The Story of Us

(Or Stuff We Shouldn't Be Talking About Right Now But Would Like You To Know)

Hello! Welcome, browse through our brief history.

It was a tough call to narrate our part of the story. Well, not that we didn't want 'About Us' link, but we didn't believe that was the way to converse with people- at least for this kind of a site. Surely, you will notice that the script is a bit, well, "different".

Conflicts, struggles and complexity (elements that make a story interesting) can be found in abundance at our place. The lines you read do capture few such moments but the rest are largely part of our collective memory because we have traveled a long distance since then. Yes, we are building a database of 'lessons learned' for future recall. Until then, do witness how gallons of coffee (or tea), sweat, and spirit have helped us overcome obstacles.

The Flamingo Factor

We started off with one telephone, few thousands of rupees, one desk and a desktop. It is a typical one room start up. Our aim, then, was to help talented people find and keep the right company. In fact, we were deep into fitment, much before folks thought of it as an industry. Our gut feeling paid off; for a while, we walked with our heads well above the ground knowing we made it.

Of course, on the flip side, our preoccupation led us to missing out on certain opportunities: IT Recruitment in 1995 and eLearning, recently. Our late arrival did cost us dearly. Lesson learnt, we have already stepped on the gas and are catching up with what we missed, eventually. Credit must go to our people who put the shoulder to wheel and got us unstuck and running.

The Lame Duck Situation

Now and then as an individual you underestimate the impact of a decision. Or you don't fully envision its recoil. It isn't that different for a company, either. Take our diversification effort, for instance. Setting up a sister company (C&K Management) was great, however, it did come at the expense of the big brother (TMI Network).

The branching out effort (Cash crunch, timing) was so intense that the heat left TMI Network in an exasperated state. In fact, TMI Network, was left more or less immobile and enervated to scale the high points on the financial chart. Adversity, however, is a good teacher. We pulled, limped, and clawed our way back onto the charts on a wing and prayer. By March 04, TMI Network has clawed its way back to Top 5 list nationally. And C&K started making profits since 2005.

The Icarus Fall

"The timing is good. The market is willing. The people are ready". Well, at least, they were the assumptions we had in mind, when we created The ManageMentor (Online knowledge portal). We did believe that our product (without a competitor) was the next big blockbuster for the company. We left no marketing stone unturned (product, price, positioning, strategy.) in its rollout except for promotion (we could not afford ad budgets). Yes, we also spent a good fortune - it was after all, the age of exuberance.

The product did and continues to make a difference to the companies that have subscribed (well over 200 of them). The cost to the TMI group, however, has been great. Well, you know, the price of thinking ahead of your times. The MangeMentor still turns in a tidy sum, but not the kind, we envisioned - not yet, anyway.

This did not deter our people fighting in the trenches. We expanded on our Middle East operations and got into e-learning. C & K Management has moved from a single product company to multi product, multi Service Company in a span of 24 months. This is the spirit of the TMI group. Learn and Move on.

The Flight of Flamingoes

The past has placed us (TMI Network and C&K Management) at the cusp of something remarkable. Things are exciting. Middle East is beckoning. More products are rolling out, we keep raising the bar on our services, and future ideas mushrooming at the speed of thought. In effect, the business is good.

Now, we are interested in people who can join us for the long haul-to the land of plenty. We look forward to meeting the real you, not just the print version on A4 size paper or 72 dpi, 10 Point Helvetica.

If you are an independent thinker, risk taker, business and team builder, and creative problem solver, do visit us to discuss the future over a Styrofoam cup of coffee or tea.

Absolutely positively, you can Expect More from us: More Responsibility. More Independence and More Freedom. You can also subvert hierarchy now and then.

Come over and feel free to script a really "different' story.

Where are we today

Recently, Money Today carried an interesting piece about our Group. Read what they have to say about us. Click here to read the entire story.

Top