Lessons from the maverick
A few weeks ago, I was following the convocation of IIM Lucknow. In this edition, Kishore Biyani was invited to give the convocation address. In this speech, he spoke about the creative economy. He spoke about how the key differentiator in the coming years was going to be ideas and creativity. I was intrigued, as I expected a hard sell about entrepreneurship and about hard work being the key to success. I instantly recognized there was more to this man that the media projected.
Last weekend, Rupa publications released "It happened in India", the autobiography of Kishore Biyani, the maverick king of retail in India. The first aspect that struck me about "It happened in India" was its price: Rs. 99. Only a person who came up with the concept of "Big bazaar" could have come up with an autobiography priced at Rs. 99. When the businessmen of the world are making their millions from their autobiography, KB decides to give it away cheap. Why, I wonder.
Kishore Biyani has long been hated by the stock market, primarily because his company has always been too leveraged, the growth plans have been too aggressive, and the rate of growth often seemed too aggressive. In this scenario, I expected to read the book of a hardcore bania businessman who was out to make money while the sun was shining on the retail sector. I expected to read about a highly exagerated version of a life by a businessman who had seen success after many failures in his life.
I was pleasantly surprised to note that I was mistaken. What came across in the book was the story of an extraordinarily mature success, who had a deep understanding of his business, his market, and had his finger on the pulse of the country. KB comes across as a man who understands the very core of the retail business: the brand. A retail business comes dangerously close to touching the customer. It needs to do the right things, because one bad experience could put off a customer. KB understands this. The book spans his life from the family of a moderately successful textile trader, to the founder of the iconic brand Big bazaar. Through many successes like Pantaloons, Central and Big Bazaar, he also saw the lows of his first customer psyche mistake: selling a lakh white shirts at Rs. 149 at big bazaar, hoping that it would sell. He learns from his mistakes, and understands that the retail business is more about the front end than it is about the back end. This, at a time when reliance is spending billions of dollars to strengthen their supply chain. KB understands that if the front end is wrong, the business is wrong. It is an important insight.
I was fascinated to learn about his obsession with design. I would not imagine that a textile trader would have such a passion for design, brands, their longevity and their success. For this reason alone, he helps NID graduates found a company called Idiom. He hopes for the company to achieve success like the Jesus Christ of design, Ideo. He talks about the future of retail, and comes across as a person who fully understands that he is standing on the threshold of history. Retail could redefine India's future, and he knows that he has the power to take advantage of it. He also understands fully well that he could not afford to spend time looking for the best deals on real estate, because he could better utilize that time in expanding the business. He lives on relationships; with vendors, partners and suppliers. He knows that it would be physically impossible to survive an atmosphere where his suppliers are unhappy with him. He knows that the he needs to empower every employee to think like himself: aggressive, reckless at times, but brutally big. A great read. I would strongly recommend it.
Last weekend, Rupa publications released "It happened in India", the autobiography of Kishore Biyani, the maverick king of retail in India. The first aspect that struck me about "It happened in India" was its price: Rs. 99. Only a person who came up with the concept of "Big bazaar" could have come up with an autobiography priced at Rs. 99. When the businessmen of the world are making their millions from their autobiography, KB decides to give it away cheap. Why, I wonder.
Kishore Biyani has long been hated by the stock market, primarily because his company has always been too leveraged, the growth plans have been too aggressive, and the rate of growth often seemed too aggressive. In this scenario, I expected to read the book of a hardcore bania businessman who was out to make money while the sun was shining on the retail sector. I expected to read about a highly exagerated version of a life by a businessman who had seen success after many failures in his life.
I was pleasantly surprised to note that I was mistaken. What came across in the book was the story of an extraordinarily mature success, who had a deep understanding of his business, his market, and had his finger on the pulse of the country. KB comes across as a man who understands the very core of the retail business: the brand. A retail business comes dangerously close to touching the customer. It needs to do the right things, because one bad experience could put off a customer. KB understands this. The book spans his life from the family of a moderately successful textile trader, to the founder of the iconic brand Big bazaar. Through many successes like Pantaloons, Central and Big Bazaar, he also saw the lows of his first customer psyche mistake: selling a lakh white shirts at Rs. 149 at big bazaar, hoping that it would sell. He learns from his mistakes, and understands that the retail business is more about the front end than it is about the back end. This, at a time when reliance is spending billions of dollars to strengthen their supply chain. KB understands that if the front end is wrong, the business is wrong. It is an important insight.
I was fascinated to learn about his obsession with design. I would not imagine that a textile trader would have such a passion for design, brands, their longevity and their success. For this reason alone, he helps NID graduates found a company called Idiom. He hopes for the company to achieve success like the Jesus Christ of design, Ideo. He talks about the future of retail, and comes across as a person who fully understands that he is standing on the threshold of history. Retail could redefine India's future, and he knows that he has the power to take advantage of it. He also understands fully well that he could not afford to spend time looking for the best deals on real estate, because he could better utilize that time in expanding the business. He lives on relationships; with vendors, partners and suppliers. He knows that it would be physically impossible to survive an atmosphere where his suppliers are unhappy with him. He knows that the he needs to empower every employee to think like himself: aggressive, reckless at times, but brutally big. A great read. I would strongly recommend it.
posted by shravan at
Monday, April 30, 2007
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