When Wipro’s Manoj Nagpaul landed in Australia, he had a business plan which wasn’t relevant. A new plan was needed but the challenge was — where to start?
I came to Australia in 2001, armed with just two bags and a lot of determination. It was my first posting abroad. I had travelled abroad on work before but I had never stayed away from India for more than four-five days. I came to Australia to execute a fairly aggressive plan — to expand Wipro’s business into Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Australia was a completely new territory for me — I didn’t have friends, relatives or business contacts here. In fact, I didn’t know what to do
once I landed!
Breaking Through
We were an unknown brand in Australia. When I spoke to people, I had to spell out my name and my company’s name! We had no existing relationships and that was not good for business. Before coming here, we hadn’t done a detailed study of the market. The idea was to come in, spend time, understand the market and develop a value proposition that is relevant.
(This story appears in the 06 November, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)