This document summarizes the stories of three entrepreneurs - Hemen Ruparel, Jaya Jha, and Gaurav Ahuja. It describes how Hemen Ruparel turned his family's struggling spice export business around by focusing on high value cardamom exports after facing setbacks. It outlines how Jaya Jha dropped out of placements to co-found India's first self-publishing platform, Pothi.com, after realizing the lack of such companies in India. The document also shares how Gaurav Ahuja leveraged his experience in his family's bicycle saddle business to establish the successful restaurant chain Red Ginger.

1. The Fresh BrewChronicles of Business and Freedom

2. AMIT HARALALKAMBA class at IIM LucknowBlogs at TalkingTalks.inAMITABH THAKURFellow at IIM Lucknow

3. IPS officer

4. President, National RTI ForumRising from the ashes“You don’t need an MBA to shut down a company, you need one to turn it around” Learning from the master of the trade !

5. HemenRuparel: a backgroundBorn in a middle class family in MumbaiFather managed the export division of family businessDealed mostly in traditional spices

6. The reasonJoined father’s export business at homeRealized that existing business wasn’t sustainable because times were changing1991: liberalization brought new hopesExplore a different market for the same product ORExport a different product in the markets where they already had a stronghold1993: 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 SALanded in SA without any contactsGrabbed Yellow Pages in hotel room and started dialling up businessmen thereMet the first prospect and converted himNext client – Robertson – Unilever

8. The tragedyFather got sickEarthquakeWarehouse at Kandla, Gujrat was destroyedLoss of facility and lab => lost his biggest client – Robertson – UnileverInsurance surveyor refused to cooperateSlept in tents, guarding the stocks while pigs and cattle would come sniffing at their legsWas thinking weather he should take up a regular job, when he remembered his prof’s words

9. The RenaissanceExport green cardamomsHigh value product, required less storeage capacityIndian 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 teaBanks: “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 marketOwn brand “Emperor Akbar” Third largest exporter of cardamom from IndiaDoubled profit over preearthquake days

11. Innovation in publishingAdamancy is good !Take your own decisions

12. Jaya jha: backgroundSchooling at DPS RanchiB.Tech in CSE at IIT KanpurGold Medalist at IIMLucknowPassionate about reading since a very young ageInspired by writings of RahulSankritiyayanHelped 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 placementsAn avid blogger, Jaya felt the need and the lack of self-publishing companies in IndiaAlong with Abhaya, her husband, Jaya went about creating India’s first , and now successful, self-publishing platform, Pothi.com

14. Breaking the stereotypesRefused to join any committees to gain those cv pointsDespite being the batch topper, she chose to major in mark-strat instead of Finance

15. Mid careerInterned at PepsiOpted out of campus placements, received a lot of media attentionChose to join a start-up where some of her friends from IIT Kanpur were workingFamily was a little hesitant, but gave up to Jaya’s adamancyAre you sure you want to do this

16. The changeRealized that the IT product wasn’t ready yet and won’t be in another 6 monthsJoined APM Program at GoogleGoogle was setting up operations in India and the non-engineering teams were not well-staffedShe took up various responsibilities simultaneously

17. The necessityAbsence of self-publishing portals in IndiaAvid bloggerEven the 15-20 people who liked her poems could buy and read her bookShe setup Pothi.com with her husband AbhayaGot funding from friends and familyNever needed to approach any VC as the venture didn’t require huge investments

18. The launchPothi.com was launched in July 2008Enable pricing, inventory and distribution via websiteFreelance editors available on websiteGenerating employmentCurrently 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. GauravahujaBorn to a punjabi business familyMom – english teacher, while dad was a mathematics teacherDad quit his job and entered into business of manufacturing bicycle saddlesLearned a lot of CRM in his father’s office during high schoolCouldn’t crack the JEE in the first go, but didn’t give up

21. The college daysHe was totally involved in family business and didn’t spend more than 15-20 days in the campusMet clients regularly – ranging from executives from HERO and Hercules to the grass-root level distributor in tier-II citiesHe loved the decision making aspect of businessRealized that HR is the most important aspect of an organization

22. Stint at IIMlucknowSummer internship at Treasury department of Standard Chartered Bank, reported to Asset and Liability ManagementGot PPO and joined them on graduationOne fine evening, was sitting in HRC and realized that India lacked something of the sortDecided to quit, family very unsupportiveCame back home, helped grow family business

23. The cultures resto loungeHad zero prior knowledge in the restaurant business Travelled across cities talking to restaurant owners and understanding the businessEstablished the cultures resto lounge in Fun Republic MallInvested 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 peopleBuilt a team on trustHe 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 successDuring the sub-prime crisis, Indian real estate prices went downBagged some good dealsOpened another restaurant – Madras MailEstablished the “Red Ginger” chain of RestaurantsAs of Aug, 2010, Red Ginger is in 20 locations in IndiaOSPM