Dear Patrons
‘INSPIRATION’ is a special column that features all those who have risen to great heights through sheer grit, diligence and dedication. We started these series to ‘inspire’ our youngsters who have great dreams and mettle, yet keep getting disillusioned at times. ‘Inspiration’ is a “booster’ to all those who wish to derive motivation through great people’s life, who have always believed “When the going gets tough, TOUGH get going”! Read on and do share inspirational stories from your end. The Career Guide would be honoured to host such personalities!
A proud IIM son of a pavement idly vendor In a society where money wins, Makes or Breaks the rules, And money does all the talking – here comes a man from a different planet! This Chennai lad’s rags-to-riches tale is certainly inspiring to millions of Indians, particularly to the young generation.
E Sarathbabu had a humble beginning as his mother sold idlies on the footpath and worked as an ayah in an Anganvaidi to make a living and educate her children. And today, her son made her truly proud by making it to the IIM-A- exactly the Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad, breaking the established notion of only convent-educated children can make the grade there.
And, that’s not the end of the story. After completing his graduation from IIM-A, young Sarath spurned away numerous offers from the multinational companies to pursue his life-time goal of becoming a self-made entrepreneur.
To achieve his dream Sarath started a catering business of his own, following his mother’s path and adding his IIM acumen to the ‘family business’. Now, Sarath is a successful entrepreneur, which tastes like a ‘South Indian idly’ that the world savours so delightfully!
As a child, Sarath also sold idlies in the slum where he lived. “We talk about India shining and India growing, but we should ensure that people do not die of hunger. We can be a developed country but we should not leave the poor people behind. I am worried for them because I know what hunger is and I still remember the days I was hungry,” he says.
Sarathbabu’s dream of becoming a self-made entrepreneur came true in August, 2006 when
he started the Foodking business. Now, he had no big personal ambitions but to buy a house and a car for his mother. He has bought a car but is yet to buy a house for his mother.
Not surprisingly, this “foodking” still lives in the same hut in Madipakkam area in Chennai. Today, Sarath’s Foodking has six units and provides employment to 200 people and the turnover of the company is Rs.32 lakh a month. But it was not been a bed of roses for Sarathbabu. After struggling and making losses in the first year, he managed a big turnaround in 2007.
Travails all the way “As I am a first generation entrepreneur, it was very challenging in the beginning. As I had incurred huge losses, I had to borrow Rs 20 lakh by the end of first year. I had no experience in handling people, and it was difficult to identify the right people for the task. Though I made losses in the first year, but never did I regretted my decision of not accepting the offers from MNCs and starting my own enterprise. I gained from my experiences. I learnt my lessons. And, I was always confident that I would be successful one day”, Sarath said.
Sleeping on platforms My first business was a cafeteria at IIM, Ahmedabad, but there I didn’t taste success. When I started my second unit in October 2006, I thought I would make profits. But there too I had incurred huge losses of around Rs 2000 a day. As a first generation entrepreneur I cannot afford such a loss. But I worked really hard, working till 3 a.m. in the morning. And you know, what reduced my losses were the birthday party offers!
I started my third unit again in Ahmedabad but there too I had incurred huge losses. Then one day, I realized that small cafeterias do not work; I needed to do in a big way. But money was a big problem because I need a lot of money as I was already incurring huge losses. Luckily, my friends, who were extremely supportive all through my life, extended support at a crucial time. I had taken loans from my IIM-A friends as they were earning very well.
In December 2006, an IIM Ahmedabad alumni event was held in Mumbai and I decided to go there to get the contract. I was very confident of getting that contract. And I was hopeful I would come out of all the losses I had been incurring.
Then I boarded the train at Ahmedabad by booking a ticket for Rs 300 and I was just left with Rs 200 in my hand. As the meet went on till late at night, I could reach the station only at midnight. I missed the train. I decided to sit on the platform till the morning and travel by the next train. I didn’t have the money to check into a hotel. I didn’t want to disturb any of my friends so late at night.
It was an unforgettable experience for me as I was even shoved off by policemen from the platform. It was quite insulting and embarrassing. A man who sat next to me on the platform gave me a newspaper so that I could sleep. I spread the newspaper and slept on the platform. Finally, I got my ticket refund in the morning and went back to Ahmedabad. Alas, luck did not favour me as I didn’t get the contract.
Then, I got an offer to start a cafeteria at BITS, Pilani in August 2007. That was the first medium break for me. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, I realised as for the first time, I started making profits there though the other units continued to make losses. The reason for my success at BITS, Pilani was the volume. Since there were a lot of students and there was a genuine need for a big cafeteria like the one I started. While in Ahmedabad, it was not the case to be as there many other options for the people there. The BITS, Pilani success gave me the confidence to move on. Unless you make money, you can’t be confident in business.
Change of fortunes At a time, all my friends who were working for MNCs and were placed very well in their life, I was incurring huge losses. Despite that, I kept telling myself, that should move on. And, I was so confident that I would taste success at certain point of time because I know was going in the right direction. My dream was to provide employment to others like me and I was doing just that. Though, I was working till 3 a.m everyday I never felt tired.
After BITS, Pilani, I got the contract to start cafeteria in BITS, Goa and that was the biggest break for me. It was not a cafeteria like the earlier ones. It had a very big dining hall. We had to feed more than 1300 students every day. We began our operations in July 2007. At a rate of Rs 50 per student, with more than 1300 in numbers, our sales per day was Rs 65,000. We soon started making a profit of Rs 10 to 15,000 per day. Around 60 to 70 people still work there every day. Since, I was earning profits in Goa, I handed over the Ahmedabad operations to one of my managers and moved there.
Within six months of starting our operations in Goa, I repaid all my debt which was at Rs 15-20 lakhs at that time. Next I had an opportunity to start a cafeteria at SRM deemed university, which has around 17,000 students.
Now, I have couple of other contracts on hand including the BITS, Hyderabad. In the first year of my business, I had incurred a loss of Rs 25 lakh. Right now, we have a turnover of Rs 32 lakh every month, which works out to 3.5 crore (Rs 35 million) a year. As of now, there are 200 people working in our organisation. Indirectly, we touch the lives of around 1000 people per day. By this year end, we want to increase the employee count to 500. Most of my workers are uneducated. I want to bring a change in their lives. If they have any problem, I will take care of it. We lend our support and take care of their major responsibilities like marriages, education as they all come from poor families.
His message to youngsters, “Never give up in life even if you face harships. One needs to have a lot of determination and a tough mind to cross the initial hurdles,”
Not surprisingly, Sarathbabu, still lives in the same hut. “I wanted to buy a house and a car for my mother,’’ he says modestly. “Though I can build a house right now, I want my business to grow a little more. But the fact is, I feel good in the hut since I made my beginning there,” he says. Is not there something to learn from this man?