Source: The CEO Story
Today, Ambani is not just a surname but it is actually something that associates you with being rich. You might have heard people saying, “Kya Ambani samajhta hai khud ko?” Who thought that the son of a petty trader would lay the foundation of one of the most powerful business houses, not only in India but abroad too.
The Beginning of the Legacy
Dhirubhai Ambani, the entrepreneur who built up an Indian business that featured in the Forbes 500, was one of the most dynamic and flamboyant entrepreneurs of all time. Dhirubhai Ambani was the man behind the present multi-billion-dollar Reliance Group of Industries which apparently has its extended roots in almost all fields- textiles, petrochemicals, energy, telecommunications, food, clothing, etc.
Source: Famous People
Born in Chorwad, a small village in Saurashtra, Gujarat, Dhirubhai went to Aden, which is the home to many Gujarati expatriates today, to seek his fortune at the age of 17. He did his first job as a petrol station attendant before he took up a clerical position in an oil company named A. Besse & Co. Ltd was the sole selling distributor of shell products in Aden.
While in Aden, he realized that a discrepancy between the rial-sterling exchange rate and the intrinsic value of the silver content in the Aden’s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to mint money. This arbitrage generated some $3000 in seed capital for the modest trading enterprise that Ambani set up when he returned back to Bombay in 1958 to start his own first venture, Reliance Commercial Corporation, a commodity trading, and export house.
Dhirubhai started a textile mill in Naroda, Ahmedabad as the first step in Reliance’s highly successful strategy of backward integration. In 1975, a technical team from the World Bank certified that the RIL textile plant was “excellent by developed country standards.” In 1977, the country went public.
By combining a keen sense of business with his razor-sharp ability to negotiate his way through the well embedded Indian political establishment, Ambani single-handedly built an empire which, in three decades, outgrew huge corporate houses like the Tatas and Birlas which had indeed dominated the country’s industrial landscape for almost a century.
Source: The Yahoo Finance
The trading house, Reliance Commercial Corporation, began its business by importing polyester yarn and exporting spices. Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry- higher disposable income was leading Indians to buy better, more expensive clothes- Ambani sought and received necessary clearances to manufacture cloth from polyester fiber.
He opened the first textile mill in Ahmedabad in 1966 and then concentrated on flourishing the brand which still remains a household name today. Though Reliance was profitable enough, Ambani quickly calculated further expansion for which he needed to target a cheap source of capital.
Therefore, rather than turning to the banking system, he decided to tap Bombay’s stock exchange, trying to pioneer an equity cult aimed at transforming the corporate financing system in India. In 1982, Dhirubhai Ambani introduced the process of backward integration which led to diversification into chemicals, gas, plastics, petrochemicals, telecom services, etc.
Dhirubhai’s One Man Show
Source: The New Indian Express
The Reliance Group was recognized as India’s one of the most influential and profitable concerns. The phenomenal growth of Reliance owed a ton to Dhirubhai’s business acumen which always helped him to undercut his rivals and fulfill his business interests.
The race to the top is never easy. His methods earned him many bitter enemies in corporate India. However, Ambani forged ahead, cultivating acquaintances in almost every Indian political party and managing the media in a manner that critical stories related to Reliance’s unconventional business methods often made it into the newspapers.
In the 1990s, the final phase of Reliance’s diversification happened. That was the time when the company aggressively moved towards petrochemicals and telecommunication. But like most people, Ambani too had rivals. The most bitter and tough of them was Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing, who was an entrepreneur running a well-established company in the textile industry.
Wise Words by the Wise Man
Ambani always encouraged the spread of information technology among India’s poor. Through Reliance Industries, he arranged computer training and education for thousands of students in Bombay. “You are getting an opportunity. Make the best use of it. Be daring. Think big. You can be the best. If you believe in this you will be the best.”, he told the children in the last speech.
Ambani saw the Indian Govt.’s privatization program as a means of further growth. Two months before his death, he ensured that Reliance successfully bid for the giant public sector Indian Petro-Chemicals.
‘Think big, think fast and think ahead is the advice Dhirubhai followed throughout his life. Remember, he thought big even as a small boy when he used to sell hot snacks to pilgrims outside a temple in his native village. The same thought process empowered him to turn a company that has been set up with an investment of 15,000 rupees ($325) into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $13.2 billion
The man who always preached what he practiced and always encouraged people to build their dreams died on July 6 at the age of 69 after living and setting an example of life from rags to riches’. His works and words will show dreamers the light of the day till eternity.
Written By - Devika Thapar
.jpeg)
0 Comments