Open Your Zerodha Demat Account & Access Free Advisory From Capito Investments
An inspirational story of Dhirubhai Ambani (Part-1)
From a tiny office in Mumbai to becoming India's most prominent business tycoon.
I will be grateful to share.
1) Dhirubhai was the son of a schoolteacher in a village called Chorwad, Gujarat.
2) During the Mahashivratri fair, Dhirubhai used to sell “ganthia/bhajiya,” a Gujarati snack/savory.
All he needed was the whiff of a business opportunity, and he was off to book the orders.
3) He lived and worked in Aden, Yemen, for almost eight years before packing his bags.
"I was very happy there. I had my own car and flat, but a time came when I wanted to do something on my own.
4) Dhirubhai returned to India and started "Majin" in partnership with Champaklal Damani, his second cousin, who lived with him in Yemen. Majin was set up to import polyester yarn and export spices to Yemen.
5) The first office of the Reliance Commercial Corporation was set up at Narsinatha Street in Masjid Bunder.
It was a small 350 sq ft room with a telephone, one table, and three chairs.
6) In 1965, Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and Ambani started on his own.
It is believed that both had different temperaments and different takes on how to conduct business.
7) While Damani was a cautious trader and did not believe in building yarn inventories, Ambani was a known risk-taker and believed in building inventories to increase profit.
"Risk hai tho - Ishq hai"
8) Dhirubhai took a loan and started the Reliance Commercial Corporation, a trading firm, with a capital of Rs 15,000, operating out of a corner in a borrowed office in Bhaat Bazaar.
9) "I was primarily involved in general merchandising," recalls Dhirubhai. "Reliance Commercial Corporation was an export house which dealt basically in commodities like ginger, cardamom, pepper, turmeric, cashew nut, etc.
10) We had a lot of connections in Aden and we exploited these connections to export a wide range of commodities.
Aden being a free port had tremendous demand for a range of commodities.
11) From next to nothing, within two decades, Reliance’s sales had ballooned to Rs 900 Cr, making Reliance one of India's top ten companies, but Dhirubhai Ambani wasn't satisfied yet.
12) Sitting at his desk one day in 1984, he drew up a flow chart.
If he built such-and-such factory, added a division here and a unit there, ten years down the road, Reliance could become an Rs 8000 Cr company.
13) Sceptics laughed when he announced his plans, but he proved them wrong. In 1995, sales nudged Rs 7800 Cr.
" Never ever underestimate, anyone visions"
14) Some say Ambani is an acronym for ambition and money.
It’s probably true. In the '80s, Reliance grew at an astonishing 1,100%.
" Always Dream Big"
15) In 1977, Reliance Textile Industries’ IPO created history by introducing the equity cult in India.
16) The issue was oversubscribed seven times, strengthening Reliance’s growth ambitions.
17) Dhirubhai was the first Indian industrialist to appreciate the ordinary investor and his needs.
18) Asked once what the secret of his success was, he answered: "One must have ambition and one must understand the minds of men."
19) In 1975 a World Bank team visited twenty-four leading textile mills and reported that 'judged in relation to developed country standards, only one mill, Reliance, could be described as excellent. The rest they described as slums.
20) For three years, between 1977 and 1980, almost daily new and exclusive Vimal retail outlet would open its doors to business.
In fact, on a single day in 1980, they opened as many as one hundred Vimal showrooms.
21) By 1980, Reliance fabrics were available all over India through twenty company-owned retail outlets, over 1,000 franchised outlets, and over 20,000 regular retail stores.
22) Ambani's success in franchising and his speed in opening retail outlets is perhaps comparable to that of Benetton, the Italian knitwear company, or McDonald's, the American hamburger chain.
23) In 1986, when he was fifty-four, Dhirubhai Ambani suffered a paralytic stroke from which he never fully recovered.
At the time, people whispered he would never be able to walk again.
24) Ambani built himself a well-equipped gymnasium and got to work, teaching his body to respond to his mind's demands.
Within months, he was at the mike, addressing his loyal shareholders, who cheered him as if he were movie hero, Amitabh Bachchan himself.
25) one of my senior friend in Mumbai, once told me a story about Dhirubhai Ambani.
His father had undergone bypass surgery after a heart attack.
A few days after his surgery, my senior friend was called for an interview with Dhirubhai.
Dhirubhai wanted him for a senior position.
The first question Dhirubhai asked him "How is your father?"
This story shows his capability to gather information.(PS: it was not even the internet age)
My senior friend became a friend on weekend party drinks. 🤭🤫
26) Reliance and Mangoes:
Did you know Reliance Industries is also among the country's leading mango producers?
They grow 127 varieties of mango in a 600-acre green belt.
One of the weaknesses of Reliance was the immense pollution it was causing in 1997.
So the Pollution Control Boards, Reliance began to convert the wastelands of Jamnagar into a mango orchard as a way to control pollution.
(Part 2 of the Blog coming soon, Stay Tuned)
🙏
"Always Think Big"
-REGARDS-
Kirthee Bane
