My Initial Working Years

I finished college in the year 2000 and soon after my graduation began work in Delhi Properties & Building Society Limited, a finance company in New Delhi. As a management trainee I was shuffled around in all the departments, having a practical taste of marketing, finance, HR etc. After about 1 year, I was given more wholesome and meaty roles. After about 2 years, I was handling the business spearheading the strategy planning, customer service, asset financing, RBI & R.O.C. Compliance. The whole situation became quite interesting and invigorating. In 2002, I went for a short course to the College of Agricultural Banking, Pune to learn about compliance of Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs’) with the Reserve Bank of India. The reporting to the Board of Directors was very appealing and they were kind enough to encourage a young manager like me. I was successful in identifying and developing strategic partnerships with automobile dealers, Direct Sales Agents (DSA) etc. in promoting the finance business. I had formal written contracts with them where in we promised to give the dealers and DSAs’ X amount of monthly business. In lieu they either passed on commissions or gave us a credit period for the same.

Successfully I raised finances of Rs. 5 million for financing the automobiles. I identified viable lending opportunities to financially sound customers. In consultation with my team, we took good calculated risks that paid us rich dividends later on. As per the target awarded to us by the Board, we achieved the same, a staggering figure of Rs. 3 million for a small finance company. I believe I understood & identified the opportunities across customer segments and our target audience. Positioning the right solution to the right people, through the right channel helped us achieve the annual revenue and market share objectives of the company.

I led and managed the channel resources for financing programs. We reported our financial results and planned appropriate reviews within the team to thrash out all anomalies and difficulties. Lending is easy but recovering one’s money is difficult. However I and my team amicably repossessed assets from customers. Seldom there was a disagreement and we maintained close contact with our customers. We were mindful of their grievances and situation, but at the same time we needed to ensure the safety of our company’s money. Representing my Company in trade body meetings of Finance Industry Development Council, (FIDC) was a sheer delight and a great learning experience. It gave me an opportunity to meet other Industry Leaders, managers, our regulators and share their experience and knowledge.

After putting 4 years of efforts in the service industry, I moved on to a more wholesome experience in the manufacturing industry.