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Chandigarh:
From selling candles and fabric to teaching computers
and from establishing an overseas student recruitment business to
a software outsourcing company, Naresh Gulati has covered an
enviable journey to entrepreneurial success.
With a clear dream of becoming an entrepreneur right from
childhood, Gulati started his venture in candle retailing with
just Rs.5,000. Today he is the owner of a $150 million empire with
offices across India, Australia, New Zealand and Britain.
"I always believe in my dreams and look at positive aspects of
life," Gulati told IANS, sitting in his three-storey
well-appointed office in the upscale Sector 9 of this city, not
far from the landmark Sukhna Lake.
"I started selling candles at the age of 15 on the pavements of
Chandigarh to assist my family. Then I also sold fabrics
door-to-door in city shops. Those were the difficult days of
struggle, but they helped to cultivate a fighter spirit in me," he
said.
His ambition then made him pursue a diploma in data processing and
he started working as a computer teacher. Although he also set up
his own computer centre in the city, the urge of doing something
big took him to Australia in search of greener pastures.
Gulati then went to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in
Australia in 1995 for a post-graduate course in information
systems and that's where he started learning about life in an
altogether different light.
"I had limited funds. I borrowed from a moneylender. I was told I
could earn handsomely while studying in Melbourne but on reaching
there I realised I was deceived by the agent -- I wasn't told
about visa restrictions, tax deductions and other expenses," he
said.
"I had to sleep on park benches many times as I ran out of funds,"
he said, even as his entrepreneurial spirit and the urge to help
fellow Indian students also made him realise a future opportunity
during those difficult times.
"I was not the only one going through that trauma. There were many
other Indian students like me. That anguish prompted me to venture
into the student recruitment business. In 1996, I returned and
started Oceanic Consultants with a capital of only Rs.143,000."
Since then, Oceanic has sent over 10,000 students overseas in
tie-ups with institutions like the Northern Michigan University,
University of Cincinnati, Middlesex University, British Institute
of Technology and e-Commerce, Cambridge International College and
Canberra Institute of technology.
"We wanted to help students by providing genuine information,
guidance. We don't charge students anything. We help them in the
application process, applying for visas and in getting admission
in the institute of their choices," he said.
"There are many black sheep in this business. They paint a rosy
picture before gullible students to send them abroad. People are
running education consultancies from homes and one-room offices.
They have tied up with second-rate colleges, charging huge sums."
Oceanic, which has its headquarters in Melbourne, has bagged
several Australian awards. Besides helping students, it runs two
more ventures -- business process outsourcing intelligence unit
and Object Next Software.
"In 2005, we started the outsourcing intelligence business with an
investment of $1,000 to help foreign universities increase their
revenue base. We help cut the high costs of prospectus, catalogue
printing, distribution, postage and tracking of students."
Today, Gulati said, Oceanic has a good number of clients in
Australia, New Zealand, the US and Britain. "Over 70 percent of
Australian universities and more than 65 percent of New Zealand
universities are our clients."
His focus now is on the third line of business that was launched
recently -- Object Next Software, which is specially meant for
increasing the efficiency of educational institutes.
(Alkesh Sharma
can be reached at alkesh.s@ians.in)
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