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V.G.Nair, V.G.N.Group, Dombiville, Mumbai |
A
Malayali youth working as a waiter in a hotel in Mumbai during 1970s for
Rs.72 per month needed Rs.3000 for some purpose.
Though socially active in Malayali Samajams, he could not get the
money from any of his acquaintances or friends, and had to borrow at
exorbitant interest. The
incident made him think. A
further impetus was the book, ‘How to Get What You Whatever You Want’
Following the path illuminated by the book, Veerath Gopalan Nair
decided to venture into his own business.
He
started with a small department store in a rented room at Ullas Nagar.
The capital: Rs 10000 on loan, and the room rent Rs.75 per month.
“As I had held on to honest dealings, the venture grew from
strength to strength,’” he says. And
today, with 20000 families as regular customers, the venture has indeed
come a long way. “My
weakness, even today, is that I do not know how to get back what I have
lent,” he confides.
As
the store grew, he started V.G.N.Jewellery in 1998 followed by a Chit
fund. Other ventures like
Computers and Offset Printers followed.
With business growing at 600%, as he analyses it, the VGN Group
targets a turnover of Rs.100 crores in the coming 2 years.
Nair,
who can handle Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi and English well,
considers his plighted word as sacrosanct as his father.
There is no question of going back on the word he has given, he
says.
Vatsala
is his wife. Their children,
Meera and Govindan.
Courtesy:
N.Sreejith
(text), Mathrubhumi, February 20, 2005
Contributed by: Administrator
