“Approach has to be cordial, submissive and humble which is a key point to learn”

In a chat with VARINDIA, Umang Lalani, Director, Lalani Infotech has opened up his mind about his journey in the organization, changes that he had bought and challenges faced by him. Coming from an engineering background, Umang focuses on expanding the distribution system of the company.

How was your journey in the organisation?

My journey has been fantastic; it has been a learning each day. Learning from my father, peers, employees, competitors, OEMs and industry seniors. Even after almost 12 years, I still feel I have barely learnt 12% and still have so much to go. There have been highs and lows, and each came with a lesson that nothing is forever in this industry, you have to keep changing and innovating as per future requirements.

Coming from the new generation, what are the changes you had bought in the organisation?

I realised that computing and mobility was converging. I started Mobility and Telecom products and services in the organisation. Later on, as e commerce business boomed, we also became very prominent players on key marketplace platforms. 

What are the major challenges you have faced when you have started your journey as a second generation entrepreneur in the company?

Discovering the “Why” is the first challenge that every second generation entrepreneur faces when he enters his company. He must first discover his “Why” for doing this business, as the first generation had different set of reasons for starting it in the first place. That was a challenge with me as well.

Then as you come in, there are already lot of senior resources in the company who would form opinions about you and wouldn’t want to be interfered with. Realising that it is natural and that your approach has to be cordial, submissive and humble is a key point to learn. I had to learn how to communicate appropriately irrespective of their post and position.

Since I came from an engineering background, initially, I ran from numbers and financial statements, as I found them extremely boring to go through. Learning how to read financial statements is very important.

 What are the transformations you want to bring in the organisation and please share the roadmap for one year down the line?

We would grow our end customer businesses including sales and services, expand our distribution reach by purely focussing on width and not depth of distribution and add futuristic products with a knowledge, experience or service connect to it so that we can stay relevant even after sales are done.

We want to make our organisation more efficient, process oriented and customer focussed.