Manavdeep Singh, Director, Janta Group
My father knew my inclination towards joining the family business even before I did. I was in my second year of college when I realized that my father was testing my choice. In alignment with this came an opportunity to work at TML Distribution Company (TMLD) in Pune as part of my internship. TMLD is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Motors Ltd. (TML) and provides logistics and distribution services to it. The project focused on the causes of driver shortage and attrition and I needed to get a real understanding of the problem at the grassroots level. During the course, I met more than 300 drivers, collected data and drew conclusions. My report received appreciation from the officials at TMLD. Around the same time, Janta Group had entered the chassis carrier business and my father promptly assigned me to supervise the workings of the new division. As part of my work, I travelled from Pune to Bangalore in a trailer. It is a memorable experience for me because I witnessed how things pan out on highways, the inherent challenges and how things are executed at the loading and unloading points.
The second instance – rather confirmation of my career choice – came when I formally expressed my interest in joining the family business to my father. His prompt response was to jot down a plan for me. He encouraged me to undergo special training at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL) under their second-generation vendor training program. It involved intensive training across most of their departments for a duration of six months. It also involved studying different kinds of damages a car can suffer while being ferried out from their plant to their dealers. I inspected more than 1,000 cars during my stint and I am grateful for the massive experience that I gained owing to the large scale logistics involved.
I was born in 1990. As the youngest boy after two girls. I was a difficult yet pampered child. My parents showed gargantuan patience towards me. According to them, it was literally a hair-raising experience (smiles). My father, who began his working life at a tender age of 13 years, has always been my role model for the strength, grit and hard work that he embodies. There were many days during my childhood that we never would see each other because I would leave for school early morning and he would come late in the night when I would be fast asleep. He has firmly instilled three principles in all three of us since childhood – that we need to work hard, must be determined to achieve our goals and run our business with honesty to lead a meaningful and quality life. He also taught us that failure or downfall is probably inevitable in life but what is more important is to dust it off and rise back up.
What has stayed with me about him all my life is the fact that he has never compromised his work ethics and I firmly believe that this is the main reason why he commands such effortless high respect in the industry.
I hope to carry forward one particular value I have seen him holding high even today – the fact that he has always put his priorities ahead of himself – be it work, family, or his dedication to ensure customer satisfaction. The passion with which Janta Group works for its clients in providing transport solutions is inherited from my father. He has shown to us – the children and the team – that facing hardships and challenges with responsibility will make a person stronger. And personally, this is what inspires me the most to give my all and support my customers in every way that I can.
All the values that I have imbibed from my father have continually been put to test in my life. And dare I say I have succeeded? In 2014-15, my father set a target for the team to lift a minimum of 4,000 cars. We had two handicaps – one, the industry was experiencing a mild slump that year and hence the vehicle sales were poor. Second was that our fleet strength at that time was about 120 vehicles only. It took me three months to plan out how to achieve the target with the existing challenges.
I strategized how to change the entire running cycle of vehicles. I also started interacting with customers closely to understand their fleet requirements and their deadlines. By the end of the three months and putting in our best efforts and planning to the minute, my team and I could lift 4,015 cars with our existing fleet strength. This was possible because of applying the principles that my father had drilled into us. And that is why I consider this as my first ever major achievement and it is something that I will always go back to when and if I feel at sea in business. Later in 2016, I had an opportunity to present it as a successful case study at the MPower meet organized by the Mahindra Group at IIM, Ahmedabad. I was awarded the second runner-up position for the strategic handling of the project which involved maximising our company’s limited fleet and giving ultimate efficiency to the customers. We also owe this achievement to our continued and renewed focus on we focus on our operational excellence, and implementing online system.
Milestones are etched in stone but are made with sweat and blood… because a journey of learning, experimenting and then achieving demands everything from a person and only then success is ensured. It is a promise I have made to myself that I shall always offer sustainable solutions to our customers with maximum efficiency using minimum of resources.
One thing that I believe in and will continue to practice is what my father has handed down to me – ‘Do not grow alone. Ensure the growth of people who are walking with you.’
And that is something that I truly believe will help Janta Group to become people friendly.