From capturing 40 pc of Odisha’s dairy market to raking in Rs 25 Cr by meeting a growing need for lead acid batteries – our top success stories of SMBs this week
While Pradosh Kumar’s Pragati Milk has become one of Odisha’s most prominent dairy players, the Jaiswals’ Faizabad-based Highflow Industries makes lead acid batteries for inverters, solar panels, and e-rickshaws.
They say, if you are enthusiastic and passionate enough about what you do, no one can stop you from succeeding. Add to that the strength of finding the right opportunities and market gaps, and what you will have for yourself is a lucrative business. This week, SMBStory covered the inspiring business stories of three entrepreneurs who have tapped into unorganised markets to realise turnovers in crores.
Pragati Milk
Pradosh Kumar Rout, Founder, Pragati Milk
In 2008, Pradosh Kumar Rout was putting pen to paper to register his dairy company, Pragati Milk. The Cuttack-based entrepreneur had one goal: to tap into Odisha's unorganised dairy sector and bring it under a brand.
“I saw only 20 percent of the organised dairy sector was covered by existing suppliers. The other 80 percent had great potential and was waiting to be tapped,” says Pradosh.
After launching Pragati Milk, with Rs 2 crore from his pocket and Rs 4 crore of bank loans, Pradosh Kumar started procuring milk from dairy farmers at village collection points. Most of this was cow’s milk, with buffalo milk making up only 15 percent of the total production in the state. Pragati continues to follow the same approach to sourcing and production to date.
The sourced milk is taken in insulated tankers to a processing plant. After chilling, pasteurisation, and packaging, the packets of milk are supplied to a wide network of distributors through delivery vans.
The company's annual revenue of Rs 300 crore is telling of its growth to become one of Odisha's most prominent dairy players. (The company claims it is the largest in the state.)
In 2010, Pragati followed in the footsteps of the top dairy companies and started making the value-added milk products of ice cream, ghee, curd, and paneer.
Sacred Salts
Chhavi Singh, Founder, Sacred Salts
Brands like Kama Ayurveda, Khadi, and Forest Essentials, among many others, are dominating the Indian organic and Ayurvedic skincare industry today. Stepping into this diverse and competitive market is Chhavi Singh, who founded premium skincare brand ‘Sacred Salts’ in 2018 in Gurugram.
“I personally wanted to step into the Ayurvedic skincare industry. Though the industry is already brimming with many organic brands, I felt that I can add more value to the skincare segment, understanding the demand of the consumers and delivering authentic products,” says the 32-year-old entrepreneur, explaining her reasons to start up in the space.
At present, the company manufactures a total of 50 SKUs including skincare products and beauty and bath accessories. It is also a pioneer in launching a milk facewash and scrub in India.
The brand follows a different marketing approach and looks to educate customers on how Ayurvedic ingredients can benefit their skin. It understands their problems with their existing skincare products and addresses them through its solutions.
Highflow Industries
Sumit Jaiswal, Founder, Highflow Industries
Long before the Electric Vehicle revolution and the advent of lithium ion batteries, Om Prakash Jaiswal used to sell rubber containers and plates to Indian battery companies.
His small business, Om Engineering Works, was started in 1987. It operated out of a shop in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh. Then, Om Prakash realised there was a big opportunity in producing batteries. So, in 2000, the company started making lead acid batteries and, five years later, began smelting and recycling them.
The batteries found applications in household electronics, solar devices, and automobiles. Om Prakash’s son, Sumit (34), who has since taken over the operations, says:
“We initially had a capacity of making 20 batteries a day. After breakthroughs in e-rickshaw and solar battery manufacturing, we grew at a fast rate, which propelled us to our present capacity of 300 batteries per day.”
In 2014, the company was rechristened as Highflow Industries and today makes lead acid batteries for inverters, solar panels, e-rickshaws, two-wheelers, cars, tractors, and heavy vehicles, among other applications. Sumit says he's invested Rs 10 crore in the business so far, and he claims annual revenue of Rs 25 crore.
“There is a huge market potential with the advent of solar and e-rickshaw segments. This is because they help cut down air pollution and reduce overall carbon emissions. We are quite unique in this space since we use automation to minimise manual errors. Apart from this, efficient material handling plays a vital role in our achievements,” says Sumit.
(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)
