Do success is only achieved through wealth? If you think yes, Hari Menon, the co-founder of Bigbasket is here to prove you wrong.
Bigbasket was his initiative much before Flipkart came into existence. Hari Menon was an engineering student at BTS Pilani, one of the country’s best institutes; later he decided to inspire young MBA students at the Great Lakes Institute of Management. Now he has chosen to inspire young entrepreneurs by possessing one oldest e-commerce initiatives when internet penetration was at a very low line.
No risk no gain
Menon and four of his partners started Fabmart in 1999, an online platform which, according to him, served the same purpose as Flipkart does now. Soon it took a physical form as Fabmart after the termination of the online venture. Unfavorable internet conditions and mass unawareness about digital payments being the vital reasons behind its failure back then.
They then decided to focus on the Fabmall which worked well and also gave Menon the scope to think about the next start-up. Over the years internet penetration grew stronger and thus in October 2011, Hari Menon, V S Sudhakar, Abhinay Chowdhary, and V S Ramesh co-founded the Bigbasket, being the first online platform that deals with groceries including the perishable ones.
The basket gets bigger
Menon states that in the initial 3 years, the company relied only on word-of-mouth in advertising. Steadily growing transactions led to bigger investments and there was a remarkable expansion about a year and a half ago. With operations in 25 cities and increased reported revenue of 178 crore in 2014 to 600 crore in 2015, the firm now plans to reach more cities with a targeting figure of 2,000 crore the next year.
Appearance of Shah Rukh Khan as their brand ambassador maximized their visibility, Menon reveals. Menon transparency in his thoughts and knowledge was portrayed in a reported session for the aspiring entrepreneurs and students of Great Lakes Institute of Management near Chennai.
The musical Entrepreneur
He has immense interest in music and cricket, he picks up every chance to sing Kishore Kumar songs in his karaoke set for hours every weekend. He also plays guitar and was a vocalist in a band back in his college days; Eagles, Pink Floyd and Simon & Garfunkel are his favorite bands. Another serious pursuit of Menon was as a member of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, also he makes time to watch a match every Sunday at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
