In this article we will discuss about:- 1. Eminent Role Models in Indian Business and their Philosophies 2. Women Entrepreneurs in India 3. Dalit Entrepreneurs in India 4. Role Models in the Startup Domain.
Eminent Role Models in Indian Business and their Philosophies:
“If You Don’t Build Your Dream, Someone Else Will Hire You to Help Them Build Theirs” – Dhirubhai Ambani
Some good business philosophies are being given as under:
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(i) Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, better known as Dhirubhai Ambani “Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one’s monopoly”.
(ii) Aafreen Ansari – “Nothing or nobody else except you can stop you from being an entrepreneur”
(iii) Sachin and Binny Bansal, Flipkart – “The core of any business is to earn money. You have not done your job well until you find a stranger who is willing to open his/her wallet to give you money for the service/products that you are offering.”
(iv) Ritesh Agarwal, OYO Rooms – “It is extremely important to build something that a 100 people absolutely love using rather than make something that a 1000 people would just, kind of, like.”
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(v) Kunal Shah, FreeCharge – “If you fully accept the worst that can ever happen in your journey, fear won’t ever be an obstacle in starting-up.”
Women Entrepreneurs in India:
Some young women entrepreneurs who dared to follow their dreams are:
1. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw:
“I really believe that entrepreneurship is about being able to face failure, manage failure and succeed after failing.”
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Kiran Mazumdar is an Indian entrepreneur. She is the Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Limited a biotechnology company based in Bangalore. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was born on March 23, 1953 in Bangalore, India.
Mazumdar-Shaw completed her schooling from the city’s Bishop Cotton Girl’s High School (1968). She wanted to join medical school but instead took up biology and completed her BSc Zoology Honors course from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore University (1973). She later did her post-graduation in Malting and Brewing from Ballarat College, Melbourne University (1975).
She worked as a trainee brewer in Melbourne and as a trainee maltster in Australia. She also worked for some time as a technical consultant at Jupiter Breweries Limited, Calcutta and as a technical manager at Standard Makings Corporation, Baroda between 1975 and 1977.
She started Biocon in 1978 and spearheaded its evolution from an industrial enzyme manufacturing company to a fully integrated bio-pharmaceutical company with a well-balanced business portfolio of products and a research focus on diabetes, oncology and auto-immune diseases. She also established two subsidiaries- Syngene in 1994.
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Her pioneering work in the sector has earned her several awards, including the prestigious Padma Shri in 1989 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005 from the government of India. She was recently named among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. She is on the Forbes list of the world’s 100 most powerful women and the Financial Times’ top 50 women in business list. She is also a member of the board of governors of the prestigious Indian School of Business and Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad.
i. Belief in herself
ii. Leadership
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iv. Go-getter spirit
Her Business Philosophy:
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i. Ethics in business
ii. Precision in work
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i. Courageous
ii. Undeterred by set-backs
iii. Corporate citizenship
2. Ekta Kapoor:
Ekta Jeetendra Kapoor was born on 7th June 1975. She started her career by taking rupees 50000/- from her father to start a business venture, in which she was not successful. This did not dampen her spirit and with encouragement from her father she is today an Indian TV and film producer.
She is the Joint Managing Director and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms, her production company. She did her schooling at Bombay Scottish School, Mahim and studied at Mithibai College Mumbai.
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She has produced numerous soap opera, television series and movies. Her most popular television series include Hum Paanch, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kasauti Zindagi Ki, Kahin To Hoga, Kahin Kissi Roz, Kusum, Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai, Kasam Se and Bandini. She is currently producing Pavitra Rishta, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, Parichay, Kya Huaa Tera Vaada etc.
She branched out into Bollywood movie production in 2001 beginning with Kyo Kii… Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta. Kucch To Hai and Krishna Cottage based on supernatural themes followed in 2003 and 2004. Kyaa Kool Hai Hum starring her brother Tusshar Kapoor proved to be her breakout hit and went on to become one of the highest earners of 2005. She then went on to co-produce Shootout at Lokhandwala with Sanjay Gupta which became a profitable venture at the box office. Mission Istanbul and EMI – Liya Hai Toh Chukana Parega in collaboration with Sunil Shetty followed.
The years 2010 and 2011 proved to be important for her with critical and commercial success such as Love Sex aur Dhokha, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, Shor in the City, Ragini MMS and The Dirty Picture. Her upcoming productions include several films and TV soaps.
Her Values:
i. Complete belief in family traditions & family values
ii. Decisions based on instinct or sixth sense
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iii. Persistence
iv. Hard work & diligence
Her Business Philosophy:
i. Expand after a humble beginning
ii. “There is no rest in business”
Her Behavioural Orientation:
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i. Simplicity
ii. Honesty
iii. Innovation
3. Aishwarya Nair:
According to her she was inspired by her grandfather and fondly says “And clearly, our grandfather is our inspiration. First, he set up a successful textile business namely The Leela Palace, right from scratch and then he began the hospitality venture when he was 64 years old. There’s no stopping him,” Aishwarya says. A brand that is dedicated to luxury, the sisters have added a breath of fresh air to the workplace.
With Aishwarya capitalizing on her talent in the bakery department, she is constantly innovating by organizing pastry exhibitions and gourmet pet food in the food and beverage division. She always had a creative flair. And her family recognized it at the right time and channeled it towards food and beverage. She picked up her skill for baking at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York City, where she worked soon after her specialized course in culinary arts management at the Culinary Institute of America, New York. She is also responsible for wine acquisition for the group, she hosts exclusive wine tastings in all the seven operating properties in India. She is also working with two international fine dining brands, Megu and Le Cirque, both of which launched in The Leela Palace, New Delhi.
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Values:
i. Zeal to learn
ii. Taking inspiration from family members
iii. Innovation as key to success
Business Philosophy:
i. Treating employees well
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ii. Doing social good
iii. Carrying on ethical business
Behavioural Orientation:
i. Humility
ii. Simplicity
iii. Open minded
4. Dr. Swati Piramal:
Swati A. Piramal is the Vice Chairperson of Piramal Life Sciences Limited and Director of Piramal Healthcare Limited.
Dr. Piramal received one of India’s highest civilian honour’s, the Padmashri award, by the President of India, Ms. Pratibha Patil on 4th April, 2012 She has been nominated as one of the 25 Most Powerful Business Women in India eight times and is now a member of the Hall of Fame of the Most Powerful Women. She was the first woman in 90 years to head the Apex Chamber of Commerce ASSOCHAM in 2009-10. She has contributed towards innovations in Public Health Services and other projects.
She has been a part of public policy related to health care which led to major policy changes that help reduce the spread of life-threatening diseases. Dr. Swati Piramal also serves on Indian Government public policy expert committees for trade, planning, environment, arts, women’s entrepreneurship, national integration and regional development. Dr. Piramal is a member of many Indian and foreign business councils, and has received numerous Indian and international awards.
i. Doing good for society
ii. Extending helping hand
Her Business Philosophy:
i. Innovation as mantra of success
ii. Ethical business
ii. Persistence
iv. Self confidence
5. Ameera Shah – Promoter and MD, Metropolis Healthcare:
In 2001, when Ameera Shah, then 21, returned from the US to work for her father Sushil Shah’s standalone path lab in Mumbai, she faced skepticism from people she wanted to partner with. Their concern was “We have done 25 acquisitions or partnerships with pathologists, who are usually doctors in their 50s or 60s”.
For them, partnering with a young girl from a non-medical background was unthinkable, Shah recalls. In 2006, when Shah wanted to raise private equity funding, a few investors asked her if she intended to abandon the venture after getting married and having children. Subsequently, marquee investors like ICICI Ventures, Warburg Pincus, Carlyle and KKR reposed faith in her. Shah, a finance graduate from the University of Texas, Austin, doesn’t face these questions anymore. She has managed to establish Metropolis as a global chain of 130 labs and 1,200 centres across six countries, employing 4,000 people. In fact, Metropolis is one of the top three path lab chains in India today.
Shah overcame gender stereotypes by building trust through a human connect with stakeholders and persisting with her chosen path. This, she says, is the learning that she imparts to young women entrepreneurs whom she mentors in her spare time.
Values:
i. Hard work
ii. Persistence
iii. Extreme self-confidence
Business Philosophy:
i. Continue despite obstacle
Behavioural Orientation:
i. Sincere
ii. Good communication skills
iii. Dedication in work
6. Vandana Luthra:
Vandana Luthra is an entrepreneur who can be said to be embodiments of her enterprise. She is slim and svelte. She carries herself with the grace that only comes with enormous self confidence. She’s the founder and mentor of the VLCC, India’s leading slimming, beauty and fitness brand, and one with seven outlets in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, and many more to open. There are VLCC slimming, beauty and fitness centers in Muscat and Bahrain, and by next year there will be a total of some 28 across the Middle East.
The largest number of VLCC centers, of course, is in Ms. Luthra’s native India – 150 of them in 75 cities. She facilitates professional development through her vocational training school, the VLCC Institute of Beauty, Health & Management, which currently has 43 campuses in 35 cities.
Ms. Luthra says “The entrepreneur as an educator – That would be a fair way to characterize me and Fitness and well-being are a matter of education, and for that you need skilled trainers.” Her own training after graduating from Delhi University was in nutrition and cosmetology in Germany. Then Ms. Luthra took a series of specialized courses and modules in beauty care, fitness, food and nutrition and skin care in London, Munich and Paris. And then she returned to her middle-class home in New Delhi, India’s capital, and started a neighbourhood beauty parlour.
Values:
i. Good clean business
ii. Doing good to women in particular
iii. Belief in good heath
Business Philosophy:
i. Healthy life – Happy life
Behavioural Orientation:
i. Good communication
ii. Smart & sophisticated
iii. Good soft skills
7. Hamsa Vamanan and Priyanka Narasimhalu:
Paaduka is the entrepreneurial venture of two close friends, Hamsa Vamanan and Priyanka Narasimhalu. It was the result of the passion they shared for art. Both of them had learnt art and had hoped to make it their profession. However, despite being good artists they were not too successful at selling their paintings. Eventually, they realized that a career in painting was not working for them.
According to Hamsa “It was a dull and gloomy phase that we went through, we wanted to do something with art but were not sure of what, since we had no artistic or business background. We did not know anything about how to sell art or how to push it.” Then one day, they realized that instead of paintings, they should put their creative side to good use and decided to “Paint something that people can afford to buy.” That was motivation enough for them. Both were naturally drawn to footwear and thought of painting and embroidering on footwear.
Once they had the idea there was no looking back. Launching a Facebook page in 2011 they decided to market their products in their college itself.
Soon, orders flooded in and the business was on its way. Their college advised them to apply for the Tata NEN initiative, which helped them tremendously. Not having a business background was their main challenge. They had invested their pocket money into this venture.
Both Hamsa and Priyanka faced no problems from family where this venture was concerned. Nor did they have any issues with being young women who went into entrepreneurship.
Values:
i. Go-getter spirit
ii. Passion
iii. Achievers
Business Philosophy:
Creativity can help you reach heights
Behavioural Orientation:
i. Caring & loving human beings
ii. Concern for society
iii. Patience
8. Srijayapriya Balasundaram, Srinidhi Sridharan, Aparrna Sivasubramanian and Akshaya Sivaraman – Friends who Turned Business Partners:
Srijayapriya Balasundaram, Srinidhi Sridharan, Aparrna Sivasubramanian and Akshaya Sivaraman are four friends who were all interested in starting a business. They put their heads together and came up with the idea of doing something ecofriendly.
The four girls were all students of MOP Vaishnav College for Women, in Chennai. MOP has a bazaar every year where all entrepreneurs in the college can put up a stall. The four of them decided to put up a stall with ecofriendly jute and cotton bags made by a women’s self-help group. They purchased hand woven bags, customized them and sold them at this bazaar. The feedback was excellent and thus” Diva Bags” was born.
The motivation for them to start the business was the continuation of their friendship. The four girls are now in different parts of India but each contributes to the business and is trying to make it grow in her area of residence now. They run the business through web sales. The bazaar was just a stepping stone for them. Orders now come in through social media sites as well as corporate houses.
Starting this venture was not an easy task. All four were studying and there were many challenges involved. They had to focus a lot on the business and they have never compromised on either quality or price.”
Diva Bags:
Their advice to other young entrepreneurs is “Go out and start a business. You can do it. Never give up. You will always find support and help. As a woman, you should stand on your own feet.”
Values:
i. Team spirit
ii. Determination to achieve
iii. Dreaming big
Business Philosophy:
A team can make it happen, if strong determination is there
Behavioural Orientation:
i. Courageous
ii. Helpful
iii. Happy
iv. Hard working
Dalit Entrepreneurs in India:
Starting a company is a riveting roller coaster of emotions with tremendous highs and at times, difficult lows, but one thing that always helps an entrepreneur to sail through the ups and downs is to connect with some motivational quotes by great minds such as-
Peter Drucker “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
Vince Lombardi “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”
India has taken a huge leap with entrepreneurs tremendously on the rise from every caste and creed. DCCI was set up in April 2005 and, according to Prasad, one of the aims of the group is to remove misconceptions about Dalits enterprise. The government has also extended its support to felicitate entrepreneurs of dalit business segment. Milind Kamble, founder of Indian Chambers of Commerce industry and a head of a 101 crore construction empire was recently awarded the Padman Bhushan Kalpana Saroj, head of Kamani Tubes was also awarded.
Described as the original “slumdog millionaire”, she bought the distressed assets of Kamani Tubes Company and successfully steered the company back to profits. Kalpana Saroj was married at the age of 12 and lived in a slum in Mumbai with her husband’s family. After suffering physical abuse at the hands of her husband’s family members, she was rescued by her father, left her husband and returned to her village to live with her parents. She attempted suicide after being ostracized by the villagers.
At the age of 16, she moved back to Mumbai to live with her uncle. She started working in a garment factory to support her family. Using government loans for lower caste people, she successfully started a tailoring business and then a furniture store. She built up a successful real estate business, and came to be known for her contacts and entrepreneurial skills. She was on the board of Kamani Tubes when it went into liquidation in 2001, and after taking over the company, restructured it and brought it back to profit.
Values:
i. Determination to succeed
ii. Aim to provide motivation to others
iii. Helping attitude for society and community
Business Philosophy:
There is no stopping a determined entrepreneur
Behavioural Orientation:
i. Daring
ii. Courageous
iii. Fighter
2. Harsh Bhasker – Kota Tutorials:
He does not have a rag to riches story. He Hails from Jatav caste and had an option to join family leather shoe making business. But Rebellious by streak, he wanted to do something on his own. He was good in studies and therefore he got admission in IIT Roorke.
This young man completed engineering and joined HCL in Noida as a software developer, job was too routine and mind-numbing, so, Year later, he got together seven colleagues to start a software firm out of Katwaria Sarai near IIT Delhi campus which closed due to technology meltdown. He Returned to Agra to start a franchisee of Kota – based Career Point in engineering and medical coaching. Three years later, launched his own coaching centre and named it Kota tutorials as people already knew it as Kota Institute. Currently he Owns two structures, 11 air conditioned classrooms with a capacity to teach 2000 students, two hostels to accommodate 250 students.
Building this new brand coaching centre was not easy, as students he admitted were from under privileged backgrounds.
Now Kota tutorials is now in 12 cities, including Aligarh, Dehradhun, Bhatinda through franchisees and the revenues are estimated around 10 crores.
Values:
i. Persistence
ii. Grit determination
iii. Firebrand
Business Philosophy:
A good business plan would always work
Behavioural Orientation:
i. Rebellious
ii. Brilliant
iii. Team spirit
3. Balu:
Balu Hails from lower middle class family and his Family was against him starting a business but he was determined. In 1995, with a meagre capital of Rs 18,000 he could not even purchase a wire-drawing machine, However, Two years later, he assembled his first machine using parts of herald car from the grey market, stripped the car of its gear box and assembled the machine.
He decided to set up his own unit but money and discrimination came into picture, required finance, but bank rejected because he was a dalit. He received two lakhs through a family friend which he repaid it in 2001. In 2004; SBI initiative for entrepreneurs yielded Balu a loan of Rs 20 lakhs which he repaid in three years. He diversified into manufacturing organic pesticides and agrochemicals-
Values:
i. Determined
ii. Go – Getter
iii. Dynamic
Business Philosophy:
Fight against discrimination & all odds, will yield positive results
Behavioural Orientation:
i. Good communication
ii. Helping nature
iii. Desire to contribute to community & society
iv. Patience
4. Pravin Meshram – Bharat Electricals:
He comes from a lower middle class family in Nagpur. From a very young age, he wanted to do his own business rather than work under someone. He earned a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Nagpur University in 1998 and joined his father’s small electrical repairing shop where he mastered electrical repairs and equipment installation and formed networks. He had a Hand to mouth existence.
He even Booked advertisements for publications, dispatched plastic boxes for nearby factories and after the last failure, went to work as an electrician for a salary of Rs 2000. In the year 2006, he happened to visit his friend’s transformer factory, where he worked there for six months and understood the manufacturing process. Late in the year 2007, he borrowed two lakh from his father and one lakh from his friend to set up a small transformer manufacturing unit.
His First transformer was rejected by MSEB. After two months it got approved, first transformer supplied was 25Kv.Within a year Bharat Electricals crossed one crore in turnover. Today he has one acre plot which has the capacity to manufacture 3000 transformers of 25 – 1000 KV capacity, About 80 per cent transformers are supplied to MSEB and the remaining to the SEB’s in Chhattisgarh and MP.
He has two intermediate goals:
i. Foreign travel for his parents
ii. Rs 100 crore turnover for Bharat Electricals
i. Willingness to do something for his community
ii. Go – Getter spirit
iii. Determination
Business Philosophy:
Hard work pays sooner or later
Behavioural Orientation:
ii. Empathising nature
iii. Desire to contribute to community & society
5. Rajesh Saraiya:
Rajesh saraiya is considered as the India’s first dalit billionaire. He was born in a middle class family in Dehradun. He is an Aeronautical engineer by profession. He runs a multinational company by the name Steelmont Pvt. Ltd. from Ukraine.
In a conference held in the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Mr. JJ. Irani-Director in Tata sons sated with pride on seeing his tremendous progress that “dalits are second to none as far as the intelligence and entrepreneurship is concerned. We only have to give them an opportunity”.
i. Sincerity
ii. Courage
iii. Determination
Business Philosophy:
“Dalits are second to none as far as the intelligence and entrepreneurship is concerned. We only have to give them an opportunity”.
ii. Happy
iii. Hard working
iv. Friendly
v. Confident
Role Models in the Startup Domain:
1. Deep Kalra:
Deep Kalra is the Founder & CEO of MakeMyTrip, India’s leading online travel portal. An IIM-A alumnus, Deep launched MakeMyTrip in 2000 and has traversed the extremes of the Indian online space. Deep has strongly accentuated on the fact that entrepreneurs should not start-up focusing on exits.
2. Dorai Thodla:
Dorai Thodla is a founder of iMorph, Inc. iMorph builds tools and provides services for gathering technology intelligence, market intelligence and industry intelligence. He has been an active mentor and guides many startups in getting their act right.
3. Kishore Biyani:
Kishore Biyani is the CEO of Future Group, and the MD of Pantaloon Retail. Biyani’s Future Group has over 17 million square feet of retail space in 90 cities and 60 rural locations. He managed to raise $170 million by taking venture capital arm Future Ventures public in March 2011. Kishore is also the co-author of the book “It happened in India”. It is the story of Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central and the Great Indian Consumer, co-authored with Dipayan Baishya. Surely a role model for many across India!
4. Mahesh Murthy:
Mahesh Murthy is a founding partner at Seed-fund, and has over 26 years of marketing and communications experience, of which 15 years are in online marketing. After dropping out of college, Mahesh sold vacuum cleaners from door to door, worked with Grey in India and Ogilvy in Hong Kong, where he won notoriety and awards as a creative director on HP, The Economist, Pepsi and MTV – For whom he wrote and directed a spot voted “Asia’s best commercial of the decade”.
5. Naveen Tewari:
Naveen Tewari is the Founder of InMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile advertising network. This is no small feat and Naveen feels that a lot depends on the entrepreneur’s mindset. One of the most successful entrepreneurs of the new age, Naveen has inspired many to dream big and achieve things entrepreneurs usually thought to be out of their reach.
6. Phanindra Sama:
Phanindra Sama is the Founder & CEO of redBus(dot)in, the leading online bus ticketing portal. Phanindra Sama is be better known as “Phani” in the startups space and has been able to build a vastly successful company. It is under his leadership that redBus achieved the feat of selling 10 million bus tickets.
7. Sachin and Binny Bansal:
The Bansals are the poster boys of the Indian startup ecosystem, with their e-commerce firm Flipkart pegged to be the Amazon of India. Although mired in a few controversies off late, Flipkart remains the biggest e-Commerce venture in India. YourStory visited the Flipkart’s Bangalore office during the firm’s early days and caught up with this duo then. From then till today, their growth has been phenomenal coupled with multiple rounds of funding which has kept them head and shoulders above the rest. No surprise that the Bansal brothers are the role models for many.
8. Sanjeev Bikhchandani:
Sanjeev Bikhchandani, an IIM-A – Alumnus, is the Founder of Naukri(dot)com, India’s leading online job portal. An early catcher of the Internet market in India, Sanjeev sees high potential in the consumer internet and mobile. He is another widely respected entrepreneur, who has built a company with sheer grit and determination.