The entrepreneur par excellence

Being an entrepreneur, and a successful one at that, is extremely difficult. Lt. Col. (Retd.) Hardeep Singh Bedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Tulip Telecom Ltd., is one of those rare individuals who exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit in the truest sense of the word. He turned a little known family venture into an enterprise that just hit a turnover of nearly Rs. 2,000 crores in 2009. An ex-army man, who heads one of the country's leading network connectivity companies, he shared his views about business, his story of becoming an entrepreneur and the things that helped him succeed in a conversation with the editors and correspondents of the Business Publications Division of The Indian Express Group.

What do you make of the recently concluded 3G and BWA auctions? What is the likely impact of these developments upon the enterprise connectivity business?

As of now, it's difficult to predict how the 3G and BWA auctions will pan out as far as telcos and their enterprise services business is concerned. Telcos have been grappling with spectrum issues for far too long and with 3G and BWA their spectrum pains will be addressed to a great extent. Currently, the majority of their focus is on voice and data is secondary in their plans. Therefore, whatever spectrum they get, they will use it for their voice services and very little will be allocated to data. 3G spectrum in large cities will primarily be used up for voice and

BWA spectrum will be used for content. It will address the retail market and the enterprise market but, as of today, I see the maximum growth in the voice market.

To what do you attribute your success in both the wired and wireless data connectivity markets?

When we came into the market, Sify was our biggest competitor. We knew that in order to succeed we would have to do things differently. One of those things was to not go after the retail segment. Sify was very much in retail wherein it was competing with the likes of BSNL. For its last mile, Sify was depending primarily on BSNL whereas we decided to set up our own last mile. As a result of our efforts, today we have the most extensive last mile connectivity of any telecom player in the country. While we depend on our competitors like TTSL, Bharti Airtel, and Reliance for fiber in cities and metros, they rely on us for last mile connectivity. In fact, the amount of last mile they lease from us is much higher than the fiber that we lease from them. Also, I have a choice of players when it comes to intercity connectivity whereas they have none. Their dependence on us is much higher. Some of these things have made quite a difference and helped us garner greater market share.

As far as our success in wireless is concerned, wireless is a small business for most of our competitors. If you look at the overall market, data communication accounts for somewhere around 2% of the market, of which only 16% is wireless, which essentially means that it is only 0.3% of the overall market. For the competition, which focused primarily on the opportunities in voice, wireless offered a small, somewhat insignificant play. Therefore, they did not work on expanding their networks. In stark contrast, we at Tulip have build a huge wireless network spread throughout the country which allows us to provide businesses with connectivity wherever they need it.

This has allowed us to take thelead and, today, we have over 80% market share in the wireless enterprise data connectivity business in the country.

Have you ever thought about entering the retail connectivity space?

We don't have any plans of entering the retail segment of the market and currently our focus is on the enterprise data connectivity business. It is our core business and that's where we would like to focus our efforts.

Tulip has done a lot of work in the Government vertical, particularly in the rural connectivity segment. Tell us a little bit about some of your observations there?

During the last few years, the government has stepped up its efforts towards providing connectivity to the rural masses and it has made noticeable progress in this area. However, much remains to be done. When it comes to connecting rural areas, fiber has its limitations. Given the vast geographic spread of the country and the difficult terrain, it's not always possible to dig and lay down fiber. Therefore, for the last mile, wireless becomes the only viable option left. Wireless technologies have come a long way today and offer low latencies. The low bandwidth issues have also been eased to a certain extent. These developments have now made it possible for the state to start offering targeted delivery of services at a low price point on wireless networks. Therefore, in rural areas, wireless has a lot of potential. Having said this, at the end of the day, it is a low bandwidth, low revenue business.

Given the state's focus on extending the fiber network and with players like TTSL, Bharti Airtel and Reliance focusing on furthering their reach, do you see wired connectivity replacing wireless at some stage?

Although there will always be scope for wireless connectivity, this is unlikely to happen. As mentioned earlier, the vast geographic spread of the country and accessibility issues will make it difficult to lay down fiber everywhere. While the government is making an effort to extend its reach, some of the growth that's being seen lately for private players has come from voice on wireless networks. I don't see wired connectivity replacing wireless. The numbers might be on the lower side but wireless will continue to exist.

Has your army background helped you in any way when it comes to running a business?

The Army teaches you a lot and gives you all kinds of tools and facilities that help you become a better individual. These experiences come in handy in your daily life. One of the most important skills that you acquire in the Army has to do with leadership skills. While leading your troops into a battle may not be exactly similar to leading an organization, it does require similar abilities. You have to safeguard the interests of the entire organization and all of its stakeholders. Another skill that I have put to use is resource management. In the Army, we were taught how to make the most of the available resources and, in stressful situations, this is a skill that can be extremely useful.

Also, the Army inculcates a sense of discipline in you and you get used to a certain way of doing things which certainly helps when running a business. However, at times, you start to expect similar discipline from others and even enforce it which may not necessarily work all the time.

After having established a successful entrepreneurial venture, do you think that it is wise to continue to experiment with new lines of business?

Well, if you look at my history at Tulip, I have constantly experimented with new lines of business. Organizations, if they remain static, cannot grow beyond a point. They must change. Whatever business you are into, you must experiment with newer ideas and innovate new paradigms for yourself. You may fail with 90% of the things that you try but bear in mind that the 10% that you succeed with could end up being your savior in the long run. When I look around, I see a lot of software product companies and hardware vendors struggle in today's challenging economy. Most of them are companies that didn't innovate and remained stagnant. Therefore, it is imperative that, even after you have managed to succeed as an entrepreneur, you must not stop experimenting.

You have had your share of challenges doing business in the past. During those testing times, did you ever have second thoughts about being an entrepreneur?

That's the nature of business. You have your good days and bad days. I think the only one who can never have a bad day at the office is God. As far as we are concerned, I don't suppose anyone is immune to bad times and I have had mine. For instance, at the time when we needed funds for buying licenses to start offering VPN services a few years ago and we could not come up with the money, I was rather anxious throughout that period. However, I suppose others also go through such challenges and the key is to retain focus. I don't think that I have ever regretted or had second thoughts about my decision to enter the business world. On the contrary, I enjoyed the challenge.

Is there a process that you go thorough when faced with a crisis?

As I said, one can't help but get a little anxious when faced with a challenge. Nevertheless, the best way to deal with it is to work even harder and not let things bog you down. When you are convinced that you have something good in your hand and you have the support of those around you, more often than not, you will be able to convince those who might have doubts. Of course, there will always be a set of people who will never share your vision. However, most will follow and you will be able to overcome whatever obstacles that you face.

What is the one key attribute that every entrepreneur should possess?

Well, in my case, listening to those around me, especially my employees, has worked well for me and it is vital for anyone—be it an aspiring entrepreneur or a successful businessman—to listen to his or her employees. Ensure that you have good HR practices in place and take care the needs of your employees right from the lowest levels up to the management level. After all, it is your workforce that makes up the organization.