A man with dreams and self belief
Mr. Mahesh Gupta the man behind Kent Ro was the first member who dared to choose business over job in his family. An IIT graduate from Kanpur in Mechanical engineering and alumnus of Indian institute of Petroleum, Dehradun Mahesh began his career in sales in 1978 with Indian Oil
The journey of mechanical engineer started in 1985, from a small room in his house with just 20,000 which he had saved from his job with IOCL. His first invention was in the field of petroleum conservation instrument where he earned fame and half a dozen patents to his credit.
His turning Point came with the establishment of KENT RO SYSTEM in the year 1998, when he charted out on a new enterprise after jaundice gripped his son in a posh colony of South Delhi. Knowing that jaundice is a water-borne disease, Gupta researched and analyzed all the available water purifier in the market. He was dissatisfied with available options and decided to make a better quality purifier. After several trails, he made his own water purifier and became confident that is product is good enough to be marketed. "Coming from an engineering background, making my own water purifier was not difficult task; all I needed to do was export the components. The experiment turned into success. And then I thought to bring it out in commercially in the market. I started from scratch with an investment of about 1 lac and four member team. Today Kent has grown 40% market share in RO mineral and has turnover 580 crore and 2,500 employees", says Gupta. Apart from him his son is actively involved into business, while his daughter is into a separate business.
Kent today is competing and international brands and outbidding them on basis of its latest technology, better service well equipped distribution system and good branding.
Kicked off from voyage of self made RO system, Kent RO today manufactures Kent RO water purifiers, Kent Tap guard, Kent vegetable and fruit purifier, All Clean cleaner with their manufacturing plant in Roorkee. "We are competing with two major players, Hindustan Lever and Eureka Fobes. However we are confident to overpower them with better technology and products with latest innovation, but they should be according to consumer need. We can manufacture products and market them, but they should be according to consumer need. We can manufacture product and market them, but if it is not consumer friendly, you won't exist for long."
Innovative marketing strategies and state of the art technology has motivated him in taking his brand to the next level with confidence to beat the international champion too. Kent Ro is the most dynamic and visible water purifier company, which over the years has enjoyed the Bollywood brand ambassadors like Hema Malini, Esha Deol , Booman Irani, Ahaana deol and others.
Water is basis component for the survival of human beings, and dirty or infected water can spoil the health and infrastructure of a country. HE says " My vision is to make a 'healthy and happy family ', and we are promoting the value of purity, importance of water for health, and keeping beauty and vigour intact with good drinking water through Kent."
Healthcare is not just a business for me, it is a passion. In fact it is very the very purpose of existence of Kent. Like any other successful business, Kent too has been working according to the needs of our customers and we work hard each day to make our customers happy", adds Mahesh.
His passion is to work, but besides working, he loves cars and having good food "Well, II love cars and love to drive whenever given chance. Cars for me are both luxury and mode of travel". I love wearing Louis Philippe shirt while rest of my outfit is mostly custom-stitched, for me an ideal holiday is attending Art of living sessions in Bengaluru."
His message for young entrepreneurs is. "They should bring new innovations, and must believe in their dreams. Think less and have passion to live."
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