From classical dance to power solutions, this entrepreneur has come a long way
Adversity drove Jeyalakshmi Venkatanarayanan to build a business in power solutions. Today, Universe Power Systems, based in Bengaluru, is an authorised dealer for leading companies such as Vertiv and Cummins.
Jeyalakshmi Venkatanarayan’s power solutions company arose out of a crisis, a financial crisis to be precise.
In the early 90s, Jeyalakshmi, a trained classical dancer, was taking dance classes at home and also at schools and dance academies. Her husband was working in a granite export factory but his income was insufficient to meet the needs of the family, especially their two daughters. It was so hard to sustain themselves in India’s Silicon Valley that her husband decided to move back to their hometown in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. That’s when Jeyalakshmi decided to take control of the situation and look for a business opportunity.
“It started with a quest to give my daughters quality education, and I came a long way. I didn’t get any family support when I wanted to pursue a business. If I had gotten support, I would have also easily followed the passion I had for dance,” says Jeyalakshmi, in an exclusive interaction with SMBStory. This 62-year-old entrepreneur says it is very important for near and dear to show support, as it can play an important role in reshaping one’s life.
“I always dreamt of pursuing my education from IIT but I could not and did not want my daughters to go through the same pain. I wanted to give them a quality education. Thus, I decided to stay back (in Bengaluru),” she says.
That decision made all the difference and since then there has been no looking back for Jeyalakshmi, who now runs a successful enterprise—.
Universe Power Systems is a Bengaluru-based company that provides power solutions to customers in sectors such as IT, healthcare, government, finance, education, and research. The company is a dealer of online UPS (sales, service, and rental), batteries, stabilisers, home inverters, diesel generators, server racks, data center projects, and precision air conditioning systems.
Universe Power Systems is an authorised dealer for Vertiv, a global manufacturer of power, precision cooling, and infrastructure management systems. It is also a dealer of Cummins, Kirloskar, Amaron, and Luminous products. “We are the only business partner of Vertiv in the government, BFSI, and many other sectors in India,” says the woman entrepreneur.
The birth of the company
When Jeyalakshmi realised that she had to step up for her family, she decided to enter the electrical industry. Thankfully, she had her education to fall back on—an engineering degree in electronics and telecommunications.
Universe Power Systems was formed in 1997. Jeyalakshmi knew that customer acquisition was important in her field. So, she kept a list of customers, cold-called them, and got the business rolling.
In her initial days, she used to call corporates and ask them if they needed someone to help in assembling or installing cables and wires in their offices. She would go to the offices, work on the installation/assembly, and, in return, request for testimonials for her service.
“These testimonials worked in my favour. I showed them to my (potential) customers, who then developed trust in partnering with me,” she says.
Being a fan of Ratan Tata, with a desire to meet him, Jeyalakshmi first approached Vertiv, TATA Liebert then.
“When I first approached the company, they asked me multiple questions as to why they should hire me as their dealer because I had no business experience. All the questions they asked, I failed in almost each of them but that day luck favoured me and destiny had some plans for me. They hired me,” says Jeyalakshmi. The testimonials also helped.
One thing led to another and, by 2005, her business, Universe Power Systems, had gained a firm footing.
Till date, the company has served more than 6,000 clients across India. Its clientele includes hospitals, hotels, corporates, and society apartments.
Jeyalakshmi says running a proprietorship company has been profitable for her, though she does not disclose the company’s turnover.
Image credit: YS Design
Developing products
In 2021, Universe Power Systems developed in-house a UPS for wi-fi router, one of the firsts in India. It has been patented and will be widely available in the market in August 2022.
The router is capable of giving a three-hour backup to the wifi, in case of a power cut. The wifi router would be priced at Rs 1,500 and would be available across India through the retail sales channel.
Jeyalakshmi has also developed an IoT-based equipment that will help people track their water and power consumption at the click of a button.
Challenges
According to the entrepreneur, Universe Power Systems is a smaller player in the big electricals market and the power solutions industry. So, the challenge is in expanding on a large scale. “But challenges give opportunities and I am taking all the opportunities coming my way to expand my business,” she says.
Other initiatives
In 2012, Jeyalakshmi rekindled her passion for dance. Today, she choreographs dance performances and runs the Universe Art Foundation to support the artist community.
Jeyalakshmi also does business consulting for various corporations and MSMEs through her other venture, Universe Business Solutions, which was established in 2013.
Jeyalakshmi wishes to scale her business, expand the pipeline of in-house products, and go global.
Edited by Swetha Kannan