Kalpana Saroj, Founder, Kamani Tubes
From struggling to buy a new pair of shoes as a young girl, to owning nine cars – the jouney of Kalpana Saroj as an entrepreneur is an absolute rags-to-riches story. Needless to say, the path to success was peppered with several trials, tribulations and of course few strokes of luck in between.
Hailing from a humble background from Akola, Saroj was married off at 12. However, when her nuptial life turned upside down in no time it shook her from within. Though broken, she was not ready to accept defeat only to be determined to rewrite her life’s story. Saroj moved to Mumbai (then Bombay) and started working as an assistant tailor earning `2 a day. Things had just begun improving when life suddenly took a downturn; Saroj lost her sister to a deadly disease because the family couldn’t afford to pay medical bills.
The incident made realise the importance of money and hence began her entrepreneurial journey. With help of a loan of `50,000 Saroj bought half-a-dozen sewing machines and started a tailioring business. She worked almost 16 hours a day. Gradually, when her venture started reaping profits, Saroj expanded into furniture business.
One day a man came to her with a proposal of buying his land caught in legal dispute at a throwaway price of `2.5 lakh. He needed urgent money. Kalpana grabbed the opportunity as well as the land. She fought for nearly two years and finally got it cleared from all the legal issues. By then, the price of the plot had shot up to `50 lakh, which paved the way for her to enter the very lucrative real estate and construction business.
Since then, there has been no looking back for Saroj, the current chairperson of Kamani tubes.She is a true inspiration for all those who not only dream big but also realise it thorough hard work.
Yagnesh Kansara