I decided this was my opportunity and took the plunge. My idea was that I would at least get to learn the ropes about a business I knew nothing of.

Accepting the agency meant putting in a deposit. So I borrowed Rs 15,000 from my father, who had retired by then, and started the courier agency.

BRANCHING OUT
There were numerous problems with that company. My clients complained about service and deliveries, even payments were not being made on time.

I was totally frustrated and told my eldest brother, who was in the stationery printing business, to print stationery under a new business head so I could start on my own.

He suggested the name On Dot. To kickstart my initiative, my father lent me Rs 10,000 more. Gradually I started building a network, getting contracts from companies to be their regular courier service.

Companies like Hero Honda and a share registry firm were among my first clients. I moved to Mumbai for a year or so to set up an office there as well.

DELIVERY BOY
I remember staying as a paying guest in Mumbai for Rs 2,000 a month which also included a cup of tea in the morning.

I used to head out early in the morning, travelling by local trains for hand deliveries to build a base in Mumbai. Soon I had enough business to start an office in the city.

Business grew gradually. From one office I had opened four in the first year itself. We were a team of six-seven people initially. In 1995, we became a private limited company.

GOOD GOING
I have been blessed because I have never seen a downturn in my business. I've never looked back or felt I've made the wrong choices.

Today, we have 70 company-owned offices and 930 franchised outlets. I have more than 1,000 employees. I'm not a qualified manager so I prefer to lead by example, which I can do because I've learnt from scratch.

FUTURE POSTINGS
I am now trying to get an online system in place for our clients to view delivery schedules and details.

I'm also looking at expanding to the international courier business and am working on tie-ups with international courier companies as well. There are clearly no substitutes for hard work.