Top stories this week: 3 entrepreneurs who found inspiration in the unlikeliest of places
From a client's office, or under a tree, or from a family business, these entrepreneurs found inspiration from the unlikeliest of places. Here are their stories.
Inspiration can strike at any time and at any place. From a client's office, or under a tree, or from a family business, these entrepreneurs found inspiration from the unlikeliest of places. And they persevered to convert their ideas into successful businesses.
Here are the successful entrepreneurs SMBStory wrote about this week who found inspiration in unconventional places:
Zubair Rahman - The Fashion Factory
Zubair Rahman, Founder, The Fashion Factory
Engineering graduate Zubair Rahman worked as a CCTV operator in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, when he got a request to install CCTVs in the office of an ecommerce company.
He recalls:
“I went to install the CCTVs and got curious about the operations of the company. I spoke to the manager there, and he told me how the company was making money by sourcing and selling items online.”
The idea appealed to Zubair. He didn’t have to invest heavily in manufacturing if he started an ecommerce marketplace.
Zubair realised textiles were the best products he could source from Tirupur.
“I spent two months doing my groundwork and met various textile manufacturers in Tirupur. I also spoke to my friends to help source and explore what kind of clothes would sell well online,” he says.
He quit his job and in 2015, invested just Rs 10,000 to start The Fashion Factory in his home.
Zubair’s strategy for selling kids apparel in combo packs worked so well that The Fashion Factory now receives 200 to 300 orders per day.
By fulfilling these orders, Zubair’s company rakes in around Rs 50 lakh revenue each month, he claims.
Aayush Madhogaria - Jagannath Iron Foundry
Aayush Madhogaria, Director, Business Development, JIF
In 2015, Aayush Madhogaria (26) joined his family’s business against their wishes. The Madhogarias were running Jagannath Iron Foundry (JIF) in Howrah near Kolkata for four decades, but they felt they were in a sunset industry.
Aayush quotes his family saying to him,"IIM ka ladka dhoop aur dhul main kya karega, aur usmain to paisa bhi nai hai? (why should an IIM graduate work in sunny and dusty conditions, especially when there is no money in the business?)"
But the IIM-Kozhikode graduate was not ready to let the foundry die, and he first identified the root of the problem.
“JIF manufactured cast iron products such as pipe fittings, manhole covers, valve bodies and other engineering castings. But they were sold rough and without any value addition to local traders,” Aayush says.
Despite the negativity surrounding him, Aayush decided to go against the grain. He was determined to build a world-class engineering business out of West Bengal.
“At the time, JIF had an annual turnover of Rs 6 crores. After I joined, a lot happened, right from selecting pieces of equipment from different small factories, getting suppliers to improve quality, and bustling through the smelly, narrow lanes of an old industrial town like Howrah to source parts,” he says.
Driven by his entrepreneurial zeal, JIF grew over five times in four years and recorded a turnover of Rs 30.5 crore last year.
Sudhir Singh - Marg ERP
Sudhir Singh, Managing Director, Marg ERP
MSMEs remain unaware of their power and impact on the Indian economy. They feel lost amid the big brands and global markets, and their sole failure lies in being technologically poor, according to Marg ERP Director Sudhir Singh.
Understanding the grievances of the MSME industry, Thakur Anup Singh, Mahender Singh, and Sudhir Singh founded Marg ERP in 2000 in Delhi to empower MSMEs to achieve their full potential to transform the economic growth of the country.
"We were doing our respective jobs and my brother Anup Singh was working in a pharma company as a tech programmer in 1992 where he developed software to help the owner manage his inventory and finances. Things changed and the three of us decided to start something of our own in 1997," he says.
But what could they do with empty pockets? They used to sit under a tree in Ashok Vihar, discussing their vision and plans. "It was our first office for the initial five months," Sudhir says.
Since then, Marg ERP has grown into a global technology solution provider. and is developing trend-setting solutions and broadening the scope of technology via a smart approach, capability, and determination.
At present, Marg ERP boasts of capturing 60 percent market share of the pharma industry. It has over one million active users and caters to 250,000 MSMEs, including the FMCG sector spread across 707 districts and 25+ countries.
(Edited by: Palak Agarwal)
MOST VIEWED STORIES
