First Step Towards Achieving Dreams Is,To Begin: Anand Piramal

Before you started, what was the piece of advice your parents shared?

My father is a businessman and my mother is a doctor. Both my parents have shaped my life in meaningful ways. There is always a debate in which my mother would say ‘I save lives’ and my father would say ‘I make lives’. They have built a business that is respected, not just for the track record and wealth they have created. But because of the way that they have done. They always told me to do well and do good.

You were studying abroad. What brought you back to India?

I did my under graduate studies in the University of Pennsylvania and as the part of the summer courses they encouraged us to study aboard. I went to Italy and I was always fascinated by Italy as a country -- rich culture and heritage. I was walking around with my professor on the beach when I was telling him about my fascination with Rome and Greece. Surprisingly, my professor told me that my country, India’s richness is second to none. So, instead of singing paeans about the west, go back to India and contribute to your country in some way the other. This is what brought me back to India.

You decided to venture into real estate at a time when market was suffering phenomenal trust deficit

I think, when you time your entry into a market, it’s always good to buy at the right price. We as a group are disciplined about choosing projects that we feel are fairly priced. So, I think, in the long term if you look at the amount of growth that we have in India, real estate sector will do very well. And it is still a much smaller part of GDP, relative to that in other countries such as China. So, there is a lot of opportunity. In short term, if it’s a difficult time, usually due to consolidation, I think we are very well placed because we can acquire land prices at, land at attractive prices. The best time to enter market is when the industry is not over heated.

You stepped out of your comfort zone to launch your own start-up. What was your motivation?

Holy text, Bhagwad Gita has influenced my life in a big way. We need to find a purpose and when you get that purpose, just give your best shot. I am convinced that I may not be rewarded in the short term but certainly results reflect over a period of time. I just do my best.

Was your business effected by the recent reforms such as GST and demonetisation?

Yes. These are all short term blips.

There are other youngsters who have entrepreneurial ideas, however, they are unable to either execute them or fail due to lack of funding or loopholes in ideation.

I had the privilege of meeting Dr.Kalam and he said that people have phenomenal capacity. One should believe in themselves and that destiny is not written in the lines of your palms but by the grasp of your hands. If you really believe in something then just do it, if you over think it becomes worse. Boldness has magic power to it. And the first step towards achieving your dreams is by” beginning.”

What do you need to do if you want to become an entrepreneur but you have limited resources?

If you have a good idea, if you have capability and other things, then there are sources of capital that you can access, to be able to start your own business. So, I feel that many of my friends not from business families have started amazing ventures. They had a good idea and also, some appreciable track record. Hence, they got the funding.

Real estate, otherwise is a very unorganised sector, in terms of finding right talents or skills. How do you manage picking up the right people.

We have an international team. Our head of development of projects is a French German lady. Our head of construction is an Australian. We have our head of interior designer who is an Irish fellow. I think that we have a team of good people who share our values.