Adit's rollercoaster ride at Autogem

In Autogem’s second spotlight, we look at Adit Chopra's rollercoaster ride with the company…

…Taking over a failing business losing thousands of pounds a month was not a decision for the faint-hearted, but Autogem joint-owner Adit Chopra has never been afraid of taking a risk.

He’s also taken a number of lessons on board in a 24-year journey with the company, many of which came from his younger brother Prashant, even if he didn’t see it at the time.

By nature of the pair’s acquisition of Autogem in 2005, they’re the company’s longest serving employees and Adit talks of his personal journey to a place of quiet fulfilment today.

Adit remained in control of the Invicta emissions business - focusing primarily on exhaust parts and export sales - while Prashant headed up the garage consumables and TPMS programme.

Working concurrently at arm’s length might have been a blessing for two fiercely ambitious brothers with differing personalities, but they were still close enough to have the odd disagreement over the years.

“We would fight and disagree on rare occasions, but only because we wanted the best for the business and the best for each-others’ lives,” said Adit.

“I’ve learnt more from Prashant than he has learnt from me, and I really mean that. We never had a traditional brotherly relationship at work and there was never a sense of hierarchy, but we both wanted success for the business and we always rooted for each other because of this.”

It has been far from a serene journey for the pair, who took a huge gamble in taking on the failing company in 2005, which had already entered administration three times in the months before they took charge.

“Autogem was making a ￡60,000 loss per month when we acquired it and more crucially than that, we didn’t have a vision beyond maintaining market share of exhaust fittings.”

Unbeknown to Adit, he was working to a vision at that time, albeit one he couldn’t quantify or even realise to begin with…

…He was treating all customers and contacts as he would have wanted to be treated himself, with a gentle but straightforward approach. It was a simple maxim, but it stood him – and Autogem - in good stead.

“Our first job was to persuade suppliers and customers to trust us, because Autogem had been in such a perilous state before we took over. Covid-19 has reminded me that our customers choose us; that this is a real privilege as they have a clear choice on whether to use Autogem or not. The reason they choose us is because of a mutual respect and to this day it’s one of my greatest satisfactions at work.

“If you look at the recent pandemic, we had an opportunity to raise prices on our commodity based products because demand was so high. In some categories we were the only global player holding stock, and while we saw our competitors take hard-nosed opportunistic decisions we took the unequivocal approach to respect our customers’ predicaments and work even closer with them.?

“The respect we had for our customers meant we operated as a business but always endeavoured to put their needs and considerations first. We have always tried to do this over the years. It’s a straightforward way of running a business, and the reason we have managed to turn this company around where far more qualified and experienced people couldn’t.”

Adit distilled his 25 years with the business down to one simplistic – if not self-deprecating – observation.

“We were just looking to survive for the first 20 years. Do you want to know what my strategy was for Autogem when we joined? There wasn’t one!

“It took about 20 years to feel confident about the place we now occupy in the aftermarket and that’s the truth. We now run a successful, well managed operation but it has taken a great deal of time.”

And when referring back to the unique dynamic between him and his brother Prashant, Adit said that their working relationship took a while, too.

“It took time to respect the fact that we do things differently. Prashant’s approach varied to mine, but looking back, he was always endeavouring to take us on a more progressive journey.

“We might have disagreed on certain things, but I realised that Prashant was running his side of the business way better than I was with mine. I now go to him and ask how do you think we should deal with this? I learnt a lot from Prashant and I continue to do so.”

Adit admits that owning the business has kept his feet on the ground, with his levels of confidence softening over the years.

“Customers choose us because we endeavour to do things properly and we have had to earn their choice over the years. The fact that they stuck with us, and continue to stick us, well, that humbles me.”

It goes without saying that Adit and Prashant’s father Amrit was another huge force of good behind Autogem and he has been a steadying influence over the years for both brothers.

Arguably the biggest gifts he imparted to his sons was a relentless work ethic and a sense of respect for everyone.

“I eventually stopped working on Saturdays after 24 years, but Dad (and Prashant) still do, and if my mother wasn’t able to stop him, he would absolutely be here every Sunday!” joked Adit. “He taught us that the size of the business is secondary. What is important is the methodology behind the business. We are not a big organisation, but we do things elegantly.

“We strive to do things properly, to act with integrity and we have managed to generate a lot of goodwill as a result. When Dad sees this, he sees the warmth and respect our customers have for us and those are the moments he is proudest of.”

In summing up his time with Autogem, is there one pearl of wisdom that Adit has taken?

“When the right opportunity presents itself, take the risk. I am prepared and committed to take risk, that’s what defines me as a businessman. The day I shirk from risk is the day I shouldn’t be running a business.

“As for a ‘pearl of wisdom’… The notion is too concrete; it doesn’t reflect the malleability of our journey. Honestly, I think the only thing I can say with any degree of certainty, is always choose pistachio. You can never go wrong with pistachio!”