He started out with Rs 10. Today, he heads a Rs 25 crore (approx. $5.8 million) company. An occasional vacation never hurt anyone, but 37-year-old Chetan Sharma is taking no chances. The longest break he has ever taken from work is a day. Even on his wedding day, he was fine-tuning a tender document till three hours before the ceremony.

Hard work and fierce ambition have taken him places. Delhi-based Datamation Consultants, the company he set up with almost no money in 1985, today employs 500 people and has a turnover of Rs 25 crore. And Sharma still works fiercely hard. 'I want to be number one. There's no place for runners-up', he says earnestly. He envisages a turnover of Rs 100 crore by 2000.

Datamation was one of the earliest data miners in the country. A data mining company maintains its own database, and occasionally buys data from other sources, depending on its client's needs. It then sifts through the information, analyses it, and identifies trends and patterns that add power to the client's direct marketing effort.

But data mining is only one of the things Datamation does. Its services include software solutions, Web-based solutions and business advisory services. 'I wanted to exploit the power of databases for marketing gains', says Sharma. The concept of data mining was common abroad in 1985, but in India, selling it involved changing mindsets. It was a struggle initially, he recalls. He recounts the story of Delhi Lotteries, one of his earliest contracts. The project involved processing prize-winning tickets surrendered by stockists. Datamation's rival bid for Rs 1.35 per lottery ticket, while Sharma bid 14 paise. Delhi Lotteries could not believe anyone could do a good job so cheap. Says Sharma: 'It took 18 months of persuasion to get the contract. I had to explain how the PC had changed computing reality.'

Making a living from IT seemed inevitable. 'I lacked the resources for manufacturing, and finance was too routine. I knew I could make it only in marketing, and I was eager to apply my IT skills', he says. With an MCA and an MBA from Symbiosis, Pune, and rented machines, the 23-year-old Sharma set out to make his dream come true. He bought his first machine almost entirely on credit from a vendor he knew well.

Sharma was able to pull off his ground-breaking venture because of his conviction that it would work. 'I have always believed in the power of focused marketing. This requires good database management, which is impossible without IT infrastructure', he says. Apart from his readings on the subject, he was inspired by his close friend Janice Brodman, who has great faith in direct marketing and a doctorate in education technology from MIT. Business has not exactly been a bed of roses, but then a rough patch is hardly likely to daunt Sharma. Struggle has been his steady companion. He worked through a childhood speech disability, a floundering family business in garment exports and a near takeover of his own business.

Datamation had a chronic shortage of cash. Sharma's market research pointed to business opportunities abroad, and in 1989, Sharma went to the US. But he was no jet-setter he travelled on humble Greyhound buses from city to city.

'I would often borrow from my mother's savings and return the money a month later, only to borrow again', he recalls. Finally, his father roped in a team of financiers. But that brought its own problems. There was more liquidity, but less operational freedom. Things went from bad to worse. In '91, when Sharma was in the US, Datamation's employees struck work. The financiers decided to auction the business, and put a notice in the Hindustan Times, inviting bids. Sharma returned, bid Rs 8 lakh, and won. The financiers were willing to accept payment over a year. Sharma kept the company going, and cobbled together the money from revenues over the next several months.

Fortunately, the US trip bore fruit in '92: a $500,000 contract from AMER Telecom, a subsidiary of communication giant MCI. It was a data mining project to promote the company's toll-free services. Datamation saw its first greenbacks at the end of 18 months of effort. Says Sharma: 'We were thrilled and overwhelmed. It was a huge project, and everyone was exhausted. The project had been conceptualised in Washington and the database was in India. We had pushed ourselves to the limit, and we knew that huge bills awaited us.'

Today, Datamation has around 20 centres around the country. Its growth has been funded from its own resources. More than 70 per cent of Datamation's 200 clients are multinational companies, including ABN-AMRO, American Express, Bank of America, Citibank, Hewlett-Packard, KFC (Malaysia), KLM, MCI, Nestle, The Economist and Time Inc. Over 30 per cent of business comes from abroad, and about 35 per cent from the Delhi region.

Along with Datamation, the concept of data mining in India has grown, too. There are more than 100 players in the market. Since margins are narrow, volumes must be high. To cover risks, Datamation has moved into direct marketing, including telemarketing, the Internet and direct sales and software development. Sharma dreams of offering services so complete that he can take care of the entire back office operations of his clients.

He drives himself hard: his day begins early, because he has clients in Hong Kong, which is two-and-a-half hours ahead of India. 'There have been times when I haven't gone home for days, in order to meet a deadline, and deadlines are sacrosanct. I believe there can be no extraordinary gains without exceptional effort', he says. That's a lesson he learned as a child. I worked hard to overcome my lisp. My mother would place a marble under my tongue and make me read aloud. Gradually, my speech became normal. In school and college, I outscored my classmates consistently. As a post-graduate student in Pune, I worked part-time at Bajaj Auto,' he says.

Sharma draws inspiration from the Jews, who survived the Holocaust and decades of discrimination. 'Success that comes from struggle and from the pursuit of excellence is enduring, unlike success that comes easily and without pain,' he philosophises.

His unyielding work ethic is born of a deep personal honesty. He sees job creation as a way of contributing to society. He has hired underprivileged and disabled people and takes pains to ensure they remain with his company. 'I want to run a commercially successful venture with the spirit of an NGO. Money is important for survival, but it's useless beyond a point. Moving into bigger houses and buying new cars isn't my idea of success. I'm not the only one who's worked hard here, and I'd like my co-workers to prosper with me' he says.

Of course, in family terms, there has been a price to pay. Says Sharma: 'My greatest regret is not spending enough time with my mother at the end of her losing battle with cancer, two years ago. And now, my kids are growing up, and I'm missing out on that.'

But life is not all grim determination; it's also fun. 'The task I've set myself is daunting, but I'm enjoying every moment. My philosophy has been vindicated, and the marketplace recognises Datamation and knows what it stands for.' Dreams do come true, don't they?