Bharat Entrepreneurs

” When I thought of starting a company, I felt India needed 100 people like Narayana Murthy and Ambani. If 100 such people support 2 lakh people each, imagine how many Indians get supported. Entrepreneurship is needed to uplift the poor. It is not easy to be an entrepreneur, especially a first generation entrepreneur. There will be lots of challenges in the beginning but you should learn to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Never give up even if there are hurdles. There are many who give up within a week. You need determination and a tough mind to cross the initial hurdles.” E.Sarathbabu

E. SarathBabu is not the typical IIM Ahmedabad student you read about in the newspapers. He did not take the easy path to earn mega bucks in spite of being offered plum jobs from top companies. Instead he chose, like a true entrepreneur, to carve out his own path to success. So he started FOODKING.

His mother worked as an ayah in an Anganvadi to educate him and his siblings. Later he went on to complete his higher education in the prestigious BITS Pilani and IIM Ahmedabad.

In the beginning, he took a loan of Rs 20 lakh and started Foodking in August 2006. Initially the losses were poised at Rs 2000 a day. The cafeteria’s he set up initially did not work according to plan and he soon came to the conviction that only by selling in large volumes that any profit could be made.

In 2006 IIM A alumni meet, he hoped to bag a contract but could not.

In march 2007 he got an offer to start a unit at BITS, Pilani. This contract proved profitable. Spurred with this initial profit and with the money that he borrowed from his IIM A friends, he wanted to move ahead. He got BITS Goa contract which was to be his biggest break. He had to cater to over 1300 students and the sales peaked at 65,000 Rs per day.

Then he got an opportunity to serve at SRM deemed college which boasts of over 17,000 students!

Right now he has a turn around of Rs 3.5 crore per annum. By next year he hope to increase it to Rs 20 crores.

At present he has BITS hyderabad in his hands and it all set to be operational by July 2008. So the future does look rosy to this Foodking.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/aug/31spec.htm

Popularity: 41%

                       “Capitalize on the opportunities and make the best out of it“. This is the tarak mantra that an entrepreneur should follow. If you are an entrepreneur, it starts with your ability to recognize opportunities. Next you will need research skills to figure out whether you have uncovered a viable oppurtunity as well as the ability to create an innovative idea. Once you are all fired up with your idea, you will need to communicate your vision to prospective partners and investors.

For example consider the case of HDFC(Housing Developing Finance Corporation), the first indian company which aimed at providing shelter to every Indian. HDFC was incorporated in 1977, started with primary object of meeting a social need: That of promoting home ownership by providing long term finance to house holds for their housing needs. Its founder H.T.Parekh, had boundless enthusiasm for introducing personal loans for households in india with a firm belief that, if managed well, this would certainly succeed. In less than three decades, HDFC has grown to a multi-product financial conglomerate with banking, insurance, asset management, securities, real estate services added onto it core business of housing finance in addition to being india’s largest housing finance company.
                 

Here we can observe his enthusiasm, positive approach and creative thinking.
Take the life of “Dhirubhai Ambani”. He started his journey from a mere petrol pump attendent to finally creating the first private Indian fortune 500 company. He was the son of an ordinary school master in rural gujarat. A school drop-out, his first income was earned when he was still a child, selling snacks to pilgrims. A job with an Indian trading company took him to Aden and he moved on from there to work for Shell, as a petrol pump attendent. When he returned to india in 1957 Polyster has just been invented, and Ambani believed it represented the future of indian textile business. His foresight was right! His investment of rupees 15,000 to set up a trading house paid off quickly and by mid 1960’s he was the largest polyster trader in the country.
Here we can see the innovative approach, visualizing skills which made him to reach such great heights.

 One important question you have to ask yourself before starting up or to work entrepreneurially is “Where do you see yourself ?” Will it be contract work, own business, software solutions , intrapreneurship, freelance services etc., you take your pick and make it work.
          

 Virtually anyone can be entrepreneurial by pushing creative limits ,trying innovative approaches to work situations and welcoming problems as oppurtunities.For entrepreneurs their marketing plan is as important as their financial plan. You have to develop team building skills as you won’t be able to do it all yourself. You will need some team building skills to assemble the best help you can find.

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