Saket Mohta, an MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands, at the age of 28 entered the family business of real estate. When he joined the 40 year old company in 2013, the real estate sector was at its crescendo – sales were very buoyant and real estate was booming. Fast forward to today, the real estate sector is going through the worst phase in the last two decades. Saket considers, these times as those of survival of the fittest. “Gone are the days of fly by night operators. The developers who are financially disciplined, aggressive in sale, committed to deliver and understand the market dynamics will survive and thrive even in this lacklustre market. For the right product with right planning in right location, there is still demand, he said.
THE INITIAL JOURNEY
The initial days of Saket in the company were not without their challenges. “When I entered the business, it was unstructured and needed technological up gradation. Since very senior people used to report to senior members in office, hence I had to build and earn acceptance gradually. Also there was initial challenge of application of theory in practical scenario. At that particular time, market was driven by the conventional thought,” he explained.
But, as Saket confesses, he had a great role model in his father to learn and take inspiration from. “My father has been a guiding force and I have learnt a lot of things from him like negotiation skills, commitment in achieving goals, unflinching drive and focus. Also my father has been very thorough with finance and accounting. I have learnt to be dedicated, as I have grown up in an environment where he used to go to office even on Sundays. He’d always put humanity above business interest.”
THE NEW BUSINESS APPROACH
Building on the strong business foundations of his father and grandfather, Saket made transitions in the company’s structure. “Implementation of ERP in the organisation and fixing accountability and responsibility in the organisation were the most important measures, I took. I had to rejig the organisational structure and create different verticals in sales and marketing department, including setting up an in-house call centre for sales and marketing team which is an innovation for the company. I am also introducing performance driven and productivity oriented HR policy with more focus on employee engagement and training.”
Talking about the changes he introduced to keep up with the altering market scenario, Saket stated, “Earlier, we had a laid back approach and used traditional way of sales and marketing. Flats used to be sold at the construction time. However, with the downturn, I started an aggressive approach to sales and marketing in line with sectors like insurance, banking, FMCG industry. I took the lead in putting our focus on channel partners, incentivized them not just with attractive brokerage slabs but also facilitated with awards and accolades. I also introduced initiatives to enhance customer engagement and reconnected decade old customers to boost sales through customer referral scheme ‘Sampark’ for which we have an active Mobile app. All these initiatives not only boost the sales of the company but also give the brand a facelift. Thus, I was able to prepare the company’s adaptability and smooth transition from completely seller’s market to a buyer’s market approach.”
“I STARTED AT THE BOTTOM AND LEARNT THE NITTY-GRITTIES, GRADUALLY WORKING MY WAY UP. ALL MY INITIAL EFFORTS HAVE LED TO ME COMMANDING THE RESPECT IN THE COMPANY TODAY. MY VISION IS TO MAKE MERLIN A PAN INDIA COMPANY IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS.”
VIEWS ON THE SECTOR’S FUTURE GROWTH
“The informal money in the sector will be, gradually squeezed out and due to RERA the builders will have to become much more transparent, compliant and efficient. Going forward, I see a lot of consolidation in the market and it would be a silver lining for developers who can manage this change effectively. New technology in operating your sites and making sales will have to be adopted to keep pace with the market and operate multiple projects of large sizes effectively. I don’t see the market booming tremendously in next few years. In my view this is the reality of the market and we all should embrace it.”
GROWTH PLANS FOR THE COMPANY
“We are a Pan-India company, operating more than 20 projects across Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, Raipur, Chennai and Bhubaneswar in different segments such as residential , retail, commercial, industrial parks, township and IT park. Going forward, we want to expand in our headquarter city Kolkata where we have approximately 20 million sq ft, of residential projects to be launched in the next two years. Our focus is also on Pune, where we have an ongoing township project of 27 acres and two upcoming projects of 1.5 and 1 billion sq ft respectively in the areas of Wakad and Bibewadi. We are scouting for more commercial/ IT projects in Pune to further bolster our commercial portfolio.
Internationally, we have already constructed the structure of South City Altair, an iconic 68 storied tower designed by renowned architect, Moshe Safdie in Colombo. Hopefully by next year we should complete the project. In addition we have picked up a land in Sports City, Dubai where we plan to develop a project.”
On a concluding note, Saket mentioned about his social development initiative “I Am Kolkata”. He said, " I am Kolkata aims to contribute to the holistic development and growth of Kolkata & Bengal, gradually reaching out to the entire country as part of our corporate citizenship programme.” Indeed, like his father, Saket too believes in giving back to the society.
"I ALWAYS NURTURED A DREAM TO WORK FOR THE WELFARE OF THE COMMUNITY, ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION, HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDREN, YOUNGSTERS AND WOMEN. THUS, WAS BORN MY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT WING “I AM KOLKATA”.
