MANAGEMENT MANTRA
MAANAGEMENT MANTRA - “Lead From Front” - Paarth Malhotra, Co-Founder & Manager, Mocemsa
- Sharmila Chand
- Sep 03, 2024
Mocemsa is an Indian fragrance brand renowned for
curating its own original formulations. It reflects a blend of tradition and
modernity in each bottle. At the helm of Mocemsa’s dynamic journey is Paarth
Malhotra, who is its co-founder and manager.
Before taking the reins at Mocemsa, Mr Malhotra began
his professional journey at Malhotra Oil Company, where he worked from 2010 to
2015. This experience equipped him with invaluable insights into business
operations and management, laying a solid foundation for his future endeavours
with Mocemsa.
A BA (Hons) in Economics from Delhi University and
an MSc in Management and Organisational Innovation have provided him with a
robust framework for understanding the complexities of the business world. Beyond
his professional commitments, Mr Malhotra harbours a passion for flying and
swimming.
Sharmila Chand catches up with Mr Malhotra for a
long and engaging conversation. At the end of the interaction, she is impressed
with the dynamic entrepreneur’s management principles and practices.
Your
five management mantras
·
Focus on
important rather than urgent.
·
Lead from front,
set practical examples.
·
Listen, identify,
react and resolve.
·
Don’t be penny-wise
and pound-foolish.
·
Teamwork is
dreamwork.
A game that
helps your career
I like to swim. It calms me down. While I am in the
water, I am all alone and can gather my thoughts, and it actually helps me many
times to find the right way ahead. Swimming is also something that tests both
mental and physical grit. It teaches you to change your pace, manage depth and
hence take decisions, and the breathwork helps in clarity of thought.
Turning
point in your career life
I started working very young at 17. For me, the
turning point was when along with my brother, we launched Mocemsa, a proud
homegrown brand. The next six months post-launch, I found a genuine purpose and
saw the scope of taking this up. Since then, I have not looked back and have
had 100 per cent confidence in Mocemsa and pushed for it to succeed.
Secret
of your success
I would not categorise myself as successful just
yet. There are many miles to go and milestones to achieve. Yes, we have tasted
small successes with Mocemsa securing a position among the top fragrance brands
worldwide. I would say that this is because of our undoubted belief in the
brand. Many times, we were told that Indian brands space is in the Rs 200-500
category. However, we knew what we were building and kept driving towards our
goal. The secret sauce to this is grit, teamwork and a shared passion by our
teams – both internal and external.
Your
philosophy of work
Do not give up. Consistency is better than
perfection, and making sure that everyone is heard will lead to a great success
is the key mantra that has helped us
so far. We have two to three long-term goals that I want to achieve in a window
of six months to a year and five to six short-term goals to be achieved within three
months where business is concerned. Together, we are on our way to conquer
them.
A
person you admire
I owe my foundational learning from my father. I
admire his commitment towards his work and hope I can replicate the same
someday. If you want to be successful, you need to be fully committed. There
are no weekdays and weekends because work is play, and you can juggle
everything beautifully.
Best
advice you got
Time is the most precious asset; do not waste even a
second.
How has
your journey been so far?
With Mocemsa, it was my first stint in retail. I did
not know anything, and I have learnt a lot. From managing two sales staff, I
have gone ahead and managed a team of 150+. My journey has been learning and
now mastering the retail side. I understood how to read the market and consumer
behaviour, and we are in a constant growth and learning phase.
Your
favourite books
One of my favourite books is The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. It provides invaluable insights into
how to create and manage successful startups in an age when companies need to
innovate more than ever. Another favourite one is Good To Great by Jim Collins, which explores why some companies
make the leap and others do not, offering practical advice for achieving
excellence.
How do
you maintain calm and peace in stressful situations?
I guess that this is something you learn over time
and experience. If you ask me today, it has instilled very well in my head that
if I lose my temper in a situation, I have lost the situation or argument.
Hence, I tend to keep calm. It is not always necessary to have a solution to
every problem at hand. It is always wise to think and respond which may not always
be immediately. Better to defer a situation rather than choose an unknown or incorrect
path.
Your
five business mantras
·
Customer Focus: Prioritise understanding and meeting customer
needs.
·
Innovation: Continuously innovate to stay ahead and relevant.
·
Resilience: Be prepared to face setbacks and learn from them.
·
Quality: Never compromise on the quality of your products or services.
·
Integrity: Conduct your business with honesty and transparency.
What
message would you like to give to youngsters on management?
Do not be too attached to your product. Focus on
what the consumer likes rather than your own preferences. Most founders get
this wrong. But once you have done your research well and created a product you
are confident in, go with it with all guns blazing. No matter what people say, have
confidence in yourself. Big things are made only because you are able to see
what others cannot.
How
would you like to define yourself?
That is a tricky one. I do not introspect much. But
if I do have to say, I guess I am a learner. I always like to understand new
concepts. I like to travel in unchartered waters and focus on creating
unconventional paths to my goals, as they always have add-on successes.
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