Bharat Entrepreneurs

Can you imagine a man with absolutely no money whatsoever going on to establish an empire worth over $525 million?

Well that is exactly what Mr. Raunaq Singh did. This is the true story of a man who came to India as a refugee after the Partition of India and started selling steel tubes, first on a bicycle and later from a small shop in Kolkata. Mr. Singh was an industrialist who took an early lead and built an empire from scratch.

That was a time when he could afford only a single paise a day for his meals, yet 40 years later he would go on to employ over 9,000 candidates directly and another 20,000 indirectly.

Mr. Raunaq Singh laid the foundation of his tyre manufacturing empire about 40 years ago and set the stage for India to become a major tyre producer. As a doyen of the business community in northern India as well as due to his expertise in the automotive sector, the Government decided to appoint him as the first chairman of Maruti Limited. He has also held senior positions in the Exim Bank, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation and the Indo-German Consultative Group.

Raunaq Singh’s corporate journey from Lahore to New Delhi, first as a steel tube merchant, then as a steel tubes manufacturer and finally as the founder of Apollo Tyres, has been the stuff of corporate folklore.

He started his corporate journey without a pedigree, higher education or money, essential ingredients for success in corporate India, making it possible for ordinary folks to dream big. He was among the first post-partition breed of businessmen who came to India after the creation of Pakistan with nothing to fall on.

Born on August 16,1922, at Daska in Pakistan, Raunaq Singh learnt the elementary lessons of business skills while being employed as a salesman of a steel pipes merchant in Lahore earning Rs 8 a month — a princely amount in those times. The seeds of entrepreneurship were planted when Raunaq Singh cashed in on an opportunity thrown up by the dearth of waterpipes in the areas around Lahore. The profits he, thus , earned were ploughed back in the form of setting up his own business in steel pipes.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

• He was president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Punjab and Haryana Chamber, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association and the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).
• He was chairman of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Engineering Export Promotion Council and various joint business councils.
• He was also a member of the executive board of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce for three years.
• The Apollo group of companies includes Bharat Gears, Raunaq International, Raunaq Automotive Components and Menarini Raunaq Pharma and has over 9,000 employees.

His son Kanwar Onkar Singh took over as the chairman of the Apollo Tyres when Mr. Raunaq Singh became chairman emeritus of the group.

Raunaq Singh died on September 30, 2002.

On that day, India lost a charismatic first generation entrepreneur.

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It was a profession for his Grandfather..but when it transcended to his hands it was already an Industry.
We are talking about the Beauty salon industry and the person Jawed Habib.
His grandfather, Nazir Habib was the pioneer of hair styling in their family. His celebrity clients include Lord Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru. It is said that Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, bowed only to two people, the QUEEN and Nazir habib.

HAIR STYLING INDUSTRY
But the chain of HABIB’s salons was started by Jawed Habib’s father Mr. Habib Ahmed in 1983 in Delhi. Now its been taken care of by Jawed Habib. At present there are 90+ salons in India. The Jawed Habib salon chain also runs in prominent places like London(3 outlets), Bangladesh, New York(2 outlets) and are planning to launch in Mauritius and Australia by next year.
Jawed Habib Hair and Beauty COMPANY became a private limited company after 2006 .
Jawed also started an Institute for training students in Hair styling and body care. Currently the Institute is located in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata and Kathmandu.

JAWED HABIB

He actually wanted to pursue Hotel Management course but later decided to run the family business . He did his Masters in FRENCH Language and then went to London to specialize in Tricology and advance cosmetology.
He is now the Brand Ambassador for SUNSILK (belongs to UNILEVER).
He also has got some books under his publications on Professional hair styling.

Fun Facts
He holds a world record for 410 non stop hair cuts .
After reading all this if u want to have a nice hair cut from Habib I guess u have to take an online or off line appointment (then they will tell u the time after about 12 hrs when u should meet him).

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