Evolved to provide specific IT solutions to the needs of Indian industry, the Institute of Computer Accountants initially set up as a small institute in Kolkata. Today it boasts of over 400 centers nationwide with 30 placement offices and an alumnus of 30,000 students. It also provides career-oriented computerized accounts training and hardware networking. The Chairman, Narendra Kumar Shyamsukha, speaks to Sohini Sarkar On the profile of this ISO 900-certified organization.

It was established in 1999. As a chartered accountant practicing since 1989, I noticed a huge discrepancy between what is taught theoretically and what is done in the actual field. I realized that every corporate house wanted to have the kind of staff who could deliver what they required. So I started training aspirants and set up a small institute within the premises of my office in Kolkata in 1999. The space occupied was only about 150 sq. ft. to begin with. There was good demand for the syllabus we pursued and within a year we had 15 more centres in the city, including franchised ones. For two to three years we concentrated only on Kolkata but later, in order to pass on the benefits of our curriculum to other students in the country, regional offices were set up in Delhi and Mumbai in 2003. Within a couple of years, we had 100 centres across India. And it has been growing and evolving ever since.

The model reflects a win-win situation. Ours is a vocational training centre and I believe that people are coming to us to fulfill their aim of getting a good job and not to achieve basic education or to receive a degree or diploma. So I would say our concept of offering 100 per cent job guarantee is the USP of our business.

In this job, the nature of the system and product must be well understood at the local level. A lot of capital as well as management skills are required. It makes sense to involve franchisees at the local level so that at one end the franchisor would look after the placement tie-ups and ensure the development of the courses, while the franchisees would handle the administration, satisfy the students and run the local centres. So I would say franchising is an efficient way to take this business forward. With 300 franchise outlets and 100 company-owned outlets open nationwide, franchising has been a very successful model for us.

Initially, we got off the ground with the concept of a job guarantee. At that time, this was a relatively new concept among computer institutes. We faced some problems as other institutes had earlier abused this notion by forcing students into temporary jobs and not taking any responsibility. As such, people did express doubts about this guarantee scheme. The students, while enrolling, wanted to know its details. Since we are headquartered at Kolkata, there were concerns about whether our centres would succeed in Delhi and Mumbai. After those centres were established in the metros, apprehensions arose whether the ICA institutes would work in smaller cities like Nagpur and Aurangabad and whether the centres in smaller cities would be able to garner students for such specialized training. These were a few of the challenges we faced while expanding operations to other cities.

We enlighten our partners about the various systems, impart training on how to lead the local team, show the way to deal with the students whose satisfaction is of topmost priority, give an understanding of the course material and teach the modus operandi regarding proper placements. Guidance on local marketing is also provided. It is a continuous process as long as they remain franchisees of our ICA brand.

The procedure is rigorous. We take into account their academic background and financial capability to run the venture profitably. Also scrutinized is the proposed area to find out whether the students can travel there easily and ensure that it is strategically located near the main commercial hub of the city to facilitate the exploration of various employment opportunities the city throws up. The franchisee should be dynamic, well-educated ready to work in a team and have leadership quality. This business venture takes time to reap cash profit. It is not a short-term module and hence the franchisee should have patience as well as respect the profession. The long-term goals of the franchisee should match the franchisor’s target of a viable business partnership.

We are trying to make the brand more and more accessible for students. We rely on the word-of-mouth referral of our successfully placed students. To my knowledge, ours is the only company which has its own network of 30 integrated placement cells. Once a student completes his course from any franchise or company-owned centre, he can apply online on a Placement Request Form and our placement offices begin working on his behalf. We present to all our successful students an ‘Any Time Job guarantee card’, which can be used by them at any of our placement offices across the country.

We have different verticals, like those for English, for retail and for accounts, and hence the fees vary. It depends on the availability of a suitable area as well as the location of the centre. The fee also depends on the courses the franchisee wants to offer in his local centre. The franchisee fee is Rs 5 lakh-plus for the metros and Rs 2 lakh-plus for the smaller cities. The total investment for the franchisee depends on the verticals they choose or the courses which they want to offer in their area. For instance it is Rs. 10-Rs.25 lakhs for accounts, and for English and retail it varies between Rs. 8 lakhs and Rs.15 lakhs. For Hardware Networking, known as ICA Shine, the total investment ranges between Rs. 20 lakhs and Rs. 40 lakhs.

We have been running our centres based on the franchise model for the last 10 years. The first centre was company-owned, while the other 15 in Kolkata were franchisee-run. So we have an understanding of the franchise model and they have always performed well. Our franchisees in most cases achieve break-even in the third month after they set up the centre.

Franchisees need to hire 8-10 staff members to run a small centre and a faculty of around 15 for a bigger one. Initially, we help our franchisees to recruit and train the staff and be self-reliant in this respect. We have a huge team of 1,500 faculty members across all centres and each one of them is/has to be certified by the department of quality control that includes a panel of 50 members who works independently to contribute to the success of ICA as a brand.

Different parameters are followed for different courses. Students mainly come to our centres for vocational training and for lucrative jobs. They need to complete the Higher Secondary level for enrolment into accounts. For both Hardware Networking and English courses, clearance of Class X examination is the minimum requirement.

I believe that the franchise model is a defined partnership. As long as the role and responsibilities of both the franchisor and the franchisee is well defined, there is no reason why the business should not succeed. Transparency and faith in franchisees has been ICA’s principle.

As far as accounts are concerned, we are the pioneers. Competition is definitely there but we strive to deliver maximum satisfaction for students. There would be no thrill if we were the only ones in the field. Therefore, I welcome competition since it helps us to grow and expand further.

Continuous upgradation of the system is needed. We have integrated online systems linking all centres to the central server at our head office. There are regular checks by the quality control department. We constantly analyze the performance of the franchisees to see if they follow the set parameters. Our central team interacts with at least five students from the various local centres every month to gather feedback.

The biggest motivation is profit and we try to ensure that every centre tastes success and makes profit. We also hold timely appreciation programmes for the centres which have surpassed previous records.

For the near future, we are looking at finding placements for students abroad. Currently we are satisfied with the way ICA has shaped up as one of the pioneers in the field of IT education.