K S Bhatia's inspiring journey to build Rs 17 crore Grow India Ventures by selling shawls and outfits

K S Bhatia saw several ups and downs in life before he built Rs 17 crore turnover business. What's amazing is that his company, Grow India Ventures India Pvt Ltd, clocked the turnover amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

K S Bhatia, 50, of Amritsar, who currently serves as CEO of the businesses he founded, Pumpkart and Figgital, sold shawls and sweaters while studying engineering in Bengaluru.

Pumpkart is an online B2B platform that offers water pumps and agricultural equipment, whereas Figgital is a chain of electronics stores that sells anything from computers to mobile phones to television sets and washing machines.

Bhatia's business path has had many ups and downs, but every time he reached rock bottom, something happened to reverse the course of events and he was back on his feet.

"That's God's way of holding my hand," says Bhatia, whose business was in decline when the Covid shutdown caused a surge in demand for pumps in the market, allowing him to clear his stockpiles and recover from his losses.

While many firms were forced to close during the shutdown, Bhatia took advantage of the circumstance and sold 8000 pumps stored in his godown during fiscal year 2020-21.

During the pandemic, his Chandigarh-based business Grow India Ventures India Pvt Ltd recorded a turnover of Rs 17 crore, a massive rise over the previous year's turnover of Rs 1.2 crore. Grow India Ventures India Pvt Ltd's turnover fell to Rs 1.2 crore in 2018-19, down from Rs 2.5 crore the previous year.

Bhatia had incurred losses of approximately Rs 1 crore and was forced to sell one of his residences in Chandigarh. He also had to close Air Fluid, his first company, which he founded in Chandigarh in 1998. Later, Bhatia began trading in several brands of water pumps and established Grow India Ventures India Private Ltd., under which Pumpkart.com was launched.

By 2011, Air Fluid had grown to a revenue of Rs 25 crore. However, business took a beating over the years, and Bhatia chose to close the company because he couldn't even pay his employees' salaries.

However, in September 2015, Google CEO Sundar Pichai made a particular mention of Pumpkart at the Digital India event in San Jose, California. That is what changed Bhatia's life forever. as he became well-known overnight.

He developed his own brand, Panatech and WiFi, after years of distributing several brands of water pumps (with the models named 2G, 3G, and 4G).

During 2017-18, Bhatia received Rs 20 lakh in funding from Innov8 Founder Ritesh Malik and Rs 70 lakh in funding from Dinesh Dua, CII North India Chairman for Startups & Entrepreneurship. In 2019, Bhatia decided to expand the Pumpkart platform and begin selling electronic devices as well.

His company was chosen for the Samruddhi scheme of the Government of Karnataka, which aims to foster entrepreneurs in the state, in September 2020. The Karanataka government has awarded Bhatia's company the contract to open approximately 100 Pumpkart and Figgital franchise outlets across the state, with a funding of Rs 10 lakh each store.

Bhatia also launched a'store on wheels' in January this year, bringing the retail experience directly to the consumer's door, particularly in Tier III and Tier IV cities and rural areas.

Bhatia introduced mobile retail electronics outlets in Tier III, Tier IV, and rural areas in January. He has already established approximately nine such mobile businesses in Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh.

He explains, "We also intend to offer tractors as mobile storefronts for agricultural products. Figgital will be India's first hyper-local marketplace for all non-essentials such as electronics and agricultural products," says the company. Bhatia, who was born in Amritsar to academicians BS Bhatia and Jaswant Kaur, had dreamed of being an entrepreneur since the age of five. Bhatia received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the RV College of Engineering in Bengaluru. He sold shawls and knitwear after college hours. He sold 500 pieces in six months across the city, earning enough money to purchase a Rs 17,000 Kawasaki Bajaj cycle. However, this wonderful period of his life came to an end when he was involved in an accident while riding his bike and his parents learned about his business activities. For 13 days, Bhatia was in a coma.

Pumpkart cleared its stockpiles during the Covid shutdown and experienced 4x growth in the previous fiscal year. Bhatia altered hisbusiness approach. When he awoke from his coma, he couldn't move his hands. He fully recovered after almost a year. According to Bhatia, his goal is to turn Pumpkart and Figgital become unicorns.

Following his engineering degree, Bhatia pursued his MBA at IMT Ghaziabad before joining Jagatjit Industries, one of the major distilleries in North India. With his PF savings of approximately Rs 49,000, he established Air Fluid, his first business venture, in Chandigarh in 1998. He began by consulting on the installation of sewage and effluent treatment systems and eventually expanded into the sale of water pumps.

In 2014, he built his website for selling the pumps, which drew Sundar Pichai's notice. He was selling 100 pumps per month after three months. With a turnover of Rs 17 crore in FY 20-21, Bhatia has set an ambitious target of Rs 40 crore for FY 2021-22, having crossed Rs 12 crore by September.

"My objective is to create Pumpkart and Figgital unicorns," adds K S Bhatia, who employs approximately 35 people across Delhi.

https://timesapplaud.com/?p=10783&feed_id=12244