Success Stories in Business

- By: Vivek B, 2008-04-11

Can you imagine a business reaping success from the day it started? Most of us aim for this ideal scenario but it takes long term commitment to the business to get appreciation from the people which make it a success. Nobody can predict that a small idea can take over the entire stake in an Industry where existing businesses are failing. There are many examples of ventures that gave this world a lateral way of thinking but one such business idea inspires us to write of its success.

In 1980, in the city of Mumbai (India’s business capital), an idea changed the way of thinking of moderately educated people in doing business, the trend called – “Dabbawallas’. The idea of delivering a Tiffin Box within the highly populated Mumbai Suburb at peak hours with accuracy is acclaimed by many successful organizations. The Dabbawala (one who carries a Tiffin box), is on average an Indian man educated till only 8th grade in school. His task involves delivering fresh food to offices during Lunch and Dinner hours. His error rate is 1 in 16 million transactions, giving Six Sigma performance without technological backup. Surprisingly the turnover of the organization is approximately INR 50 Crore Per Annum. The organization is noted by “Guinness Book of World Records”, “Ripley’s Believe it or not” for the World record in best time management. (source: www.mydabbawala.com)

On the other end of India’s social scale, there are people with technical knowledge, management skills and university degrees who have created several successful companies from the ground up. Naukri.com, Subhiksha Retail, Globals Inc. and CalvinKare are to name a few.

Naukri.com the premier job portal in India was founded by a graduate without any business background, Sanjeev Bikhchandani. In the late 90’s, Sanjeev grabbed the opportunity of making available job appointments online for job seekers and employers, at a time when the only medium for such appointments were Newspaper or Print media. The long struggle and exhaustive utilization of resources paid up, resulting in the company now being listed in the Stock Exchange.

CavinKare (‘CK’) is renown in India for its variety of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). The chairman and MD, C. K. Ranganathan showed the world that it is possible to beat the multinationals in the exhaustive market of FMCG. The concept of sachet packaging introduced in a product range like talcum powder and shampoo attracted its own audience and market. The “Chick Shampoo” brand became a grand success in both rural and urban India. In Tamil “Cavin” signifies beauty and grace, as do the rest of India’s ‘CK’ Brands. The business started in a small village of Tamilnadu, with initial investment of Rs.15000 that is worth Rs.500 Crore (Rs.5 billion) today.

Subhiksha, India’s largest retail chain was created by a graduate from IIT Madras (now Chennai) who acted against his family’s advice by deciding to stay in his home country to start a business, rather than immigrate to the US. R. Subramaniam, MD of Subhiksha Retail started his retail business in the 90’s with the motto “why pay more when you can get it for less at Subhiksha?” Keeping the business local by employing management regionally and running the business according to local trends, specific to the region has proved to be a successful model for Subhiksha, which now has 500 plus stores across India.

So, at what age should you start your own business? This question is answered differently by all entrepreneurs but when a 13 year old boy launched his first website and started his own company aged 14, most opinions have no meaning.

Suhas Gopinath, fascinated by the Internet in the 90’s launched his first website “coolhindustan.com” aged 13. At 14 years of age, Network Solution, a company in San Jose, Silicon Valley invited this talent to join their team. Suhas declined the job offer and decided to become his own boss but faced many obstacles due to his age factor. He successfully registered his company Globals Inc in San Jose which specializes in Web Design and Software. Today the ‘Boss’ is 21 and employs a team of around 400 people of the same age group as himself. Globals Inc has 200 customers across the world. Suhas is recognized as the Worlds youngest CEO in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Such stories will continue for Indian entrepreneurs as the Indian economy proves favorable for business start-ups. So if you have an Idea, just explore it, who knows, you could top India’s list of achievers and successful businesses.

pitchINDIA.com is an online business introductory service which connects global angel investors and VCs to entrepreneurs in India. Looking to invest in India? Visit: Pitch India. You can reach the author at vivek@pitchindia.com