At Shakil Ahmed's PDC Systems, service starts with a 102-step quality-control process for each system he sends out. Photo by Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin

"My mom would say, 'I don't know what we'll do with you; you're not even strong enough to pull a rickshaw.' "

But then Ahmed, 29, had no expectations of wealth or entrepreneurship. His mother was a teacher; his father was a mechanical engineer, and Ahmed was expected to follow in his father's footsteps.

Ahmed found himself on the M.E. track with the best intentions, but when the opportunity arose, he grabbed it and today runs PDC Systems, customizing computer systems for corporations, resellers, network and other computer consultants, and government.

He started the company in 1991 as a sole proprietor with no employees and revenues of under $20,000. Last year, his company grossed $700,000 and he expects revenues of more than $1 million this year.

Recently he was named the Small Business Administration's young entrepreneur of the year for the state of Hawaii.

Not bad for a guy who didn't exactly have a driven childhood.

"In India, it's different in that kids don't have to go out and get a job after high school. Until you graduate from college your parents will support you. That's all they want you to do is finish school. Then they kick you out."

To this day, he says his parents somewhat regret footing the bill for his graduate studies at the University of Hawaii, because that is where he began going astray.

He was drawn here by the Hawaii Deep Water Geothermal Project on the Big Island. If it had worked, geothermal power would be supplied to Maui and Oahu via underwater cables. But plans went bust and having graduated, Ahmed was in need of a job, which he found at ABC Chemical.

With a background in chemistry as well as engineering, the company had all kinds of plans for Ahmed, but more important, in 1989 they needed a new computer system.

Ahmed took charge of computer duties, and in working with ABC customers, started helping them with their computer problems as well, which planted the seed of entrepreneurship.

Everything was going well at ABC. He loved the job. He loved his co-workers. So when he told his then-fiance (they have since married) that he wanted his own business, her response was "You're crazy."

"I knew it was going to be a headache, but I like a challenge, because so many people told me, 'you're too nice, you can't do it.' "

ABC became his first client, and Ahmed is grateful.

"When you're going to a big company to make a presentation the first question they ask is, 'What other company have you done this for?' They don't want to be the first.

"My first few clients are small in size compared to other clients but I have a special bond with the first three or four. They were the ones who believed in me and gave me a shot."

These are also the businesses he knows intimately since he started by designing custom software for the specific businesses.

"My business has changed completely. Today we don't do any software," he said.

For one thing, developing software took time. It would take him two or three months just to learn the customer's business.

"And then I realized every business changes. Then what were we gonna do?"

After a year of business, Ahmed needed money and went to Gordon Fujino at Bank of Hawaii. It was Fujino who saw his vision and gave him the advice: "Plan your work and work your plan."

Since then, Fujino has moved to the Big Island, but Ahmed keeps in touch regularly.

With his loan, there was no turning back. "You have to be prepared to eat macaroni and cheese," Ahmed said, and crucial to success is the notion that one cannot be in business simply to make money.

"It has to be something more. My thing is technology. There has to be a passion in how much you want to see your dream come true because it's scary. There is no safety net. After you, there's nobody. Period."

Ahmed, who employs six people, says that employees have been the source of growing pains.

"I've been fortunate, but I have gone through a lot of employees," he said. "My wife worked here for a little while," he said. It didn't work out having two "bosses."

"Everything is tangible except the human factor. I'm always thinking about how you can instill the idea of customer service and excellence. To them it's just a job, but for me, this is it. It's everything."

Strangely enough, the kid who liked to play now works hardest of all. He likes to say he starts work about 5 or 6 p.m., when everyone else has gone home.

He is a stickler for quality, and all computer components are subject to an extensive series of checks, so that his employees joke that they're down to 102 steps. But this works for clients. Anyone who buys a system from PDC can call and usually speak to the person who built the unit, who knows its components by heart.

Ahmed takes part of his inspiration from athletics. "I love to watch a good coach in action. You figure, the players, to be on that level, have to be good. So the coach has a lot to do with whether a team wins or loses. They have to motivate.

"Business is like a game. You can't win everything. But you can get better and work better as a team all the time.

And you don't abandon the team mid-season.

"My parents keep thinking, 'He's going to give this up pretty soon and get a real job,' but I don't think so."