Success is a reward which can only be achieved by playing rough games and taking risks. Everyone has their own fields of play and some personal baits to put. Entrepreneurship, however, is not just a hard crack meant for people who can win through difficult situations. It is also something which can transform you into a better individual. You personalise into an individual who can be introspective and can learn their own strengths and weaknesses to become the best.
We all come across articles about entrepreneurs who have lived their dreams and topped their game. Smacking failures and steering through adversities has always been the primary ingredient for entrepreneurs in the making. Here is an exceptional story of an entrepreneur who rose above the debts and expectations and proved himself worthy of success.
People who have their family businesses running for a long time usually tend to get into the same business after acquiring all the prerequisite knowledge. Some of them do this out of choice, while others don’t have any other option. Vijaya Ranga Vittal, an entrepreneur based out of Bangalore, aspired to run his father’s business but with advanced methods. His father had a pharmacy venture, and Vijaya Ranga Vittal thus pursued a Master’s course in pharmaceuticals.
He wanted to learn all the aspects of the field with a company and then join his family lineage to transform it into a better business. The oblivious and inevitable demise of his father turned his world upside down in a moment. All his plans shattered with the flick of a finger, and he had no other option but to take over the business that his father had left behind.
What looks like cream on the cake wasn’t even the foundation for Vijaya’s future. The business left by Vijaya’s father was doomed to incur debts due to tough competition and fewer opportunities in the industry.
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” This proverb became Vijaya’s life story as he struggled to pay off all the debt. Despite the changes in his life, Vijaya started his own marketing agency, but even that firm earned nothing but massive losses. When life puts you down once, you get up and fight back, but when it smacks you down twice, you fight back even stronger. Vijaya didn’t let the loss get to him. Soon, he entered the field of digital marketing.
Before starting anything new, Vijaya knew the importance of learning all the basics and advancements in his chosen area. He did a course in digital marketing at the Onlinism Academy in Bangalore with the help of his mentor David, and soon launched his own company ‘Farm Honey’, which was an e-commerce retail company. Vijaya was on a journey to become one of the most influential entrepreneurs, who, despite having zero experience, zero funds and overwhelming odds, made his way towards success.
Vijaya was fascinated by the fact that honey is a product which is used by every household across the world for innumerable purposes. Also, there are not a lot of firms which provide honey in its most natural and raw form. Vijaya always knew that he was not going to compromise with the quality of honey. Hence, he personally went on to meet bee-keepers and farmers to make sure that they provided him the purest form of honey that could be availed by the consumer.
Nothing is devoid of challenges, and after all, adversities are what prepare people to face problems. Just like any entrepreneurial journey, Vijaya too encountered bumps in the beginning. He had the most significant task of getting the most trusted and reliable sources for honey. Soon, after he had made himself sure about his ties, he went on and launched ‘Farm Honey’ in the year 2017. He made his product available at all the major e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm Mall, Snapdeal, Qtrove and many others.
Competing with companies like Dabur, Patanjali, and Under the Mango Tree, Vijaya Ranga Vittal has made sure to not only make honey of the best quality but also to sell it in its rawest form. He wanted to stand apart from his competitors. Coming from a pharmaceutical background, he knew how to use technology and science and started to blend raw honey with spices and medicinal herbs to create value added honey products. The result of this effort was that he was able to come up with different varieties of honey like ginger honey, garlic honey, cinnamon honey, lemon honey, tulsi honey, turmeric honey, ashwagandha honey, moringa honey, almond honey, neem honey, black pepper honey and spearmint honey.
His plan is to launch it in over 300 flavors in the upcoming years, make people taste the flavor of real honey and educate them on the benefits of consuming it.