As part of our relentless efforts to identify and share some of the meaningful stories from India and around the world, this week we invited Passionate Entrepreneur Manoj Kumar Chettiyar for an interview with us. He built a successful venture out of nowhere amidst this ongoing COVID crisis. Let’s read more about his journey and his story so far!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
My name is Manoj Kumar Chettiyar born and brought up in Bangalore, I did my schooling from RRES College in Sheshadripuram evening college, from my school days I was much interested in sports.
In my college days, I started gyming and later I chose it as a career because I was passionate about it. My family’s financial situation also forced me to start work in my early teenage. Since I was so much into fitness, I achieved the title of Mr Bangalore & Karnataka 2009 with my hard work. It was the talk of town later whoever I could not continue it because of other commitments including my responsibility towards my family. I had to join back the work after working for multiple international fitness chain as a manager and helping a few starts up as an SME.
I was done with it and thought of doing something more meaningful of my own and decided to start my own venture which can give our clients a complete solution and a one-stop platform for them to analyse the problem in the industry. That’s how I came up with TheTrueWellnessSolution (MKC enterprises).”
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
The job was getting me a steady income and I was in my comfort zone. It was secured with my regular salary hike, but always inside me, I wanted to achieve something big as an entrepreneur, as I saw a lot of loopholes in the fitness industry which I felt I can bridge.
Which will help the investor to be guided in the right path without diverting funds and create employment opportunities which will give more satisfaction
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
I would say quality service/product at an affordable price is my mantra. In my short entrepreneurial stint, I have realised that no one can beat quality service.
Please share with our audience, what’s your source of motivation?
The person/investors come from other industry backgrounds and I want to help and guide them in the right path which motivates them to open multiple centres. I want to help others as much as I can.
And before we move I would also like to say that I love reading self-help books and do a lot of research into luxury hotels, destinations, cars, and villas. Somehow it keeps me motivated and pushes me to work harder.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
Stress, Excitement and Nervousness are all part of an entrepreneur’s journey.
Every problem comes with a solution go back and check where you have missed out; solve it, keep moving towards your goal. It is as simple as that.
What has worked well for you so far?
As a single parent kid and zero background business, it was not easy to take a decision to be an entrepreneur but with god’s grace and blessings of well-wishers around me and my efforts.
The journey has been wonderful so far but still a lot more to achieve I’m just starting.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures we have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
As COVID crisis started ours was the first industry to shut down. we had to stop all our existing projects and the worst part was we had no clue when it’s going to resume again.
One evening I went to buy, like others, a mask in medical store and they charged me Rs 50 for 3ply mask. Actually he was my good friend and I use to get discount on a product but that day he refused to give saying he is getting from his supplier in a higher denomination which made me think about it. I thought, how about other people who can’t afford Rs 50 for a mask and it is not going to be easy.”
The very next day I took my phone and started researching about COVID products. Initially, I was not entertained but later with a bit of struggle, I found out proper vendors list for all COVID essentials in a day’s time. One of the vendors was my friends and my first trade was on credit. I tasted some success there and later started supplying it to all the corporates, B2B, NGOs and within 3 months I made a business of 5 million.
I did all of it as a single man show and moreover in one room with one smartphone and I have never been out in those 3 months. Everything was handled through 3rd party apps be it logistics or managing invoices. It was really a case study for life to me.
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.
