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She started her career 30 years ago as an entrepreneur, selling eateries from a How do CEOs stay calm? mobile cart on the Marina beach amidst all odds ­­ battling a failed marriage, coping with her husband, a multiple addict, and taking care of two kids. As a startup CEO, what is your favorite productivity hack?

Today, she has overcome the hurdles and owns a chain of restaurants. What kind of jobs do software engineers who earn $500k per year do? An entrepreneur by accident Who are the most successful self­taught I was always interested in cooking and passionate about trying out new dishes. tech founders? But, the thought of becoming a business woman never came to my mind at all as I do not come from a business family. Both my parents were government Do shorter CEOs use certain techniques servants. to manage just as effectively as taller CEOs? But my marriage changed everything. Both the families opposed the marriage When is it a good time in a start­up's life vehemently as my husband belonged to the Brahmin community; cycle to raise money? unfortunately my marriage did not work out as my husband was addicted to alcohol, drugs, etc. I could not bring him out of the addiction. As a young If I want to become an entrepreneur, woman, I did not know how to cope with this and I was getting beaten up where do I start? everyday. How does a person deal with successive failures? Though my father, a very conservative Christian never forgave me, he gave me refuge when I had nowhere to go. I was thrown out with two very small Where can I find a list of venture capital children. It was a question of survival for me. I knew I should either succumb (VC) funds and angel investors in India?

to the burden or fight; I decided to fight my lonely battle. What is the one piece of advice you would give first­time entrepreneurs? I did not want to be a burden on my parents. So, to be economically independent, I could only do what I knew and what I liked. I started making pickles, squashes and jams at home. I just took a couple of hundred rupees from my mother. I sold everything I made in one day and that gave me confidence. Search for questions, people, and topics Login Sign Up I earned a good income. I invested whatever I earned to make more pickles, squashes and jams. It was quite lucrative in the sense, even ten rupees was a blessing for me.

The first step as an entrepreneur My father's friend, who was running a school for handicapped children, was handing out mobile carts or kiosks to people who would employ at least two handicapped people. They needed somebody who could run it and I was offered one such cart free. I had to train the handicapped children to make coffee and serve them to customers. As I lived near the Marina beach, I decided to put the mobile cart at the Anna Square on the Marina beach. I had seen people thronging the beach in the evenings. But I had to make umpteen trips to the Public Works Department and wait for one year to get the permission.

Finally, I started working on June 21, 1982, a day I will never forget. The previous night itself, with the help of the local rickshaw drivers, I had rolled the mobile cart to the beach. It was a small move but thrilling as it was my own and I was going to be a business woman the next day.

While such carts sold only tea and cigarettes, I decided to sell cutlets, samosas, bajjis, fresh juice and coffee and tea. On the first day, I sold only one cup of coffee and that was for fifty paise!

I was very disappointed and came home crying. I told my mother, that I would not like to continue. But my mother consoled me saying, at least you sold one cup of coffee. That's a good sign. You will do well tomorrow. And, she was adamant that I go the next day also.

TUhpev noetext 1d.a3yk, I Dmoawdnveo stoeldC sonmamceknst sfor3 9Rs 600­700 which was big money for me then! As I started making money, I added ice creams, sandwiches, French fries and juices too. I used to keep thinking of adding more items.

I ran it from 1982 to 2003, and the maximum I made from that mobile cart was Rs 25,000 a day. That was during the bandh days! We used to be open from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. every day, and later, I started opening from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. for the walkers.

I used to personally stand there and sell all the stuff I made. I never felt scared to stand there late at night. My only thought was to prove myself and move ahead.

There was a fire in me that made me believe that I could be successful without anyone's help. I did not want to be a failure. If you have that fire, nothing in the world can stop you from succeeding.

Offer to run a canteen On seeing my work at the beach, within a year, the Slum Clearance Board gave me an offer to run the canteen at their office with a proper kitchen. The chairman met me during her morning walk. That is how I got the offer. The canteen was a huge success.

On Wednesdays, it was the public grievance day, so about 3000 people used to come there and I had a roaring business.

I used to get up at 5 a.m. in the morning, make idlis and go to the beach. From 9 a.m. I would be at the canteen. From 3.30 p.m. I would again be at the beach cart and would be there till 11p.m. By then, I had employed people to cook, and clean, and all the cooking was done at the canteen kitchen. My monthly income in those days was around Rs 20,000.

Later, I got an offer to run the Bank of Madurai canteen, I stopped running the canteen at the Slum Clearance Board canteen. At the Bank canteen, I served food to around 300 people daily.

The turning point One day, after a fight with my husband who used to come to trouble me often, I boarded a bus and travelled till the last stop. I got down and saw the National Port Management training school run by the Central government.

On the spur of the moment, I told the security guard that I wanted to meet the administrative officer. I met him and told him that I was a caterer and that I heard they were looking for a one.

He said, to my surprise that they were indeed looking for one as they had problems with the current contractor. I still believe it was God who took me there.

I got the offer. I had to serve three meals to about 700 students. They gave us quarters to stay. It was a new life for me. I got into the groove in a day. It was successful from day one, and I took care of the canteen till 1998.

My first weekly payment was Rs 80,000. I felt so elated having seen only hundreds and thousands till then. During those times, I was earning almost a lakh a week.

In those days, I wanted to do everything personally as I felt only then, things would run smoothly. Now I know if I train people well, they will do the work the way you want.

Starting restaurants My connection with restaurants started in 1998 when I met people from the Sangeetha Restaurant group. They offered me a partnership in one of the units. But my son, Praveen Rajkumar wanted me to start my own restaurant and build a brand of ours.

But destiny played truant with me again. I lost my daughter, Pratibha Sandra and son­in­law road accident, a month after their marriage in 2004. It shattered me, and I withdrew from all that I was doing.

Then my son took over and started the first restaurant 'Sandeepha' in my daughter's memory. It took some time for me to come out of the shock and start helping my son in the business. Now, I am fully involved in the business. The fire to succeed has come back to me now.

Ambulance to help the accident victims I still cannot get over my daughter's death as I did all this for my children; to bring them up and give them a good life.

What shocked me was the way the accident victims were treated by the ambulance operators. When they found that all the four in the car were dead, they said they would not carry dead bodies. Finally, somebody carried all the dead bodies in the boot of a car. When I saw the bodies being taken out of the boot, I broke down.

No mother can bear such a scene. That is when I decided to keep an ambulance on that very spot to help people whether the victims are alive or dead. It is in memory of my daughter.

FICCI entrepreneur of the year award I started my business with just two people. Now, there are 200 people working for me in my restaurants. My lifestyle has changed too. From travelling in a cycle rickshaw, I moved to auto rickshaws and now I have my own car. From 50 paise a day, my revenue has gone up to Rs 2 lakh a day.

The 'Ficci entrepreneur of the year' award is the culmination of all the hard work I have put in over the last 30 years. It came as a surprise as this is the first time I have received an award.

Till now, I had no time to think of what I was doing. But the award made me look back and relive the days that passed by. Now, my ambition is to build my Sandeepha brand.

Advice to young entrepreneurs Do not ever compromise on quality. Never lose your self­confidence. Believe in yourself and the product you are making. Third, always stick to what you know. When you employ people, you should know what you ask them to do. via toostep.com U pdated 7 Aug, 2013.

More Answers Below. Related Questions

What are some inspiring women entrepreneurial stories? What are some of the inspiring Indian start­up success stories?

Which Indian startups have the best inspiring stories?

Varun Lohia, Pseudo Nerd 351 upvotes by Ganesh Srinivas, Dinesh Ravi, Jashan Gupta, (more) The Dosawala

Prem Ganapathy, was stranded at the bandra station,when the person accompanying him left him and ran away. Prem had no local acquaintances or knowledge of the language. Out of pity, a fellow Tamilian guided him to a temple and appealed worshipers to contribute money for his return ticket to Chennai. Prem refused to go back and decided to work in Mumbai and started cleaning utensils in a restaurant. He appealed to his owner, to let him become a waiter as he was class 10 pass. The owner refused, because of regional politics and Prem bided his time till a neighbor hood dosa restaurant opened and offered him a job from a dishwasher to a tea boy. Prem became a huge hit with the customers because of his excellent customer service, initiatives and relationship and brought business Rs. 1000 daily which was almost 3 times as compared to other tea boys. The life was good. A customer made him an offer. He was planning to open a tea shop in Vashi in Mumbai. He wanted Prem to be his 50 ­ 50 partner where the owner would invest the money while Prem would run the shop. The shop started doing brisk business when the owner became greedy. It hurt him to share 50 % of the profit with Prem and he threw Prem out replacing him with an employee. Prem was made of a different material and he was never going to be defeated. He took a small loan from his uncle and with his brother, opened his own tea stall. Unfortunately the neighbourhood residents objected. He then started a hand cart but that also did not work out. He found a spot and set up a south Indian stall. He did not know a thing about dosas and idli but learnt by observation, trial and error. The dosa stall was a huge hit and flourished during the 5 years from 1992­1997. But why was the tiny dosa stall was was so successful in spite of competition from ubiquitous eateries prevalent in Mumbai. According to Prem it was its hygiene, proper appearances of the waiters and fresh ingredients which stood out as a difference. He saved a couple of lakhs of Rupees and instead of heading home he took the biggest risk of his life and opened a new shop near Vashi station and named it as Dosa Plaza. His Chinese plaza next to the Dosa Plaza flopped miserably and was shut down in 3 months. Undaunted, Prem realized some lessons from it. He applied those lessons in making Chinese cuisine in his dosas which worked very well. He got passionate and invented a variety of dosas with Chinese style like American Chopsuey, Schezwan Dosa, Paneer chilly, Spring roll dosa etc. The 108 types of Dosas in his menu gets him a lot of publicity. A chance encounter with a customer who was part of the team setting up a food court in a mall in New Bombay advised him to take a stall at the food court and again Prem was ready and willing to grow and expand. His vision was to grow by better offerings and better customer service. He also went to ad agencies to create the brand identity including the logo, brands, menu card, waiters dress etc. He started getting a lot of offers for franchising and had to find out the meaning of franchising and its modus operandi. Dosa Plaza currently has 26 outlets and 5 of them are company owned. It has 150 employees and a turnover of 5 crore. All the branches are connected and networked and there are training managers and proper manuals to maintain standard and uniform product and services. Merit is the only criteria; all the employees regardless of the caste or region are treated equally. They are loyal and have grown with the company. The original team of cooks which was the part of the first Dosa venture is still with Prem. Currently he is also getting enquiries from US and Europe for franchisees. U pdated 9 Jun, 2013.

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Sanjay Verma, Just a bunch of flaws, randoml... (more) 265 upvotes by Kunal Shridhar, Quora User, Bijaya Biswal, (more) The Man Who Founded One of World’s Leading Mobile Development Company After Completing MBBS & MD

Rohit Singal, founder of SourceBits, a global leader in mobile (web) strategy, design and development, has a qualification that you’ll see at the nameplates of the top doctors in your city, MBBS & MD (Radiology). He is one reason why you can’t put dreams inside a box. His story in his own words, “When I was doing MBBS, my dad got me a computer and I was really hooked onto it, but I never even thought that I would be in computers. That was just a hobby, and I had to pursue my medical career. After finishing my MBBS, I got MD in Ramaiah Memorial Hospital in Bangalore where they had a requirement for a picture archival & communication software. Big companies like Siemens were quoting more than $1 million for such software. I was able to build the same solution, using open source software for the university and they paid about $100,000 in installments to me. That was my moment of realization, where it was abundantly clear that I can survive on my passion and people are willing to pay for that.” Singal, 35, started Sourcebits immediately after graduation, in 2006. It was a slapdash affair, but also reflected on a long and hallowed tech tradition, the garage company. “I had absolutely no idea of the IT business. I was so bad that I did not even know how to write an offer letter to recruit a person. And I was a one person company. But as I moved on, I learnt while making mistakes and I am still learning,” he says. Singal describes the efforts put into finding office space as the most painful of the starting issues. “Eventually, I got a garage, not my parents’ (his father was in government service) but a rented one.” The first months were cruel. Singal learnt everything the hard way. No revenue. No one willing to share the dream. No business plan. No idea how to reach customers. Singal’s big break came with Funbooth, a product created by Singal with two other developers. The app, which allowed users to modify photographs by adding props like masks and mustaches, brought Sourcebits their first contract from Freeverse. “I knew from the beginning I cannot get a sales deal in the normal way. So only way to move forward was to make a product and that too a world class product that the world would notice.” Funbooth still sells well for the Apple Mac platform.

It’s obvious Singal believes in taking risks. If the beginnings of the company and the choice of the Mac as the development platform while the rest of the IT industry was Windows focused are not proof enough, one of his early hiring decisions demonstrates his attitude to risk. “When my company revenue was just Rs 6 lakh a month, I hired an Apple award designer, whom I paid Rs 2.5 lakh a month. I made losses for the next couple of months. But boy, did that decision pay off!” he says. ” Since I did not have any coding or recruiting experience, all I was looked for was gut feel, and how much the other person is passionate about what I want to do and whether he aligns with it. The kind of people I hired were looking for something different which is not normal, so they never go to the established companies. ” Sourcebits’ start as a Mac company made their transition to development of apps for the iPhone easy. “We made a product for the iPhone called Night Stand (an alarm clock). It went to the No. 2 spot on the entire AppStore within 3 days and had over 3 million downloads over the next 3 months. This really put Sourcebits right at the centre of the mobile revolution and we have never looked back since then.” It has now built over 300 apps, including for organisations like MIT Sloan, GE, Coke, Hershey’s, P&G and Sling Media, and had a revenue of INR 30cr last year, with 95% of business coming from US. Last year, IDG (world’s largest tech media company ) and Sequoia ( world’s largest tech investor ) invested $10 million in Sourcebits.

What started 5 years ago in a tiny garage outside M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology in Bangalore, today, occupies 46,000 sq. ft. in Electronic City, a major tech hub in Bangalore. The company hired as many as 150 graduates from IITs and other reputed colleges. As an advice for the younger generation he says, ‘' We in India design everything based out of necessity, rather than thinking from a long­term perspective. Technology is not a challenge anymore. So we should have schools that are more on design, not just for technology or computers but for everything.'’ W ritten 11 Jun, 2013.

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Jashan Gupta, I know what you did last summe... (more) 344 upvotes by Abhimanyu Batra, Rahul Verma, Quora User, (more) Karsanbhai Patel ­ Man behind NIRMA

The 'Nirma' success story of how an Indian Entrepreneur took on the big MNCs and rewrote the rules of business :

It was in 1969 that Dr. Karsanbhai Patel started Nirma and went on to create a whole new segment in the Indian domestic detergent market. During that time the domestic detergent market only had the premium segment and there were very few companies , mainly the MNCs, which were into this business.

Karsanbhai Patel used to make detergent powder in the backyard of his house in Ahmedabad and then carry out door to door selling of his hand made product. He gave a money back guarantee with every pack that was sold. Karsanbhai Patel managed to offer his detergent powder for Rs. 3 per kg when the cheapest detergent at that time was Rs.13 per kg and so he was able to successfully target the middle and lower middle income segment.

Sabki Pasand Nirma! Nirma became a huge success and all this was a result of Karsanbhai Patel's entrepreneurial skills.

Karsanbhai Patel had good knowledge of chemicals and he came up with Nirma detergent which was a result of innovative combination of the important ingredients.Indigenous method was used ,and also the detergent was more environment friendly.

Consumers now had a quality detergent powder, having an affordable price tag.

The process of detergent production was labour intensive and this gave employment to a large number of people.Nirma focused on cost reduction strategies to make a place for itself in the market.Nirma has always been known for offering quality products at afforbable prices and thus creating good value for the consumer�s money.

In the 1980s nirma moved ahead of Surf , a detergent by HLL , to caputre a large market share.Later, Nirma successfully entered in the premium segment of soaps and detergents.Nirma went on to become the largest detergent and the second largest soap company in India.Nirma had more than 35% market share in the detergent segment and around 20 % market share in the toilet soap segment.The company got listed on the stock exchanges in the year 1994.

The Marketing Strategy of Nirma:

As Nirma started to grow and the salesmen started to reach out to the retailers, who were working with multinational brands till then, did not pay attention and used to take the stock on long credits and as a special favour. As and when the salesmen would go asking for the payment either he will be shown the door or may be offered a part payment even in the condition that the total material was sold. To the insisting ones they will give the material back asking them not to show up again. This carried on for some time and there was huge accumulated credit in the market making it difficult for the Nirma to operate. This is when Karsanbhai said enough was enough and called the entire team one day and decided on a drastic step which was risky but revolutionary. Karsanbhai was realizing the power of advertising and promotions which made him take this step.

The day after the meeting all the team member went out in the market and collected either cash or material. Next day on retailers were shocked, competition was dazed and market was without Nirma. For full one month the media was carpet bombed with the campaign WASHING POWDER NIRMA, WASHING POWDER NIRMA, DOODH SI SAFEDI (WASHING POWDER NIRMA, WASHING POWDER NIRMA, WHITENESS LIKE MILK)

Now what this did was kick start the consumer demand. People started asking for Nirma but it was not to be found. When the demand reached its peak then the Retailers started to look for Nirma. This is what Karsanbhai was waiting for.

One fine day the team was called for another meeting and Delivery vans were cleaned, material loaded and NIRMA hit the market again. Now Nirma was dictating terms. All cash on delivery, no credits and tight supply. Overnight the brand was changed and within no time gave a fantastic fightback to the leading global brands.

The best case of ­ Give your consumer what he wants, when he wants, where he wants and at the price he wants, selling will be done quite automatically. This is the marketing 'mantra' of Nirma.

Nirma adopted backward integration strategy for the regular supply of raw materials, 90 % of which they manufacture themselves. Nirma also gave due importance to modernization ,expansion and upgradation of the production facilities. The company also made sure that it uses the latest technology and infrastructure.

As far as Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is concerned, Nirma has made some good efforts by starting Nirma Education & Research Foundation (NERF) in the year 1994 for the purpose of running various educational institutes.Nirma has also set up Nirma labs , which prepares aspiring entrepreneurs to effectively face the different business challenges.Nirma also runs Nirma Memorial Trust, Nirma Foundation and Chanasma Ruppur Gram Vikas Trust as a part of their effort as a socially responsible corporate citizen.

The company that was started in 1969 with just one man who used to deliver his product from one house to the other,today employs around 14 thousand people and has a turnover of more than $ 500 million. In 2004 Nirma's annual sales were as high as 800000 tonnes.According to Forbes in 2005 Karsanbhai Patel's net worth was $640 million and it's going to touch the $1000 million mark soon. W ritten 7 Jun, 2013.

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Quora User 449 upvotes by Aman Vividish Alok, Chaithra Kashyap, Asavari Navlakhe, (more) Ramesh Babu, the barber who owns a Rolls Royce

Leonard Willoughby said, “As you begin to live according to your own guidance and your own daring everything changes completely.” Ramesh Babu, the barber who became a millionaire, did exactly this when he was shaping his dazzling destiny. Stories of personal perseverance, the ones where heroes overcome severe obstacles and achieve dizzying heights of success, have been around since the beginning of time but they never get old. They inspire us and inflame our passions, making us believe we too can follow suit. Ramesh Babu bought a Maruti Van with his meagre savings in 1994. By 2004, he had a fledgling car rental business with seven regular cars. In 2014 he has a fleet of 200 cars. What is even more extraordinary is the 75 luxury cars on the fleet­ a range of Mercedes, BMW’s, Audi’s, five and ten seater luxury vans and, his ultimate pride, a Rolls Royce.

Difficult Beginnings: I was born in a poor family. My father was a barber. He passed away in 1979, when I was just seven years old. My mother started working as a maid servant to make ends meet. My father had left behind a saloon business on Brigade road which my uncle took to running. He would give us five rupees a day from that. Five rupees, even in those days a pittance, was too less to see to me and my brother and sister’s physical and educational needs. We took to having one meal a day just so we could survive. From when I was in middle school, I took up various odd jobs to make a little extra cash. I would deliver newspapers and milk bottles and whatever else was convenient to ease my mother’s load a bit. This way I somehow managed to finish my tenth standard and joined evening PUC.

Breaking Point : Sometime in the nineties, when I was in my first PU, my mother had a bitter fight with my uncle. He had simply stopped paying us any money. I told her I should take over the saloon and run it myself. She was adamant that I prioritise my education, but I started working at the saloon too and learning the ropes of the business. In the mornings, I would be at the saloon and evenings at college. Then again at night I would return to the saloon, which would remain open till 1 in the morning. Since then I have been called a barber.

Breakthrough Idea: Later in 1993, I bought a used Maruti van. My uncle had bought a small car and petty pride made me buy one too. I pooled my tiny savings, took a loan and felt grim satisfaction at having bought a marginally grander vehicle than him. My grandfather had to mortgage his property to enable the loan. The loan interest was six thousand and eight hundred rupees and I was reeling from having to make the payments. The lady whose house my mother used to work, Nandini akka as I like to call her, asked me why I don’t rent out the car instead of it just lying around. She taught me the basics of doing this kind of business. She became like a sister to me and remains a big part of my life even today. She called me to her daughter’s wedding and showed me off!

Building a successful business: From 1994 onward I seriously got into the car rental business. The first company I rented it out to was Intel because that’s where Nandini akka was working and she helped arrange it. Gradually, I started adding more cars to the fleet. Till 2004, I only had about five to six cars. I was focused on getting the saloon business off the ground, so this was not my priority. The business was not doing well as the competition at this level was intense. Everyone had small cars. I thought of getting into luxury cars because that is something that no one else was doing.

On Taking Risks:

When I was buying my first luxury car, in 2004, everyone told me that I was making a big mistake. Forty lakhs in 2004 for a car, even a luxury car, was a very big deal. I was extremely apprehensive, but simply had to take the chance. I told myself that I would sell off the car if worse came to worst. Fortunately for me, the risk paid off remarkably. No other car rental service had luxury cars of this stature. There were ones who had purchased second hand models and the conditions of those cars were far from pristine. I was the first person in Bangalore to invest in a brand new luxury car and it did very well. W ritten 30 Apr, 2014.

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Karthik Ganesh, Just curious. 55 upvotes by Srinath Chowdary, Quora User, Ravishankar Kodukula, (more) The story of Verghese Kurien, the father of white revolution “What do you know about pasteurisation,” an interviewer asked the young man who had applied for a Government of India fellowship for a Masters in Engineering abroad. “Something to do with milk?” was the uncertain reply. The year was 1946. In his biography From Anand: The story of Verghese Kurien , M.V. Kamath recounts the story of how the youngster was selected to do a Masters in dairy engineering by a government committee that was impervious to his pleas that he be allowed to specialise in metallurgy instead. As it turned out, Michigan State University did not have dairy engineering, and Verghese Kurien was able to do metallurgy and Physics. But when he came back to India in 1948, it was to a small and unknown village in Gujarat called Anand that he was sent, to work out his two­year bond at the Government creamery on a salary of Rs.600 per month. Hating his job, he waited impatiently for his fetters to loosen. That did not happen. What it did was that V. Kurien, by the conjunction of politics, nationalism and professional challenge, decided to stay on. He would transform rural India.

Born on November 26, 1921 in Kozhikode, Kerala, Verghese Kurien studied at Madras University for a Bachelor of Science in 1940, a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (Honours) from Madras University (1943), and was a graduate of the Tata Iron and Steel Company Technical Institute, Jamshedpur (1946). He took a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Distinction) from Michigan State University (1948) and then went for specialised training in dairying at the National Dairy Research Institute, Bangalore. He had 17 honorary doctorates from universities in India and abroad. At the time of his death he was Chancellor, University of Allahabad (since April 17, 2006), Member, Board of Trustees, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Memorial Trust, New Delhi (since 1986), and Member, Advisory Committee, South Asian Network on Fermented Foods — SAN FOODS (since 2004).

He was Founder Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (1965­ 1998), the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, Anand (1983­ 2006), the National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India Limited (1986­ 1993), (1995­2000), and (2003­2006), and the Board of Governors, Institute of Rural Management, Anand (1979­2006), amongst several other posts he held in his working life.

Till his death, he was a bitter critic of the policies of liberalisation in India, which he believed opened India to unfair competition from multinational companies. He laid out his objections to liberalisation as early as 1995 in a detailed and wide­ranging interview he gave this correspondent for Frontline. “With liberalisation and globalisation, it seems to me, India's national boundaries have ceased to exist,” he told Frontline . “I am sorry, I do not think it is a good thing, because if you have opened up this market under such terms, what it implies is that other countries can put their products into our markets. Are you aware that all those advanced countries subsidise their exports? Subsidies are as high as 65 per cent. Now if you have globalised, and the others are subsidising their exports, to what position have you exposed the Indian dairy industry? You have declared dairy products under OGL (Open General Licence). You have in fact created a situation where our dairy industry can be killed. This is unfair competition.”

Speaking about Amul, the successful cooperative he founded, he explained the rationale behind Operation Flood – the strategy that made India self­reliant in milk production — and why it succeeded. He summarised it as follows: “Over the last 20 years India’s milk production has tripled; it has increased from 20 million tonnes per annum to 60 million tonnes per annum. What is the value of one tonne of milk? At Rs.6 a litre, the value of the increased production of milk is Rs.2,400 crore. An additional Rs.2,400 crore goes yearly into the villages and this has been achieved in 20 years, thanks to Operation Flood I, II and III. The total investment was Rs.2,000 crore, and that was not from the state exchequer. The input­output ratio is staggering. The money also goes to those who own one or two buffaloes — the small farmer, the marginal farmer, the landless labourer. Dairying has become the largest rural employment scheme in this country. And the government has had very little to do with it, even though we are a government institution.”

When presented with the criticism that the cooperative movement could not replicate the successes of the Anand model in other parts of India, Mr. Kurien agreed but was unfazed by it, contesting it soundly. “Is the democratic form of government successful in all parts of India? But the solution to the problems of democracy is more democracy. There can be no democracy in India unless you erect a plurality of democratic structures to underpin democracy, like the village cooperative which is a people’s institution.”

If in 2012, India is the largest producer of milk in the world, contributing six per cent to the national GDP and 26 per cent to the agricultural GDP, it is Verghese Kurien, with his socialist vision and technology­led approach, who made it possible.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays­p... W ritten 7 Jun, 2013.

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Kush Tripathi, Dil se Indian 88 upvotes by Bhargav Ram, Manjunath Hande, Honey Agarwal, (more) I recently came across inspirational story about the women who born in small village in Andhra pradesh and became ceo of keys software solutions in America. The story is inspirational to everyone especially for women.

Napoleon Hill says “ Whatever human mind believes and conceives human mind can achieve” So just believe ..believe .. believe .. you can do it…. Have you goal clear and start working on it. When you read the below story , it is sure you feel motivated and start appreciating the efforts of Jyothi Reddy. It is not that we expect you to appreciate. Just stop thinking all limiting believes and implement whatever you have learned from her.

INSPIRATION STORY OF JYOTHI REDDY....

Every successful story has a painful beginning and every painful beginning has a successful ending ..... Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam... Do you think it is just a common statement. It is not a mere statement. A philosophy of life. It is not even a mere philosophy of life, It is an alarming, compassionate, soothing and profound answer to all the questions that always chant in your mind. A right and correct response to the pains that you experience in the early phases of life. It is said No pains ,No gains. Multimillionaire Bill gates has rightly said ' If you are born poor, it is not your mistake but if you die poor it is your mistake.’

Let me elucidate , narrate and bring into lime light of an eye opening , mesmerizing and inspiring life story of a lady who was just an agricultural labour, worked for Rs. 5 per day until 1989 now became CEO of Keys software solutions in USA and making millions of money and serving the grass roots of Indian society. Is it awe striking and jaw dropping for you ? but you need to believe and accept because you are all going to witness her, listen to her and even talk to her very soon. She is none other than Mrs. D. Anil Jyothi Reddy.

I know You become more enthusiastic and eager to know how a mediocre village woman could surpass all the obstacles of domestic as well as financial and made her dreams realized. Her success is not limited to her or her own family, the social service that she renders to the needy folk of society inspires many corporate giants to extend their hand with her to help the needy. The financial support that she renders is not a big issue when it is compared to her life story which has become a living example for millions to take her as inspiration and face the challenges with brave heart. Now many women take her as an example and coming out with courageous hearts to brake the limiting believes as well as glass ceiling which condense their actual growth according to their innate potential. Now here are some of the important phases in her much instigating story of her life. I know many of you even feel the warmth in your heart and wet your eyes and burst into tears by becoming panic. No, If you intend to become so, it is not liked by either Jyothi Reddy or us ,

CHILDHOOD:

Anila Jyothi Reddy was born in Narasimhula Gudem in Hanumakonda mandal, Warangal District as eldest of four children to a common peasant who has lost his employment during emergency. Her father was joined in Army but could not continue because of his attachment with the family. The military training that he had, the attitude that he developed, was given to her as inheritance. As it was very difficult for the family to meet the both the ends, he was forced to join Jyothi Reddy at BALASADAN, a government orphanage at Hanumakonda as a mother less child. From 5th class to 10th class Jyothi Reddy stayed in orphanage by having solitary life away from home. She used to await if anyone would come and render some help. Particularly during winter season when she used to shiver like anything as her blankets were torn. May be this had a strong influence in her sub conscious and drive her to orphanages often and help the children with all that they require among all the love and feeling of belongingness. Even during summer she never used to go to her village, she used to stay in warden’s house and did all the house hold work for which she was fed. The empathy that she shows on all the orphans is gained through her own bitter experiences. Recently she made a representation to the Government of India with all her allies to legislate the Rights of the Orphans. She strongly believes the words of Mother Teresa… “ The worst disease in the world is neither poverty nor other, lack of feeling of belongingness, being unwanted is the worst ”. Whenever she visits the Orphanages in India she prefers to spend more time with the orphans. Even they rejoice her company… “ she is more than mother to me’’ says Ranjitha, an orphan who is being sponsored by Jyothi. If you see many college students keep on blaming their environment and parents when they fail to satisfy their wants. A sincere advice to them to visit any orphanage at least once in a year. You better understand the real pain of the life and appreciate what you really have.

MARRIAGE:

Mrs Jyothi Reddy passed 10th class with good marks and she dreamed to continue her education. But her parents have contrary plans. At the age of just 16 they performed her marriage with Mr. SangiReddy because of their dire financial position. It is quiet common in rural India, many parents of girl child treat them as burden and try to remove the burden as soon as possible and perform marriage at an early stage. She was innocent and not knowing much about marital life.. time passed ..by the age of eighteen she became mother of two girls. It was very difficult for her to provide the basic needs of her children to feed them and to look after.

EARLY CAREER :

Strong determination to take care of her children made her to persuade her mother­in­law and husband to work in the agriculture to work for money. She worked for Rs. 5 per day as agriculture labour. Many other people who worked along with her on field were impressed by her attitude taught her the basics of hard work of peasants. She worked from 1986 to 89 on field till she got an interesting turn in 1989. Nehru Yuvak Kendra (NYK) started a night school in the village to teach the basic education for adults. As there was no graduate from the village and Jyothi was the only available option, they appointed her as the volunteer to educate the adults after giving some training. It fetched her Rupees 150 per month. She gathered all the co workers in the evenings to the Centre and taught them the basic education with unique play way methods. The Inspection authorities were very much impressed by the initiative and dedication of Jyothi as the volunteer and appointed her Mandal Prerak of Hanumakonda.

ACADEMIC PURSUIT :

After being appointed as Mandal Prerak Jyothi had to visit all the centres of the Warangal district and realized the importance of education and without higher education she can not grow to next levels in life. She completed her graduation and post graduation Distance Mode from Ambedkar Open University. Even University authorities were impressed by her urge for education. She did B. Ed from Anna University and become a government teacher. But it was not a cake walk for her. She had to cross over all obstacles at home as well as in society. Leaving her village and staying at her work place with her children and husband and balancing family and work and making money by doing all alternative sources as the salary was not sufficient etc,, these were all the different problems higher than the Everests for any rural Indian women. Patience, perseverance and commitment are the secrets of her energy behind this passionate effort.

AMERICAN DREAM :

If the story stopped here there would be nothing much to inspire others. When Jyothi was working as inspector of schools, a relative of her who settled in America came to her place. Jyothi accompanied her during her stay and observed how much change had been taken in the life style of her America settled relative. The way her American relative was spending money for her daughters laid seeds of desires in her. She thought even she could give great future to her daughter if she would go to America and earn there. That time onwards she made up her mind and learnt computers and started saving money for her passport and visa. After series of early failures she could get a visiting visa and flew to America with a little amount but heart filled dreams. EARLY TRAILS IN AMERICA: As soon as she landed in America she realized it was not an easy task to settle in America. The people whom she believed would give her shelter and support turned off their faces. As money she brought from India was running off she joined as a salesperson in “ Movie Time ’’ a video shop in New Jersey. She stayed as paying guest in gujarati family. While she was working iin Video Time a known Indian from Warangal saw her and recommended her name to his brother who owned a company called “ CSAMERICA” and she was appointed as recruiter after being trained. Later a well know company ICSA offered her a good job with handsome salary. Again she faced some problems as her visa was not approved and she went for H1 visa. She had to resign her job in ICSA and again had to work for $5 per hour in nominal jobs till she got her H1 visa.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

She went to Mexico for her VISA stamping. All the hardships of obtaining visa gave her an idea of establish her first entrepreneurship to assist the people to get their Visas. Thus Keys software solutions was initiated. It extended it services like developing software solutions and recruitment and other job providing areas. Jyothi came to America in May 2000 and by September, 2001 she became entrepreneur. She made her cousin as partner as his partner and extended her business to become more profitable.

FULFILLMENT OF DREAMS:

Her hard work, commitment and dedication fetched her the success she dreamed for. She made enough money to take care of her children and her near relatives. Her two daughters could finish higher education in America from prestigious universities and got married to well settled bridegrooms. Her dream to provide good living conditions to her daughters was fulfilled. But she thought it was not here mere responsibility. She has been always thankful to all the people who supported her. She never forgets the pains that she had throughout her life. So she decided to start helping all the needy. She wants to shed tears from the needy orphans who suffer from all inadequacies. She wants to give warmth heart to the pain tinted lives. These thoughts ushered her to take an inspiring turn to extend her service to the humanity.

SERVING HUMANITY:

It is not just a lady went to America and making some money.. and people started calling it as success. It is the attitude and humbleness of Jyothi Reddy which really made the people to notice her and started extending their service to fellow human kind. Jyothi Reddy never forgot her roots. In every visit to India she visits Orphanages, Old age homes and spends time with them, provides them financial assistance. She visits Women’s colleges and empowers them with her life experience. She stands for the orphans and represented to the government to make a legislation to safeguard their rights. She takes her success to heart and not to head. She helped many Indians to settle in America by providing initial shelter and guidance.

FUTURE VISION :

Jyothi Reddy has a vivid and constructive vision to extend her service to needy people. She wants to provide educational facilities and long term result oriented service activities. Everyone should accept the self responsibility and try to be courageous enough to face the challenges. Struggle in life strengthens the caliber of the people. She visits colleges and inspire girl students to take up the self responsibility to empower themselves. She strongly feels that every individual should stop blaming the environment and start helping themselves. God always sends his hidden helping hand through different unexpected sources. We need not to look back when we realize we are responsible for our lives. W ritten 30 Jun, 2013.

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Ankit Mishra, Co­Founder, StoryXpress (www.s... (more) 63 upvotes by Mudit Tanwani, Bratish Goswami, Misbah Ashraf, (more) Arunachalam Muruganantham, India’s “Tampon King.” He acquired this title by figuring out how to locally produce low­cost sanitary napkins that have the dual benefit of not only providing women with an affordable, hygienic management method for that time of the month, but also providing employment to many women. Check out his venture: http://newinventions.in/aboutus.... Watch TED talk by him:

W ritten 3 Apr, 2013.

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Shreyas Manjunath 30 upvotes by Joyce Pinto, Krishna Kumar, Anuradha Tiwari, (more) From child bride to multi­millionaire in India

Kalpana Saroj heads Kamani Tubes, a company worth more than $100 An Indian Dalit (formerly untouchable) woman, who once attempted suicide to escape discrimination, poverty and physical abuse, becomes the CEO of a multi­million dollar company. The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan in Mumbai captures Kalpana Saroj's journey ­ a symbol of the Dalit struggle to mark their arrival at the top. Her life reads like the plot of a Bollywood film, with a narrative which has defied so many obstacles, to conclude with a happy ending. The "rags to riches" cliche can be overused, but it goes some way in describing the story of Kalpana Saroj, a woman who struggled on so many occasions on her way to the top. Born into a low­caste Dalit family, she was bullied at school, forced into marriage at the age of 12, fought social pressures to leave her husband, before she tried to take her own life. Today, she is a multi­millionaire. At the helm of a successful company, she rubs shoulders with prominent businessmen and has won awards for her professionalism. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote I was treated badly by my husband's elder brother and his wife. They would pull my hair, and beat me, sometimes over little things” Kalpana Saroj "The first time I came to Mumbai, I did not even know where to go. I was from such a small village. Today my company has two roads named after it in the city," she says, summing up the extent to which her life has transformed. India's caste system is an ancient social hierarchy, which places people into different categories by birth. Those born into the lower castes have historically faced discrimination. "Some of my friends' parents would not let me in their homes, and I was not even allowed to participate in some school activities because I was a Dalit," says the 52­year­old. "I used to get angry. I felt really nervous because I thought even I am a human being," she adds. Marital woes Even though her father allowed her to get an education, wider family pressures saw Kalpana become a bride at the age of 12. She moved to Mumbai to be with her husband who was 10 years older, but was shocked to find herself living in a slum. But that was not the only hardship she had to endure. "I was treated badly by my husband's elder brother and his wife. They would pull my hair and beat me, sometimes over little things. I felt broken with all the physical and verbal abuse," she says.

People from all backgrounds and caste work in Kalpana's company Leaving a husband is widely frowned upon in Indian culture, but Kalpana was able to escape the violent relationship, thanks to her supportive father. When he visited her in Mumbai, he was shocked to see his daughter emaciated and wearing torn clothes and took her back home. Many villagers were suspicious of her return, viewing Kalpana as a failure. She tried to ignore the judgemental comments thrown at her, focusing instead on getting a job. She learnt tailoring as a way to make money. But, even with some degree of financial independence, the pressure became too much. "One day, I decided to end my life. I drank three bottles of insecticide, termite poison," she says, recalling her lowest moment. Kalpana was saved after her aunt walked into the room and found her frothing at the mouth and shaking uncontrollably. The big change It marked a watershed for her. "I decided to live my life, and do something big, and then die," she says. So, at the age of 16, she moved back to Mumbai to stay with an uncle and work as a tailor. She began by earning less than a dollar a month, but tirelessly learnt how to operate industrial sewing machines, and as a result saw her income rise. But the money she earned was not enough to pay for her sister's treatment which could have saved her life, a moment which defined Kalpana's entrepreneurial spirit. "I was highly disappointed and realised that money did matter in life, and that I needed to make more." She took a government loan to open a furniture business and expand her tailoring work.

Kalpana (right) is one of the few Dalits to have succeeded by unleashing their entrepreneurial spirit She worked 16 hours a day, a routine she has not managed to shake off to this day. In the following years, she remarried, this time to a fellow furniture businessman, and had two children. Her reputation led to her being asked to take over the running of a metal engineering company, Kamani Tubes, which was in massive debt. By restructuring the company, she turned things around. "I wanted to give justice to the people who were working there. I had to save the company. I could relate to the staff who needed to put food on the table for their family," she says of her motivations at the time. Now, Kamani Tubes is a growing business, worth more than $100m. Kalpana employs hundreds of people, from all backgrounds and castes. She has met prominent businessmen such as Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani, and in 2006 won a prestigious award for her entrepreneurial spirit. Kalpana regularly visits her home village and does charity work to help those in her community. As a Dalit and a woman, her story is all the more remarkable in a country where so few CEOs are from such a background. "If you give your heart and soul to your job and never give up, things can happen for you," she says. It is a mantra that has helped Kalpana through the worst of times and still rings true for her. W ritten 30 Jun, 2013.

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Ganesh Srinivas, Johannes factotum 42 upvotes by Quora User, Vamsi Tellakula, Vishal Trivedi, (more) N. R. Narayana Murthy (Co­founder of Infosys)

Banglaore­based Infosys is one of the best Indian success stories. Founded in 1981, the founders persisted and grew their company from a small entity to a huge, global IT powerhouse that employs 155,629 people (as of 2012). He is currently the Chairman Emeritus of Infosys.

This man created wealth and generated employment during the days of the License­Permit Raj (pre­1991).

It used to take us about 12 to 24 months and about 50 visits to Delhi to import a computer worth $1,500. Today, I don't need to go to anybody's office to import anything that I want. I can import a computer worth millions of dollars. See the difference? I think that the kind of inhibition that these permit [and] license laws brought into play, the kind of friction to business that these policies cost, is something that can only be experienced, it can't even be explained. It's difficult to appreciate.

He showed it was possible to make serious money, legitimately and in a single generation. That he used middle­class India's favourite tool for social and economic mobility – education – made him a hero they could appropriate and appreciate. W ritten 3 Apr, 2013.

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Nehal Sanghvi, Dream Big. 42 upvotes by Vivek Agrawal, Mahesh Karthik, Quora User, (more) Meet the Indian boss who gave cars, apartments and diamonds to employees

Forward­thinking Hari Krishna chairman marks Diwali by lavishing almost 500 cars and more than 200 apartments on his long­serving staff

Cars are lined up for Sunday’s bonus presentation ceremony to staff at Hari Krishna Exports in Surat. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Aparna Joshi in Surat Tuesday 21 October 2014 13.28 BST 5 comments An unusually generous boss in the western city of Surat has attracted attention across India for lavishing expensive pre­Diwali gifts on staff at his diamond polishing company. Cars, apartments and diamond jewellery are among the unusual loyalty bonuses handed to employees of Hari Krishna Exports by its chairman, Savjibhai Dholakia. Of the 1,268 employees rewarded for loyalty and performance, almost 500 opted for Fiat Punto cars, while 207 went for apartments and 570 employees chose jewellery. Such largesse has taken even generous corporate houses in India by surprise, but diamond industry observers detect canny altruism in Dholakia’s gesture of disbursing nearly 500m rupees (£5m) in this manner. The diamond polishing industry in India has been suffering for a while, so giving away such eye­catching gifts – to be paid for by the company in instalments over the next few years – may help retain talent at a difficult time.

Savjibhai Dholakia ­ known as Kaka to staff ­ was a school dropout who worked his way up Dholakia, who began Hari Krishna Exports in 1991, said he had earmarked R500m for the staff even before targets were drawn up for this financial year. “It’s a refund of sorts to those who have stayed with us, helped improve our products and grown with the Hari Krishna family. I am merely giving back,” said the 53­year­old, a primary school dropout from a small village near Amreli in north Gujarat, who moved to Surat as a diamond worker and worked his way up. “I know what it is like to have needs. When a worker is happy, he can do anything at all for you.” Dholakia’s “rough­to­retail” diamond company has long been a trendsetter. Eight years ago it was the first in Surat to build an on­site kitchen for its nearly 6,000­strong staff, and was also the first to distribute helmets to employees who ride to work on motorbikes. “Kaka”, as the chairman is known to staff, has also insured 280 employees who have been with the company for more than a decade to the tune of £100,000 each, and ensures that employees’ families get to go on annual pilgrimages at company cost. Administrative assistant Kanak Patel, 28, has worked with Hari Krishna Exports for the last decade. He believes the bonus culture reflects a wider commitment to staff welfare by the company: “We have gyms and family programmes; we have the freedom to meet the management with our suggestions; there are drop­boxes located on each floor to receive our ideas. It’s like a family – I wouldn’t dream of leaving.” The headline­grabbing loyalty scheme was started two years ago when three cars were given away; last year 70 cars were gifted as incentives. “We created the hunger among the employees – they work better, they take home better incentives,” Dholakia said. His company currently exports finished diamonds to more than 50 countries through affiliates in the US, Belgium, UAE and Hong Kong.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/21/­sp­surat­diamond­ merchant­india­generous­boss­diwali­hari­krishna W ritten 22 Oct.

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Mohnish Chakravarti, I like to follow start­ups 5 upvotes by Anshul Rai, Apurva Shastry, Rachna Verma, (more) This one is about Lijjat.

Seven semi­literate Housewives decide to use their cooking skills to create a small industry.

From wikipedia : The seven women were Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat, Parvatiben Ramdas Thodani, Ujamben Narandas Kundalia, Banuben. N. Tanna, Laguben Amritlar Gokani, Jayaben V. Vithalani, and one more lady whose name is not known. The women borrowed Rs 80 from Chhaganlal Karamsi Parekh , a member of the Servants of India Society and a social worker. They took over a loss­ making papad making venture by one Laxmidasbhai and bought the necessary ingredients and the basic infrastructure required to manufacturepapads . On March 15, 1959, they gathered on the terrace of their building and started with the production of 4 packets of Papads.They started selling the papads to a known merchant in Bhuleshwar . From the beginning, the women had decided that they would not approach anyone for donations or help, even if the organization incurred losses.

Lijjat expanded as a cooperative system. Initially, even younger girls could join, but later eighteen was fixed as the minimum age of entry. Within three months there were about 25 women making papads. Soon the women bought some equipment for the business, like utensils,cupboards , stoves , etc. In the first year, the organization's annual sales were Rs. 6196.The broken papads were distributed among neighbours.

They expanded, they succeeded , they empowered 45,000 other women who are part of the women­only co­operative .

Current annual turnover is more than $100 Million ! Their story is taught as a case study in Management schools.

Their product is a household name in India , just like Coke and Pepsi stand for Cola drinks, "Lijjat" is the de facto standard for "Papad" : This is a great start­up story. Where there is a will, there is a way. It becomes more inspiring considering the level of education, experience, and power in society women had in India 50 years back.

Oh, a bonus for reading uptill here.

W ritten 21 Sep.

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Mudit Tanwani, Tech Entrepreneur, IITH Grad, ... (more) 15 upvotes by Ankit Mishra, Pranay Patil, Akshay Pamnani, (more)

Mr. Ajai Chowdhry, one of the six founder members of HCL began an exciting journey three decades ago with a dream to give India its very own microcomputer. The sheer clarity of vision and hard work led to a revolution and laid the foundation for the Indian IT industry, taking India to the league of major economies of the world.

HCL, India’s original IT garage start­up founded in 1976, today is an Rs 26,318 crores (US $ 5.7 bn) global enterprise and Mr. Ajai Chowdhry has been a key force in driving the growth of HCL. He led the foundation of HCL's overseas operations, starting with Singapore in 1980s and later expanded to the other South Asian Markets. Mr. Chowdhry, son of an IAS officer, has also been a key force in driving the growth of HCL Infosystems, the flagship company of the group. He took over the reins of HCL Infosystems in early 90s and later on went to become the Chairman of the company in 1999. His leadership infused tremendous energy which took the company from a turnover of Rs. 400.6 crores (US $ 89 mn) in 1994 to Rs.11, 542 crores (US $ 2.6 bn) with over 7600 people. The company has today emerged not only as the country’s information­ enabling powerhouse but a great place to work with industry accolades and awards received year after year. In 2010 alone the company has been awarded ‘Business Superbrands’ by The Brand Council and rated the Most Trusted Indian IT Brand by Economic Times for 2010­11, among many more.

Mr. Ajai Chowdhry has constantly added newer and cutting­edge technology skills to the company's portfolio and under his able leadership several pioneering projects like foraying into IT retail, creating an extensive Systems Integration business and driving a vision of “IT for the masses” was successfully driven. He has a vision to take PC and broadband into every village and to every person in India. It was this vision that made HCL Infosystems the first company in India to create special products for the rural market place like a rural PC that works on a car battery or specially developed financial inclusion software and hardware products.

Gifted with a pedant sense of entrepreneurship, Mr. Ajai Chowdhry has been enlisted among ‘India's Most Powerful Brand Builders’ and has been adjudged among ‘India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs’ by The Economic Times. His vision to further expand Indian IT to developing economies has now made him one of the key voices for IT development in Africa. In 2010, Co­chairing the ‘World Economic Forum on Africa’ in Tanzania, he shared his vision to empower people across the developing continent of Africa through Information Technology.

Presently, Mr. Ajai Chowdhry has started to focus on incubating entrepreneurship by aiding start­ups through a variety of initiatives. He continues to give back to the society through his in­depth experience and understanding of the industry. He is currently involved in teaching entrepreneurship at IIT Hyderabad. Former Chairman of IIT – Hyderabad and has been recently appointed by the Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee as Chairman of IIT­Patna.

Full Story@http://entrepreneurindia.in/peop...

Had the honor of learning about Entrepreneurship from him at IIT Hyderabad. U pdated 17 Aug.

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Shreya Pareek 15 upvotes by D.s. Aman, Priyanshi Shah, Vaibhav Sharma, (more) How Rickshaw­Puller Dharamveer Singh Became A Successful Entrepreneur Through #Innovation

“Sangharsh hi sabse badi kaamyaabi hai. Agar badhna hai to peecche mud kar nahin dekhna hai.” (The strength to struggle is the greatest success. There is no looking back, if you want to move ahead in life.)

This is not just some idealistic romanticisation, but a truism by which Dharamveer Singh Kamboj lives by. Born in 1963, Dharamveer is the youngest among five siblings. Always inquisitive by nature, his mother also inculcated in him a love for nature. He learnt about herbs by a holy man who visited their village, and while working as a rickshaw­puller in Delhi, where he used to ferry passengers dealing in herbs. Genesis of the Multi­Purpose Machine

In 2004, Dharamveer got the opportunity to visit aloe vera and amla processing units in Rajasthan, along with a group of farmers, through the Department of Horticulture, Government of Haryana. He got interested in the business. However the exorbitant cost of machinery deterred him. Instead of backing out, he decided to develop his own machine.

In April 2006, Dharamveer was ready with the first prototype of the machine, which was used mainly for extraction of aloe vera juice. He further modified the machine and transformed it into a multi­purpose machine for processing several herbs and farm produce.

Multi­Purpose Processing Machine The multi­purpose processing machine is a portable machine, which works on a single phase motor and is useful in the processing of various fruits, herbs and seeds. It has features like temperature control and condensation mechanism which helps in the extraction of essence and extracts from flowers and medicinal plants.

The machine is a cylindrical container made of food grade stainless steel having an opening (with lid) at the top to feed the herbs, and an outlet at the bottom to collect residue. It is powered by an electric motor whose power depends on the capacity of the machine. It is also equipped with an oil jacket outside the main chamber to prevent direct heating of the herbs. This machine is unique as it has the capacity to process a wide variety of products without damaging the seed of the fruit or vegetable. It can be used for processing mango, amla, aloe vera, tulsi, aswagandha and flowers like rose, chameli, lavender. The multi­purpose machine is available in two models with juice extraction capacity of 50 kg/hr and 150 kg/hr.

Read his full story here­ How Rickshaw­Puller Dharamveer Singh Became A Successful Entrepreneur Through #Innovation ­ The Better India W ritten 24 Sep.

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Akshay Mane, CSE UnderGrad, Ex Infoscion,Pu... (more) 19 upvotes by Atit Anand, Kartikey Agarwal, Ravishankar Kodukula, (more)

Success story of indian school dropout who became CEO

It is not everyday that one comes across a truly inspiring story of success, interwoven with hardwork, vision, judgment calls, and yes, the ability to spot opportunities.

started his journey as a school dropout He gave up formal education after he passed the Secondary School Certificate examination in the mid­1980s because of his family’s circumstances.

His father was a machine setter in electricals company Philips in Pune and his mother was a homemaker.

Katkar relied on his interest in technical matters to learn how to repair the then popular office gadgets such as Facit adding machines, desktop electric calculators and ledger posting machines.

Looking back, Kailash Katkar, started his entrepreneurial venture with a calculator repair business in Pune in the 1990’s.

When one door closes, another opens. It’s been like that right through Kailash Katkar’s life. Every time an opportunity looked like dimming, another emerged for him. He says his success was largely the result of his ability to sense changes in technology early.

Kailash Katkar explains his success story as told to Amit Shanbaug.

“I wasn’t interested in studies, had no special skills, only a small repair business

These may not be the right qualifications for being an entrepreneur, but it has turned out well for me.

I started working on my own when I was in school. I always was on the lookout for jobs that could supplement my family income. I think it’s the drive to give myself and my family a better life that moved me on the entrepreneurial path.

In 1985, having barely managed to complete my matriculation,

I took up a job at a local radio and calculator repair shop as I needed to supplement the family income.

The owner sent me to his Mumbai shop for a two­month training and, subsequently, I returned to Pune to work for him for just 1,500 a month.

I was only 19 and, over the next five years, I not only learnt a lot about fixing calculators and radios, but also picked up enough accounting skills to handle the books for my employer.

In 1990,I felt confident enough to start my own calculator repair business with a seed capital of 15,000,which was drummed out of my savings. I leased a small 100 sq ft office in Pune and started a one­man venture.

In the first year, I managed a decent income of 45,000, but I was not satisfied with the progress I was making.

I realised that one way to scale up would be to capitalise on the ongoing software boom.

So I started reading about computer hardware, even enrolling for a short computer management course in 1991­92 to understand the basics of computer application. The classes were held in the evening, so my business did not suffer, and once I was sure I had my basics in place, I decided to venture into computer maintenance.

The idea was to take care of the entire repair work for an annual fee.

In 1993, I finally started a new venture, CAT Computer Services, while continuing with the repair business.

Generating business was a huge challenge initially since I had no work experience in the field. However, I did not lose hope and kept trying to woo customers aggressively.

I got my first break a few months later when two families signed up for the maintenance of their personal computers for an annual fee of 2,000 each.

With some work experience to back me up, more work soon came my way.

In September 1993, I managed to breach the corporate domain by bagging the annual maintenance contract for New India Insurance followed by another group a month later.

I managed to generate a turnover of 1 lakh in 1993­94 and employ four people to manage and expand the business.

Around this time, my younger brother, Sanjay, who was studying computer engineering in Pune, began writing software programs.

On my insistence, he started developing a basic model of antivirus software for us.

In those days, the people involved in computer maintenance faced this problem and I realised that there would be plenty of takers for cheap and simple solutions.

I started using the software we called it Quick Heal for my customers and sold it to other vendors making it one of the least expensive options available in the market.

But nobody was willing to pay for it. So it was distributed free with the computer AMC and also circulated it among their network of computer service professionals.

“Then came deadly viruses like One Half and Natash.

Only our antivirus could decrypt the files they encrypted,” Katkar recollects, indicating that even the global big names in the antivirus business were not up to the task.

“That was the birth of Quick Heal as a business idea — a solution that would reside on a machine and tackle problems as they cropped up.”

Before long, the anti­virus software became a big hit and my turnover for 1996­97 was 12.19 lakh, three times that for the previous financial year. In the following years, Sanjay and other hired software developers came out with more advanced versions of this software.By 2002,the business had grown to a point where we managed shift to a 2,000 sq ft office in Pune, which we purchased for 25 lakh.

Our first branch opened in Nashik a year later, followed quickly by several others across India.

By 2005­6, we had diversified our product portfolio, moving beyond the anti­ virus solutions. We covered the entire gamut, from security and tuner solutions, which focused on increasing computer speed, to mobile security and gateway level protection.

Another milestone year for us was 2007,when we renamed the company Quick Heal Technologies.

Of course, there have been several setbacks along the way. “There was a time when our employees were leaving our setup because they felt that our company was small and wasn’t growing or well­known. We realised that it was time we moved to a realistic idea and that’s when we decided to do away with the Maintenance Company tag. We lost a few customers because we were short staffed and could not meet our deadlines. We suffered losses and the cash crunch affected our product development and the process. Even no bank was ready to support us. At one point, in 1999, the business was in such a bad shape that we considered shutting shop since we were not even in a position to pay staff salaries. Thankfully, we decided to delay the decision by a couple of months, and during this period our hard work pulled us out of the red. Accepting challenges is not always easy, but if you have a “never give­up” attitude, you survive. You have to completely believe in your idea and give your 100% to it. Also if you are a good observer and can read the pulse of your consumers, you will know when and how to improve.

The infusion of 60 crore from the US based private equity firm, Sequoia Capital, in 2010,helped us expand our footprint internationally. In the past two years, our export turnover has been to the tune of 4% of our total business, and we hope to push it up in the coming years. Today,the company employs 610 people and has 23 offices in India. We also have a presence in nearly 50 countries across the globe. The sky is truly the limit for us.”

http://articles.economictimes.in...

Visit this link to view his interview

Kailash Katkar, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Quick Heal Technologies W ritten 10 Jun, 2013.

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Anonymous 5 upvotes by Ravishankar Kodukula, Niharika Verma, Ganesh Srinivas, (more) I'm surprised nobody mentioned the story of Shahnaz Hussain.

She grew up in a traditional family, but was privileged to receive modern education. She got married, when she was only fifteen years old. The next year after her marriage, she became a mother.

When she went to Teheran along with her husband, she developed a keen interest in beauty treatments. Eventually, she decided to study the cosmetology course. She wanted to be self independent and so she began writing articles for the Iran Tribune on varied subjects. While pursuing studies, she learnt about the harmful effects of chemicals on human body. She studied Ayurveda and believed that it is the best alternative to chemical cosmetics.

After leaving Teheran, she took an extensive training in cosmetic therapy for a long period of 10 years from the leading institutions of London, Paris, New York and Copenhagen. She returned to India in the year 1977 and established her first beauty salon in her abode. Unlike other salons, she did not use chemical cosmetics. Rather, she made use of Ayurvedic products that are absolutely safe on the human body. She has ushered an era of herbal cosmetics. The products launched by her Company head their way to leading global stores such as Blooming Dales (New York), Harrods and Selfridges (London), Seibu (Japan), Galleries Lafayette (Paris), and La Rinaeccente (Milan).

Her beauty products are very skin friendly and give a beautiful glowing look. She has not only been able to tap the markets of India, but made her presence felt in international market too. Now, her aim is to set her foothold in the space. People who go to space usually suffer from skin problems. At present, Shahnaz Hussain is focusing her attention on creating products that can prove to be beneficial for the astronauts. To know the complete life history of Shahnaz Hussain, read on.

Her company Shahnaz Husain Herbals has witnessed tremendous growth throughout these years. She has launched more than 400 different kinds of beauty products. In the contemporary times, people are becoming more and more conscious about the way they look. It is here that Shahnaz Hussain comes to play a major role by providing people with products that can bring the glow back to their skin.

She has dominated the market from the USA to Asia. During 1990s, the average growth rate of her company, which is based in New Delhi, was nearly 19.4%. In the year 2002, her Company touched $100 million. Her works are real praiseworthy and have been appreciated all over the world. She has received many awards such as "The Arch of Europe Gold Star for Quality", "The 2000 Millennium Medal of Honor", "Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award" and many more. W ritten 7 Jun, 2013.

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Quora User 10 upvotes by Prasham Rambhia, Arka Bhattacharya, Siddharth Jaiswal, (more) Varun Agarwal co­founded Alma Mater, an online store providing apparel and memorabilia to the alumni community of schools and colleges across India, back in 2009.

He then shot to fame when his book ’How I braved Anu Aunty and co­founded a million dollar company’ went on to become a bestseller.

The book turned out to be a great way to promote Alma Mater and it also paved the way for the multiple speaker slots for Varun at the best colleges across India. Recently,

Varun was chosen to be the brand ambassador for Lenovo’s Flex products.

Read more: Life after ‘Anu Aunty’: How Varun Agarwal is living a dream; joins hands with Lenovo W ritten 5 May, 2014.

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Quora User, not a robot. 16 upvotes by Dinesh Ravi, Apurva Shastry, Saptarshi Ghosh, (more)

W ritten 30 Mar, 2014.

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Ravishankar Kodukula 30 upvotes by Srilakshmi Kodukula, Varun Reddy, Ganesh Srinivas, (more) The ticket to our dream

Like all innovations, redBus too has a very interesting story.

All the founders used to work in Bangalore at the time (sometime in 2005) ­ all with top IT MNCs ­ IBM, Texas Instruments and Honeywell. They were friends from BITS Pilani, one of India's finest engineering colleges.

During Diwali that year, one of them wanted to spend the festival in his home town. Since he didn't know his schedule till the end, taking a bus was the only choice.

He ran around town hunting for a ticket, but they were all sold out minutes before he reached the travel agents. Bangalore traffic is notorious and can grip you at the wrong time. That's exactly what happened that day.

That's when he thought of the possibility of providing consumers the convenience of booking a bus ticket over the internet. The objective was two­ fold ­ to ensure that they don't have to leave the confines of their comfort to book a ticket, and to help them get a ticket when they need it the most.

The idea was compelling. And why not? The internet was being voted as a medium people couldn't do without. PC and net penetration was increasing not only in urban areas, but also in rural India with innovative concepts like Shakti and e­Choupal. Also, people were getting used to booking tickets for travel using IRCTC and private airline websites. So, why not buses?

However, the most compelling reason was that no body in India had done this!

So, with these thoughts running through his mind, he bounced initial thoughts off his friends from college. They were excited about the concept too.

However, they didn't want to take the plunge without understanding the feasibility of such an undertaking. They met with various people ­ bus operators, consumers and venture capitalists ­ to gauge how well the concept could do.

As expected, they got a favorable response. They started writing the code for the software that would be required to run the operations. Once this was ready, they put together a business plan and presented it to TiE, Bangalore Chapter.

TiE ­ The Indus Entrepreneurs ­ are mentors, to say the very least. They breathe lives and hope in to young entrepreneurs who have a working concept. The idea didn't need much selling to TiE members either. That was the beginning of a seemingly long journey. All the founders quit their well­paying, secure jobs and started redBus.

Since those days there have been many ups and downs. It wasn't simple to change the mindset of bus operators who are used to dealing with their traditional brick­and­mortar travel agents. It wasn't easy to market the concept. It needed time and money. It took a few months for things to fall in place.

All that was needed were a few people who used the website. Once that would happen, the user interface was bound to generate word­of­mouth. That's exactly what happened. Those who used it liked it, told others and the dominos started to fall in place.

To cut a long story short, redBus has come a very long way from days of struggle to days of growth. It has the largest number of tie­ups (and growing) with bus operators and a large and satisfied customer base.

Being run by a team of young people, the culture is informal and everyone is ambitious and charged to make it larger than imagined. What started as a team of three grew into a team of 50 within 9 months. W ritten 7 Jun, 2013.

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