PC Retail

Now in its 17th year, the Enta Group has come some way since its humble beginnings in founder Jason Tsai's garage back in 1991. A busy, constantly expanding distribution operation with five different wings, it can count IT solutions, marketing, communications and security amongst its varied interests, and has a thriving presence within the UK.

Entatech, the first company established by Tsai, has built a reputation based on customer service and a wide range of quality products to suit the needs of resellers in a constantly moving market. With its beginnings in IT components, Entatech grew rapidly thanks to a number of canny opportunities spotted by Tsai along the way. "He started the company because at that time he saw there was a big gap in the self-build component market place for resellers to build their own PC's, notebooks and servers," says Atherton, himself a long-serving Enta stalwart with 16 years' experience at the company under his belt.

"With the additional upsurge in the Taiwanese marketplace within IT, companies were starting all over the place and he found he was a foil for a number of key names that we see today, like Gigabyte and Foxconn, who back then were in their fledgling status. He took on a number of those franchises on over the years, and throughout the UK and worldwide now a number of those franchises are obviously very powerful. So Entatech, in its own little way, helped generate a number of brands around the UK."

The ability to grow as the needs of the market changed meant that as the company expanded its horizons, Entatech was soon to be joined by a sister company in the form of Entanet, as well as a number of other companies as Tsai's interests broadened. "Approximately ten years ago Entanet International, now Entanet, was born," continues Atherton. "We have other parts of the group as a whole; Entamedia is a fledgling organisation, based in the commerce design and paper designs – business cards, leaflets, and again is very much reseller focussed."

And although growth and diversification have been key to Entatech's growth, so too has remaining focussed on the job in hand, namely providing a dedicated service to the UK market. "What we realised many years ago was that Entatech being a local distributor, i.e. only based in the United Kingdom, we weren't going to be perhaps the biggest supplier into a number of resellers because we're not international, we're not one of the big three, we don't have the marketing power and, in some cases, the vendors to make an impact in terms of turnover in certain accounts. But we realised that as a local distie, we can offer something different."

That something different comes down to a commitment to servicing the needs of customers as their requirements shift with an ever-changing market, and ensuring that customer service is given top billing on Enta's priority list. "Everybody talks about service, but we've built Enta as a very flat structured organisation," says Atherton. "Being the group vice-president is being able to be contacted by any customer or by any individual – my details are on the website. How that has benefited us is that Enta, due to its product portfolio all those years ago, and to some degree today, is mainly focussed on the SME SMB reseller channel. With the likes of Entanet – our sister company – now growing into to one of the top ten ISP's within the UK, and Entatech growing into a force within the distribution marketplace, we've realised that we won't be one of the biggest suppliers into certain retailers, but we'll be one of the most important suppliers to them and for their business.

"Because we're not just selling hardware or software, we're now selling broadband that they're reselling on, voiceover IP solutions and website designs amongst much more. Entatech as an entity is now able to cross over so many forms of IT that we're becoming a one-stop solution house for the reseller."

A number of incentive schemes echo the company's clear commitment to customer service, and have helped build a loyal and happy customer base across the UK. "With certain marketing aspects that we've put in place, like Enta rewards and the Enta store card, I think we're very independent, and one of the only companies in distribution that does these kinds of things, thinking about our customers on an ongoing bases," says Atherton.

"One of the biggest threats to IT and to the SME channel is obviously credit. A year ago we introduced our Enta Technologies store card, which is designed for the low-turnover SME resellers within the channel who find it difficult to obtain credit.

"We've also got Enta rewards, which is a bit like a Nectar card, so that any time you buy online, with certain products, you obtain points, and from that you can redeem things. We're constantly trying to put as much as we can back into the channel, and we're trying to understand what the needs and demands of our customers are. One of the things we have found over the last 18 months is that credit and cash-flow is an issue, so we've tried to counteract that." With 500 customers signed up to the store card, Entatech's matter-of-fact attention to its customers' dealers is no doubt paying off.

One aspect that has no doubt helped secure Entatech a reputation for knowledgeable service is a remarkably high level of experienced sales staff. "We're lucky in that most of our sales staff here, over 80 per cent, have been with us for over five years, which is unheard of in distribution," adds Atherton.

Part of that is no doubt down to the strong culture of adaptability and determination that permeates Enta, an individualistic company down to its eye-catching Pagoda HQ." The culture that we have here, the ethos, is that it's a very open book, open policy organisation," Atherton continues. "Myself and the owner Jason Tsai included – our office doors are always open. Jason is a very amiable, very honourable sort of chap. He's a thinker and a listener and here we've learnt a lot from him. His way of doing business is in a calm, constructed manner and Entatech, over the last few years, has grown into the business it is today because of his ethos."

Whilst a solid philosophy is a start, Entatech has ensured its success by getting things right at the business end of things, by paying attention to the needs of the market. "We're hitting against the big guns, but so many of our customers prefer to do things with Enta because there's always someone on the phone," says Atherton.

"We're not driving people to the web, and we give our customers a good deal, no raw deals. Enta's business has changed dramatically and evolved over the last 15 years. Enta does evolve, it doesn't fear change, and it moves on, on a constant basis. We see Enta Group as an entity today as probably the most diverse distributor in the United Kingdom."

Concentrating on getting the key elements right within the UK rather than looking abroad has meant that Enta remained stable and profitable in 2007, with an eye on further expanding its product offering into the CCTV market.

With Entatech still very much at the heart of Enta Group, the coming year is sure to see the company go from strength to strength. "From an Enta perspective, 2007 was a great year, as we simply concentrated on what we're good at, which is service driven products and services," concludes Atherton.

"From an Entatech, Entanet and Entamedia perspective we took on some key brands which have helped drive Enta's business forward and our recognition within the market place as a serious player. We want to continue that evolving and changing throughout 2008."

www.entagroup.com