We often see that people get determined to achieve something special with an indomitable ambition. But in some cases, the ambition can be balanced by staying connected with the roots and it can be watered down with constant effort. There is a similar story of BM Balakrishna.
Balakrishna was born in Sankrayal Peta, a small village in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. The special thing in him was that he never considered anything small that he did. His father was a farmer and mother worked as a teacher as well as a teller in Anganwadi. Balakrishna completed school education after failing in mathematics for six consecutive times.
They wanted to work since school days. He told his parents that he wanted to earn a salary of Rs 300 in a phone booth. After completing his schooling, he did a diploma in automobiles from Nellore district. They decided that they would not waste any more time. His parents were also able to pay his mess fees very hard and Balakrishna did not want his efforts and his hopes to go in vain.
Realizing the importance of money, Balakrishna realized how his parents worked hard to support him. Milk used to get three rupees a liter of milk at that time, that means their parents would sell 350 liters of milk to send them 1000 rupees. Realizing all this, he did his studies diligently, passed the exam with 74% and was the second topper in his college. His parents were very happy with this result and they wanted to let him study further. Balakrishna wanted to improve his family’s standard of living and strengthen the economy, so he started looking for jobs. His mother gave him 1000 rupees and asked him to find a job around Bangalore.
Balakrishna came to Bangalore and applied for a job in the entire automobile company but there was no success. All his excitement was shattered. In the end he decided that he would do any job he got and after a few days he got a car wash job. While working here, he used to get a salary of 500 rupees.
While doing this, he was offered a pump business. It was not related to his skill area but he was getting 2000 rupees salary, which was enough to help his family. His position in this job was that of marketing executive. He worked here for 14 years.
Due to high workload, he quit this job and handed himself over to destiny. In 2010, he branded himself with his provident fund for Rs 1.27 lakh. Aquapot commenced. Initially it was very difficult to raise funds and when he talked to his people on this subject, people advised him to leave it. This was the worst phase of his life.
Initially, he started work with very few people. If there was a work of repairing the equipment, it would go away on its own. He was very good with people. And soon his customers started growing and then he started his wholesale business. He worked very hard on marketing. They began distributing tshirts, brochures and pamphlets. His effort was successful and ‘Aquapot’ was successful in getting his name included in the top 20 water purifiers of the country. His branch is also spread across Hyderabad, Bangalore, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Hubli and his turnover has gone up to Rs 25 crore today.
Today he owns this firm and has watered his business with blood and sweat. They never take a break and work continuously with enthusiasm. They believe that nothing is impossible. Whatever we do, we must do it with honesty and set a benchmark for the future.
