Sanjoy Sahgal
Managing Director
AXIND Software
Short Description
"Hang in there"; it takes time to get the word out, and it takes time for a product to mature.
Brief about company, offerings and foundation of the company
AXIND is a developer of software solutions/products for the worldwide Fashion industry. Our main products include:ChainReaction® PLM+ Product Planning, Design and Sourcing.ChainReaction® SELL Multi-channel retailing including POS (Point-Of-Sale), Wholesale and E-Commerce .MockShop.3D Visual Merchandising. We have founded AXIND in 2004.
Risks involved in business and way of addressing
Inadequate funding – we funded it ourselves. Inadequate marketing – we have learned to improve this. Not listening to your Customers – again, we have learned to listen to our Customers.
Motivation and Drives factor
Technology selection was one of the earliest and most important decisions that we had to take. We evaluated the possible development environments including Open Source alternatives and decided on which was the most mature, cost effective and had the least learning curve for our developers. The decision about our Sales channels; the choice here is very dependent upon the
resources available. We chose to specialize in Product Development and leave the Sales and Implementation to Partners.
Some of the difficulties faced while building product/ solution
Finding good developers is a constant challenge because they tend to move every year or two. Keeping abreast of technology is very important because a product is never static, you have to constantly be thinking in terms of the next versions.
My thoughts related to entrepreneurship/ leadership and management
Be ready to be constantly learning and to be critical of yourself.
Different actions if I rebuild my company from scratch all over again
Use external money; it is very expensive to use one’s own resources and limited resources put a crimp in most expansion plans. More and earlier emphasis on marketing and sales. This should be the driver of the product and its features.
Motivation and Drives factor
Enjoyment of the development process. Pleasure in the fact that our software is essential, even critical for several top retailers in the world.
Unique about my way of motivating troops
Our organization has strived to keep a structure as flat as possible to enable faster exchange of ideas and allow management to have a better understanding of our employees and their work. The employees are all encouraged to share their opinions directly with the management and in doing so contribute directly to the development of the organization and the software we create
Way of choosing my people
I believe if a person is reasonable bright and has a desire to learn, they can get anywhere. The "desire" is the key. We typically train fresher’s instead of hiring experienced people.
The challenges and lessons learnt to get first customer
A good presentation and a good story plus a bit of luck. There are enough people out there willing to give a new company a chance, just believe in yourself.
Experience of reaching out to potential investors
We don’t have much experience here.
My role at different dimensions as the company evolved
I have become more “hands-on” as I have found that every “tiny” aspect of a product is significant.
As a leader how I make sure that I am connecting the right dots
There is no magic formula; one learns a lot from mistakes. What is
important is not to repeat them.
Best company I admire globally
Apple for their innovation and ability to think out-of-the-box.
Advice for fellow entrepreneurs
"Hang in there"; it takes time to get the word out, and it takes time for a product to mature.
Three big lessons/ mistakes encountered while building company
Get funding, if possible. Watch your Cash Flow, constantly. Save for a rainy day; have at least 6 months burn in the bank. There will be ups and downs. You can never do too much sales/marketing.