Key Messages
Six Success Stories of Indian Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing the Business Landscape
Rashmi Bansal’s book, Arise, Awake, offers an inspiring look at the next generation of entrepreneurs in India.
She brings readers right up close to the men and women at the forefront of this golden age of entrepreneurship, allowing us to experience the energy on the ground.
Through her engaging interviews and anecdotes we get a glimpse of how this new generation is approaching business.
It’s about solving problems at home, striving for success no matter what, and looking for ways to make your way from Bombay to Bangalore – whatever it takes.
These stories will announce themselves as valuable lessons for any budding business person: whether that’s learning from a failed beverage venture turned into top youth brand or a software start-up attracting British startup investors.
With Arise, Awake Rashmi Bansal has crafted the perfect portrait of India’s current entrepreneurial climate filled with inspiring insights and real-life tales that are sure to stay with readers long after they’ve turned the last page.
From Failure to Fortune: How an E-Cell Launched an Indian Start-Up to Success
Practo Technologies began as a small student project in an entrepreneurship nursery in Karnataka.
The National Institute of Technology Karnataka – NITK for short – was one of the few places in India where you could find an entrepreneurship program in the early 2000s, and it was here that Shashank ND and Abhinav Lal teamed up to form Practo Technologies.
Shashank had no big plans or ideas when he joined Eforea at NITK, but listening to business gurus like Ajit Balakrishnan talk about their success helped him to realize his true vocation: entrepreneurship.
Along with Abhinav, he started off small by borrowing 10,000 rupees from his mother and using it to register Practo Technologies.
At first, the duo organized a big presentation which didn’t get too much traction, but then came a stroke of luck when Dr Mohammed Ali suggested they design software to send automated SMS reminders for regular checkups.
This prototype was well-received and proved successful enough that Sequoia Capital decided to invest in Practo, paving the way for its incredible growth over the next five years.
Sourabh Bansal’s Dream of Reaching 50 Billion Rupees Comes True with a Helping Hand from Serendipity and an Investing Uncle
Sourabh Banal is a story of success in the business world.
It all started with a casual conversation between some college friends about what their lives would become.
Sourabh then leapt to his feet and declared that one day, his company would be worth 50 billion rupees.
The resources he had? His father’s quicklime factory.
The challenge? Making a product much cheaper than the existing AAC blocks on the market – ones that were ten times larger than standard bricks and 70 percent lighter.
Through experimentation with cheaper production techniques, Sourabh finally figured out how to reduce the cost of making AAC blocks and make them commercially viable.
With an investment of 100 million rupees by Rajesh Poddar, Magicrete Building Solutions was created!
Through dedication and hard work in reducing manufacturing costs by over 60%, Sourabh was able to turn around the Indian Quicklime industry with an innovative new product that continues to contribute greatly to its development today.
How Business Baazigar Jumpstarted Prakash Mundhra’s Entrepreneurial Dream
When it comes to success stories, Sacred Moments is a textbook example.
It all began when the founder Prakash Mundhra attended The Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resources Development, known as India’s best place to study HR.
Not content with this education, however, he decided that entrepreneurship was his real passion and started looking for ways to make his dream of owning his own business come true.
He soon found out about Business Baazigar – a TV show that allows contestants to submit their business plans and receive funding if they win the show.
Perfect for an idea Prakash had been developing for a school competition – kits containing full sets of items used in puja or “worship” on special occasions like the Hindu festival of Diwali – he submitted his plan to the show.
While Prakash didn’t win the show out of the final ten contestants, he received 50,000 rupees during filming in February 2005 which enabled him to create a prototype.
This experience gave him insight into many aspects of his business such as raw materials needed and competition he’d face- invaluable knowledge!
This valuable experience motivated Prakash to continue refining his business idea even further by entering business plan contests across India- winning five out of six!
After graduating he set up Sacred Moments: specialized in main selling point Diwali “puja kits” which sold like hot cakes!
It then expanded its product line even more so now provides products suited towards different festivities and occasions.
Sacred Moments now has seven full time employees and many seasonal workers too!
All thanks to prompting from Business Baazigar TV Contest being used as a launchpad for its current success story.
Failure in One Venture Gives Entrepreneur the Courage to Succeed in Another
When Prabhkiran Singh went to university, he knew that he wanted to become an entrepreneur, but he didn’t know what business he wanted to start.
This changed when Prabhkiran tried a flavored lassi and decided to open up his own shop.
In February 2010, Khadke Glassi opened its doors and had customers lining up for their lassis.
However, the weather caused sales to drop drastically, which eventually led to the closure of Khadke Glassi in September.
Despite all this, the failure of his beverage business was actually beneficial because it gave Prabhkiran the idea to create Bewakoof Brands – a t-shirt shop – with his friend.
Thanks to this inspiration and seed funding from a fellow university student, Bewakoof Brands gradually became one of India’s most successful youth brands.
Therefore, it’s clear that Prabhkiran Singh couldn’t have created Bewakoof Brands if his beverage business hadn’t failed first.
The experience taught him valuable lessons about perseverance and gave him the necessary motivation for success!
Aruj Garg Transforms Unhealthy Fast Food Into a Healthy Business with Bhukkad
When Aruj Garg was admitted to the National Law School in Bangalore, he quickly realized that he didn’t have much of an appetite for law.
What really sparked his interest was something entirely different – entrepreneurship.
With keen business acumen and an eye for problem solving, it didn’t take Aruj long to identify a pressing problem close to home – the poor quality of the canteen food on campus.
It didn’t take him any time at all to capitalize on the opportunity and open Bhukkad – a restaurant with an innovative menu featuring subs inspired by Subway and other fast food items.
It was a hit!
His business made around 2-3,000 rupees a day within its first month.
Unfortunately, Aruj’s own eating habits were getting out of control with processed foods like chips and ice cream taking up most of his diet.
This discovery led him to realise that there’s a need for healthier fast food options in India, which is why he launched Bhukkad 2.0 – a healthier version of his eatery focused on natural ingredients instead of greasy processed foods.
Anurag Arora Showed How to Turn a Business Idea Into Reality
Anurag Arora was a student at the ICFAI Business School in Pune, Maharashtra when he realized that there were no proper dorms available for incoming students.
He had already paid 48,000 rupees for a shabby room with no hot water in a run-down building and wanted to spare other students from having the same experience.
So, in 2013, he came up with the idea of opening his own hostel and pitched it to the university.
Most impressively, though he had no start-up capital, he managed to secure deposits on five apartments by using his own as an example of how clean and furnished they could be.
The ensuing success and high demand meant that Anurag’s company Ganpati Facilities was making net profits of 2.5 million rupees per month!
His story is proof not only of his ambition but also of the power of lateral thinking and sheer determination to turn dreams into reality.
Wrap Up
The main takeaway of Arise, Awake is that anybody can achieve success in business if they are determined and put in the work.
It doesn’t matter where or what you studied, as long as you have a good idea, put your product out in the world ASAP and don’t hesitate to get started.
Six young Indian go-getters’ stories show us that determination, elbow grease and thick skin will bring any product idea to reality.
So if you’re sitting on the next big thing – rumble up some confidence and start hustling!
