Editorials

by Rajen Kumar

No Escaping Social Media

Running a magazine concentrating on issues of small and medium enterprises and managing with limited resources is a like living life on the edge. In this rush of meeting deadlines,...

Special Reports

Apr 2012

EMRC, Brussels Associates with SME WORLD as its New Media Partner

EMRC has promoted business partnerships with the developing world and has organised dozens of business forums in key decision-making cities, such as Amsterdam, Rome,...

Interviews

Amita Naithani - Managing Director, Merlin Creations

Sep 2009

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Amita Naithani in conversation with SME WORLD.

SMEW: What are the prime ingredients of a successful entrepreneur?

Amita: Self-motivation, attitude and confidence in yourself. If you have these three, then sky is the limit for you.

SMEW: How did you start Merlin?

Amita: I was working in an export house. At one stage I sensed that there was a lot of potential for new entrepreneurs. A colleague of mine shared my vision we got together and decided to realize our dream of starting a venture of our own. We had lot of confidence and enthusiasm and we realized our capabilities could be utilized better. With meager resources at our command, we created 'Merlin' in 1995 and soon found that we are in the 'business'. With complete understanding, we both made a good working team.

SMEW: Did you face any initial hurdles?

Since we had no business background, we had to start from a scratch. We had lots of hurdles initially as we were not given loans by banks to support our finances. At the same time business development was very important and funds were badly required. We had to work very hard and manage funds for business development. Experience in garments and exports and positive attitude came handy and we started coming over road blocks one by one.

SMEW: How did the initial breakthrough come?

Once we settled down with the formation of Merlin, we put together all our efforts in business development. We both defined our respective areas of work. Our hard work and patience paid off and we successfully started working with a company SANDY STARKMAN, USA. Quality was the name of the game and therefore, we concentrated all efforts on quality and delivery schedules. We have, since not looked back and we went on to expand our customer base in Europe, USA, Japan and UK, catering to well known brands, and high fashions stores. We realized that in today's world, you have to specialize in sectors. So we meticulously made our product range - ladies wear, kids wear, accessories and home wear.

SMEW: How has been the journey so far? How do you envision Merlin's future?

We are satisfied with what we have achieved so far. Although there have been lots of ups and downs. But then I take it as a learning process and in a positive way. In exports, sky is the limit. I have a vision that a lot more has to be achieved. We are not even half way through in terms of commercial success and our potential.

SMEW: Are you satisfied with the govt. schemes for exporters?

Not really. Because there have been lot of promises on papers and very little has been translated practically. The policies are not updated and the export incentives are not logical at all. Especially the textile sector is not supported in a desired way. If the policies are pragmatic and exporter-friendly, then excellent results could be fetched.

SMEW: What are your views on more and more women becoming entrepreneurs and how women entrepreneurs have an edge over men?

It is time when more and more women turn to entrepreneurship. Already the entrepreneurial scene is different between then and now.
This is a positive development. Of course, women have an edge over men in business because women are multi-tasking leaders having better level of creativity, better level of understanding. Women are good in public relations and can handle stress in a constructive way. They have understanding and wisdom which helps taking the right decisions at the right time.

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