Real-life inspiration from Dr Mahesh Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of Kent RO, has triggered a war against waterborne diseases in India to make the lives of people healthy. He worked as a Deputy Manager with Indian Oil, in 1997 his son got seriously ill due to drinking unhealthy water; it led him to prolonged treatment before recovery.  It was the time when people used to drink water directly from the tap due to lack of awareness and lack of water purification facility.  The incident led Dr Gupta to start a nationwide movement of providing purified water to every household of India to prevent them from waterborne diseases.  Dr Gupta went on to establish Kent RO in 1998 and brought RO technology for the first time in India. However, the product was costly due to the advanced technology and imported material used in it.  Bootstrapping the business, without taking any debt or diluting the equity, he made Kent RO number 1 brand in India by reaching out to maximum Indian households.  # **How Dr Mahesh Gupta made His business So big?**  Let us understand from Dr Gupta’s entrepreneurial journey that how Kent RO became the market leader and waged a nationwide war against diseases borne out of water.  #### **1. Problem Solving Product:** With only 3% reach among households, although RO industry is still at its infancy in India, the Kent RO has become number 1 brand of water purifier because of the product which solves customers’ burning problem. The Kent RO entered into the market to solve the burning problem of customers’ about waterborne diseases.  Dr Gupta understood the problem of people arising due to drinking contaminated water, which led him to bring advanced technology in the industry, which competitors could not bring- Reverse Osmosis (RO). He brought the advanced technology which purified two types of impurities in water- undissolved impurities and dissolved impurities. **Undissolved impurities** like bacteria, sand, clay etc. **Dissolved impurities** like- chemical impurities, inorganic salts, gases etc. _Undissolved impurities_ can be removed by UV (Ultraviolet water purification) technology, but the impurities dissolved in water cannot be purified by doing so.  Kent RO understood the burning problem of customers timely and became the first company to bring the RO technology in India for household purpose.  #### **2. Consumer Product Marketing Strategy:** Although RO technology was, at that time, a radical innovation in water purifier industry, Kent encountered many problems in selling it, for it was an expensive product owing to the cost of material used in production.  **_Problems Encountered by Kent in Selling RO:_** ► Kent’s first RO was launched in 1998, which was priced at Rs 20,000 ► Although it was a competent product, it was way too expensive. ► It did not have market acceptance due to lack of awareness and price. **_Selling techniques opted by Kent:_** ► Kent started selling purifiers through direct marketing by reaching out to the customers. ► They used traditional methods of sending salespeople to households showcasing their products. As they realized their product had increased demand in the market, Kent decided to launch a full-fledged consumer product marketing strategy in 2005.  ► In 2005, Kent introduced Bollywood actress Hema Malini as their brand ambassador. ► They launched TV and Newspaper Ads telling the advantages of their product. ► It imbibed faith among customers about the product. #### **3. Market Leader with Low Investment:** As Kent Chairman Dr Gupta says, the company was founded on the philosophy of zero debt policy, despite low investment; it grew by leaps and bounds to become India’s no. 1 water purifier brand.  ► The Company expanded across the country without increasing its expenses. ► The company did not take any loan or equity to expand.  ► As the brand became popular among the mass, they began building their distribution network around the country.  #### **4. Social Commitment:** The social commitment towards helping people come out of waterborne disease and stay healthy, Dr Gupta made it his mission to give pure water to all the people of the country.  For this: ► The Kent introduced affordable water purifier to reach out to the masses.  ► The company also became first to launch air purifier and Vegetable Washer in the country.  #### **5. Research and Development:** Without research and development, it is more than impossible to be a frontrunner in the market even if there is no competition.  Your Today’s success does not mean that you will be successful tomorrow.  Hence, to be a leader in your industry, you must: ►Focus on continuous innovation.  ►Reach out to the customers to understand their problems.  ►Churn out innovative solutions to their problems. ►Make necessary changes in your products as per customers’ requirement.  #### **6. Innovative Technology:** Along with research and development, Kent RO too continuously worked on improving their technology not only to remain relevant in the market but to be no.1. ► In old RO technology, to purify one litre of water, 3 litres of water was wasted.  ► However, the Kent reduced this wastage to just 1 litre on per litre water purified through new technology. # **_Minerals RO Technology:_** ► As other purifier brands kept on adding artificial minerals in the water, Kent launched new technology that could retain the original water minerals.  ► The new technology retains the minerals of water needed for the human body.  ► It also displays which and in how much quantity the minerals are present in water on a digital screen. These 6 techniques adopted by Dr Mahesh Gupta keep Kent RO a market leader for many years.  Learning & Implementation from the above strategies may also help you make your brand thrive against the competitors.