The March of the Marwaris

Arecent story in DQ Week, India's leading IT channel

newspaper, and also carried in Dataquest, says that many successful people in

the IT channels are Marwaris. This community, known to be very entrepreneurial

and to take to business like ducklings take to water, seems to be doing well in

IT trading across the country-from Chennai to Kanpur to Delhi to Kolkata to

Jaipur to Shillong.

While observations based on just a story might be a little too

casual (a more scientifically done market survey is desirable), I am not too

surprised with the figures. Marwaris are known to pick up the smell of

high-growth business very early, and then jump into it. But what I am tempted to

say is that the vendors, whose products these channel members are selling, can

really benefit a lot from this fact. All said and done, the profile of Marwari

traders is very typical and yet very sharp. And those vendors who understand

Marwaris-how they think, what they like and dislike, what they want, what they

respect, and so on-can come up with plans and schemes where Marwari strengths

are best leveraged, and weaknesses avoided.

Most of the successful channel players are first-generation

employers. Many of them come from places like Ranchi, in the so-called crime

ridden state of Bihar; or Shillong, the city that is known to be always in the

midst of political upheaval. There was no big and lucrative market. Business

climate was not so conducive. But these guys had the guts and the grit to fight

all odds and make it-taking a lot of risks.

Ibrahim Ahmad Going ahead, Marwaris will have to pick up technical skills besides the great trading skills that they are born with

For instance, many of these people, who are very successful in

the trade today, got into this business on the advise of their senior relatives

and friends. Actually, Marwaris are known to take advice from their elders very

seriously. Therefore, if the vendors can involve and influence his channel

partner's elder brother or father or uncle, the buy-in could be better.

Several got into this business on a hunch that IT would be a

booming business in the future. They could see the wave even before it was

formed. Vendors must, therefore, keep in mind that their channel members have a

very good nose for opportunities. Especially opportunities that have a

high-growth potential, and can be scaled up. Vendors must have provisions in

their dealer management plans to encourage and reward partners who can identify

and catch these opportunities.

Marwaris have a very strong family networking. A Marwari in

Bhopal will somehow be able to find an old family connection with another one

from Ludhiana. And they are always ready to give the best deals to each other in

their community. There are also some very standard and well laid out business

and trading codes of ethics that all Marwaris, no matter where they are, will

adhere to. There is a lot of trust between two Marwaris who do business with

each other. Vendors can keep this in mind when looking for appointing new

partners, or for planning better inter- and intra-dealer relationship management

schemes.

Having praised Marwaris so much, it will be unfair if I do not

point out certain areas where this great trading community could do better. The

entire IT trading business-whether at the distributor or the dealer level-is

under acute pressure to move up the value chain. Profit margins on box and

component are declining. Therefore, growth beyond a point will become very

tough. Marwaris will have to pick up technical skills besides the great trading

skills that they are born with. In fact, many vendors say that with Marwari

dealers it's difficult to grow beyond box pushing.

I would go the extent of saying that vendors have a great

strength in the Marwaris, and therefore, they must ensure that present channel

partners as well as the next generation that will take over from them, must be

given full support in terms of guidance, education, and financial support, in

many cases.