Winners Don’t Get Deterred by Failures….

Mitul Shah…. a compassionate, hardworking young boy who refuses to accept that destiny
is prewritten; he believes in shaping his own life with his efforts.
Mitul belongs to a business family, hence choosing a career in entrepreneurship was never
difficult for him. Rather this was always the first choice for him. His family is into packaging
business which was started in 1960s. He grew up picking up traits that become the
cornerstones of a good business. One trait that Mitul rates above all, in an entrepreneur is- a
‘never say die’ spirit despite upheavals and hindrances. He says with conviction, “I love the
work I do, and it keeps me going. And I know if I am working and trying to trouble shoot with
strategy, nothing can beat me.”

Mitul completed his B. Com and then pursued EDII’s Post Graduate Diploma in Business Entrepreneurship and Management ( PGDBEM) in 1999-2000. He had got to know about EDII from a close friend and since business was all he had always thought of, he joined this course. The learning at EDII helped him widen his horizons, fine tune his soft skills and imparted tremendous confidence to him. Mitul says, “An entrepreneur must be a good salesman, and for this confidence and communication skills are a must. EDII gave these to me in huge quantities.” The PGDBEM course at EDII got Mitul interested in studies, which till then was not his primary choice. Regular interactions with faculty, students and mentors made him curious to learn more and do something that was truly entrepreneurial. He specialised in Family Business Management and mastered the finer nuances of business while readying a five-year growth plan for his family business. His family business, the SUPACK GROUP started with an aim to provide complete packaging solutions and to improve quality standards in the field. In 1989, Supack Industries Pvt. Ltd. started by putting up a state-of-the-art, fully automated plant that could achieve high degree of perfection in terms of quality and performance, economies of scale and handle large scale production to fulfil the requirements of corrugated packaging. Today Mitul in on the driver’s seat and knows that it is his responsibility to keep the business healthy and growing. He says, “When one is on the driver’s seat of a business that has an inspiring legacy, the responsibility doubles. It becomes important to make sure that the decisions taken are not haphazard and do not in any way negatively impact the business or the family.” After his training at EDII, Mitul got groomed by his father, whom he thanks profusely. His father was convinced about his abilities and on his part Mitul was always sure to have a learning attitude and never impose his decisions on the family. Gradually he took over bigger roles, and planned for technical growth and diversification of business.
  Mitul recalls that decisions were not always right. His biggest go-to persons in such times were his mentors at EDII. His father’s guidance and practical knowledge also helped him develop a keen entrepreneurial sense. Mitul kept a positive attitude and learnt from every mistake. Mitul credits EDII for whatever he is in life today. Life has not been rosy for Mitul. He encountered his biggest failure when he started work with a foreign company. In 2005 he started selling imported machinery and simultaneously, he tied up with a company to sell and service their equipment in India. He set up a different company to sell this machinery and since it was based on new technology which was pretty expensive, the investments were huge. However, Mitul went for it, ensuring that he did not leave any stone unturned in making this new business plan a success, He personally got involved in educating customers on the benefits of this new technology and travelled extensively to promote the product. While the sale in India was gradually picking up, the OEM (the foreign manufacturer of the machine) changed their targets, demanded more sale in a short time and finally cancelled the contract. Mitul had put in all that he had, and to end it all this way was frustrating for him. He felt cheated; more so, as he discovered that the company had got the knowhow of the market from him and had started selling directly. This setback came with lessons for Mitul. All his EDII learning was put to test and he learnt he had to timely implement his skills in negotiating, building relationship with people, employ strategies in communicating with a foreign company, develop knowledge of technology that he was dealing in and play safe. Over the years, his company has grown significantly in size and volume. Mitul has equipped his company with necessary resources to meet the growing demands of the industry. “All corrugated boxes are manufactured in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Rajkot, Gujarat. With modern infrastructure, our 120,000 sq. ft. facility is equipped with latest technology in plants machinery, advanced quality control lab and R&D department etc. The plant is set up with latest facilities and technologies like 2 Fully Automatic Corrugated Board Production Lines, 3, 4, 5 Colour Printer, Slotter, Die Cutter, Auto Gluing / Stitching Machines, Die Punching Machines, Box Folder Gluer Machines, Paper Coating Machine and Fully Equipped Laboratory.” informs Mitul. Mitul has brought his company quite far with his timely and strategic decisions. Today SUPACK GROUP is a name akin to quality and ethics. With a capacity to convert 4000 Mt/Month worth of paper, today, the GROUP is converting approx. 30000 tons of paper into Corrugated Boxes annually, and meeting the packaging needs of a large numbers of National and Multi-National Companies in Textile, Dairy Products, Food Products, Health Care, Engineering & Automobile Goods, Petro-Chemicals, Electronics etc. The annual turnover of the company is close to Rs. 1050 million.
Mitul looks content as he talks about his struggles and present status, and as we point this out to him, he is quick to retort, “Certainly this is contentment but this will never turn into complacency and I will ensure that I continue targeting higher-order achievements.” He points out three Ps that he swears by: Perseverance, Patience and Positivity. In his message to budding entrepreneurs, Mitul, winner of EDII Alumni of the Year Award 2019, says , “Dream big, plan well and execute strategically.” A family man, Mitul also advices young entrepreneurs to balance work and life, and he being an avid traveller, does this by making sure that he travels with his family at least once a year.
We are extremely proud of his achievements and wish him the best in his future endeavours.
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