Ashutosh Garg: 54 years
Age at starting business: 46 years
Company name: Guardian Lifecare Private Limited
Headquarters: Gurgaon
Seed capital: Rs 10 crore
Source of money: Self-funded
Turnover after one year: Rs 2 crore
Current turnover: Rs 175 crore
The day I figured I was spending only 10 days a month with my family, I knew I had to quit my job. It was 2002, and I was running the Asian operations for Lockheed Martin and Hughes Network Systems . The obvious alternative was to start my own business, but I was 45 years old, not an ideal age to embark on a new venture.
It took me a year to convince myself and secure my family financially before I decided to take the leap. On 25 August 2003, four months after I quit my job, I set up the first Guardian pharmacy at the DLF Galleria Complex in Gurgaon. Today, I have 250 stores across 20 cities and 2,000 employees working for me.
Opening a chemist shop after working in the consumer and aerospace industries for 25 years (I had started my career in 1979 with ITC) was extremely difficult. My family was sceptical about my choice of business, especially my 15-year-old son Ashwin, who said, "How can you build a business waiting for people to fall sick?"
It was while researching for a suitable field that I became interested in the pharmaceutical retail market. It was teeming with spurious and counterfeit products and there was a huge opportunity because of its unorganised nature. I knew I would succeed if I could guarantee genuine medicines along with a hygienic ambience.
For the first store, I leased 300 sq ft of space in the DLF Galleria and paid a rent of Rs 25,000 a month. I remember that I earned Rs 5,000 on the first day. Today, I have expanded the store to 1,800 sq ft, again on a lease basis. I prefer to lease rather than buy as the latter is too expensive.
Becoming an entrepreneur means starting afresh no matter how much experience you have. So before launching, I spent hours observing how chemist shops function. In fact, I was actually behind the counters for six months when I opened the first store. This training provided a unique insight into the pharmaceutical retail business. Of course, I had hired four people to help me with the daily grind.
Though I was an amateur when it came to starting a new venture, I had already experimented as an angel investor. The early 1990s presented a lot of opportunities for investment in technology and I had put my money in a software firm and an Internet company. Over a period of six years, starting from 1996, I experimented with food franchises, Internet-based shopping, etc. So, I felt a little confident about handling the initial stages of the venture.
Age at starting business: 46 years
Company name: Guardian Lifecare Private Limited
Headquarters: Gurgaon
Seed capital: Rs 10 crore
Source of money: Self-funded
Turnover after one year: Rs 2 crore
Current turnover: Rs 175 crore
The day I figured I was spending only 10 days a month with my family, I knew I had to quit my job. It was 2002, and I was running the Asian operations for Lockheed Martin and Hughes Network Systems . The obvious alternative was to start my own business, but I was 45 years old, not an ideal age to embark on a new venture.
It took me a year to convince myself and secure my family financially before I decided to take the leap. On 25 August 2003, four months after I quit my job, I set up the first Guardian pharmacy at the DLF Galleria Complex in Gurgaon. Today, I have 250 stores across 20 cities and 2,000 employees working for me.
Opening a chemist shop after working in the consumer and aerospace industries for 25 years (I had started my career in 1979 with ITC) was extremely difficult. My family was sceptical about my choice of business, especially my 15-year-old son Ashwin, who said, "How can you build a business waiting for people to fall sick?"
It was while researching for a suitable field that I became interested in the pharmaceutical retail market. It was teeming with spurious and counterfeit products and there was a huge opportunity because of its unorganised nature. I knew I would succeed if I could guarantee genuine medicines along with a hygienic ambience.
For the first store, I leased 300 sq ft of space in the DLF Galleria and paid a rent of Rs 25,000 a month. I remember that I earned Rs 5,000 on the first day. Today, I have expanded the store to 1,800 sq ft, again on a lease basis. I prefer to lease rather than buy as the latter is too expensive.
Becoming an entrepreneur means starting afresh no matter how much experience you have. So before launching, I spent hours observing how chemist shops function. In fact, I was actually behind the counters for six months when I opened the first store. This training provided a unique insight into the pharmaceutical retail business. Of course, I had hired four people to help me with the daily grind.
Though I was an amateur when it came to starting a new venture, I had already experimented as an angel investor. The early 1990s presented a lot of opportunities for investment in technology and I had put my money in a software firm and an Internet company. Over a period of six years, starting from 1996, I experimented with food franchises, Internet-based shopping, etc. So, I felt a little confident about handling the initial stages of the venture.
Source. ECONOMIC TIMES
CAclubindia
