Akhil Gupta: Dreaming Big
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| Image: Amit Verma |
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| "I would credit it to our ability to dream bigger than what we could," says Akhil Gupta, deputy CEO of Bharti Enterprises | |
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When you began this journey, did you know where you were headed?
If you ask me today, did you dream about it then — absolutely not. What we were dreaming about at that time was Delhi. Then, we began dreaming about North India. We soon figured this is the business we can handle. JT Mobile was our first big bet. It was our first shift in strategy — acquiring Karnataka and Andhra. To raise that kind of massive funding was a huge task. Our big break came from Telecom Italia in 1995. It gave us ample money. Even with Warburg Pincus, we were able to raise money at the right time. In financial deals, we realised, right timing was important. We weren't worried about the best valuation.
What would you credit Bharti Airtel’s spectacular growth to?
I would credit it to our ability to dream bigger than what we could. We were constantly increasing and stretching our ambitions. There are three components to our success: We were very ambitious in settling our business model. Everything the Western world said we debunked. Our passion and conviction that we were thinking logically and right.
Business lessons that you have learnt?
After [the] first few years of being in mobile services, we realised the importance of price points. And, we also figured that to succeed in business we need to have the following: That total revenue should keep going up. That our operational expenses should keep coming down. And, we also looked at capital productivity — sales as [a] percentage of capex and not vice versa.
Tell us about some of the difficult moments in your journey?
Our first tough moment came in 1994 when we were trying to seek a Rs 11-crore debt from IDBI. When Reliance launched, it was a difficult moment for us. Most people wrote us off. But we decided to preserve our energies and keep our head down.
Sunil and I have never worked in large companies and we faced many management challenges. But one thing we always made sure — that before you roll out any project you should have adequate finance. While setting up the projects your hands should not be tight.
On structuring the first big outsourcing deal?
We realised that capex in mobile business is very modular. It became very clear to us that we were looking at massive capex. And, we also figured that we can’t be running everything ourselves.
On thinking about outsourcing, we tried to answer three things: Who can service [the] customer better, who can attract better human capital and economies of scale.
Was there any philosophy behind the diversifications, the non-telecom businesses?
All these businesses are at early stages of growth in the country. They cater to the masses and, hence, are scalable. India remains one of the most under-insured countries. In these industries (retail, insurance), we haven’t even touched the tip of the iceberg.
There was a certain scale-up that you expected from non-telecom businesses. How has been the journey so far?
I would say mostly in line (with our expectations).
Really?
Pretty much on track. Retail may look slow. But that’s how we planned. We wanted to have the backend in place. I would say, pretty much ok.
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