Even after doing his B.Sc in chemistry, Manoj tells Mustafa Jawadwala that developing relationship with people is his secret of success in building a flourishing investment advisory practice
Manoj made his entry in the corporate world through a chemical laboratory firm. Being an outgoing person, he soon realized that chemicals were not his cup of tea. He left the laboratory firm in search of an exciting career. “After my graduation I was working with laboratory firm. Within two weeks I found myself out of place as my job role was purely technical. I am the sort of person who likes to talk and interact with people. It made me realize that I am in wrong profession”, recalls Manoj.
He wanted to get into a profession of relationship building. He had appeared for many banking exams and finally in 1983 he got a job offer from IDBI.
In IDBI, Manoj was posted as an assistant in training department. Manoj is quick to build rapport with people. “Within a week of joining, I was familiar with almost everyone. My friendship with IDBI staff has remained intact. They continue to be my loyal clients over the period of 18 years in the practice of financial advisors.”
From college days, Manoj liked sending birthday and anniversary greetings to his friends and relatives. He never misses the birthday of anyone known to him.
He was looking out for an additional source of income along with his IDBI job. So he started a business of trading readymade garments and leather bags. “I used to buy the goods from manufactures and sell it to retailers. I was able to generate business but not to that extent where I could quit my job and concentrate only on the trading business. The business demanded more capital. It became unmanageable so I decided to quit the business. But I got to learn many things from that business,” says Manoj.
Despite his flourishing career with the bank, Manoj was still aspiring to strike out on his own. “I wanted to do to start a business which didn’t require much capital. Many IDBI employees wanted to invest in bonds and NSC but at that time there were very few people who were providing this service. I saw an opportunity here,” Manoj recalls.
Within a year, he had established a client base of 75-100. Manoj was giving tax saving advice to his friends and colleague. Soon, he started getting insurance queries from his colleagues.
“In March 1992 I took up LIC agency in the name of my wife because working as IDBI employee I was not allowed to run an agency business. I realized that selling insurance was not as easy as advising people for bonds, debenture, NSC etc,” confides Manoj.
Manoj aggressively started selling policies to his relatives and friends. In a month’s time he managed to sell policies worth Rs. 20 lakh sum assured. Subsequently, he started selling mutual fund products of UTI from 1993.
As his client base started to expand, he thought of quitting his job and concentrate only on his insurance and other advisory products. In the next three years he managed to sell policies worth Rs. 1 crore sum assured. “My next target was to qualify for MDRT which required an agent to generate a minimum income of Rs. 2.85 lakh p.a. I finally got qualified for the MDRT in 1996 after working hard for two years,” recalls Manoj
Manoj plunged into full time advisory business in late 1996. He started distributing pamphlets through newspaper on weekends and participated in exhibitions and events to expand his business.
He bought an office in Thane in 2003 as operating from his home became unfeasible.
In 2004 he became active selling mutual fund products. “I wanted to diversify my product offerings. I started focusing on SIP model. I was collecting SIP of Rs. 1 lakh per month initially and have now reached Rs. 40 lakh. Today mutual fund business contributes 40 per cent of my total income which was only 5 per cent a decade ago”.
Manoj started emphasizing more on financial planning after completing his CFP in 2007 and in 2009, he became a Registered Financial Consultant.
Manoj currently provides financial advisory services through a proprietorship firm “Consultme”. He has two offices in Thane. He has separate teams for insurance, mutual funds and other advisory products.
Manoj plans to set up a financial planning department who would write financial plans for his client. In future he plans to cover real estate and home loan products.
He is married to Sangetaa who runs a boutique in Thane.