HOW SON OF A COOLIE WHO FAILED IN SIXTH GRADE WENT ON TO BUILD A RS. 100 CRORES FOOD COMPANY

The idea of writing this motivational article came to my mind when I saw many of the persons who want to start their own business venture fails in their venture because they do not have confidence in their own ability. They do not learn from their failures. Remember the ladder which brings you from top to bottom can help you in going upwards also. I was reading a motivational quote which I want to share with you also. The quote says “Sometimes the harder you fall the stronger you rise.” The important point is that you should have the desire to stand up again and fight till you win. The difference between successful people and failure lies in the fact that successful people do not put blame on circumstances, rather they use adverse circumstances to their favor by reforming themselves to the circumstances. Failures are those who surrender without fighting the war. In this post, I am sharing with you an inspirational story of P.C. Mustafa who is the founder of ID Fresh Company. This is the story of a 42-year-old man from a remote village in Kerala. His father was a coolie. His mother never went to school. This is the story of a man who failed in Class 6, but went on to join the Regional Engineering College (now the National Institute of Technology), Calicut and the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore. This is the story of a man who decided to become an entrepreneur and employ people from rural India. Today, fresh idli and dosa batter made by his company ID Fresh reaches homes in Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mangaluru and even Dubai. His story is very long and inspirational but to keep it short, I can summarize the important events that brought success to his venture in following points: The financial condition of P C Mustafa was not good. His father was a coolie who wanted that he should work as a daily wage laborer in Kerala. He has no interest in studies and flunked in Class 6. His father asked him to work while his teacher motivated him to study as he believed that he is good in mathematics. He asked for one year and gave his best to studies excelling in Class. He continued this performance in later classes also. He soon went to Calicut by clearing entrance examination in engineering from National Institute of Technology. Got scholarship and took some loan for studies. Got offer from Motorola and went to Ireland. There he missed home food and an idea relating to doing some kind of food business came to his mind. Got an offer from Citibank and moved to Dubai. Built house for parents, repaid loan and then came back to India in 2003. At this time in 2003, he decided to pursue MBA and leave job for his own business. Decided to invest in Idli dosa batter business with his cousins and soon the business got a good start. Completed MBA from IIM in 2007 and expanded capacity of Idli Dosa Company. Invested another Rs 40 lakh and bought a 2,500 sq ft shed in an Industrial Area and imported five large wet grinders from America and customized them to fit their requirements. In 2008, company added parathas to their list of products. In 2012, company expanded to other cities like Chennai, Mangaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad and in 2013 entered Dubai market. In 2015, the revenue earned was Rs. 100 crores. The company will expand in coming time period further. The point I would like to emphasize with the success story of Mustafa is that learn from your failures. Failure is not opposite to success rather it is a part and parcel of success. Bill Gates in one of his quotes said that it is fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure. Do not let failures or negative thoughts came in your mind. Go for your passion. Discover an area in which you are good and invest your full resources in it. I will close this post with the words of P.C. Mustafa where he says that if you have the passion to start something, do it immediately. Do not wait for tomorrow. Please like our Facebook page to get more updates. Link is given below: https://www.facebook.com/Lalkitabastrocentre/ Acharya Vikas Malhotra Lal Kitab Astro Centre (LKAC) lalkitabastro.com