Mr. Choudhary has been efficiently spearheading the first wholly-owned overseas facility of PMD Group UK. Under his exemplary leadership, the firm offers a complete range of electroplating and surface treatment processes to the automotive, electronic, printed circuit board and jewellery industries in the country. He has played a significant role in the appointment of distributors in key strategic markets. Owing to his dedicated efforts, the company has received India 5000 Best MSME Award.
WORKING HIS WAY TO THE TOP
After completing his studies as an aeronautical engineer, Mr. Choudhary made a drastic shift in his career path and ventured into the chemical industry. He elaborates, “When I passed out in the year 1992, at that time, there was not much scope for aeronautical engineers. The career options were restricted to the Indian Airlines, Air India or the Defence. So, I entered into the chemical industry and especially the electroplating, I found it challenging. Today, I am into this industry and I’m really enjoying it.”
An expert in Business operations, he possesses excellent Problem Solving skills, values Customer Service and holds rich domestic and international experience. Talking about how he began his journey with PMD Chemicals and bringing their operations to India, Mr. Choudhary elaborates, “I am an aeronautical engineer by qualification, but I ventured into the chemical industry, and worked in various positions. It was in the year 2011 that I decided to bring one company to India. There were so many companies in the pipeline but I went to the PMD UK, and we finally decided to start the operation in India during 2012.”
Having achieved remarkable success in the chemical industry sector, he declares with pride, “I started this company from scratch. In 2012, no one knew about the PMD in India, but now this company is so much popular. In the UK, we were supplying to Rolls Royce and all the big companies over there. This is a great achievement. I’m very proud to say we are a profitable company in India.”
Sharing his success mantra, he says, “Our excellence mantra is that your future requires our liquid. Because whatever our products are in liquid, and anything starting from the needle of the aeroplane or the BrahMos all require our chemistry. Our main mantra is processing chemistry, and obtaining the metal finishing deposit.”
CONSIDERING THE CUSTOMER AS KING
Mr. Choudhary is of the view that businesses must not hesitate in treating their customers as king. He vehemently believes that customers should be given topmost priority in every business. According to him, the USP of PMD Chemicals which differentiates it from the others in the industry is its customer-centricity. He asserts, “We develop our products after discussion with customers and their requirements. We understand what their needs are. They should be user friendly. In addition, all our products are environmentally friendly. In the chemical industry, being environmentally friendly is very much important and our company takes proper care of that.”
TURNING CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES
Mr. Chaudhary has faced numerous challenges in his career journey. For instance, building the brand PMD in India required a lot of consistency, focus and dedication. Talking about some of the challenges he faced, he elaborates, “One of the major challenge during this situation was to make sure that your colleagues and everyone associated with your business should not be affected by the downfall of the business and one of the major problems I faced was the cash flow. Thus, we have to take stock of numerous factors that affect the market. For instance, if you realize that the cost of raw material has gone up even if ample amount of raw material has been coming from the UK, it could be because the Sterling Pound is at a very high value. So, we need to manage all the tough times and challenges without affecting our customers.”
Sharing some of the steps that he has undertaken to overcome these challenges, he says, “We have discussed the issue with our Parent company in the UK and have suggested that the raw material can be procured from the UK in bulk so that the discount could be obtained. Also, I have received the credit period of more than 90 days so that the cash flow will not get too much affected over here and I can manage the business, my staff and my customers will also not get affected by the price increase.”
FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTABLE
Referring to the present day changing global scenario, Mr. Choudhary feels that a leader must possess the qualities of flexibility and adaptability. Sharing about the future plans for the company and himself, Mr. Choudhary tells us, “In the school we are taught to make the five year plan but right now it will not work because the landscape changes. The reality over here is everyday one has to pay for new things. Whatever ventures we have, we have to plan accordingly. Also I don’t want to waste valuable time on drafting the five years plan rather I believe in sticking to the short-term or near future plans, so we are working on the six months or a year plan.”
STRIKING THE PERFECT WORK-LIFE BALANCE
The proverb ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ holds true for Mr. Choudhary. For him, hard work is necessary to achieve our goals in life, however, he puts an equal emphasis on rejuvenation. He strongly believes that concentration on work alone with no recreation tends to make a person dull and unsociable. Reminiscing some of the life’s lessons, the biggest advice that he would like to give to young entrepreneurs is to strike an effective balance between work and personal life. He rightly elaborates, “One good lesson that I have learnt from life is to work hard and play harder. An entrepreneur is bound to work harder, I would say, even working more than other people do. But don’t sacrifice your social life and the family life and fun. We have to accompany both the things together.”
