At BrilliantRead Media, our aim is to bring to our community some of the unique and compelling stories from the start-up ecosystem. As part of this endeavour, we invited passionate entrepreneur – Rishabh Sharda for an exclusive interview with us. He is the Founder of Codebox Global, Managing Director of HRS Chemicals and CEO of Flourish Ply & Ratanmoni Industries. Let’s learn more about his inspirational journey and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:
Tell us a little about yourself and your background please;
I was born in a business class family so I developed a natural affinity towards entrepreneurship very early on in my life. I was very passionate, high-performing and ambitious. I always used to follow the Forbes list and admire the idols of the business-world since my school days. I did my schooling from Meerut, Deewan Public School.
Then I did my graduation from DU – Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, where I studied about the evolution of business and the era of entrepreneurship. It made me realize that there have always been numerous opportunities if only you pay attention and stay open to the world around you which motivated me to start off my journey.
How you started your journey?
I tried my first venture in college days by creating a short ad video making firm by the name of black beard films, which was later our college filming society name, through which I learned the art of managing a team and making money. I never used to ask my dad for money during college days but I realized the money we spent on our luxuries will always be less, so let’s earn more than we can spend.
After graduation, I entered my family business of plywood (Flourish ply), interiors, and construction, which gave another vision to my thoughts, also about the sense of ownership, power of generating employment, and name & fame. Luckily I got the call from SP Jain, Mumbai for masters which was again a turning point for my career. I met an amazing bunch of people over there with amazing networks and visionary thoughts.
But after 5 months, I realized that college is for job seekers and couldn’t teach me more than my dad did in just a few months. I believe experiences matter more than just education, so I quit and joined the hands of my dad with better maturity and focused goal.”
We have heard about the growth and expansion of your venture into various verticals so how did you do it?
We had set up a new ply factory in Lucknow (Flourish Ply and Veneers) which supplies best in class red core ply PAN India. We started giving franchise outlets of our brand as FLOURISH STUDIOS. 12 such outlets were opened in the last 2 years and we increased our market presence in more than 10 states with 500+ dealers/distributors.
Our efforts were well appreciated and we even won the Asia’s fastest-growing brand award at a ceremony held in Singapore.
We have also diversified our business into the manufacturing of chemicals (formaldehyde) by name of HRS chemicals. We also entered the media, which is an online Hindi newspaper Bharatkhabar.com.
Further, we did backward integration into the timber trading business.
Also, we started a software development company by the name of Codebox Global which caters to our foreign clients and now recently we had setup the PPE kit manufacturing unit, which we are supplying all over India to help our India fight against coronavirus (entering in pharma).
What is your goal and how are you doing it?
Earlier my passion was to mint money but now I look for opportunities which give employment to the maximum no. of people and our products or services help our consumers in the betterment of their living.
But yes, I work 24×7 with all my dedication and hard work towards my goal which is to be one amongst Forbes list.
Isn’t it challenging managing so many diversified businesses?
Yes, surely it is. But managing it with ease gives you more pleasure and satisfaction…….and also money hahaha…
Real Secret for good business and management is devoted manpower and a crazy team, which supports your decision and work with their 100% on it to achieve it. The one who shares the same vision as yours and work for the betterment of the company. Luckily I have one.
Are you looking for new ventures or you want to focus on growing existing ones more?
Ah! This one is really tough to answer. Yes, I am always open to new ventures, and I always keep special funds for it, while I keep working harder on the existing ones simultaneously.
How do you see the future of the business after COVID 19?
For the time being, it will be slow but with time many companies will shift to India as FDI, with which India might be the next leading nation in the world very soon. So please keep your eyes open, a lot many opportunities are about to come.
‘’the person with better networks, vision, and team, will be the future leader.’’
As you stated networking is important, so how can people contact you?
Feel free to call or meet at any of our head office Lucknow or Meerut.
Let’s connect! Let’s flourish!
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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.
