Shashikant Patel Chairman and MD, Plethico Pharmaceuticals

He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father had to work hard so that his children could continue their education. But lack of money never came in the way of his dreams. Through sheer grit and determination he is now at the helm of a Rs 1,000-crore company. This is the story of Shashikant Patel, chairman and MD, Plethico Pharmaceuticals.

Patel has been in this business for more than 40 years. He took over the reins of Plethico in 1996 and, under his guidance, the company has become a dominant player in the healthcare industry.

In January 2008, Plethico completed the acquisition of Natrol Inc, a leading manufacturer and marketer of nationally branded nutritional products in the US. That’s quite a feather in the cap of Plethico, which was a Rs 45-crore company when Patel took over.

Patel is a first generation entrepreneur, born in Sojitra, a small village in Kheda district in Gujarat. He did his schooling from M.M. High School and then attended PMB College of Science in Indore.

For a young man with limited resources, setting up his own business was quite an uphill task. But Patel prefers not to harp on his initial trials and tribulations. “The initial obstacles were purely financial. We were fortunate to be helped by friends, relatives and financial institutes,” is all that he has to say.

It is natural to assume that college was not full of fun and frolic for a man who wanted to set up a business at a young age. But Patel is full of surprises. “In school as well as in college, I was greatly interested in music and sports,” he says. He firmly believes that to be a successful businessman one has to be a good sportsman. “Sports teaches you to expect the unexpected and music brings balance in life.”

But, of course, academics matters too. “Being a science graduate helped me understand the nuances of the pharmaceutical industry,” says Patel. He admits that he had a natural flair for trade that helped him turn Plethico into a success story. What also helped was his urge to give that “extra something” to his customers. He did not concentrate solely on profits. “The whole idea was to give good medicines at reasonable prices,” he says.

Plethico was set up in 1991 for focused marketing of prescription drugs. It carved out a niche for itself soon, with the help of a dedicated sales team, critical pricing and innovative product launches.

“Slowly and steadily, we built up our team. In 1996, we completely professionalised our field force by getting in a chief executive officer to head operations.”

In 1998, Plethico launched Travisil, its most successful brand. In 2002, it started a consumer products division. “In 2006, we got listed and that completely transformed our hunger to grow. We went into nutraceuticals, a sunrise industry. This explains our acquisition of Natrol.”

Patel feels that business sense and social commitment are values universally understood and globally appreciated. “We have embodied the virtue of ‘pledged to ethics’ in our healthcare business by integrating people, processes and philosophy.”

Confidence comes hand in hand with success. And Patel is a confident man. His son Chirag and daughter Gauravi assist him in the business.

Patel feels that women should actively participate in business and Plethico has taken the initiative to educate girls from tribal and backward areas in a village near Indore. In business, he is aggressive. He welcomes competition. “Competition is a given factor in business, much like a bouncer aimed at your skull by a fast bowler,” he says.

“So, competition is always to be faced with grit, determination and self-developed techniques.” If life were a game of cricket, Patel would be a Sourav Ganguly.

Based on a conversation with Devlina Ganguly in Calcutta