Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, better known as Dhirubhai Ambani, is not an unheard name to any Indian. From being a spice dealer at fifteen to a cloth merchant to a textile producer, it was his enthusiastic ambition, inexhaustible energy that led him overcome all obstacles to emerge out as a business tycoon possessing the loftiest potential not only in India but also worldwide;someone that every entrepreneur dreams of becoming someday. He’s the founder of Reliance Industries, India’s largest private sector petrochemical and textile giant. Apart from being awarded many prestigious awards including the “Padma Vibhushan”, he was also conferred “Man of the 20th century” by FICCI. A poll conducted by “The Times of India” during the dawn of 21st century voted him as The Greatest creator of wealth in the Centuries.
Dhirubhai, a Gujarati at heart, was raised in frugal living conditions right from an early age. He was aware of the inefficiencies that the family dealt with due to the meager income his father had. A lot can be learnt from him as an entrepreneur. Let us explore and get ourselves enlightened.
Be Revolutionary
Entrepreneurship is based on big yet practical ideas. Dhirubhai Ambani is widely respected for his long term ideas with which he wanted to make India a force to reckon with. His ideas were brilliant and yet revolutionary from India’s development point of view back then. One of those many ideas was to make communication via cell phones easier and accessible for every strata of the society. He started nurturing the idea at a time when even incoming calls were not free. India has come a long way from then to now and definitely, the Ambanis have a huge role to play in this.
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Start Small. Grow Big!
He started a partnership firm named “Majin” with his cousin Champaklal Damani. The very task of the company was to import polyester yarn and export spices to Yemen. The first office of Reliance Commercial Corporation was a 350 sq. feet room with one telephone, one table, three chairs and two office assistants. Both of them had different temperaments of work and take on how to do business. Unlike Damani, Ambani was a known risk-taker and believed in building inventories. The partnership, however, collapsed. Just a year after then, Dhirubhai founded the Reliance Industries. It was through his futuristic vision and unfathomable business acumen that the company soared great heights. It created a history in the Indian Industry, a legacy that would serve as an inspiration for generations to come.
No wonder, today the Reliance Industries is world’s largest manufacturer of polyester and it processes 2% of world’s transportation fuel.
One Life. One Goal!
Socialism and politics attracted 16-year old Dhirubhai, who started dreaming about a new and progressive India, where industries would develop at an unprecedented rate. He was ready to do his bit for his country and himself. It was his passion and active political involvement that brought him to the notice of political leaders. Though he was offered a place in one of the parties, he declined the offer, in order to walk on route of his true forte. This is what every entrepreneur should do. Do not let anything deviate you!
CREATE equal opportunities. It builds trust!
You and your team share the same DNA. Dhirubhai always had immense faith in his team and people he worked with. He was quite fond of hearing their ideas openly. To be marked successful as an entrepreneur, focus upon creating a team of people whose capabilities can be trusted implicitly. This is inevitably important. Sometimes even just asking the team and discussing can motivate everyone. Dhirubhai firmly believed that if you take care for a team then they will in turn do wonders for you.
Aloofness and an air of exclusivity in order to make things work can be good ingredients to disastrous scenarios for an entrepreneur in the long run.
Change for development
Innovation is life. Moving from one level or domain to another are crucial for any entrepreneur to nurture his business. The hunger to change and desire to expand made Dhirubhai grow at a rampant and unbelievable pace. Excellent service was its hallmark and trust became an important factor when people traded with Reliance. A determination to change constructively can bring about positive developments. This will foster a lot of connectivity with people who would like to do business with you.
Be Bold. But be Calculative too!
The level of risk drops down if the mathematics behind it is logical. This is the quality most entrepreneurs need to inculcate within them in order to make the most out of an opportunity.
Dhirubhai believed in the concept of economics which says, “More the supply, greater is the demand”. Indubitably, this also meant a huge investment. Then it was his gut instinct and risk taking ability which took him where every entrepreneur dreams to be. Returns are important but that shouldn’t be the soul aim of a budding entrepreneur. Earning a reputation will ultimately bring in the profits. So start taking measured risks!
Having a great niche
He achieved what almost everybody would consider impossible. In a life, spanning 69 years, he built from scratch India’s largest privately controlled corporate empire. Extensive marketing of the brand in the interiors of India made it a household name. There is a very interesting story of their trial back in 1982, when the Reliance industries was up against a rights issue regarding partly convertible debentures. Rumors were out that the company was making all efforts to ensure that their stock prices did not slide an inch. The Bear Cartel (a group of stock broker that expected the market to fall, unlike the Bull Cartel) sensed an opportunity here and hence, started short selling the shares of Reliance. The Bulls, on the other hand, started to buy the short sold shares of Reliance Industries on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The Bear Cartel was acting on the firm belief that the Bulls would be short of cash to complete the transactions and would be ready for settlement under the “Badla” trading system operative in the BSE. Their strategy failed mysteriously. It was then when Dhirubhai intervened and provided the share holders with the physical delivery of the share. Initially bought at Rs.152 per share by the Bulls, they demanded an “Unbadla”, or penalty sum of Rs.35 per share. With this the demand escalated drastically and the share price of Reliance shot above Rs.180 in minutes. Voila! This settlement caused enormous uproar in the market.
The Bombay Stock Exchange was totally suspicious of some unfair trade and to find out the truth, it remained closed for three business days. Authorities from BSE intervened in the matter and brought down the “Unbadla” rate to Rs.2 with a stipulation that the Bear Cartel had to deliver the shares within the next few days. The Bear Cartel bought shares of Reliance from the market at higher price levels and it was also learnt that Dhirubhai himself supplied those shares to the Bear Cartel and earned a healthy profit out of the Bear Cartel’s adventure. Though not an academically brilliant student, Dhirubhai displayed exceptional leadership skills. Again something to learn!
Success stories become tales someday. So walk upon the path nicely!
Dhirubhai Ambani’s life is undoubtedly a ‘rags to riches’ tale. Fueled by an aim to ‘Think big, think differently, think fast and think ahead’ his capabilities in the entrepreneurial sector were in stark contrast with his competitors. A fiery instinct, an indomitable will, a futuristic outlook and a burning passion was all that he had when he set out to work his way for a living in the lanes of Bombay back in 1958. He promised his dealers a deal that was revolutionary, ‘Profits we share. Losses are mine.’ Legendary!
Here are some more inspiring tales of entrepreneurs who rose from the rags and made it to the riches following every success and defeating every failure that crossed their path.
I’d love to listen more of such legendary things about Dhirubhai Ambani from which we can get more lessons from in the comments below.
