Resilience is a skill that is developed by a leader over time. It takes experience and countless hardships to build a mindset that is tailored with development and scalability. Time is the biggest ally of these visionaries, who create their own blueprints of success. Business Outreach Magazine wants to pull up the curtains for such a forward-thinker, whose innovative strategies in the testing and calibration industry garnered immense growth for his company.
A Brief History-
Sandip Arjun Mahajan is the CEO of Shree Analytical Testing and Research Lab (Star Labs), The service-based company is accredited by NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) for Food, Soil, Water, Air and Plastic Testing Laboratory. Sandip studied Diploma in Computer Engineering and has graduated in Chemistry.
Due to the impeccable business strategies of Sandip Mahajan, Star Labs grew from Rs. 10 lakh to about Rs. 15 crore in just 5 years. Sandip, the 33 years old entrepreneur, is compassionate about his work and the quality that he provides towards it. Sandip’s father, Arjun Govinda Mahajan started a Star Labs with only 1 employee in 2001 and envisioned to be an industry leader. When Sandip joined the company back in 2013-2014, they aimed to seek NABL accreditation. This is considered as one of the strict accreditations from the Government of India.
Struggles and Success Stories-
The next 4 to 5 months were challenging for the Star Labs team, as they prepared for the relevant infrastructure for ISO-17025. The company was also audited about 2 to 3 times in just a matter of 4 months. After successfully acquiring NABL accreditation, Sandip Mahajan set an objective to expand the business from Jalgaon district to the whole of Maharashtra.
For a project with a private organization, the investment was around Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 6 crore. So Sandip aimed for government organizations like Women and Child Development, Tribal Department and many others. The process of convincing them was tedious, but they succeeded.
In just 4 years, the company reached more than 15 districts and worked with over 750 government offices. They tested more than 2 lakh samples for nutritional value. In 2017, Sandip Mahajan and Star Labs entered into the Training Business with an authorized training partner of FSSAI Delhi to train Food Business operators in Food Safety Supervisor Training and Train more than 2 Lakh FBO in 2023-24.
Key Takeaways-
Currently, they invested more than Rs. 5 crore to expand their office and are planning to apply for FSSAI , BIS, APEDA, EIC before 2024. In the next 2 years, they will set up about 5 Express Lab with limited and important parameters in metro cities like Pune, Indore, Chandigarh, Chennai and Jaipur as franchises. Their vision is to set up a high tech analytical instrumentation training institute and technological incubation center for Food Processing.
In 2019, when Sandip was strategizing for the expansion, they reached out to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) subsidy and secured about Rs. 2 crore subsidy from the Government of india. Due to Sandip’s efficient approach, the company saved about Rs. 20 lakh from hefty consultancy fees.
This is because Sandip did the process and preparation himself and presented his project before the panel. Although the presentation required to be presented in English, Sandip Mahajan swiftly impressed the panel with his beautiful Hindi language. When we asked Sandip Arjun Mahajan about his note on inspiration, he said, “To achieve your long term goal, discipline and consistency is more important than talent.”
