Page 24 - IB MAR 2019

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Vinod Patel leads the way

Fiji-based company eyes exports to fund it’s growth

Company Profile – Vinod Patel:
Clocking up years of trading in the islands, the Vinod Patel Group of
companies is now looking at ways to monetise all those experiences and Named after the founder of the company, Vinod Patel
know how through its very own export business consultancy. Group is a family-owned business that first opened its
Calling it the Business Support Services for Pacific Islands, Fiji’s leading store for trading in the Fijian town of Ba on the west
hardware and building material retailer aims to offer its many years experi- coast of Fiji’s main island. It celebrates its 57th year of
ence of doing business in the Pacific to foreign investors who are – like operation in April this year. It stocks more than 25,000
them -- keen to do business in the islands. different products with a workforce of over 1300 people.
“I mean we always talk about unique selling prepositions and I think
that’s one of our major unique selling proposition in the export market. We • Ba Industries Limited • METFRAME • Oceania Gas
can really stand behind a product and say we’ve tried it out, we’ve tested it (formerly BOC Gas) • Pacific Cement • TUBEMAKERS
out in our Fiji market. It works for our business and I’m pretty sure it can • Vinod Patel – Timor Leste • Pacific Cables.
work for yours,” Vinod Patel’s General Manager of Exports Division, Atin
Patel, tells this magazine.
“We want to reach out to the Pacific Island market and understand their That’s our major plan for 2019 and beyond,” says Singh.
business. Traditionally exports businesses are all about supplying products. “We have come up with our new e-Commerce website, and there are
But at Vinod Patel, we have changed our approach. We are helping them several marketing initiatives we have taken, especially in the digital space.
to grow and better their business by providing knowledge and know-how We stock genuine products and supply only the best. Our products are
and also ensuring that we have necessary resources to support this. We branded, tried and tested and apt for our customers in the Pacific. That’s
are focused on providing this in the Pacific Island market because we are the edge we have.”
the same.” Adding more to that, Singh explains about the call centre. “We’ve got
Patel adds that for the past three decades Vinod Patel had gained a lot of a very strong presence in the customer service area and we’ve got a fully
experience exporting hardware, building products and tools to the islands operational customer care where we’ve got a group of very highly trained
of the Pacific. Vinod Patel & Co, has many reputable brands and lines of team members who are interacting with customers, helping them solve
products and services and being positioned in Fiji makes it an ideal export their problems. Live chat and Facebook integration and everything so as
hub for many Pacific Island countries. we speak, it’s operational and happening.”
“As we’ve kind of gone through few phases of changes and growth we’ve An exciting product Vinod Patel promotes is its container homes, because
become more than just about supplying items, we are now starting to act like according to Patel and Singh, such homes are suitable to the islands.
business consultants to our customers who are merchants themselves. So “We’ve branded it as endless solutions because you could use it as your
we’re helping them in planning, helping them with inventory management, home, as a laboratory, as a field office, and evacuation center even. We’re
helping them with actually maintaining their stock. These are things we’re doing emergencies as a portable nursing station, so anything you think of,
trying to do for them to run their business better.” you can fully customise it,” explains Singh.
General Manager Sales & Operations for Vinod Patel Group Neelesh Pal “These are factory made, customised. It’s solid steel however, it comes
Singh adds their export consultancy business is just one of the many new with insulation which keeps you cool and you can have a 2 bedroom or 1
products the Fiji-based company is rolling out. In addition to supporting bedroom with kitchen facility, living room, a toilet, shower, everything.”
exports in the islands, the group is also going big into harnessing technology Construction time of such container homes Singh adds takes up to 3 days
including the Internet to reach a wider market. only, and reasonably priced. Atin Patel adds, that the future is bright for the
One of the upcoming initiative is DIY – Do It Yourself Video production leading hardware retailer with exports and the overseas markets holding
– short videos on simple, quick home and appliance repairs that home the potential for more growth.
owners can do. “We’re looking at expansions even locally and as we’ve pointed out our
“Soon you’ll see a lot of DIYs videos available in our stores where we’ll expansion into the Timor Leste market came about after we did our due
educate our customers on how to do things themselves on their properties. diligence and we look at how we can get our brand name out there.”

24 Islands Business, March 2019