Blue-blooded entrepreneurs could not stand his cheek, conventional managers were baffled by his business logic and colleagues were aghast at his recklessness. A maverick of the business industry, Kishore Biyani followed his instinct,...

Growing up in a joint family, Kishore Biyani was expected to eventually follow his father and uncles and join their textile mill business. However, Kishore Biyani was always a bit different, even while young.

He wanted to try something different. He classifies entrepreneurs into three classes, creators, preservers and destroyers. His family belonged to the preserver category, while he wanted to be a creator. He was willing to experiment and take risks. He wanted to create a readymade apparel brand. The idea was conceived in the 1980s, and after some initial setbacks, he established the Pantaloon Shoppe.

Later, he thought of starting a hypermarket retail chain, but was doubtful if the western model would work in India, considering the Indian shopper’s psyche. Then, he visited the Saravana Stores in Chennai, and observed its popularity among customers. He decided to use this as a model.

But his vision and model differed a lot from the Chennai based retail chain. The Saravana Stores is a conservative family business. The retail chain Biyani set up, Big Bazaar, is not. Also, Big Bazaar expanded rapidly to establish branches all across the country. It is now India’s largest hypermarket chain.

In It Happened In India, Kishore Biyani identifies three types of Indian customers. India One are the elite class, the high spenders. He targets the next category, India Two, the middle class who make up a major chunk of the country’s shoppers. He and his team studied this section of consumers and understood their needs. The Big Bazaar marketing campaign was specifically targeted at this section of the society and it succeeded.

It Happened In India shares his dreams, vision and his strategies. It also shares his personal journey, from childhood to becoming the head of one of the most successful business groups in the country today.

1032