cover feature
Women of the channel
The entrepreneur Savitha Bhaskar
In the world of IT, it is not as often as we like, that we see a woman in the driving seat. Savitha Bhaskar, General Manager and Co-founder of Condo Protego, a valueadded reseller in the region, is one such woman who entered the business desiring to be closer to the end customers. Her IT stint began in the 90s, where she worked with IBM as one of its Key Account Manager for an ISU and the go-to-market model was evolving from a direct selling one to more of a channel-based one. This is when she realised that she missed the direct customer-facing role. So even though she had to move down the supply chain, this led to co-founding Condo Protego in her early 30’s, together with her husband, Andrew Calthorpe. Bhaskar says that being daring enough “to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming an entrepreneur” is one of her greatest achievements till date. Responsible for the daily operations of the company, Bhaskar believes in motivating herself to go beyond her goals each day. She believes that even though she is good at what she does, there is always room for improvement to grow and become better. Describing herself as a perfectionist, she goes on to say that her strengths include using instinct and intuition to anticipate and address situations much in advance. “I also have bull-headed persistence—I never give up regardless of the hurdles in my way,” she adds. Inspired by women like Margaret Thatcher and Indira Gandhi, she believes, “No matter what gender or nationality you come from, as long you work hard, you can overcome any challenges that you may face in education or at the workplace.”
The go-getter K.U Shankri
K.U Shankri, Owner, Lucky Star got into the channel business in the region, working with different IT players, over two decades ago. Driven by her entrepreneurial acumen, she opened Lucky Star in 1998 and since then, has only focused on growth. “Over the years, we have opened a number of stores. All showrooms have different focuses,” she says. Originally an electronics and communication engineer, she credits a part of her success to her father. “He always encouraged me to be independent and brought me up with lots of freedom,” she adds. Also deriving support from her husband, she says, “In this industry, you need to take a lot of risk and at the same time you have to do things with courage. For me, this has only been possible because of these two men in my life who have supported me professionally and personally.” Shankri says her desire to constantly do or undertake new goals has helped her immensely in her career. “And apart from that, being adamant and a perfectionist has enabled me to reach this level.” But above all, she understands the human value and treats her staff as family. When it comes to gender biases, Shankri says, “I haven’t faced any challenges particularly being a woman. I’m bold enough to tackle the issues better than any man.” She urges, “Don’t treat the next door person as a man but treat him as a colleague and there will be no gender biases.” It’s only by being strong-willed and determined, has she been able to reach the top, and also her insatiable desire to excel keeps her going.
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Reseller Middle East
march 2014
www.resellerme.com