Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Avinash Harle: I am and Electronics and Telecommunication Engineer and MBA. Earlier I was in the business of Industrial Automation. It so happened that most of my customers were from ‘water and waste water treatment industry’. This is when I was exposed to the facts about limited fresh water resources, present scarcity of water which will worsen for our coming generations and need of immediate action.
This was a double opportunity i.e. to start a business which has enormous and unending scope as well as to contribute towards the betterment of environment for our future generations. This is when I started PAMM Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Great Companies: What are the various services provided by PAMM Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?
Avinash Harle: Initially, we started as a turnkey engineering solution provider for water and waste water treatment for residential and commercial buildings, hotels and hospitals. Our primary focus was on sewage treatment plants. Operation and maintenance (O&M) contract of these plants was also part of the offering. Over time, we realized that there was lot of scope for innovation and improvements. So, we invested a lot of time, effort and funds in innovations.
Presently, we offer:
Water and waste treatment plants: Designing to commissioning.
Operation and maintenance services for waste water treatment plants.
Our innovative and proprietary IoT based O&M of sewage treatment plants which helps in reducing manpower cost by 50%.
In house developed Copper-Silver ionization system that reduces the use of chlorine in swimming pools and other water treatment plants.
Great Companies: What makes PAMM Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd. different from hundreds of other similar service providers?
Avinash Harle: There are two main differentiators.
Designing, engineering and installing an STP is done by us at par with industry standards. However, when it comes to running and handing over of the plant, our after sales service and support to our customers is unmatched. Operating an STP is a complex and intensive process. This is where we stand strong with our customers. This is why most of customers have given us repeated business despite having cheaper options.
Our continuous innovations and improvements during projects and operations do not go unnoticed by our customers. They appreciated and value our approach for continuous improvement.
Great Companies: What were the struggles and challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?
Avinash Harle: For a start up in projects business (B2B), managing cash flows is one of the biggest challenges. Payment cycles are erratic and mostly delayed. This puts a lot of pressure on overall execution of business. Support from financial institutions, creating a good supply chain with credit limits, avoiding customers with bad payment records are some the things we implemented to get over the cash flow issues.
Industry resistance for new players and ideas is a common challenge every entrepreneur faces. Convictions in your ideas that they are for betterment of customer, educating the customer, perseverance etc. are some key factors with which we can overcome the entry barrier.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for PAMM Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?
Avinash Harle: Continuous innovation is the way forward. We intend to bring down the cost of STP operations by 60% for our customers using our IoT based solution. This will encourage water recycling at source thereby reducing stress on fresh water resources. It will also help in reducing water pollution which is caused by releasing untreated sewage into natural streams. We are developing technologies to complement our IoT based solution, this will lead to better STP operations and reduction in STP operating cost.
At present, conventional STP O&M is a geographically limited business due to dependency on skilled manpower. With the help of our IoT based solution, this limitation no longer exists and scalability is increased multifold. Implementation and scaling the IoT solution based revenue line is going to be our focus in near future. We aim to expand both nationally and overseas. Over the next 5 years, our goal is to achieve industry leadership position within the STP O&M business by leveraging our IoT solution.
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Avinash Harle:
Innovation is the key to success in this era. Innovation doesn’t necessarily have to be technological.
Process improvement, marketing innovation, identification of a new need or niche, product improvement are some the examples of innovations. Both in conventional and non-conventional businesses, innovation will give you the much needed initial recognition and acceptance which can act as the launch-pad to build a great business.