Trusted Construction CHEMICALS LEADER

One’s professional journey shapes their future in business. Monish Ramchandani moved from managing a family business of perishable fruits for four years in India and the UAE to working with multinational blue-chip companies in the construction chemicals and paint industry in the UAE market for nine years to gain knowledge and market understanding. There was a gap, need and an opportunity for a one-stop solution provider in the construction industry, which was realised by Ramchandani after working in the industry for nine years, which led to the start of QCON General Trading LLC.

In 2015, QCON General Trading LLC was established under Ramchandani’s profound leadership as the Founder, Chairman and CEO. What started as a small bootstrapped business trading firm by a young Indian entrepreneur has evolved and expanded over the last six years into a multimillion-dollar conglomerate.

The group’s commitment towards quality, consistency, and services over this period has made them one of the most trusted and reliable brands in the UAE.

QCON General Trading LLC specialises in wholesale, retail and authorised distribution for construction and building materials. Under this umbrella comes the following:

- Construction Chemicals (BASF Master Builders Solutions, Mapei, Foroc and Weber Sodamco, Fila Solutions)

- Gypsumboard Partitions and Ceilings (Saint-Gobain Gyproc)

- Building Materials, Safety and Hardware (Bosch, Makita, Fischer, QCON)

- Painting and Decorating (Roll Roy, Tuffix, National Paints)

- Tools and Equipment (Graco, Wagner, Collomix, KeiserTools)

- Electric and Lighting (Rexton, Clipsal)

-Wall and Floor Coverings

- Do-it-yourself, Home and Décor

Competitive edge

QCON is a one-stop concept that has world-leading construction brands under one roof. It is a trusted, award-winning and authorised distributor with warranty support from manufacturers across the globe for cost-effective solutions. The company strives to minimise wastage, avoid compatibility issues, delays, damage and duplication of work by understanding the whole design, project and time requirements. There is an experienced and dedicated technical sales team with proper structures and processes in place that support clients and solve any issues.

Pandemic strategy

QCON is constantly seeking new ways to make home improvement projects simpler, more affordable, and accessible for everyone so that it helps clients save money to live better. New brands that were added to the company’s roster in 2021 are Graco, Fosroc and Saint Gobain Weber Sodamco.

Continuing the passion to work for the construction industry and to make construction materials easily accessible, it has also invested in a new B2B e-commerce platform that will cover the newest business trends, and give interesting insights into the latest news in Construction, along with ideas, advice and inspirations.

“The most important leadership lesson that I have learned is to identify every team member’s greatest strengths and amplify the best of what they each bring to the table by assigning them work in which they can excel and feel confident. Ultimately, people will remain more motivated if they are excelling at their jobs and they will feel inspired to organically learn new things over time,” says Ramchandani.

Influencing a team to understand how this should be built into the core framework of the divisions they lead, and not considered ‘optional’ or ‘nice to do if there is extra time to spare’ is one of the most challenging aspects according to Ramchandani.

Key milestones

QCON is among the largest distributors of construction chemicals in the region (close to Dh29 million Annual) offering brands such as BASF MasterBuilder Solutions, Mapei, Fosroc, Weber, Fila Solutions and more.

For six years in a row, QCON has been named the Most Valuable and Biggest Distributor for MasterBuilder Solutions (formerly known as BASF Construction Chemicals).

Saint Gobain has expanded with QCON for its three divisions in the last three years starting from Gyproc, Kimmco Isover and Weber Construction Chemicals, due to a professional and structured approach.

It has distributed gypsum plasterboards and ceilings in the country to the Royal Atlantis, Dubai Creek Harbour, World Islands, Centara Hotel, Park Ridge and more.

Within the first four years of establishment, QCON opened six branches Touching Dh50 million Annual Sales in its fourth year of startup during its expansion phase (QCON 1.0).

The last two years were spent on consolidation (QCON 2.0) and implementing and upgrading control measures on business enterprise resource planning (ERP) metrics with the help of professional tools like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resources Management System (HRMS), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Power Business Intelligence (BI). Ramchandani says “The pandemic gave us more time to reflect, to step back and become more objective. We realised that outreach is necessary and upgraded our e-commerce platform to improve the customer experience.”

Future plans

“Our vision is to become a global distribution and supply chain company and to be the number one choice for our customers, suppliers, employees and partners. We will also continue strengthening business relations with our existing world-leading brand partners,” says Ramchandani.

QCON, a Dubai-headquartered global distribution and supply chain company, announced the beginning of scaling up (QCON 3.0) last month on its sixth anniversary to all employees and business partners.

Adding to this, he says: “We are also scaling up on profitability plans through collaborations, geographical expansion and adding more products and services to our existing product range of 15,000+ products to add more value to our customers.”

The QCON team will also continue working towards digital transformation in the construction materials industry and innovative ways to revolutionise the world of construction materials.

Advice to young graduates starting their career

Ramchandani feels that the lack of financial education is a problem today. He expresses that “Schools should educate students on financial planning, mastering financial aptitude, along with networking skills to build the right attitude at the foundation level. What is missing in today’s education is not how to make money, but how to manage money and make money work harder for you instead of you working for money. Money without financial intelligence is money soon gone.”

His advice to young people is to learn how to use their emotions to think and not think with your emotions i.e. bring objectivity to their actions. He stresses that they should learn through experimenting and making mistakes and that it is easier to change oneself than expect others to change.

“Don’t give up, be consistent, dream big. Starting early mornings has worked for me. Work hard now and make short term sacrifices for your long term goals and the future life you want,” he says.

“A wrong decision may be better than no decision at all. Ask yourself two questions — ‘what’s the impact if I get it wrong?’ and ‘how much will it hold other things up if I don’t move on this?’” Ramchandani signs off. For more information, visit: www.qconinternational.com