At Brilliant Read Media, we always strive to bring you meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community of investors, management students and aspiring entrepreneurs. This week we invited Dr K.S. Bhatia for an interview with us. Dr K.S. Bhatia is a Seasoned Entrepreneur, Business Leader, Evangelist, Mentor and Motivational Speaker. He is the Founder and CEO of award-winning and highly recognised startup Pumpkart and Figgital. By sheer hard work and determination, he has been able to carve a niche for himself in India’s emerging start-up ecosystem. A man of his own making, Bhatia is synonymous with swimming against the tide. He is opening 350 plus stores of Pumpkart and Figgital across India by September 2021. Let’s learn more about his inspiring journey, his way forward and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Dr K.S. Bhatia:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur.
I did my schooling from Amritsar. I did my engineering from the prestigious RV College of Engineering, Bengaluru. I was a passionate individual from the beginning and always aspired to be one of the youngest achievers by delivering high performance in all walks of life.
Ratan Tata is my inspiration and I have always wanted to something for the country. I represented my school in an international non-governmental organisation Child Awareness Movement Association (CMCA), and also its members.”
During my college days, I took part in all major contests and competitions since I was an all-rounder in studies and cultural activities. One of the projects that I delivered successfully was coming out with an innovative technology that uses waste products to be made useful to the construction material was my priority. I used to sell sweaters and shawls in Bengaluru, which I used to bring from Amritsar and Ludhiana.
I used to sell them on the streets of MG Road and Brigade Road in Bangalore. This is how I started my journey. I have sold an end number of water pumps too from the company which I started with 6000 Rs in 1998 and closed in 2018 to focus on Pumpkart.com which I initiated in 2014.”
What attracted you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
I opted for entrepreneurship because I always wanted to make an impact. I have always been intrigued by entrepreneurship and read the success stories of all the successful entrepreneurs.
You see – it’s fascinating how you build something from scratch to have an empire around it and not everyone can do it. It takes a lot of courage, planning, perseverance, hard work, teamwork, combined with a good strategy and execution skills.
I have learnt the importance of 3Hs – humility, honesty and humanity – from my father, which has made my journey a lot easier for me.
‘Pumpkart’ is a unique name, talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving with the help of your start-up entity?
Pumpkart launched in 2014 as a B2C marketplace for water pumps but later we shifted the model to B2B in 2016.
It was praised by Sundar Pichai, then Chief Executive Officer, Alphabet.”
Currently, we are allied with 8000 plus resellers and 26 franchise partners across four states of Punjab, Himachal, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir and will be touching 25000 plus Retailers by mid of 2021.
Our platform will bring well-known brands to a single place and provides opportunities to franchisees and retailers to promote and scale their businesses. We are now expanding in south India, starting with Karnataka. We will be touching 15,000 retailers and add 20,000 MSME of Punjab and Haryana to our platform soon. Our platform works like B2B2C.
During the Covid-9 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
Each measure is taken to ensure that the model aligns with the challenges of the pandemic. Our business model consists of a lean team that is not at all resource-heavy and has minimal overheads. The freelancer model ensures that each and every work can be handled remotely, where we don’t need to do physical meetings.
Every aspect of the business is online and tech-enabled to ensure automation as much as possible. There are certain hindrances that we faced during the pandemic but handled them quite well. The entrepreneur in me always keeps me going against all odds, failures and setbacks.”
What are the three most important lessons you have learned building your start-up?
I have learned finally to not compare myself to other successful people who seem to have it all together. I have also realized how important it is to embrace change because, at any given time, you will need to shift strategies due to circumstances beyond your control. The ability to effectively lead is a crucial factor in success. Mistakes and failures have taught me so many things.
How do you manage yourself and keep on going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I always try to make sure that I empower the right people for the right work. This way I do not feel overburdened with work that leads to stress. In my free time, I try to travel, spend time with my family, and try to maintain my work-life balance as much as possible.
Travelling helps me clear my mind and focus on issues that need my attention. I would say that I get motivated seeing my parents work tirelessly in their respective fields and that drives me to go on despite all the challenges.
In your opinion, what is more necessary: an idea or a good team for a successful start-up?
In my opinion, it should be a mix of both. You just cannot go ahead with an idea jotted down on a piece of paper without like-minded people working on it. I have seen companies with very innovative ideas with niche market segment fail just because they lacked proper team spirit in them.
To be successful, you should team up who are loyal to you, who share your vision behind the idea and you also need to hire the right people for the right position so that it gets implemented in a proper way.
What has worked well for you so far?
One thing I would say that helped me and my company grow is the ability to listen to our customers. We believe that customers are not interested in products but in getting their problems resolved.
The more we listen to them, the problems they face in their business, the more efficiently and effectively we can resolve them. I won’t mind admitting that my wrong decisions have also helped me a lot. Never give up in life!
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
I love my work. Anything you do in life you have to have a passion for that. I enjoy the challenge of developing novel technologies to become a truly disruptive force in investing by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning. I dream big which motivates and let me keep going
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and see them as an opportunity to learn. Getting the right opportunity and performing to the best of your capability when you get that opportunity is the mantra that takes you to the pinnacle of success. To get that opportunity, I present myself as a brand. I prepare myself to give my best shot at each and every opportunity that comes my way.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
