Over the past decade, India has developed a huge entrepreneurial spirit, resulting in the rise of many successful entrepreneurs and industrialists. Let’s have a look at some of them and learn their rags-to-riches stories#ThinkWithNiche
Every large corporation or business today was once a dream of a few passionate minds. From Apple to Whatsapp, everything began with a single step and determination to make it big. Like the rest of the world, India also has its fair share of successful entrepreneurs who are changing the tide. But our culture is such that entrepreneurs are not celebrated as much as they should. Most people are oblivious of many successful entrepreneurs and their contribution to taking the Indian market forward.
It is important to celebrate these entrepreneurs so that they can act as fodder for the next generation and inspire them to realize their dreams. As we prepare to celebrate the small industry day on the 30th of August, we thought to share with you the names and success stories of some prominent entrepreneurs that you must know about.
1. Red Chief
Manoj Gyanchandani’s fascination with leather led him to establish Leayan Global Limited in 1995, to export leather shoes to Europe. However, he soon realized that, unlike some other countries, India doesn’t have an organized footwear market. So he took some time off and studied the market and in 1997, launched Red Chief, a footwear brand that would go on to become one of the largest footwear brands in India. Manoj set his foot in Kanpur city first and then slowly expanded to other cities across India.
2. Mysore Deep Perfumery House
Prakash Agrawal quit his sales assistant job at a textile firm to begin his own business. He wanted to build his own toiletries brand. But fate was such that even after seven years of hard work and pursuit, he couldn’t stand on his own. Times were troubling for his family who was running out of resources. One day, his mother told him to drop making soaps, etc, and begin distributing agarbatti, a very popular item at the time. This idea appealed to Prakash and he began making agarbattis in a small garage with his brother. Soon he had his own company known as Mysore Deep Perfumery House. His company is among the world’s largest agarbatti manufacturers.
3. Solar Industries
Satyanarayan Nandlal Nuwal founded Solar Industries, a manufacturer of explosives and detonators. The 67-year old entrepreneur started his business journey in the 1970s with almost little to nothing in hand. Hailing from a small village in Rajasthan, Satyanarayan moved to Nagpur in the hopes of starting his own small business. Things remained hostile for him for a very long time. But after years of hard work he soon got a license to trade and store explosives. Soon he founded a small company called solar industries. This company would soon go on to become India’s leading manufacturer of explosives, even making them for the Indian Air Force.
4. Koskii
Umar Akhter’s father Saifulla Akhter was a middle man between manufacturers and retailers of sarees. Umar was 16-years old when a huge tragedy hit his family. Due to some issues in Hydrabad, the city’s retailer shop shut down and Umar’s father suddenly went into a huge debt. The debt took everything away from Umar until one day when they bought a small shop in their locality. Now the family decided to buy directly from manufacturers and sell them. Slowly Umar, with his entrepreneurship skills, expanded his father’s business to a multi-crore ethnic wear brand that goes by the name of Koskii.