The billion-dollar businesses ruling every industry seem to be on a stage that’s impossible to reach. But what if we tell you some of these businesses started in small rooms with low capital? What if the owner of one of these multi-million dollar businesses was once just a college student with no support?
That sounds unrealistic but isn’t. With consistent efforts, they went from rags to riches. But how exactly did these businesses start? And how did they grow?
Success Stories Of Indian Entrepreneur
Keep reading to find out the entrepreneur stories of ten people who rule the Indian market today.
- Anand Mahindra – Mahindra and Mahindra
- Sachin Bansal – Flipkart
- Bhavish Aggarwal – Ola Cabs
- Ritesh Aggarwal – Oyo Rooms
- Shashank ND – Practo
- Nandan Reddy, Sriharsha Majety & Rahul Jaimini – Swiggy
- Shradha Sharma – YourStory
- Vijay Shekhar Sharma – Paytm
- Deepinder Goyal – Zomato
- Kishore Biyani – Pantaloons and BigBazaar
1. Anand Mahindra – Mahindra and Mahindra
The chairman of the very successful Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, is among Fortune Magazine’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. The Mumbai-based businessman is an alumnus of Harvard University.
He is the chairman of Mahindra Group – a multinational conglomerate that dominates several world markets. Anand Mahindra has also received the Padma Bhushan Award and chairs the World Economic Forum.
But it all started after he became an executive assistant to the Finance Director of Mahindra Ugine Steel Company Limited in 1981. From getting promoted to Deputy Managing Director to chairing the Mahindra group in 2012, his has been a long journey of perseverance. While at Harvard, he was a stellar student. He diversified Mahindra’s ventures after joining it in 1981. This took the company to untouched highs.
With over $1.6bn worth as of January 2020, it’s not hard to wonder why he’s one of India’s most successful entrepreneurs.
2. Sachin Bansal – Flipkart
Sachin and Binny Bansal started a small eCommerce business named Flipkart in a garage and the rest, as they say, is history. They are one of India’s most successful entrepreneurs, having sold Flipkart at $16bn to Walmart in 2018.
The IIT graduate, along with Binny, used to deliver books on his own and develop the wave of eCommerce marketing. Sachin handled the SEO, design, marketing, and content side of the business. Binny dealt with the delivery and backend operations with aplomb.
What started as a startup worth INR 4,00,000 won quick recognition and eventually an unbelievable bid by Walmart. Bansal built everything himself, right from the first version of the website. He has been investing aggressively through his current company Navi Technology. Flipkart’s indeed has been one of the best startup success stories in India.
3. Bhavish Aggarwal – Ola Cabs
After working in Microsoft as a part of the research team for two years, Bhavish Aggarwal followed his celebrated boss’s footsteps. He created a billion-dollar startup called Ola Cabs. An alumnus of IIT Bombay, Bhavish’s passion and dynamic vision made way for his success.
Along with co-founder Ankit Bhati, Bhavish became the youngest in the list of richest Indians in 2015. He got the idea of opening up a cab company after experiencing poor and expensive cab services. Ola made booking cabs easier across the country. It continues to expand in small and big cities alike, taking Bhavish’s success further.
He has been a successful entrepreneur story since then. Ola Cabs is by far the most successful cab agency founded in India and even employs rentals now.
4. Ritesh Aggarwal – Oyo Rooms
Ritesh Aggarwal never refrained from taking risks and experimenting. And it all has reaped rich dividends with the rise of Oyo Rooms, founded by him in 2013. He became the world’s second-youngest billionaire in the year of the pandemic.
Ritesh did not pursue the traditional college route. He dropped out of the Indian School of Business and Finance. Sounds scary, right? But lack of college education did nothing to hamper Ritesh’s rise. He received the Thiel fellowship for Oyo and hasn’t looked back since.
His primary focus was always to provide budget accommodations. Oyo still offers irrespective of the location. Oyo has risen quickly in the past couple of years and is estimated to be worth around $1.1bn in 2020. Ritesh is just 27 and has grown remarkably.
5. Shashank ND – Practo
Shashank started his successful startup Practo when he was still in the third year of his college. Back then, smartphones and mobile internet had just started getting popular.
The numerous possibilities that the internet provides influenced Shashank. He combined that with the pressing health issues in India to open up a healthcare startup.
Delivering good healthcare quickly is Shashank’s plan. The recent series C funding of over $90 million shows how long the NIT graduate has come.
Shashank has successfully managed to bring doctors online. This became particularly useful during the pandemic for millions. Practo users could book online as well as physical appointments with the app.
6. Nandan Reddy, Sriharsha Majety & Rahul Jaimini – Swiggy
Swiggy has swiftly developed as one of the primary food delivery startups apart from Zomato. But when it first entered the market, food delivery did not hold a stable ground.
In fact, Reddy and Majety had planned for it to be a courier company named Bundl. However, after meeting Jamini, they changed their idea. Through excellent network building, they then established Swiggy. Since its establishment in 2013, Swiggy has acquired huge investments.
Providing extra attention to customer service has always been on the entrepreneurs’ agenda. Smooth logistic operations by Swiggy also ensure that customers receive their meal on time.
Hiring people remotely who deliver the food on time has been a challenge Swiggy has mastered. The unicorn startup boundlessly grows today with the three entrepreneurs.
7. Shradha Sharma – YourStory
Sharadha Sharma founded YourStory. It is a website focused on providing entrepreneurs’ stories to inspire many audiences. But her own entrepreneur story of inspiration is fantastic.
She was born in Bihar and completed her education in Patna and Delhi. After working for several years in media companies like CNBC and Times of India, she started YourStory.
Her platform focused on entrepreneur stories in India. It made her a stunning storyteller and inspired many with motivational stories for business.
Shradha focuses on inspiring young entrepreneurs even today. She works hard to deliver original and useful content. Her ability to stand out by marketing such a targeted niche is unmatched. Today, people like Ratan Tata and Vani Kola have invested in the platform.
8. Vijay Shekhar Sharma – Paytm
Paytm was founded and is still headed by Vijay Shekhar. And there’s no doubt that the metronomic rise in digital payments across the country is due to the trust created by Paytm.
Sharma has had a history of delivering genius right from the college days in DTU when he created the website Indiasite.net. He sold it for $1 million. He then started One97 communications, under which Paytm was formed.
Paytm has changed the landscape of digital payments and doesn’t seem to be declining anytime soon. And because of it, Vijay Shekhar too continues to rise.
9. Deepinder Goyal – Zomato
Hardly anyone remembers Foodiebay. Although Deepinder Goyal established it, he is better known for Zomato – Foodiebay’s renamed version.
Zomato first started as a food review website. It invited food bloggers to honestly review each restaurant’s service and food quality. It also presented menu cards, the demand of which among his colleagues made Deepinder start Zomato. He graduated from IIT Delhi and worked at Bain and Company before starting Foodiebay.
Deepinder’s has been one of the most celebrated success stories of food entrepreneurs in India over the last decade. The company also operates in countries other than India like Portugal, New Zealand, and Qatar. Zomato also acquired Urbanspoon and entered the US and Australian markets as a food delivery service.
Zomato has also expanded its business to digital marketing. It is helping businesses grow without incurring any additional costs.
10. Kishore Biyani – Pantaloons and BigBazaar
With a net worth of over $1.78 billion, Kishore Biyani is indeed a name to reckon with. But it all started in a typically modest fashion. While Kishore’s family were already in business in Mumbai, Kishore studied at the prestigious HR College.
But instead of focusing on studies, Kishore used to wander a lot. He preferred traveling to new places. Although he started off working in his father’s company, he found their family’s conservative approach frustrating.
He then married and started his fashion garment brand, which is known as Pantaloons nowadays. He also founded BigBazaar With intelligent investment in the stock market; he ensured the company kept growing.
He is also the founder of Future Group, India’s largest brick and mortar retailer. However, the retail part of the group has been sold to Reliance now.
Conclusion
These were the stories of some of the celebrated billionaire entrepreneurs in India. You might have been surprised by the sheer number of youngsters on the list. They took the risk, thought dynamically, and built their empires. The one thing they didn’t do is procrastinate, which you should follow and kickstart your own business.
