Reflections from Founder & President Mr. Zaid Khan
During the year 2016, the founder of In-Corr-Tech Limited Mr. Zaid Khan celebrated 25 years of operating his San Fernando, Trinidad-based, Inspection and Engineering Design Company.
His success did not come easy as this entrepreneur began in a modest one room, one employee setup in Staubles Building in Marabella. In 1990, this present success could not have easily been predicted. Within one year he had expanded his one room, one man venture, to three office rooms and two additional employees.
With the support of his wife Rabbia, his parents and in-laws, together with an intense drive to succeed, the company has experienced steady growth for over 25 years, and during the year 2016, has seen an increased revenue growth.
In the beginning, the company provided Pressure Testing, Statutory Inspection and vessel Inspections, however due to demand, many other services were added. The introduction of one of its main services, Root Cause Analysis/Failure Analysis was born due to Mr. Khan’s previous work experience at Texaco, now Petrotrin.
Mr. Khan is responsible for widening the analytical approach to maintenance in the industry. He has been an advocate for preventative maintenance as opposed to the commonly practiced method of breakdown maintenance. Preventative maintenance approaches have allowed companies to become more profitable as they incurred less down time.
Mr. Khan also strongly believes that proper and definitive inspection is a requirement for safe operation. For the environment to be safe, the equipment with which employees work must also be fit for service.
Zaid Khan is a firm believer in the sharing and dissemination of knowledge. He readily imparts his skill and experience to his staff and clients and has routinely and freely assisted students of engineering with their assignments and final year projects. In fact, many of this country’s finest can attest to the positive and worthwhile interactions and contributions they have had with Mr. Khan over many years. He has together with his employees, established a Charitable Foundation in October 2013, to assist those in need.
One of his operating principles is honesty to customers. He says “the two prerequisites for call back jobs and references are satisfied customers and technical competence. In fact a lot of business comes our way due to our technical competence and reputation.”
Mr. Khan has reinvested as much as possible to grow the business and echoes that dedicated and satisfied employees are essential for growth in business. He continues, “Future planning is good but not necessarily futuristic planning”. He advises that you must be equipped for changes - you must be dynamic and be prepared for ups and downs.
When asked about the next 25 years, this avid golfer laughs heartily and says “Stick around...you’ll learn a couple things!”