Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
D R Sree Latha Vasisht: Our story goes back to 2011 when me and my better half started a tiny venture in the HVAC industry. Initially, we began with servicing of domestic air-conditioners. Gradually, we forayed into industrial HVAC projects. In 2017, we were approached by one of our acquaintances regarding HVLS FANS. The first impression was that they were highly expensive for the Indian market. However, we took a chance and began our research about these fans as its newness caught our attention. Secondly, our love for travel took us to Singapore where we encountered these huge lovely fans and our research doubled. Subsequently, one of our clients was looking for HVLS Fans. And, we had no other option but to begin as dealers of another company to provide our client what they were looking for.
We were on a marketing spree and during our visits to various industries, prospective clients whom we approached threw light on the cost as well as the weight of the fans and opined that these fans were not feasible for MSMEs for their roof structures were not capable enough of holding these heavyweight fans firstly and secondly they were really expensive. That was the dawn of realization and it proved to be a beacon of light and hope.
We decided that we would come up with less weight, less cost HVLS Fans especially for the MSME sector and Aadhya Airtek was born after almost two and a half years of R&D. The first fan was the result of improvising on 7 iterations and finally the 8th one proved to be successful.
Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Aadhya Airtek?
D R Sree Latha Vasisht: We are into manufacturing and selling of HVLS Fans both geared as well as gearless. We manufacture fans ranging from 8ft to 24ft for industrial and commercial purposes which can be adopted by assembly lines, convention centers, auditoriums, religious prayer halls, malls, stadiums, movie halls, animal barns, airports, bus and railway stations, automobile workshops etc.
Great Companies: What makes Aadhya Airtek different from hundreds of other similar service providers?
D R Sree Latha Vasisht: Our Logo says it all – It says, Aadhya Airtek, THE CUSTOMER’S COMPANY. We are a company who came into existence to provide what our clients needed – A top-notch product to fit into every industrial pocket. We are known for our Build to Order approach focusing on customization and personalization to ensure customer satisfaction. We keep telling our clients that our relationship doesn’t end once we deliver their requirement.
In fact, our relationship begins from thereon. Our USP is our Convenience of Service. We provide our services as per our client’s convenience.
We are also happy to mention that our design is held in high estimation and high appreciation in the industry. Apart from these,
a. AADHYA is the first mover in Karnataka with respect to manufacturing the quickly adopted HVLS Fans –widely known for low power consumption and providing better comfort at workplaces
b. Less Weight, Less Cost, Less Energy Consumption, Less Noise, More Safety, Comfortable Work Environment are the hallmarks of AADHYA HVLS Fans
c. AADHYA embraces empathic design for enhanced user experience
d. AADHYA is completely indigenous and endorses the VOCAL FOR LOCAL initiative
e. AADHYA is an ISO 9001-2015 and a CE certified company
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
D R Sree Latha Vasisht: It’s been a year in the industry and like any other start up, the journey has been quite challenging. Name any struggle and we are facing it – financial issues, vendor issues, personnel issues and the list goes on. Our near and dear ones too took a step back to support us as they felt that the timing was not appropriate – It was during the pandemic period.
However, the biggest challenge I must admit was to educate and create awareness about the product and its benefits when we stepped in initially. Majority of them were awestruck that there could be one such product. We were equally happy when we were told that our product was unique. We are pleased to mention that we were asked whether we were ready to be acquired or enter into a joint venture by one of our first clients since we were in our infancy and facing a lot of struggles. We understood that our product is here to stay. We sensed a great opportunity amidst adversity.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Aadhya Airtek?
D R Sree Latha Vasisht: At present we are based in Bengaluru, Karnataka and hence, we are focusing on expanding our distribution channels in order to mark our presence across the nation. We are also working on developing and extending our product lines and segments in order to reach a wider audience and penetrate into the market as a household name 5 years down the line.
However, our vision is to Go Glocal by 2030 and top the global chart among green air solution providers fostering entrepreneurial spirit among women.
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
D R Sree Latha Vasisht: May I please differ? I am sorry but I don’t believe in giving advice. During my MBA program we were introduced to strategies in the first year. I always wondered if there could be a universal strategy because at the end of the day it’s business. But then, there is no place for USPs and differentiators. The truth is that what works or worked for me might not work for others and vice versa. Therefore, I would like to put it across as our experience or our observation or simply what steps we took as a start-up.
The first thing that we did as both life and business partners was to be open to learning and learn from each other, be flexible, be a go-giver, share each other’s similarities and celebrate the differences which definitely proved to be an advantage for our start up especially being a go-giver.
The second thing was, we started our company during the pandemic and hence, we had to be intelligent emotionally, be resilient and believe in ourselves and our idea.
Finally, to put it in an indigenous way, we proudly embraced the JUGAAD approach.