An Interview with one of the leading Real Estate Developers in the Hadapsar area today.
Today I am with Sharad Lagad, one of the leading Real Estate Developers in the Hadapsar Area. Sharad Lagad today is a real estate developer with ongoing four construction sites in and around Pune, He started his journey as a labourer loading and unloading the trucks carrying different types of stones like Marble, Kota, Kadapa and Granite to an established and successful Real Estate Developer. So let’s get started.
I: Let’s start from your childhood
Sharad: I belong to a farmer’s family from Shrigonda District Ahmednagar. My father was working with one of the Manufacturing companies in Hadapsar Industrial Estate. I completed my education till 10th in Hadapsar and had to face the bitter world at a very early age. Due to the family problems, the responsibility of providing for my own family fell on my shoulders way before I could get out of my childhood. So started to work as a labourer loading and unloading the trucks carrying different types of stones which are required for constructions of buildings.
When you thought of having your own business?
While doing the job of loading and unloading, sometimes I used to drive trucks as and when required, which helped me to establish my contacts with the supplier of various stones. Infrequent visits to the supplier I build good relations with them. I have started gathering more information about rates and various types of stones. Same time while delivering the material to the various client’s, I got the opportunity to build relations with clients. So I got ample knowledge about this business and confidence that I can do this business.
How do you manage the initial amount required for your business?
We were having a small plot of land, my mother advised me to sell the same to raise money to invest in Business. Initially, I was not having a place for an office, I used to operate from my residence. The business started growing, then I purchased a plot for the Office and storage of material. Earlier I used to sell raw materials of Marble, Granite etc, but I realized I could get more profit if I supply finished products in various sizes as per market requirement
Hence we purchased new machinery to get fined product of Marble, Granite etc, which helps to increase profit.
How do you enter Steel and Cement trading?
In fact, I got enquiry from one of my customer about supplying steel for their sights, so I thought let’s try to find out whether I can do trading of Steel to supply my existing customers, with whom I have already connected with the supply of Marble and other stone products.
I discover that if I purchased steel from the manufacture and deliver it as per the order to the customer is possible; wherein I don’t require to buy from the Manufacturer and store it at the godown, instead get the order from a customer and ask a manufacturer to deliver the same at customer’s sight. In such transitions, I could save the cost of loading and unloading, cost of godown and investment in inventory. Hence the rates quoted by me were very competitive. Since the plot is purchased for storage of raw material of stones, which was bigger in size so I kept a small stock of steel for sundry buyers.
As mentioned earlier the size of the plot is bigger, I thought to utilise it, So decided to add Cement, one of the vital items in building constructions. I approached a few Cement companies for dealerships. I started with ACC cement and other companies like Ambuja, Birla, JP Cement etc. We have also won an award for the maximum sale of Abuja cement for a particular year.
From Stone supplier to One Shop Stop for Building Material, How did this happen?
My customer base has grown because of the supply of Various types of Stones, Steel and Cement. So I thought to add more products and get more customers, and another reason is a change in demand for Marble and Granite, Now customers were moving to different types of tiles for flooring. Hence I decided to have tiles and along with that sanitaryware products. For this, we need to have a showroom to display the products. So we come up with an exclusive showroom for tiles and sanitaryware products with samples of various types of stones. For this, we have tied up with a manufacturer from Morbi, in Gujrat.
What makes you move from trading to Real Estate Developers.
There are two reasons, First, due to competitive market the profit margins started coming down, and Other reason the plot in which we are having showroom was on the highway. I started getting enquiries from Real Estate Developers for buying the plot or a joint venture to develop the property. Since the enquiries were from genuine and established real estate developers, I thought instead of selling or giving the plot for joint-venture let’s develop it on our own.
Are any other members from family helping you in your business?
My wife is always with me, she proved to be one of his biggest supporters ever. She was there when nobody else was. Also, my mother also motivated me. Now my daughter who is an architect herself and my son an MBA is helping hand in business. Both of them are now active in the business.
What about the impact of Demonetization and Covid pandemics on your business?
As far as our projects are concerned there was not much impact of demonetization on our projects. However the impact of Covid-19 has pushed back our projects by at least two years, There are various problems faced by us like, shortage of labour, raw material etc and also the impact on demand. But housing demand has revived. Business takes you through a lot of ups and downs and I did face them frequently. But I don’t give up because of them.
What is your advice to the young generation who is interested in the Business of Real Estate Developer?
One needs to look forward to new business ideas and proposals that people have to offer. Everyone has their own battle to fight, there is no day or night to work, there is just a will to work. Life is about learning and not just working. The higher the risk, the higher are the returns. You only need to have the guts to take the risk. You need to be passionate about your business.
Thank you for answering my all questions. I think your journey as a labourer loading and unloading the trucks to successful real estate developers will definitely motivate young entrepreneurs.
Thank you once again.
