I do not believe in loans, says Patel

On Gadaffi Road, just below Makerere University in Kampala is a bar turned workshop for Topcon Builders Limited. The firm specialises in terrazzo, granite and marble for kitchens, counter tops, graves and floor finishing. It is a business that Mr Paresh Patel started 15 years ago after quitting his job at a construction company in Uganda.
“90 per cent of the raw materials we use are imports. We not only consume, we also distribute terrazzo, granite, marble and white cement in the market. We import from India,
China, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Kenya,” he says.
Mr Patel grew up in Mombasa, Kenya and at the age of 20, came to Uganda after his father relocated. He had not studied much, having discontinued his studies after three years of secondary school. When he got here, he found a job but later found it dissatisfying.

“I did not want to work under somebody’s supervision,” he says, adding: “I had a dream of doing business right from a young age. It did not matter what business it was as long as I was my own boss.”
His inclination to business was not surprising. His grandfather and uncles ran businesses. But most importantly, his origins lie in India’s western state, Gujarat. Mr Patel
claims Gujarat dominates the business sector not just in Uganda but world over. With this background, he felt he had been ready to do business all his life but lacked support.
“My father did not have trust in me, he thought I could not manage and that I would waste money. He could not help me financially. The salary I was earning was not good,” Mr Patel narrates.
He still quit his job in April 2003 and remained jobless until October when his father-in-law paid him a visit.

“He specialises in terrazzo, works in Eldoret and he had just got a big contract at Butabika Mental Hospital. He gave me a few shares in that contract, sent me the materials and taught me how to do the work. Within four months, he left me with one Kenyan mason and all he wanted was his agreed share of the contract,” Mr Patel describes how his business took off.

Starting out
From the contract, he got Shs20m, money he says was more than enough. Some local workers had already been trained and hired to do the job. But because most of the inputs were not readily available in Uganda, he began importing raw materials and machines. He set up an office in his garage, at home in Bakuli and then started marketing his services. Mr Patel admits the Butabika job raised his profile, making it a bit easier for him to get new clients. He kept his books of accounts because he could not afford an accountant until 2008. After all, he could read and write.

Eight years later, he found out that demand for marble and granite had grown so he expanded the business.
“They are almost used in every residential house, in kitchens, offices, hotels,” he says. “So, we decided to expand because people already knew us. We had many contracts with clients from government, businessmen and industrialists.”

Today, demand for terrazzo floor finishing has been growing and Topcon Builders Limited has, since 2003, successfully completed 24 major projects including supplying and fixing terrazzo at Kampala Serena Hotel, Gulu University, several government hospitals, Lugogo substation, Nakawa Business Park, Fish landing site in Kalangala, Mayfair and Taj Casinos and State House redevelopment project. These, Mr Patel says, are besides other private granite, terrazzo and construction works done in various places.

“We have many regular clients and if we are doing big granite works, they can take weeks to a month to do. Terrazzo works can last a year because we have to
lay terrazzo, grind, polish with different grinding materials which is a long process,” he explains.
When all resources are in place, Mr Patel imports 15 containers of granite and 50 containers of white cement annually. However, the challenge is he has to pay huge fees in taxes.

Businesspeople have a few avenues for help including loans from commercial banks. But Mr Patel says debt is out of the equation for his business growth. He has been working within his means to run his business.
“I do not believe in loans so I have never borrowed money to run this business because I do not want to lose money by paying interest. I do what I am capable of doing,” he says.
Innovation around quality products, customer care and pricing has also come in handy to beat the growing number of competitors.
“If you give a price higher than that of a competitor, the customer runs away as people in Uganda look for cheap prices. So we reduce the price and minimise our profit margin,” he says.
Social media marketing and mainstream media advertising have become vital for the 15-year-old company to get new clients on board.
Mr Patel has not returned to class since his secondary school days. Running a business without a financial background can sometimes be daunting.
He has capitalised on the skills acquired during his childhood but also surround himself with the right team.

Employees
From a few workers, that team has since grown to about 100 people including an accountant, office attendant, machine operators and terrazzo masons across Uganda.
Now in his early 40s, Mr Patel describes his journey as one of pride that he plans on mentoring his son for. “I have achieved fame, money and respect,” he says, “It is not just me but also my workers who we employ when they are green about the work.”

Customers
On a good day, Mr Patel notes that a minimum of 20 customers walk into the workshop and buy materials of more than Shs15m at times. Since 2003, the company’s turnover has increased to Shs2.3b as of 2017. He anticipates this number will go up to Shs5b this year and over Shs15b by end of 2019.

Spreading wings
Mr Patel believes no man should get satisfied with how far his business has grown and Rwanda is his next destination. Should need for a product related to what he does emerge in Uganda, he will venture into it. For now, he plans to construct offices on his land which will allow him to expand further.

Money
Amount. On a good day, Mr Patel notes that a minimum of 20 customers walk into the workshop and buy materials of more than Shs15m at times. Since 2003, the company’s turnover has increased to Shs2.3b as of 2017.
He anticipates this number will go up to Shs5b this year and over Shs15b by end of 2019.

Top 100 SME survey In 2017, Topcon Builders Limited participated in Top 100 mid-sized companies’ survey organised by KPMG and Daily Monitor and emerged 37th. This, he says, was very important because it adds value to the company especially when he is bidding for a contract.