Entrepreneurial Lessons That My Dad Taught Me


RK Group, Nepal was founded in 1988 by Mr. Rakesh Kumar Agrawal as RK International which primarily targeted import and supply of goods to tenders floated by Nepal Electricity Authority (National Power Grid Authority of Nepal). The vision and efforts of the top level management has brought the company a long way and today the company has an annual turn-over of 15 Million USD with over 1000 employees. The group diversified into a number of segments. Today, it owns Annapurna Sugar Mills & General Industries, Tripureshwor Conductor Udhyog, RK International, Top Quality Internet Development and Shakti Bagasse Briquettes.

 

My father, Mr. R.K. Agrawal, built Annapurna Sugars and General Industries Pvt. Ltd. with sheer hard work. He moved from Lucknow to Nepal when he was very young. While living with his grandparents, he tried his hands in few private jobs. One day, he got a chance to supply some small things in response to some government tenders. Soon he started doing it regularly. The initial petty projects grew bigger and bigger, till it became one of the top EPC companies in Nepal. Next he took to an interest in farming and sugarcanes. This interest grew as he lived amidst nature for some time, while visiting an uncle. Soon he decided to start his own sugar plant. Today our group contains two sugar factories, one distillery, one cable factory and we are working towards our next venture of power export.

Born amidst this, I grew up seeing his "success story" from a rather close up view. The thing that I learnt before anything else was this, the rosy pictures that revolve around a man's success, don't seem very rosy when seen in close quarters. People see the good times, maybe they notice the bad times too but you are left alone to cope with the extremely difficult times. And you have to remain positive even when nothing looks good. Not panicking, but staying patient and bearing pressure from a number of sides together.

 

I have seen him take so much on his stride, while refraining from making any complaints.

I studied computer engineering from Pune, Maharashtra. After coming back to Nepal, I expanded our family business, starting an IT and a construction wing. Here too I got Dad's wholehearted support. So at the risk of sounding clinched, let me conclude on this particular note, I have always had difficulty in trusting people. Whereas my Dad's approach to people management to be a lot more trusting. I have noticed that a person can give wonderful efforts, working under him. And I have learnt, whatever HR rules and protocols you may undertake, when an employee feels you care for them, and when they see how tenacious you are in your approach to work, they will go that extra mile for you.

 

Article by : Rahul Agrawal
Executive Director
RK Group
(As told to Adity Roy Chowdhury)