Suresh Kumar Basnet began his business with the belief that if one has the capacity and acumen for marketing, one can sell just anything. From a budding businessman in 1979 to NCC president today, he has seen success and knows it does not come easy.

Suresh Kumar Basnet

President

Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC)

By Gaurav Aryal

Suresh Kumar Basnet stepped into the world of business with Rs 7,000 back in 1979. For Basnet, that was a big money managed all by himself to start his business. At that time, he saw demand for fancy clothes, watches, photography equipment, typewriters in the cities of the plain like Bhairahawa, Biratnagar and other places. I supplied those goods from the wholesalers in Kathmandu to these cities,he shares the story behind the inception of his business and career. Basnet gained experience and knowledge about his business with time from the people in his fraternity. He was not hesitant to shift to those goods and businesses that offered lucrative returns.

Today, Basnet is the President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC), the guardian association of Nepali industries as well as small, medium and large companies. Basnet has been in NCC for 18 years now. Beginning with the working committee member, he has climbed the ladder to the apex position. Apart from the NCC President , he is a business person heading a group of companies with interests in export and production of pashmina, textile, silver jewellery, handicraft, copper goods, gold-plated statues, carpets and mineral water among others.

At present, he directly owns a range of business enterprises including Basnyat Company Limited, Sujit Concern and Brothers, Om Shanti Pashmina Udyog and Jal Pure Drinking Water and Beverage Industry. He is also involved with Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) and Sunrise Bank in different capacities.

Early Life

Basnet was born in Kathmandu in 1955. His family was a working class family. It was around 1960 that his family bought a piece of land in Chitwan. Young Basnet shifted to Chitwan in 1962 where he completed his school education. We had an extended family and since we were financially weak we decided to shift to Chitwan, Basnet clarifies. He adds, There I learnt to be a hard-working man. I took to farming, did household chores and saw myself being shifted from one place to another with the passage of time. He emotionally says that in Chitwan he could realise what the hardship is and what the joys are the two realities of life.

Basnet proudly claims that in his student days, he was quite a good student. Apart from his studies, he was fond of playing football, volleyball, badminton and chess. He was counted as one of the best players of the district those days.

After graduating the School Leaving Certificate, he came back to Kathmandu with a dream of becoming a doctor. To pursue his dream, he joined Amrit Science Campus. However he was forced to take up physics as he could not study Biology in his high school in the absence of a biology teacher. Basnet largely relied on lectures as books were so rare and expensive those days. He recalls how he had to wait for months for a book in the college library. During his exam time, his fate took a different turn. He fainted while appearing for his exams. I had to leave my studies for around six months because of my illness. When I returned to college, my principal said that I have missed the course and asked me to start afresh next year,Basnet says. Meanwhile, his relatives advised him to change the subject and study commerce rather than waiting for the next session.

Basnet quietly obeyed them and joined Public Youth Campus where he completed his ICom. He later completed his graduation from Shankardev Campus in business studies. While pursuing his business studies, Basnet somewhere felt that he should polish his entrepreneur skills and start doing something on his own.I established a firm for import-export, he shares his early days. Basnet picked up business fundamentals from his brother's friend who ran a company in Putalisadak. Basnet was around 26 when he started his business. A lot of hard work in the years that followed earned me vital business contacts that helped me in my export-import business, he reveals. At that time Basnet used to deal with the third-country goods but he claims he never dealt with cheap goods from Khasa, China. He opened an LC account to make his export-import business a formal one. Basnet usually dealt in items with seasonal demands like dry fruits and readymade garments during major festivals like Dashain and Tihar. Apart from that he also tried dealing with photography goods, motor parts, ball bearings and later on even in vehicles. He admits that often he had to bear losses for not having enough experience and expertise. He adds, I thought of getting into industries. I was into garments, carpet, and pashmina. In the pashmina business, I incurred losses as well as made profits over the years His markets for these products were Japan, Korea and USA. He shares, I gained experience by doing the things. I learnt the nitty-gritty of business and kept on reworking on my strategies. I always received support from my family. My better-half is just like my business partner.

Basnet has passed three decades in the business world. He thinks profit and loss are defined by the nature of business, time and environment, politics, dedication to work and a touch of luck. Sometimes despite hard work, enough investment and favourable time, some circumstances and luck may lead to failure,Basnet opines. Apart from profit and loss, business has taught me honesty, duty to pay taxes to the state, and to have patience and take risk, he says.

Today Basnet has stopped importing and focuses only on export. I am looking for ways to export our products to other countries. I am targeting the US market though recession has bruised its demands. However, I have not stopped exporting pashmina, silver jewellery, handicraft, copper goods, small statues and carpets, he expresses determination. Basnet is looking forward to investing in hydroelectricity too. I am also searching for feasible products that can be produced with local raw materials and which has the market prospect within Nepal like dairy products,he adds.

When he began his business, Basnet managed the investment from his own sources but today he feels the presence of commercial banks has eased financing for any project. About managing capital, he says he revolves the fund between industries and companies as and when required.

About managing his companies, Basnet says that management works are done by dedicated staff and managers of the respective departments are given full authority. He says he does not interfere in their work except for some monitoring and policy guidelines. However, Basnet thinks the investor also has to play the role of a manager.

Basnet believes in having friendly relationship with employees. After working for a long time, some sense of brotherhood develops among the staff,he opines. He says employees salary is based on the ratio of profit made by the company but he ensures that people working in his companies are well taken care of in all respects including financial distress.We respect honesty, dedication and hard work of employees so that they can develop a sense of ownership towards their workplace.

Family Life

Basnet feels that he struggled throughout his life alone. His sons have always stayed away from home either for their studies or for their job. But we always have a cordial relationship with each other. I have given time to my family as much as possible. Previously, we used to spend quality time together at least once a month and every winter we used to visit some places within Nepal, he revealed the way he takes out time for his family. He thinks giving time to family means giving time to self also.

He is satisfied with what he has achieved so far and has nothing to regret. At the end of the day, experience that he gathered maters to him much than the the status of profit and loss accounts. As any other human being, I also thought of making money but for that I never compromised with the business ethics, he proudly says. I never lied or cheated anybody and I always paid back the loans borrowed from the banks. That gives me immense satisfaction when I look back at my career.

The malpractice in the name of unions that is going around is something that worries him. Basnet believes that professional working environment should not be unionised or politicised.

Spirituality

For the last 17 years, he has immersed himself into spiritual contemplation. He says, There is only one truth that is our soul and God. What we see with our eyes is nothing but illusion. Every morning, he meditates and ponders over spirituality for two hours. Basnet claims that NCC is also a kind of social organisation that has spent 58 years for the welfare of small, big and medium industries without any greed. He is also involved with a religious institution. I participate in some spiritual activities as religion is an integral part of our culture. My aim is to interact with the soul. I think our physical body is just like a mirage in the desert or the rope seen as a snake in dim light, he becomes saintly.

In his free time, Basnet likes to visit Chitwan and indulges in prayer sessions. I know that exercise is needed to keep myself healthy but I have not been successful to manage time for it. But I do light exercises related to breathing and limbs every day for around half an hour, he revealed. I have some health problems but due to my spiritual inclination, they have not caused many problems to me, he claimed. Apart from that, he likes reading spiritual books, economic news and articles, occasionally watch family and social movies and TV channels like Discovery, National Geographic that air new and interesting things. He admits that he spends more time in spiritual contemplation. He feels his body has grown too old to indulge in any sports now.

Basnet is thinking of taking retirement at the age of around 64 but he is not fanciful about his life after retirement. He does not dream of visiting new places, go swimming or golfing. He plans to immerse in his quest for spirituality. My philosophy is that being a human being, we are meant to find out who we are. So, I will also try to internalise the self, he declares.

Personal Side