Business from the Eyes of an Engineer

I am an engineer by trade, not a businessman. My father was a police officer with no business background either. When I was let go from my last job and was looking for a new job, I thought about starting a small business. In hindsight, not landing a new job proved to be a blessing in disguise – I went all in and started AGORA.

I learnt early on that I needed to offer something that the world needs – Custom Soft-Goods Design and Manufacturing. Consistency in material use, Quality in every shipment, Delivery on time, Quick Response to customer requests and a stable, long-term pricing model without yearly increases (prevalent in the 1970s and early 1980s) were the tenets of my business model.

I learnt to pay my loans and our suppliers on time. I lived with a minimum salary from AGORA, paid employees every week and had monthly treats and gala Christmas parties for our employees. I learnt that employees are truly our best assets. We all worked hard, and at the same time enjoyed our times together whenever we could.

My biggest takeaway –
Happy Employees, Happy Customers and Happy Suppliers together, keep a company growing. If any one party gets greedy, business starts to see unhealthy turnover, leading to problems with Employee/Customer/Supplier retention.