The initial spark was his father’s: in the sixties, the burning desire of a young entrepreneur to make it big gave birth to the Khaitan group of companies. This grew under his nurturing. But it became a household name only in the early eighties. It was then that his son —Sunil K. Khaitan — joined the family business and brought in fresh ideas.

Now vice-chairman of the group, the 47-year-old Sunil Khaitan has been running the company for the past 28 years. Its turnover has moved up to Rs 300 crore and profits have kept pace.

It has needed fast footwork over time as the environment too has changed. But Khaitan has managed because he believes in the survival of the fittest. In business, that means constantly monitoring trends and staying ahead of them.

For the young Khaitan, joining the group was a no-brainer. He did a chunk of his schooling from a boarding school in Pilani (Rajasthan), and went on to complete his higher secondary from Birla High School, Calcutta. He did his BCom from St Xaviers College, Calcutta.

Khaitan joined his father’s business at 16, while he was still in school. “I took immense interest in the business. As a fresher, I often used to work with the labourers and knew what they wanted. On joining the company, I ensured that their needs were looked after,” says he.

This helped in the long run as his company has not had a single strike.

When Khaitan began working with the company in the early seventies, the production capacity of this fan manufacturer was only 40,000 units per month. This gradually grew to 2,00,000 per month under his leadership.

“Till 1991 it was a seller’s market. Competition was limited,” says Khaitan. “But after that things changed. People became more interested in what they were buying.

That apart, a large number of companies came up in our sector. This challenged our monopoly.” To survive, Khaitan had to improve the product offering and become more contemporary.

What helped the young man, was the MBA he had done from the US. It wasn’t just the education that gave him new ideas.

Khaitan realised that the consumer-oriented society in the US — where abundant choice was taken for granted — would come to India too. Besides, the company he returned to was making losses at that time. So, major changes were necessary to rescue it from the red.

To fight the unorganised sector, which was supplying fans at cheaper rates, Khaitan launched a sub-brand of Khaitan fans styled Zolta. That clicked, and the first wolf was driven from the door.

“After dealing with the unorganised market, it was time to take care of business rivals and attract rich consumers. So I took the initiative to launch designer fans. These too became a hit with the upper middle class,” says he.

Khaitan also took his group into other areas. From fans, the conglomerate is now into sugar, spare part and hardware.

What is the key to his success? “Pay the workers their due,” says Khaitan. “Interact with them, make them feel wanted. Listen to their demands and fulfil them if justified. Being fair has helped me and will help others too to run their business smoothly.”

People should be proud of what they are doing and try to make the most of whatever they have instead of complaining, he adds.

Khaitan is now targetting a turnover of Rs 600 crore. He also plans to launch more trendy fans soon. That should mean a lot of fans. In more senses than one.

Based on a conversation with Shabina Akhtar in Calcutta