Sudheer Nair dropped out of high school at age 16 and is currently operating Eresource Infotech whose annual turnover is Rs 8.1 crore. Read on to know his inspiring journey to success…  

Necessity is the mother of invention, adversity must be the father of entrepreneurship.

For Sudheer Nair, founder and CEO of Eresource Infotech, adversity brought out the best in him.

That coupled with sheer grit and conviction has helped him lead a Rs 8.1 crore ERP firm today.

Sudheer’s is a classic tale of rags-to-riches.

He comes from a lower middle class family, and does not have any ivy-league credentials attached to his name.

He had to discontinue his education at the age of 16, due to the sudden demise of his father and the ensuing financial difficulties.

The situation forced him to search for jobs to support his family.

Initially he ended up doing odd jobs, which included that of a helper’s job at Sahar Cargo Complex, Mumbai. But the enthusiasm he had towards life and the wish to progress, has made him what he is today.

On a few occasions, documentations were required at the Cargo Complex and that was Nair’s introduction to the typewriter, eventually transforming him into an expert typist.

Next, he took up the job of typing programmes for a programmer and looking at his ability to learn fast, Nair was given an opportunity to learn computers.

Gradually, he started generating software codes independently for the company.

Nair loved what he was doing and that helped him learn the subject at a deeper level.

Someone has said that when god is shy to announce HIS presence, HE appears in the form of an opportunity. That opportunity was given to me, when somebody asked me to type Bill of Lading at Sahar Cargo complex. You need to start from somewhere. Dr Abdul Kalam started his career as a newspaper boy. Once you have the determination and will power you always move forward. I took the loading job because my family’s financial situation demanded that. It was a short stint. I knew I had to move out. Life must be like a flowing river. I believe in that and am still living with that spirit,” says Nair of the beliefs and situations that have shaped his life.

The entrepreneur never enrolled for any formal course in computers, but says he was extremely lucky and blessed to have met incredibly talented people in his life and had the privilege to hang out with them.

“I did not know any technical people and had zero guidance when I started my career. I would ruthlessly read through technical books. I spent hundreds of hours reading and practicing programmes,” says Nair while recollecting his days of struggle.

His entry into the field of ERP was also by chance.

While working with Afternoon, a daily in Mumbai, he had developed a smaller version of ERP for the daily.

That gave him the confidence to start on his own and ERP was his obvious choice to start up with.

But before he did that, Nair worked for 15 years in Dubai as a software professional.

He started as a software developer and was the Senior Enterprise Manager, when he quit.

“It was a 400-million-dollar company and I was working on enterprise solution. You learn a lot in the process,” he says.

When he started Eresource Infotech in 2006, the ERP market was worth $14 billion and Sudheer saw enough opportunity in the space.

“The urge to do things on my own was getting on my head and that feeling forced me to quit my job in Dubai and start-up,” he says.

Sudheer started by bootstrapping and with the support of Vivek Jingade, who now heads the sales and marketing for Eresource Infotech, began his entrepreneurial journey.

“Vivek has been with Eresource since inception and without him we could not have achieved what we are today,” Nair says in praise of Jingade.