Balwant Rai used to work in a wood warehouse to support his family. He observed that carpenters had to glue furniture using animal fat. To solve this problem, he started making synthetic gum.
New Delhi. It is said that a hard worker can find a diamond even in a stone. Such is the story of Balwant Rai Parekh, who through his hard work got rid of the miseries of 7 generations. Parekh, who once worked as a peon in a wood warehouse, without any experience, played such a trick of product, packaging, marketing and finance that even the biggest experts were defeated. There was a time when he could only manage a few hundred rupees a month to support his family and today the daily sale of products made by Balwant Rai is around 29 crore rupees.
Actually, we are talking about Balwant Rai Parekh, the founder of Pidilite Fevicol, a company that makes popular products like Fevicol. There is a struggle behind every success and a problem behind every idea. Something similar was behind Balwant’s success. While working in a wood warehouse, he saw that glue made from animal fat is used to stick furniture. Not only is it very smelly, but the process of making it was also very complicated. This is where the idea came to Balwant Rai’s mind. Today his net worth is around Rs 90 thousand crores.
One idea changed his fate
Let us tell you that Balwant Rai may have worked as a peon to support his family, but he also had a law degree and being educated, he started finding a solution to the carpenter’s problem. Finally, he found a formula to glue furniture with synthetic resin. In this way, he created Fevicol, which was 10 times stronger than the glue made from animal fat and also did not smell.
Formed his own company in 1959
Parekh first sold his product directly to carpenters and after it became a hit among them, he started a company named Dykem in 1959. After some time, its name was changed to Dykem Lite and then to Pidilite. In this way, Balwant Rai not only solved the problem of carpenters but also set up a hit business. Today, this company manufactures adhesive products ranging from paper to furniture and tiles to waterproof roofs. Supergum Feviquick is also a product of this company.
Started business directly from carpentry
Parekh had a great understanding of the market. He knew that customers were not concerned with the type of product used to glue the furniture. They were only concerned with strength, which was the job of the carpenter. So Balwant started marketing directly to carpenters and began meeting them. He would have breakfast together and go on trips to attract them.
Bringing products by keeping an eye on the pulse of the market
Through constant communication with carpenters, Parekh would know in time what kind of problem was there in the market and prepare his product accordingly. When the problem of furniture getting damaged in water came up, Parekh made a product called Fevicol Marine, which does not let the furniture get damaged in water.
Today the company is worth 1.58 lakh crores
Parekh’s understanding and dedication to work on the ground brought continuous success to his company. Today, the daily sale of Pidilite products is around Rs 30 crore. The market cap of his company Pidilite alone is Rs 1.58 lakh crore. The shares of this company closed at Rs 3,111 on June 19, which was Rs 6.26 when it was listed in the market on January 1, 1999.
Tags: Business ideas, Business news, Success Story, Successful business leaders
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 19, 2024, 18:54 IST