[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Arise, awake (2015) is a collection of inspiring stories from the most aspiring, up-and-coming entrepreneurs of the country who are working round the clock to ensure that they can help India to grow to its full potential. The world’s economic center is shifting towards east and India and China are the heart of that center. The 2.5 trillion dollar economy of India is being driven by 1.3 billion of its population and these new-age entrepreneurs are pumping new blood into the system. The book contains inspiring stories of entrepreneurs across the Indian states who overcame obstacles, won over self doubts and created things of value.
This book is of interest for:
- Entrepreneurs
- Dreamers
- Students who want to pursue career in entrepreneurship
About the author
Rashmi Bansal is an Indian non-fiction writer, entrepreneur and a youth expert. As of 2017, she is the author of eight books on entrepreneurship. Her first book, Stay hungry stay foolish, traced the progress of 25 MBA entrepreneurs and sold over 500,000 copies, a record for books published in India. She has graduated from Sophie College, Mumbai and completed her post graduation from IIM Ahmadabad.
Premise of the book
The book opens with the story of Shashank ND who studied engineering at NIT Karnataka and in the college; he came to know about the e-cell of his college, Eforea. After attending talks given by famous entrepreneurs, Shashank was inspired to find a way of his own. He didn’t have to go very far to find a partner as he found Abhinav Lal in the e-cell and they both went on to start “Practo” which aimed at making software for doctors.
When they pitched their idea to a group of 25 doctors, most of the doctors out rightly denied being a part of the business but then there was Mohammad Ali who had a faith in what these boys were dreaming of. He suggested these two to create an automated system that can remind patients of their routine checkups. They both worked to make software to do the same and their work earned them a funding from Sequoia, a company that invested in Facebook and Google. Today, Practo is a household name that caters across domains in healthcare.
The next story is of Sourabh Bansal whose father owned a factory that made quicklime and he used to help his father at times. Once, a customer bought a lot of quicklime to make autoclaved aerated concrete (ACC) that is 10 times larger than usual concrete and 70% lighter. This gave an impetus to Sourabh to invest in the same but there was a constraint, the production was expensive and he needed a lot of money. His uncle came to his rescue and invested in his business and that is how “Magicrete” was formed. He further cut down the cost by using coal fired boiler instead of diesel boilers. Magicrete is a successful venture today with 7 full time employees.
Prakash Mundhra was a student a Symbiosis business school which known for its human resource management course. He had a fire in him to become an entrepreneur. This dream found a taking in a TV competition named Business Bazigar where teams were awarded based on their business pitch. He had planned a startup for creating pooja kits for various Hindu festivals. After being in top 20 among all the contestants, he got 50,000 rupees to create a prototype. Though he could not win the prize, the prototype helped him win 5 out of 6 competitions he later participated into and after graduating, he knew where his heart lied. He started his company named “Sacred moments” and the pooja kits starting selling like hot cakes. The successful venture now has 3 full employees with several part-time employees and the company has rolled out pooja kits for almost all the major hindu festivals.
Prabhkiran was an IIT Bombay student who wanted to start something of his own. He got an idea in falvoured lassi, Indian yogurt mixed with different spices and salt. He started by renting a small place in a shop and started his flavoured lassi business. With facebook advertising and word-of-mouth, the sales started soaring high. But after the peak sales in June, the sales gradually started dropping and dropped to 2-3 glasses per day with onset of winter. The business had to be shut down but Prabhkiran was determined to work and the business idea came randomly from a website of his friend, “bewkoof.com” that had some fun stuff. He worked hard on the blog and started selling merchandise after receiving funding in a substantive amount. bewkoof.com started selling 200 shirts a day and made a profit of 5 million rupees in 2015. So, a failed business idea can also lead you to success, just hang up!
Students aspiring law work hard to earn a seat in National Law University, Bnagalore and Aruj Garg was one of them who eventually got admitted into the university with his hard work. But he had something else in his mind. Entrepreneurship. He got an idea to replace poor quality canteen food and that’s how he started “Bhukkad” that gave fast delivery of fast foods. The service was an instant hit in the campus and Aruj has planned its expansion.
But as fate would have it, Aruj got to know that his cholesterol levels are an all time high and he has high blood pressure too. He had to consume plain food for more than a year and that’s how he got the idea of “Bhukkad 2.0“, a fast yet healthier alternative to Bhukkad. He even formulated a Bhukkad code that aimed at banishing processed meat, white bread and pre-packaged dressing and sauces. Instead, they rolled out “Asian green salad” that is made of beans, cauliflower, lettuce with lime and honey dressings and garnishing of peanuts. Bhukkad is a common name among the food enthusiast that focuses on health of its customer.
The stories are bound to wake up the entrepreneur in you and unleash the businessman in you. What are you waiting for?
Right time? It is now.
Right partner? Go find her/him
Right investor? You will find him/her
Need motivation? Look inside
You have the answer. The time is now.
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