Prism - 2

In the second edition of Prism, we catch up with Mr.Mayur Bhuva, who has stepped into the sixth year of his entrepreneurial journey... It all began in January, 2013. His is a laser cutting factory that operates mainly in the B2B market. Mr.Bhuva, a native of Vadodara, graduated in Computer Science from Coimbatore, and did his MBA from Pune. After, running after the sales targets of giant MNCs spread across the sectors like mobile, sports, and white goods, for about nine years, Mr.Bhuva just said - enough! (Or was it 'I need more' ?)

1) You do not seem to have any experience/exposure of the laser cutting industry.. So, how?

That is a funny story. I was roaming clueless searching for a good business opportunity and that's around when one of our well wishers wanted to sell of this business.. they weren't able to manage it inspite of they being 15 years old in this industry. But I was somehow confident that I will be able to pull it off. Also more importantly, they didn't have any other buyer :) as everybody felt it was a sinking ship. So I jumped - into it. 

I would also like to add, before the major decision of quitting, there was only one person who supported me wholeheartedly... "MY DAD". He always said, 'A true entrepreneur is somebody who sustains himself and grows even when nothing is in his favour'.

2) So what were the two most important things you did to keep the ship sailing?

One - Kept my expenses low. Two - Invested whatever I could afford on building the best team.

3) The first 1000 days are said to be the most critical ones for a startup. How were your initial days?

I definitely agree to this. This is the time when I could differentiate my true friends from friends and true relatives from relatives. Every day of my initial days, at least once I got a feeling that this is too much and I made a mistake quitting my job. But the real fun and excitement of business is only after those 1000 days..the idea is to keep moving!

4) Do you miss your corporate job?
Not much, as I don’t get much time to think about it.

5) As an entrepreneur what has been your most embarrassing incident yet?

Frankly speaking there haven't been any such incident till date, ya definitely there have been some very bad moments, when we have worked round the clock for more than 4 days at a stretch and still ended up losing ... That's the time when you felt dejected. 

6) We can't do without this question - how much has your MBA degree helped in your journey?

Other then making me get my first job and good friends, I don't think it has helped me much. What I learned maximum was in the years after my b-school.

7) What is the best thing you could wish for your company in the next 3 years?

To go public :) You see, at the end of day I am a gujju.

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Mr.Bhuva can be reached at mayur.bhuva@gmail.com.