SUCHIT KUMAR tells Clifford Agugoesi exclusively , on the sidelines of an Interactive Session with the ICT Press, facilitated by White-Stone Communications, at the Colossus, Ikeja, Lagos, South West Nigeria, November 22, 2022, businesses keen to explore  benefits  of B2B cannot be complacent with their customer services and marketing offerings.

CYBER ERA NG: To have put in 31 years of your career in IT obviously places you as one of the distinguished veterans in the industry.  What are the high and low moments of these years for you?

SUCHIT KUMAR: Some of the accomplishments in the industry are to deliver sustained revenue and profit gains within highly competitive markets around the world. Had the privilege to successfully lead key business initiatives and strategies for various businesses. Throughout my professional career, I have been mostly associated with push brands and established them into market leaders, helping build profitability and generating employment. Had the opportunity to convert my low to high opportunity on every occasion.

CEN: Tell us the story of the Dubai Computer Association to which you were a Founding Member?

SK: It is Dubai Computer Group (DCG) and I was one of the founder members. The initiative was taken in 2004 and by mid 2007, we got recognition from Dubai Chamber as one of the groups under their umbrella.  In times when disruptive innovation is the new norm, it is imperative to reinvent ourselves and our business model. The primary objective of the Dubai Computer Group Business is to bridge businesses and connect ideas and help our members to meet the emerging challenges of the evolving business landscape. Business Symposium and Networking is one among the many broad array of initiatives Dubai Computer Group has taken to help connect our members towards broader perspectives of transformation.

CEN: You worked with various multinationals before founding your own business in 2013; how did your experience in these companies shape your decision to found your own company and why did Taiwan come first on your mind as the first investment destination and not your home country, India?

SK: Taiwan was the headquarters for innovative technology and has an extremely friendly business environment for global trade. It was the ideal location for me to bridge the manufacturing Hub of China with the rest of the world. The companies that I worked in the past helped me understand the global markets and help frame the strategy in establishing my business. The journey was enduring and rewarding till the industry saw a downslide in 2017-18.

CEN: If you were a Nigerian, you would easily qualify as one of those in local parlance described as ‘ajala’ because you are widely traveled (50+ as at the last count). As a technopreneur, do you see a nexus between wide travel and business success?

SK: The value of business travel cannot be fully reflected in a profit and loss statement. As evidenced by a myriad of studies proving how business travel is critical to a company’s success, corporate trips are an essential driver in building in-person connections, a company’s culture, career development, and increased profits and revenue.  Running a business and trying to restrain business travel is going to absolutely limit growth – as an entrepreneur, and as a business.

CEN: TEXUB claims to be the first global platform of B2B for IT trade.  How would you react if another company makes a similar claim to this rare feat?

SK: I believe healthy competition is important for every business and digital marketplace is the future. There will be many coming as we go ahead and we are prepared to be and succeed in this business.

CEN: The global IT (hardware) trade volumes started to shrink around 2017 and 2019.  In your view, what were some of the factors that fuelled this and how did your company overcome the headwinds?

SK: Yes, the market was in the downslide and the times were challenging. This was the result of market saturation. However, with post-pandemic the situation changed with the advent of online culture and the home to pc ratio jumped from 1 household to 4 pc. The market again boomed and the rest is history. We were able to navigate this challenge by bringing in new products and exploring new markets.

CEN: What is the size of the global B2B IT trade and how much of this does TEXUB control?

SK: The Global Computer Hardware market size was US$1,129.39 billion in 2021 and shall touch US$1,215.76 billion with a CAGR of 7.6 per cent. The projected CAGR up to 2027 is expected to be 6.1 per cent.

CEN: What is inside your DigiNomics portfolio?

SK: DigiNomics programme creates awareness to the B2B IT traders, the importance of shifting to a digital business system and how they can leverage the B2B marketplace platform to expand their reach and business globally, by accessing it locally. Diginomics is a series of skill development and skill upliftment program, and helping partners adapt to digital transformation.

Digital sales specialist is the new term for the traditional sales executive, as the traditional systems are changing into the digital systems of running business in the B2B space. They need to upskill and upgrade themselves to be able to trade as per the market standards and upcoming trends.

CEN: You authored a book: The Future of IT Trade.  How might interested readers access it and how affordable is it?

SK: The book can be accessed via this link: https://go.texub.com/ebook.  It is a “Priceless” book, literally.

CEN: In the TEXUB scheme of things, Nigeria is classified as a Buyer Market.  What factors led to this classification?

SK: Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people. The country is currently ranked as the seventh largest economy in Africa. Nigeria had a GDP growth rate of 6.5 per cent in 2018. This makes it one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

The forecast of Research and Markets (2020) suggests that the global B2B market will surpass US$20 trillion in 2027.  However, businesses eager to explore its benefits cannot be complacent with their customer services and marketing offerings. B2B customers are continually seeking better customer services, pricing and the most value from a transaction.

CEN: What is TEXUB’s unique selling point?

SK: TEXUB is uniquely positioned as a channel facilitator – we want to encourage business without borders, and our global reach – online and headquartered in Dubai – offers a wider scope for businesses, small and large. With five selling Hubs we provide buyers with a wide range to explore. The portal helps buyer better his buying reach and the seller to get a wider market without additional CAPEX and OPEX.

CEN: In which other countries are you contemplating establishing your footprint; what updates are available regarding your expansion plans?

SK: The growth that TEXUB will see is through people. We are based in multiple countries worldwide, with offices in the UAE, USA, India, Netherlands, and Singapore. We are also implementing manpower in countries where we don’t have offices yet so that we can still start onboarding and connecting people.

CEN: What legal, policy and regulatory challenges did you encounter from the coming of TEXUB till date and how did you handle them?

SK: Running a fully compliant B2B marketplace entails its owners to actively follow the changes in the regulations that governs their specific industry market or vertical. You need to comply mostly with the legal frameworks governing online payments and the exchange of goods and services online but take into consideration that laws are adopted and amended regularly.

The purchase bandwidth on B2B marketplaces can be very high. There are other distinctive features of this, such as the various payment methods used in each country, variations in pricing based on the number of items, and different payment terms per supplier. This often leads to a delay of several weeks between purchase and payment. Invoicing is also a major issue for buyers who want to receive smaller numbers of invoices and process them more easily.

*Suchit is Chief Executive Officer at TEXUB.