A PHILOSOPHY FOR SUCCESS
an Austrian company that specialised in making strip steel
cutting dies. With their help and assistance, I procured the
machinery needed to manufacture this type of cutting die
and, in 1978, established the first die making factory in
India. Today, we have seventeen associated die factories
spread across the country to which I have provided the
know-how. Naturally, some of the associates and
employees who have left in the meantime have started up
on their own. Today, from small to large, there are almost
one hundred die factories in India.”
There is an old saying about which comes first, the
chicken or the egg; Hari Razdan puts it rather well. “When
I started the first die factory, people asked me who would
buy my dies because there were so very few clicking
machines around. I replied that when I made the dies,
people would buy clicking machines and, when they used
the machines, they would want more dies which I would
make.” That is exactly what happened. Today, the Harman
Group has nine machinery branches spread across all the
key leather sector areas of India as well as the 17 die
factories. This makes it possibly the largest group in the
world selling and servicing machinery to leathergoods and
shoe manufacturers, whilst also supplying the cutting dies
and spares to go with them.
IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SUPPORT
One more important requirement for growth was to
spread his sales and servicing network across the country.
Unfortunately, although financially sound, he did not have
the necessary resources to establish branches in the other
main leather centres in India. He did not want to go to the
banks for money and so had to think of an alternative
solution. “There is an old adage in Indian philosophy which
says that when you see 100% going away from you, share
50% with somebody else.” Based on this, he made contact
with selected people in these centres and offered them
franchises of the Harman brand in exchange for 50% of any
profits generated. As a result, both the die making and
machinery sales and servicing activities of the company
blossomed such that Hari Razdan was awarded a Gold
Medal by the Milan Chamber of Commerce, Industry,
Handicrafts and Agriculture for Foreign Trade generated by
the Harman Group.
A further diversification has been added to the group in
the form of a line of PU coated leather from Italy which is
predominantly supplied to belt manufacturers to whom it
also supplies the complete manufacturing plants needed to
produce them. The aim at all times is to offer sufficient
peripheral services to clients that they do not need to seek
any assistance from other suppliers, even for the auxillary
products associated with their particular sector of the
leather industry. The day-to-day control of the Harman
Group is now in the capable hands of his son Jeevan who,
essentially, grew up with the company. Nevertheless,
Razdan himself still likes to go into the office for four to six
hours a day to keep his hand in.
By any measurement, Hari Razdan’s business life has
been highly successful. While he possesses all the
essentials for a manager and entrepreneur, such as vision,
drive, a willingness to take risks–howbeit very carefully
considered ones–and being a shrewd negotiator, he is in
other ways very different to many of today’s successful
businessmen. He is a deeply religious man, very
considerate of other people, an accomplished poet and
philosopher and, to those privileged to know him, a true
and generous friend. Perhaps we can say that part of his
success has been due to his depth of character as well as
his flair for business.
As a final word of advice for any would-be entrepreneur
venturing out to develop a business he says: “They should
have an awareness of all aspects of what they perceive,
conceive and finally attempt. While it cannot be said that
luck plays no part in one’s success, it has also to be said that
awareness gives you the correct motivation and direction,
and luck has to be tempered with total dedication to one’s
activity and objectives.” Amen to that.
27
Hari Razdan’s love of poetry led him to begin
to write it himself and he saw his first poem
published in 1950. It was to be 45 years
before he again found time to take up his
pen, at which point he began to write
Ghazals (a poetic form consisting of rhyming
couplets and a refrain) as a hobby, something
he has continued to this day. In the
meantime, the first collection of his poetry
was published in Hindi under the title Har
Lamha Aur in 2005. A second collection, Dil Se
Utha Dhuan, came out last year in both Hindi
and Urdu. More recently, the first collection
has also appeared in Urdu. He is widely
admired for the thought content, simplicity of
words and style of his poetry which feels
new and fresh.
…as a matter of interest…
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