A seed of an idea is all you need for success. Sathya Shankar K. would know, for there is a teeny, tiny seed at the heart of his success story.
His life got a kick-start in 1984. All of 18, Shankar had applied for an autorickshaw driving licence. But it was more than just a driving licence; it was his licence to dream big. The third of four sons of a poor village priest in Bellare in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, he had to drop out after class 12 for want of funds. With a driving licence in hand, he bought an autorickshaw on loan under the Central government’s self-employment scheme. That autorickshaw was only the beginning of his incredible journey.
Today, Shankar owns a company with an annual turnover of Rs800 crore. His SG Group, headquartered in Puttur in Dakshina Kannada, has several verticals―from Praveen Capital to Megha Fruit Processing Private Limited. It sells 55 products, from packaged drinking water to snacks. In the last four decades, he has experimented with various business models and tasted success with each. He took the adage ‘experience is the best teacher’ quite literally, using every business venture to level up.
From the beginning, Shankar has had a keen eye for business, even during his autorickshaw driving days. He paid off the loan in a year and traded the three-wheeler for an Ambassador car. The autorickshaw was limiting his dreams and rides―he could only drive around Dakshina Kannada district. But in the taxi, he could take tourists beyond district- and state-lines. It was then that he observed the product that every foreign tourist bought―packaged drinking water. It has become a prominent product of his company.
In 1988, Shankar sold the faithful Ambassador after realising that selling spare parts of cars was more lucrative than driving one. Also, there was no such shop in or around Puttur. Once he set up the automobile shop, he observed another trade in demand―sale of vehicle tyres. A year later came the tyre outlet.
It was while running the automobile shop that he learnt the nuances of finance management. Customers would buy parts on credit and pay later in instalments. He used that experience to start an automobile finance company. In 1994, he started Praveen Capital and lent money at a small interest. What set Praveen Capital apart was that it provided loans to buy second-hand vehicles, and not just new vehicles. Today, Praveen Capital contributes Rs240 crore to the group’s total revenue.
Around 15 years after he first thought of the idea, Shankar started his packaged drinking water company in 2000. He chose Narimogeru near Puttur to set up the factory. He had his reasons―one, Puttur receives steady rainfall, ensuring a reliable supply of water; two, he wanted to generate jobs for the villagers, many of whom were migrating to cities for jobs. He aptly named his company Bindu, meaning drop in Kannada.
Two years later, Shankar came up with a uniquely flavoured carbonated drink. The idea for this, too, came on a trip, this time with friends to north India. There, he saw a shop selling soda, to which the seller added jeera powder and salt. “I told my friends if we could make the same drink with a twist, it would become a good product,” says Shankar.
And thus was born Bindu Fizz Jeera Masala. It, however, did not find many takers initially. “We used to send 200 cases of the drink for sale, but 100 cases would come back unsold,” says Shankar. But he was not one to lose hope. “People were bored of drinking Pepsi and Coke and they wanted something new,” he says. “I knew that jeera masala would become a hit one day.” Today, the flagship brand is a major source of revenue for the group. A product’s popularity can be gauged from the number of clones it spawns. But none of the clones were a patch on Bindu Fizz Jeera Masala as it was hard to replicate its secret recipe.
And, its popularity was organic―except for a few ads painted on walls bordering highways, its publicity was largely by word of mouth. Its unique flavour is its USP. Agrees Shreyas Gowda, 27, a budding photographer in Channapatna town in Karnataka, “It has a desi taste, very different from 7up or Coke, and goes well with non-vegetarian food that is cooked in typical rural style.” He usually opts for a chilled Bindu Fizz Jeera Masala after a gruelling workday; it is refreshing and gives him a sugar rush, he adds.
Shankar’s business model thrives on the desi touch. His company also has a ginger drink and a kokum-based drink; the latter is quite popular in coastal Karnataka and Goa. In 2004, it launched a fruit juice brand named SipOn, which comes in mango, apple and pink guava flavours.
At its busy Narimogeru factory in Puttur, the production lines are busy churning out bottles of drinking water and a variety of drinks. Another unit inside the lush green campus is making snacks under its SnakUp brand, launched in 2009. Packed products are stacked on racks in the warehouse or being loaded into trucks. In 2017, the group set up a new manufacturing plant at Sangareddy in Telangana. Two more plants are coming up in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. While the group largely caters to the south Indian market, its factory in Telangana supplies products to east India as well. But Shankar wants his products to reach across India. His revenue target for 2025 is Rs1,000 crore. “Once we reach an annual turnover of Rs1,000 crore, we will go public with an IPO,” he says. “We have 2,500 direct employees and 10,000 indirect employees. After the IPO, we wish to provide jobs to nearly one lakh people. We want to improve the family life of our employees.”
Giving back to the community has been a core philosophy of the group. It has brought in a system to channelise rainwater to replenish the borewell near its Narimogeru factory in Puttur. Planting trees is another key initiative. The group is involved in philanthropy in and around Puttur. It has provided computers to schools in Nellyadi, constructed roads in many villages and promoted folk art in Dakshina Kannada district.
When he is not running the many businesses he owns, Shankar spends his time farming in Puttur. He, of course, loves to travel because that is where he gets his business ideas. His family, too, is involved in business―from his wife, Ranjitha, to daughters Megha and Mahima and son, Manasvith.
Rajesh U.P., a close friend who has known Shankar since his spare-parts shop days, says, “Generally, in a family, one person will be simple and humble, but in Shankar’s family all are simple and humble people.” He adds that despite the success, Shankar has not changed in all these years. He treats his employees like family, which is one of the reasons behind his success, says Rajesh. And then, of course, there is his drive and discipline. Rajesh says that Shankar never misses his exercise routine―he walks and does yoga daily.
Shankar will be 60 this month, but he shows no signs of retiring. His spirit is as effervescent as his Bindu Fizz Jeera Masala.