AFTER spending 24 years in the building industry, Narend Vikash now owns his business which is connected to the sector.
Mr Vikash, who is originally from a sugarcane farming family in Ba, moved to Suva in 1996 to start his career and worked with the various hardware retail outlets such as Carpenters Hardware and RC Manubhai and Company Ltd.
He lives in Suva with his wife and two children.
He has invested about $1 million in his company — Intime Distributors — located in Viria East, Vatuwaqa and employs five people.
“At the moment we have five people here but we do hire extra people when it gets busy,” he said.
With his background in working in the building and hardware industry for more than 20 years, Mr Vikash said he already had a list of clients but all he needed was a suitable location.
He said they finally found the location to set up their office and warehouse and the rest just worked out fine.
The company engages in wholesale, distribution, import and export of building materials which range from tiles, tile adhesives, grout, gib boards, cement boards, nail, plates, fasteners, ceiling fans, lights, safety items and more.
“Local demand for building materials has increased after Tropical Cyclone Winston and we are also engaged in this rebuilding and reconstruction process through contractors who work on projects at schools or other buildings which were affected by the cyclone,” he said.
Mr Vikash said the duty reduction on certain building materials had also increased the purchasing power of individuals.
The company also exports building materials to Pacific Island countries such as Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru and Wallis and Futuna.
Mr Vikash said with so many major hardware supermarkets and companies in the country, there was bound to be competition in the business however he said their aim was to be different in terms of providing unique products.
“We want to be strategically placed, by which I mean to have a different variety of products which appeal to our clients, such as unique selection of tiles and other finished products.”
Mr Vikash said their client list included individuals, businesses and some resorts.
“We have contractors who buy materials from us and they work for resorts and hotels around the country.”
He said they had future orders lined up from resorts that are still under construction and those that are being planned to be constructed.
The company has plans for expansion and Mr Vikash said they had plans to get into the retail business too.
