5. HemenRuparel: a background Born in a middle class family in Mumbai Father managed the export division of family business Dealed mostly in traditional spices
6. The reason Joined father’s export business at home Realized that existing business wasn’t sustainable because times were changing 1991: liberalization brought new hopes Explore a different market for the same product OR Export a different product in the markets where they already had a stronghold 1993: South Africa’s struggle against apartheid came to an end => untapped virgin market to explore
7. Air India, Introductory offer for flights to and from SA Landed in SA without any contacts Grabbed Yellow Pages in hotel room and started dialling up businessmen there Met the first prospect and converted him Next client – Robertson – Unilever
8. The tragedy Father got sick Earthquake Warehouse at Kandla, Gujrat was destroyed Loss of facility and lab => lost his biggest client – Robertson – Unilever Insurance surveyor refused to cooperate Slept in tents, guarding the stocks while pigs and cattle would come sniffing at their legs Was thinking weather he should take up a regular job, when he remembered his prof’s words
9. The Renaissance Export green cardamoms High value product, required less storeage capacity Indian cardamom had a unique fragrance that gave him a distinct competitive advantage Used in biryani in middle east market and in Gahwa, a special kind of tea Banks: “Please settle your debt and go bank elsewhere” Insurance co. 33 lacs against 1.1 crore – take it or leave it
10. The victory ! Established credibility in an alien market Own brand “Emperor Akbar” Third largest exporter of cardamom from India Doubled profit over preearthquake days
12. Jaya jha: background Schooling at DPS Ranchi B.Tech in CSE at IIT Kanpur Gold Medalist at IIMLucknow Passionate about reading since a very young age Inspired by writings of RahulSankritiyayan Helped shape her strong sense of independence “There was lack of development in certaineras of world history and these were the times when globally people travelled less”
13. Dropped out of placements An avid blogger, Jaya felt the need and the lack of self-publishing companies in India Along with Abhaya, her husband, Jaya went about creating India’s first , and now successful, self-publishing platform, Pothi.com
14. Breaking the stereotypes Refused to join any committees to gain those cv points Despite being the batch topper, she chose to major in mark-strat instead of Finance
15. Mid career Interned at Pepsi Opted out of campus placements, received a lot of media attention Chose to join a start-up where some of her friends from IIT Kanpur were working Family was a little hesitant, but gave up to Jaya’s adamancy Are you sure you want to do this
16. The change Realized that the IT product wasn’t ready yet and won’t be in another 6 months Joined APM Program at Google Google was setting up operations in India and the non-engineering teams were not well-staffed She took up various responsibilities simultaneously
17. The necessity Absence of self-publishing portals in India Avid blogger Even the 15-20 people who liked her poems could buy and read her book She setup Pothi.com with her husband Abhaya Got funding from friends and family Never needed to approach any VC as the venture didn’t require huge investments
18. The launch Pothi.com was launched in July 2008 Enable pricing, inventory and distribution via website Freelance editors available on website Generating employment Currently boasts of 500 authors on their website who have self published their books
19. The business of taste You have to be fair to all the stakeholders of the business – whether your customer, employees or vendor ! If the stakeholders are not making money, you are not making any money either ! Business is all about making the right decision at the righ time
20. Gauravahuja Born to a punjabi business family Mom – english teacher, while dad was a mathematics teacher Dad quit his job and entered into business of manufacturing bicycle saddles Learned a lot of CRM in his father’s office during high school Couldn’t crack the JEE in the first go, but didn’t give up
21. The college days He was totally involved in family business and didn’t spend more than 15-20 days in the campus Met clients regularly – ranging from executives from HERO and Hercules to the grass-root level distributor in tier-II cities He loved the decision making aspect of business Realized that HR is the most important aspect of an organization
22. Stint at IIMlucknow Summer internship at Treasury department of Standard Chartered Bank, reported to Asset and Liability Management Got PPO and joined them on graduation One fine evening, was sitting in HRC and realized that India lacked something of the sort Decided to quit, family very unsupportive Came back home, helped grow family business
23. The cultures resto lounge Had zero prior knowledge in the restaurant business Travelled across cities talking to restaurant owners and understanding the business Established the cultures resto lounge in Fun Republic Mall Invested a lot of money into the systems, processes and POS and accepted that breaking even will take some time
24. HR: biggest investment was in people Built a team on trust He shared his vision with his employees and showed them the potential gains of their association 5 to 10 years down the line
25. Success, success and more success During the sub-prime crisis, Indian real estate prices went down Bagged some good deals Opened another restaurant – Madras Mail Established the “Red Ginger” chain of Restaurants As of Aug, 2010, Red Ginger is in 20 locations in India OSPM
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