'WHEN the going gets tough, the tough get going.' That's the motto that Indian- born Rakesh Chopra, founder and managing director of IT solutions firm Icon Resources & Technologies, instils in himself and his staff.
For Mr Chopra, 45, these are tough times, the toughest since 2000, when he took the plunge to become his own boss.
That was no walk in the park either. Then in his mid-30s, the engineer had two sons to support. His wife had just started her own human resource consulting business.
He was giving up a senior vice-president's post at an information technology (IT) distribution company for much less pay and more uncertainty.
But that did not deter him. 'We always felt restricted working for someone else. We had the urge to do something on our own. We wanted to develop things in our own way,' he said.
He and his partner P. Murali pumped $250,000 into setting up the business. The lion's share came from Mr Chopra.
They took up a modest space in Tannery Lane. They are still there but have expanded and taken up another floor.
Initially, they focused on IT distribution, but soon found profit margins were low. 'What we realised was that we could not be just selling things, we had to add value to the business, and at a lower price than competitors',' said Mr Chopra.
Icon got its breakthrough in 2003 with its first substantial contract, worth about $20,000. The job, for a food distribution firm, involved a system to scan all of the client's documents into its IT system.
Icon roped in a third partner, Mr Chandan Roy, to help with sales and marketing, especially with sealing larger deals.
Those early years followed the bursting of the dot.com bubble when companies were not spending much on technology, said Mr Chopra.
The secret to success was hard work. 'Getting the first three references is the most difficult,' he added. 'That is why we had to work so hard at telemarketing. We would call all our contacts and try to fix meetings. Each of us was meeting three or four potential clients a day.'
What turned into a blockbuster product was a business intelligence software system from Sweden called QlikView.
It lets businesses analyse data and make better forecasts.
Icon was not the only firm in Singapore to market the product. But it showed customers it could add value. 'The product helped us to grow tremendously and lift our profile,' said Mr Chopra.
Since then, Icon has grown from having fewer than a dozen workers to having nearly 100. It is one of the top 500 small and medium- sized enterprises here by revenue, having already hit over $100 million a year. It has four offices in India.
Icon might be said to be sitting pretty, having established itself with large companies and government ministries.
But the current downturn has hit it hard. Mr Chopra said: 'From October to December, things just slowed dramatically. It is just the toughest times I have seen in 20 years of doing business. Nobody was prepared for it.'
However, he feels Icon is well-placed to weather the crisis. 'We have always reinvested the majority of our profits to grow the business. We were careful with our borrowings, so even today, we do not have a lot of bank financing.'
Icon manages its capital prudently. 'We try to collect our debts on time and we actually have a shorter turnaround cycle, so as to make sure we get cash sooner rather than later,' said Mr Chopra.
It also stays nimble. A few years ago, it opened a Malaysian office but soon found it a tough market. 'We realised that we had little expertise to succeed in that market and within a year, we cut our losses and closed the office.'
Icon gets 30 per cent to 40 per cent of its business from existing customers - either new sales or support. 'This offers stability to our business,' said Mr Chopra.
The Singapore market brings in 60 per cent of revenue, and India the rest.
Icon has begun appointing resellers in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, a move that will not require much capital expenditure.
It has boosted its portfolio with a new product, Action Base, which helps clients manage their action items by tracking delegated tasks and consolidating all related e-mail messages into a single e-mail for easy tracking.
Icon is trying to keep costs down and morale up. It has not laid off staff but is not replacing those who quit. All have taken a pay cut of up to 20 per cent except Mr Chopra, who took a 40 per cent cut.
The symbolism is important, he said. 'We are the ones who contribute most to steering the organisation. We benefit most when the company succeeds, so we should take the biggest hit when things are bad. I also want to show my staff that they are not in this alone.'
