Money in chai
A young chartered accountant, Robin Jha, started a chai shop in Delhi 3 years ago with his hard-earned savings and some contributions from his friends. Today, his 21-outlet chain does Rs 50 lakh business every month, says Narendra Kaushik
New game plan
Private taxi operators in Bengaluru are having plans to launch their own company like Ola and Uber, said Renuka Aradhya, managing director of Pravasi Cabs at an award function in Vellore, where he also shared his rags-to-riches success story
Juicy Story
When school buddies Manav Shital and Niti Agrawal – founders of a fast growing juice chain - fell in love, they didn’t stop at whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears but also discussed ways to earn their money, says P C Vinoj Kumar
Getting batter daily
Circumstances were never in favour of P C Mustafa. Son of a daily wager, who grew up in a remote village in Kerala which had no electricity or proper roads, he defied all the odds to build a Rs 294 crore turnover company, says Usha Prasad
Foodie dad
A 26-year-old youth from the small town of Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, A Gopinath, is earning lakhs of rupees every month from his You Tube channel, which shows his father cooking and eating varieties of non-vegetarian dishes, says P C Vinoj Kumar
Never say die
Holding an MBA and coming from a business family, Dheeraj Gupta launched his first venture with great confidence, but lost Rs 55 lakh in under two years. Not the one to quit, he set up a vada pav shop and repaid his debts, says P C Vinoj Kumar
Reaping profit
Farmers in Rajasthan are cultivating olive and dates, with support from the state government, using drip irrigation system. Ashish Mishra spoke to the farmers and found that many are ready for their first harvest and expecting a windfall
Benevolent billionaire
Surat-based billionaire diamond merchant Savji Dholakia, known for his generous gifts to his employees, has gifted 400 flats and 1,260 cars as Diwali bonuses this year to his well-performing staffers
Poverty to Prosperity
Arokiaswamy Velumani, the founder of Thyrocare, currently valued at Rs 3,600 crore, attended school with a slate on one hand and a plate in another at his village in Tamil Nadu since he took the free mid-day meals at school, says P C Vinoj Kumar
Destiny in Jute
Giving up a well-paid corporate job and after a short stint in the family business, Saurav Modi started making jute products with the Rs 8,000 he borrowed from his mother. Now his company has achieved a turnover of Rs 6.5 crore, says Usha Prasad
The survivor
As a street kid Amin Sheikh had seen it all – sexual abuse, rape, and drugs – before he came under the care of an orphanage. Somma Banerjjee met the gritty survivor, who now runs a cafe that’s changing the lives of street children like him
Living the dream
Working in his father’s small grocery shop for a meagre income, Ganesh Prasad Agarwal had a big dream – he wondered, why not make biscuits like Parle and Britannia. Today, he lives his dream heading a Rs 100 crore biscuit company, reports G Singh
Health is wealth
A man who dropped out of MBA because he did not want to be a burden to his struggling middle class family and started his career as a medical representative for a salary of Rs 350, now heads a Rs 48 crore health food brand, says P C Vinoj Kumar
Scripting success
When he landed his first job as a car washer for a monthly salary of Rs 500, B M Balakrishna would not have known that he would one day be heading a Rs 20 crore turnover company. The fascinating success story of a farmer’s son from Chittoor
Taking wings
Renting a two-roomed chawl to set up an STD booth and borrowing Rs.2,000 from his dad to become a ticket agent, Arun Kharat has built a Rs. 140 crore turnover business comprising car rental, radio cab and staff transport, says Somma Banerjjee