History of Business in India and Greatest Businessmen of Decades

India is a vast, populous and diverse nation encompassing many different identities, languages, cultures and religions. People here have the courage and determination to step into the unknown and explore. The roots of business in India can be traced back to the times when it was referred to as the ‘golden bird’.

This was the period when the Britishers came to India and unknowingly kindled the spirit of business in this earthy country.Indian business remained primarily focused on trading and money lending until the middle of the nineteenth century, although there was a modest demonstration effect as Indians observed a new style of entrepreneurship practiced by Europeans in India. However, things changed as the British built transport infrastructure, abolished internal customs tariffs, and established a legal system which enforced property rights and eliminated the power of government to act in an arbitrary fashion.

In Bengal, ethnic British entrepreneurs seized the opportunity to build new jute and coal industries.

In Western India, Parsees such as the Tatas created a new cotton textile industry.

Although one cannot disregard the imperialist noose the Britishers had on India, the fact remains that British rule, whatever its defects, was on the whole good for Indian business. The most negative consequences of colonialism, was that it maintained the long-standing disinclination of the Indian business elite to invest in technological innovation because of “their easy access to foreign technology, thanks to the imperial connection”. It was unfortunate that these entrepreneurs blind sided to the Britishers when it came to quality which was unexpectedly below standard. This might be considered as a bad case of  “colonial syndrome,” which made them believe that whatever the leading race was using was of the highest grade. Let us see the complete story behind the topic i.e. History of Business in India and Greatest Businessmen of Decades.

The earliest Kingpins of Business
Secrets to Successful Business

The earliest Kingpins of Business

Some of the earliest players in the Indian market were the  Jamsetji Tata, Ghanshyam Das Birla, Ardeshir Godrej, Kailash Chandra Mahindra, Dhirubhai Ambani. Most of these legendary companies are still going strong and their kin has followed their lineage. Some interesting facts about them are:

Acknowledged as the founder of the Tata Group, Jamsetji is often referred to as the ‘father of Indian industry’.

The Tata group has also supported humanitarian causes like in 1974, when the Chota Nagpur region had become the epicentre of the smallpox epidemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO), requested the collaboration of Tata Steel. The company obliged with resources and manpower. In six months, 20,500 villages and 82 towns were inoculated. By 1975, India was declared free of smallpox, for the first time in history.

The Tata group has been a key contributor to India’s growth story, in 2018 it contributed about 4% to the GDP  and paid 2.24 per cent of the total taxation in India of  ₹47,195 crore highest by any group.

Ghanshyam Das Birla was the Founder of Birla Brothers Limited, a leading producer of tea, textiles, cement, chemicals, rayon, steel tubes, among others. He laid the foundation for what later became a billion-dollar empire.

During the Quit India Movement in 1942 he developed the idea of starting a commercial bank. Thus was born The United Commercial Bank Limited. Now known as UCO bank, it is one of the oldest commercial banks of India.

The company operates in more than 35 different countries & employs more than 120,000 employees worldwide with a revenue of INR 14,577 crores for the year ended 31 March 2017.

In 1897 after a few failed ventures, Ardeshir Godrej, ventures, sets up a lock company. For him, the key to success turns out to be locks.

In 1918, Godrej launched Chavi(now Cinthol), the first soap in the world to be made without animal fat.

There are many more interesting stories behind these pioneers who revolutionised Indian business scenario.

Secrets to Successful Business

Now to analyse the key aspects of successful businesses over the years, we look into various companies and the principles they swear on.

1. Desire to innovate

Bombay dyeing which was founded in 1879, having its headquarters in Mumbai. The founders are Nusli and Wadia family. The company has managed to stay afloat over 100 years, despite competition and cut-throat price wars.

The company turned to textile only after it started suffering huge losses in its dyeing business in the early 1900s.

"The company’s ability to innovate and modernise continuously has helped it survive long," .

Also Read: What New Innovations will Come after COVID-19 Pandemic?

2. Acceptance of Change

Indians thrive on acceptance. Lakshmi Mittal is Britain’s wealthiest man and a non-resident Indian who heads up the world’s biggest steel manufacturer, ArcelorMittal, his view says,
“Always think outside the box and embrace the opportunities that appear - wherever they might be.”
Mukesh Ambani, one of the richest man in the world, Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, has an approach to built a structure that adapts to change:
“The organizational architecture is really that of a centipede, one or two don’t count. So if I lose one or two legs, the process will go on, the organization will go on, the growth will go on.”

Also Read: Lewin’s Change Management Model

3. Living in the moment

Living more in the moment makes India’s business leaders very adaptable and opportunistic. Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of The Aditya Birla Group and he also counsels leaders to look after ‘the mind’:
“Leaders must have the ability to mind your mind, which means quickly recognising when one is wrong and changing track accordingly. Also, far from being egocentric, they should have a great sense of humility.”

4. Problems are a gift

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chair and Managing Director, Biocon Ltd, shows how this works: “My philosophy in life is that every failure can be converted into a success, defeat is temporary but giving up is permanent. The way I approached it was that I am going to be just not brainwashed by perceptions. I thought let me do it my way."
The Indian born Lakshmi Mittal, head of Arcelor Mittal, knows about tough times and has this view: “Everyone experiences tough times, it is a measure of your determination and dedication how you deal with them and how you can come through them.”

Also Read: Common Problems Entrepreneurs Face and The Truth About Startup Life

Conclusion

Stories of personal perseverance, the ones where heroes overcome severe obstacles and achieve dizzying heights of success, have been around since the beginning of time but they never get old. They inspire us and inflame our passions, making us believe we too can follow suit.

The entrepreneurs we saw above and many more are examples of such determination and courage that has now taken India to global heights. The indefatigable will to succeed and own something which is made out of your sweat and blood is what took these pioneers to an unimaginable heights of success.