"A Successful Entrepreneur Understands the Needs of the Customers" - Madhur Agarwal

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1. Tell us more about your company and your journey.

The name of my company is Agarwal Steel. I started it as a small business in 2007 with a small shop. The journey was quite tough, as, in the beginning, we were new in the field of the steel pipe business.

Gradually we started acquiring more customers. Needless to say word of mouth plays a very important role in making the business famous and the same happened in my case. There are lots of customers who are happy with the services and material that we provide.

2. How did you come up with this idea and go about executing it?

I always wanted to become an entrepreneur from my childhood days. I was just searching for the right time to come. The idea to choose this business was because we were searching for a good field in which we can expand the business to its limit and the main reason was there were very fewer steel shops in the city at that time due to the supply-demand mechanics.

I invested my savings into the business now we have grown on a large scale. I would like to mention my family which helped me a lot in setting up this business.

3. What has been your biggest challenge that you faced and how did you overcome that?

The biggest challenge was to make people and workers believe in our superior material and 100% original material so that the customer feels confident to come and ask for the best quality goods.

Another challenge was to give a competition to other shops so that we can fix our legs in this business by reducing the price of material on a wholesale rate. Economies of scale play a huge role in any business. Massive production reduces the cost of the entity, this is the principle that we always keep in the mind.

4. What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful entrepreneur?

Quality of a successful entrepreneur is to understand the need of the customer and to fulfil his needs accordingly. For which we give the guarantee of our goods and the main point is to earn the belief of customer as well as the worker. To key to run a business on a large scale for a longer duration is the relationships we build with our customers.

Another important quality of an entrepreneur is time management and management of finance. I start my business daily at 9 AM and return back home at 9 PM. Initial days are really tiring but the fruits that we get are really sweet.

5. What are some of the most important factors for running a successful business?

Well, important factors for running a business are that we must be focused on our goals and be true to our customers. Secondly, we should never look back in a tough time as in 2020 we have seen many ups and downs but never gave up. We will surely recover the loss happened due to this lockdown and thirdly proper manpower management is very necessary.

The last factor which is also very important is the cooperation from family members.

6. What are your tips for the first time and aspiring entrepreneurs?

We must be confident in whatever fields you want to go in and you also have to do proper research on the field you chose. It’s not just a one-day decision, you need to focus from the very beginning and later take the decision to go ahead on that field.

Always pen down your ideas in a notepad. People come up with the ideas but they don’t note them down. It’s really very important.

7. How can one overcome a hurdle of lack of funds when starting up?

To overcome the lack of funds is to start a business with a low budget as you don’t know the market completely. Starting with a low budget helps you to understand the future need of business and accordingly you can increase the investment with your own profit.

Some entrepreneurs like to start a business by taking a huge debt. I generally not prefer business on debt. Starting the business with your own money is the best thing.

Interview by - Sonam