Viral Parekh
Partner, Kaomin Industries LLP
Member since: 2018
‘TAB is a safe space where you can openly share weaknesses and challenges, and members will help you without judgment’
Viral Parekh started Kaomin Industries in 2013 when he understood the huge potential of kaolin products while working in an Electromagnetic and Vibration Company in Vadodara.
Kaomin Industries is one of the leading suppliers and exporters of a wide range of quality Minerals & Chemicals. Their specialty is working with clients to develop specific solutions to improve their performance and then service their needs with consistent quality, vendor managed inventory and a transparent approach.
Some early successes included being the first company to supply high reactive Metakaolin for wall care putty application to a major Indian cement manufacturer by working closely with their R&D team. The product sample provided then is still being used as reference sample for any other new product coming into the company. Also their minerals are used as base material in various color clay applications in the skin care cosmetic industry.
With the successes came some challenges as well, specifically
- Pricing power erosion and drop in sales volume.
- Tougher to develop customized product tailored for specific customer’s needs
- And internally,tracking and achieving goals was a major challenge to overcome.
This is when Viral joined TAB.
“Access to individual entrepreneurs who face similar problems in different industries have led to productive, rich discussions and insightful feedback on methods to overcome these challenges”
Key learning at the TAB member meetings were:
- A safe platform to share problems upfront without fear of information leak.
- Board members were non-judgmental and hold you accountable and push you to achieve your targets.
- Access to knowledge session to learn with TAB members.
Ex: Learn delegation process to empower employees
“TAB is just like a board of members who are there to help you out and achieve the targets and dreams you have set for your business. It is a very safe environment where you can share your weaknesses and challenges and all the members will help you overcome them without being judgmental of you”
Viral mentions the following aspects where his business has been successful:
- Review goals being discussed in the one on one meetings and monthly meetings with TAB facilitator who shares valuable inputs and asks critical questions to be answered rather than focus on giving solutions. “With insight from TAB, we realized the value and demand for our product and were thus able to price appropriately and create value in terms of quality and usage of product. We also started focusing on high potential customers and not on every lead”
- Efficient time management to focus on urgent tasks that need to be completed and encourage employees to do the same thus improving productivity.
- Learning from other business owners on anticipating future trends in the industry and taking preventive actions (ex: maintaining sales growth during dull market phase)
Ultimately Viral says “One of the major benefits on TAB is my personal growth as a leader where I can delegate work to my employees and create structure for processes so I can focus on strategic decisions like new product development. I would recommend any business owner to join TAB to get a different perspective on business and learn a great deal from the experience.”
