It is often seen that one’s determination comes from an excessive desire to achieve something. But, in some cases the desire is balanced manually by staying grounded and putting in continuous hard work. Such is the story of BM Balakrishna.
Born in the village Sankarayalpeta located in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, Balakrishna had the habit excelling in whatever he did ever since he was little. His father being a farmer and mother an anganwadi teacher-cum-tailor made his beginning very humble. After failing in maths for six consecutive times he was finally able to complete his schooling.
Even in his school days, he wanted to start working. He told his parents he would work at a phone booth for Rs 300 a month. After his school, he pursued automobile diploma from Nellore district. He decided not to waste any more time and concentrated on studies from day one. His family had to strive hard to send him his mess fee, and Balakrishna did not want to waste their efforts and hopes.
This taught Balakrishna the importance of money as he realised his family had to go through utter toil to support him. During those times, milk was Rs 3/litre which meant they had to sell 350 litres of milk to send him Rs 1,000. He studied with utmost devotion and cleared his examination with 74 percent, and was second topper in college. His parents were ecstatic and wanted him to study further but, Balakrishna wanted to improve living standard and financial status of his family and began looking for a job. Her mother gave him Rs 1,000 and asked him to look for a job nearby in Bangalore.
Balakrishna moved to Bangalore and applied at all automobile companies but, to no avail. His zeal was torn down and so were his finances. He decided to take up any job and after a few days began working as a car washer.
While working as a car washer, he got an offer in pump business. Although, it was not his forte he took the job for a pay of Rs 2,000. This helped him lessen his parents’ burden as he had to support his parents. His designation was that of marketing executive and after this initial job, he worked in sales for 14 years. It, after a period of time became tiring to go on sites so often.
When he could not take the workload anymore he decided to quit the job and took a leap in business to try his luck. It was in 2010 when he started his own brand Aquapot with his Provident Fund money Rs 1.27 Lakhs. It was hard to manage the funds initially and when he discussed the same to his near ones they advised him to quit. It was a rock bottom period of his life when everything seemed shady.
Initially he took care of the entire business on his own and had very little manpower. In case he had to repair the equipment he himself used to pay visit. He used to take the equipment in hot weather conditions on bike. His people skills were great and soon his customer base began expanding and he started wholesale business. He paid lot of attention on the marketing portion. He distributed T-shirts, brochures, pamphlets, etc. His effort paid off when Aquapot came under top 20 water purifiers in India with employee size of about 50 working in branches – Hyderabad, Bangalore, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Hubli with a turnover of Rs 25 crores.
Today, he is a proud owner of the firm and puts in blood and sweat to make the business run. He doesn’t take break and works continuously with enthusiasm. He believes that nothing is impossible. Everything can be turned around and fate is all a matter of hard work. Whatever we do merely sets a benchmark for our future. One should not wait for the iron to get red hot instead one must make it hot but striking continuously. He believes in moving forward without thinking anything negative about his situation.
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