‘The challenge is to keep up to date with new tech,’ says Sumit Jaiswal of Highflow Industries
Company: Highflow Industries
Founder: Sumit Jaiswal
Place: Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh
Turnover: Rs 25 crore
In 2014, Sumit Jaiswal launched Highflow Industries as a small enterprise, which manufactured around 20 batteries a day. These batteries were used in home appliances, solar devices and in automobiles. A breakthrough in e-rickshaw and solar battery manufacturing saw Highflow grow at a fast rate, propelling it to its present capacity of three hundred batteries per day.
So far, Jaiswal (34) has invested Rs 10 crore in the business, and he hopes to achieve a turnover of Rs 100 crore by December 2019. “Expansion is the major key to success. It’s a steep ride and you will certainly fall if you stop,” he says. “Keep reading and learning about upcoming technologies. They have the potential to grow or destroy any industry,” he adds.
Excerpts from an interaction with SMBStory:
SMBStory: What were the key milestones in your journey?
Sumit Jaiswal: We had two major developments in our business. The first one was a big breakthrough in e-rickshaw batteries and solar batteries. We were able to utilise a fully-automated plant and imported assembly lines. The second one was cracking advanced technology for lead smelting, and we ventured into this sector as well.
SMBS: How are you differentiating from your competitors?
SJ: There is a huge market potential with the advent of solar and e-rickshaw segments. This is because they help cut down air pollution and reduce overall carbon emissions. The batteries have always played a vital role in this. We are quite unique here since we use automation to minimise manual errors. Apart from this, efficient material handling plays a vital role in our achievements.
SMBS: What are your challenges in terms of sustaining and growing the business?
SJ: Energy storage devices always had a huge potential. These are confined to lead acid batteries because lithium ion batteries are the latest thing to invest in. Therefore, the main challenge in this sector is to keep ourselves up to date with the latest technology coming in the market. We don’t want to be left behind.
SMBS: What are your future plans?
SJ: We are targeting distribution channels for customer acquisition and we want to grow it to achieve a Rs 100 crore turnover by December 2019. Government schemes like capital subsidies will help industries such as ours to invest further in their system and keep them motivated. Also, I want to continue hiring good and trained professionals from bigger industries. This is because I believe that a person has limited knowledge, and without different perspectives, he/she can’t help the organisation grow.
(This story is published in partnership with the MSME Ministry to showcase success stories of SMEs)