STARTING YOUNG: All that Sarfraz By Reema Kamat "Money-making was always very alluring, to whom is it not? In fact my first business venture was in the 11th, when a couple of my friends and I decided to put up a stall at the Seafood Festival. We borrowed the capital from our fathers, rented the stall, took care of the personnel and resources and every other arrangement required. In the end we managed to make a neat sum of money which we then, after paying off everybody (or so we thought) split amongst the three of us and spent it on ourselves rather lavishly; rather pleased with our little success, we were. It was only the next day we realised that the money we so keenly blew up was only the exact amount we owed our fathers!"
This is followed by a hearty guffaw from the young businessman; nah, business 'dude'. That's the only way to describe Sarfraz Sheikh, all of 23 years of age and gushing forth with zest. Witness him in his prime, talking nineteen to the dozen, pulling everyone's leg like there's no tomorrow and you would never believe that this young stud is the scion of the Sheikh Hassan group. This chap handles the day-to-day running of all their establishments, which involve the Peter England showroom in the city, Hotel Palacio de Goa, Hassan Stone Crushers at Sao Pedro and Sheikh Hassan and Co., which, at over 60 years of business, is amongst the oldest electrical shops in the city. Though the others are part of a family business that Sarfraz has taken over, the Peter England franchisee outlet is his own baby. "After my board exams I had gone to Bangalore for a visit with my family. One of those days, I stepped into a Peter England showroom and was taken up with the idea of dealing in the brand. My father said if I could take the whole responsibility myself, I could get into it. I was game and accepted readily, and in June 1999, I set up the Peter England showroom." Even later in the day, when the manager of his hotel left, Sarfraz took over rather than just appointing another in his place. "I wanted my hotel to possess a personal touch." Besides possessing a Bachelor's degree in commerce and a diploma in hotel management, Sarfraz has just returned after completing his Masters in International Business from Dubai and is all set to put his acquired knowledge into creative channelling. "An intensive course, it basically taught me all the essentials of international business and trade. I'm thus trained to assess country risks in the field, to analyse the fundamentals of the market etc. My specialisation was international banking, which taught me all I need to know about the intricacies of this line of work." Sarfraz has ardent plans of making his establishments the best in Panjim. "Sheikh Hassan currently stocks most brands of electrical appliances; it will now soon also be keeping consumer electronics. I want to revamp the hotel and update its image; for instance at the moment I am negotiating with an interior decorator from Bombay to do up the décor; then I want to sketch out a master plan which will illustrate how the hotel will look after say, five years. In fact, the entire set-up of the hotel will be changed. It's a vision for now, which I shall soon accomplish. It's like this, I don't know if I'm cut out for business, but I certainly feel I can give my personal best to it." How would he describe a hard day's work? "A hard day's work to me would mean getting the best out of my staff, because I don't believe in achieving anything alone. I feel the solution to getting things done best lies in teamwork. And if you want nothing but the best, to have people working for the firm and not their personal interest, you need to have a team that's basically happy. At the end of the day, I want more than anything else, to put a smile on the face of each person who works for me," he says. And adds, "I don't believe in being a strict master; I want to be someone that they can come up to anytime, that they can approach without hesitation. Till date in fact, I have never screamed at any of my workers, be it an illiterate labourer at my quarry or an educated employee at my hotel. I feel that my future of being a successful entrepreneur in Goa lies in the hands of my team. Where they take me is where I will be." ----------------- Reproduced on Goanet courtesy: Panjim Plus. CONTACT: Ilidio de Noronha (Editor & Publisher) [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 2464687 or 9422058131. _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)