it is sucess story of ramesh babu who became a billionaire from a barber.

1. SUCCESS STORY OF-
RAMESH BABU
“BARBER TO BILLIONAIRE”
BY- RHYTHM GARG

2. RAMESH BABU – AN
INSPIRATIONAL STORY
OF ‘BARBER TO
BILLIONAIRE’
Ramesh Babu, the barber who became a
millionaire, did exactly this when he was
shaping his dazzling destiny. This is the
amazing rags-to-riches story of
Ramesh Babu who made it big in this cut-
throat world all on the dint of his honesty,
hard work, humility and some foresight and
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.

3. History of Ramesh Babu barber-
BIRTH PLACE – born and raised in Bengaluru
He was born in a poor family. His father was a barber & lost him in 1979 at his early age and found his family
marsh in poverty. When he was just 7 years old, his mother started working as a maid servant to make ends
meet. His father had left behind a saloon business on Brigade road which his uncle took to running and
would give them 5 rupees a day from that. 5 rupees, even in those days a pittance, was too less to see to him
and his brother and sister’s physical and educational needs. While his mother took a job as a maid and
earned perhaps ₹40-50 per month that was used for everything. They took to having one meal a day
just so they could survive. From when he was in middle school, he took up various odd jobs to make a little extra
cash. He was to deliver newspapers and milk bottles and whatever else was convenient to ease his mother’s load
a bit. Ramesh’s family had steady breakfasts, in addition to their single meal, for the first time when
he took up a job delivering newspapers at the age of 13. This way he somehow managed to finish
his tenth standard and joined evening PUC.
He continued his studies while supporting his family, till his pre-university years when he took over the
saloon, named Inner Space, from his uncle.

4. Turning
Point
Sometime in the nineties, when
he was in his first PU, there
several fights between his
mother and uncle due to which
he thought that he should take
the business in his hands.
And as a result Ramesh
stepped into business with no
resources except the
determination to succeed. He
used family savings to
renovate the saloon and
in two workers to run the
place.
Running the business wasn’t easy, as
Ramesh dealt with multiple
commitments and workers who rarely
turned up at the saloon on time. It
took three months of perseverance
when a chance visit turned Ramesh
towards hairstyling himself.
Since then I have been
called a barber.
• As Ramesh took up hairstyling
himself, the business began to
flourish and a year later, he
began to sign up for
hairstyling courses to hone his
seemingly natural talent

5. Breakthrough
Idea
Later in 1993, he bought a used Maruti
van. His uncle had bought a small car and petty
pride made him buy one too. He pooled his tiny
savings, took a loan, and felt grim satisfaction. His
grandfather had to mortgage his property to
enable the loan. The loan interest was 6800
rupees and he was reeling from having to make
the payments.
The purchase came with steep EMIs and
Ramesh began to rent out his car to raise the
amount. He received his first business
contract from Intel, through a family for
whom his mother worked since he was a child.

6. Building a
Successful
Business
Step by Step
From 1994 onward he seriously got into the car
rental business. His first business contract
was from Intel. As he slowly but steadily gathered
a sizeable customer base, Ramesh realized the
potential of operating a high-end automobile rental
service and began to build a fleet of cars.
 Till 2004, he only had about 5-6 cars.
He 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. But then he noticed that everyone
had small cars and getting into rental
service of luxury cars can be a start of a
different and new idea which would take the
business to next level.

7. Risk is the key to every business
 In 2004, he bought his first luxury car for 40 lakhs. But fortunately for him, 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. He was the first person in Bangalore to invest in a brand-new luxury car
and it did very well.
 In 2011, he bought a Rolls Royce for around 4 crores while, people warned him
about the scope of failures against buying such a tremendously expensive car. But his previous
risk taken in 2004 had paid him off well and so will this because his agenda was in order to run
a business, one has to learn to take risks. But once again, it was a risk that paid off. It’s been 3
years since, and it’s has proven to be tremendously popular.
 His clients include politicians, military officers as well as movie stars such as Salman Khan,
Aamir Khan as well as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

8. Biggest Challenges
Every business will face challenges and pitfalls like he had to
pay over 3 crores in road taxes alone.
Every business will have recurring formidable challenges. The
idea is to embrace them wholeheartedly and tackle them
vehemently.

9. Ideas for the Future
 Earlier they used to pay taxes quarterly. As of now, they have had to put a hold on the
plans for expansion because the taxes have become sky high.
 Ramesh Tours & Travels now also operates in Chennai and Delhi, and the
entrepreneur hopes to conquer Hyderabad and Vijaywada next.
 The team is also working on maximising the company’s online presence.
Today, Ramesh Tours & Travels boasts a fleet of over
400 cars next to models of BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar
and the highly prized Rolls-Royce Ghost.

10. “It has been a tough
journey, but
everything has ups
and downs.”
Work hard. Be
Humble. Anything
else is just luck.
Ramesh Babu's Message to Aspiring Entrepreneurs