Mistakes are a part of business. The wisest thing to do is to cut losses and get out when there is still time. In fact, few corporate leaders have followed this dictum more sincerely than Arvind Dham, CMD, Amtek Auto. For, this has also been the reason for his success, when he finally hit the bull's eye.

In fact, fewer are the number of businessmen who have dabbled in different ventures and careers as diverse as Dham. In this regard, few can match the profile of Dham whose career has not been long spanning, yet his profile boasts of his experience in domains as different from each other as cheese is from chalk.

An architecture graduate from Punjab University, Dham literally started his career from ground zero. His childhood was a conventional because the family had to keep moving along with his father whose government job involved frequent transfers.

Now the head of a booming automotive business, Dham's career in component making began when Suzuki started building a local vendor base for Maruti. His real chance came when Suzuki selected him as one of the vendors for Maruti. He was quite a novice in the components segment, so he and his company had to go through a link patch during the first few years.

The next phase of Dham's career was marked by a steady growth. This growth was chiefly an outcome of Maruti's rising stature. Dham makes no bones about the fact that Amtek grew with Maruti. It was around this period that he tried for a further solidification of the company. The results quickly showed, as by the end of 2000, the company was in a position even to make acquisition bids.

Dham first made his foray in construction, but was quick in his realization that it wasn't his cup of tea. After completing his masters from NY State University (Buffalo), he devoted the first couple of years to real estates. During the Dot Com boom he made some diversification like magazines and auto portal, all of which proved disastrous and went down incurring considerable losses. Also, his foray into pharma sank without a trace. But undeterred by failure, Dham kept on moving - learning, acquiring new skills and growing in the process.

A man, who is known as a fighter, Dham, during the last six years, has acquired several farms both at home and abroad. The list includes GWK (UK), MidWest (US), Ahmednagar Forgings and WH Ltd. (India). His most recent acquisitions are Akiel Castings (Pune) and Amforge's Conrod division (Delhi). Even by the high standards of assessment of private players, Dham and his company are confirmed cherries.

A state level cricketer of yesteryears and a keen golfer, the self-confessed workaholic emulates Carlos Ghosn of Nissan, who is his idol and a source of inspiration too.