10 quotes by India's retail czar Kishore Biyani for aspiring entrepreneurs

Retailing pioneer Kishore Biyani is the Founder and the CEO of Future Group and the founder of Pantaloons Fashion & Retail. He has founded several other retail brands like Big Bazaar, Central, Brand Factory and HomeTown.

Known as the "Retail King of India", he brought the concept of retail supermarkets to India. He has also ventured into several segments like electronics, groceries, fashion and food.

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Digital, physical retail have own advantages, challenges; hybrid model 'phygital' can perform better, says Kishore Biyani

Born on August 9, 1961, into a family involved in the cloth and fabric business established by his grandfather, Kishore grew up in Mumbai and attended the city’s HR College. After graduation, he entered in the family fabric-trading business, Bansi Silk Mills in 1983, but preferred to apply real-world observations to running the business. Not happy with the conservative business model adopted by his family, Kishore went on to establish his own brand of clothing fabric, using it to manufacture trousers. He launched the Manz Wear garment manufacturing business in 1987, which was later renamed Pantaloons.

Popularly known as KB, he is a role model for young entrepreneurs due to his attitude of challenging old norms and being a keen observer of real-world issues. His net worth is estimated to be around $1.78 billion in 2019, according to Forbes.

He has also co-authored his autobiography – ‘It happened in India: the Story of Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central and the Great Indian Consumer’. With sales of over 100,000, it was the best-selling business book published in India in 2007.

Here are a few powerful quotes from India’s retail czar for aspiring and upcoming entrepreneurs: 

“We live in an imperfect world, and it is meaningless to strive for perfection. It is far better to strive for excellence.”

“A manager always fears making a mistake and that is where he differs from an entrepreneur.”

“In order to achieve any dream, one needs to have the willingness to change, confidence and total lack of inhibitions. This features youth, the ones who are going to drive the trends.”

“Always believe in doing new things - learning, unlearning, relearning.”

“There are two types of leadership. The first is all about thought leadership, which is original thought, believing in it and making things happen based on those thoughts. The second type is skills leadership, which refers to doing things consistently and in your own style.”

“Don’t get attached to what you create. The customer can reject you in an hour.”

"Physical has its own advantages and nuances and digital has its own. Both of them came in different eras and they will meet. I think in the next three to four years, it will be 'phygital.”

“People who are asleep make no mistakes...In whatever journey you undertake, you are going to face a lot of challenges. When the challenges come, how you learn from that and how you introspect takes you to another level. Every challenge will take you somewhere.”

“India cannot grow without its entrepreneurs. They are the ones who will create the jobs.”

“Don’t think too much. And don’t have too much knowledge. Ignorance is the biggest thing I feel. If I had done an MBA, I would never have been able to build a business.”

(Edited by Kanishk Singh)