“Adapt to the changing environment, technology and customer needs,” Mehul Desai

“The glorious past is simply just the glorious past. Do not revel in it. Do not assign it any more importance than that.” Mehul Desai emphasised this enough in what was the highlight of the Summit – 30 MAD Minutes.

30 Jan 2016 | By PrintWeek India

Desai, through his presentation, brought to fore how the environment in which a business operates today is in many ways different than 10-15 years ago. “Then, all that one had was an idea based on industry analysis and the sheer faith in it. The next step ahead was to seek / arrange for capital, have a strategy and plan in place for the years ahead. The latter was a difficult task and the resources were few – family and friends.”
 
This, Mehul said, when compared to today’s scenario seems tad tedious. “Today everyone is an entrepreneur and raising fund has become a cake walk. Moreover, there are government initiatives that back these entrepreneurs.”
 
Desai’s one message to the audience: Realise things are changing and they will continue to do so.
 
He cited the examples of Xerox and Uber to make his point. “The journey of Xerox began in 1906 as Haloid Photographic Company. It took the company 108 years to achieve a market capitalisation of USD 10.75 billion. This, vis-à-vis Uber, which was launched in 2009, in seven years reached the USD 51 billion mark with operations spread across 58 countries 300 cities.”
 
The reasons that contributed to Uber’s success – by merely providing, Desai said is the availability of multiple funding options, the opening of global markets, the opportunities that technology has opened up. “The world of possibilities and opportunities has just begun to open up.”
 
“And through all this,” continued Desai, “Print will remain as much relevant.” “The reason is obvious: The consumption patterns may and have changed, the volumes may further reduce, the applications have changed and technology has and will continue to evolve. And to hold you ground amidst all this, all one needs to do is study the consumer, strive to service them, foresee their needs.”
 
And all this will come to one if and only he innovates, enhances his skill, develop new skills, collaborate with each other and adapt to the environment.