Aman Gupta: Success Story of the BoAt Co-Founder
If you watched the Indian edition of Shark Tank this past year, you may be familiar with Aman Gupta who served as one of the investors on the show. A…
16 Jan, 2021
8 min read
44329 Views
From an investor to an entrepreneur, RK Damani's success story inspires millions. He is one of the few billionaires who have made their way to success through hard work.
A former investor turned successful business, Radhakrishnan Damani's success story is inspiring to millions. He is one of the few billionaires who paved their way to success through sheer hard work, starting right at the bottom to work their way up. He is currently the seventh richest man in India with net-worth of USD 18.9 billion. Let's look at the life's story of India's retail king, the founder of D-mart, Radhakrishnan Damani.
His Background Played An Important Role In Shaping Him
RK Damani was born to a Marwari family, one of the influential business communities of India. He started working at an early age as a stockbroker after dropping out of college. At the initial days, he worked as a stockbroker in Dalal Street. But he soon started to invest in stocks once he realised that to make real money, he must become an investor himself. He began to make a profit from his trading techniques and investments in multi-bagger stocks.
Damani started a stockbroking business after his father's demise and founded Bright Star Investment.
He Transitioned From Investor To Entrepreneur
During his time, he was one of the ace investors who also happened to mentor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. He was one of the most successful value investors of India with a knack to buy cheap stocks with the potential to generate value in the long run. He held those stocks long enough to earn profit from those. RK Damani's success streak in the stock market lasted from the 1980s to 2000, but he suddenly quit the Dalal Street and begun his journey as an entrepreneur.
He opened the first store of D-mart in Powai in 2002. Currently, D-mart is a more than 214 stores strong retail chain and the 18th more valuable company in the country. In 2017, D-mart made the public debut in the stock market with the launch of IPO.
The D-mart Model Of Business
D-mart has risen to success comparatively in a short time. They focus on offering convenient shopping experience to customers and value for money. D-mart focuses on catering to the middle-income group, and hence, their stores are located close to residential areas. Also, they own their stores, which help them to stay debt-light.
Their business model stands on three pillars – customer, vendors, and employees. D-mart believes in the principle of 'Buy it low, stack it high, and sell it cheap.' D-mart offers a price that is always 6-8 percent lower than its competitors, which helped them command a larger market share. With stores located mostly in suburbs and tire-II and III cities. It allows them to keep their operational expenses moderate.
In 2017, D-mart shares got listed in the BSE at 102.14 percent premium, which took its market capitalisation value to Rs 39,400 crores, more than the combined values of its close competitors Future Retails and Aditya Birla Fashion.
Lessons To Learn From The Life Of RK Damani
The credit of D-mart's success must go to Damani. He followed a unique business model that focused on serving end customers, offering value for money.
Keep Focus In Long-Term
RK Damani believed in value investing. Even as an investor, he focused on buying cheap stocks with high potential to generate profit in the long run. So when he turned entrepreneur, he maintained the same approach. He never leases but buys the property where he wants to open the store. In the long run, it helps D-mart save big on rental outgo. As a result, D-mart might have been expanding slowly, but it has attained profitability faster than its rivals.
Take Small Steps To Make It Big
Damani didn't hurry to expand. It gave him better control over the supply chain. Keeping it low scale helped Damani to remain in the good books of vendors and focus on profitability. D-mart has earned profit each year of its existence of nearly two decades.
Keep A Clean Slate
Damani always pays his vendors upfront, where most of his competitor brands buy from the suppliers at 30-40 days credit, the industry norms. Usually, his suppliers receive a payment within 2-3 days. It helped him build a personal relationship with his suppliers and vendors and stay in their good book. The store never goes out of stocks.
As An Investor, He Ignored Herd Sentiment
When he was an investor in Dalal Street, he initially followed popular investment strategies. He accepted that the started to make a profit when he ditched herd sentiment and followed his strategy. He started focusing on finding stocks with long term profit potential.
He continued to follow the same strategy as he turned investor. Unlike his rivals, he expanded slowly, and his stores sell only a few brands. Damani never opened stores inside malls, which helped him save big and offer products at a cheaper rate.
Capture Local Interest
Despite being a successful retail chain, D-mart largely concentrated in the western part of the country. The reason behind Damani's reliance on his successful relationship with local vendors and suppliers. His low key operational method has helped him to remain profitable. Since starting in 2002, D-mart hasn't closed a single store.
Keep Things Basic
He follows a simple business principle to supply FMCG goods to consumers at a lower price., without investing his energy in fancy décor and location. Customers come to D-mart for the simple purpose of buying items at low price.
The Ending Note
When it comes to counting the names of successful personalities of India, no one can miss the name of RK Damani. Though he maintains a really low profile, his rise as a successful entrepreneur is quite phenomenal. He is one of the few self-made billionaires who started at nothing but made it big with hard work, focus, and vision.
RK Damani's life story tells us the importance of identifying value early and investing in keeping the long-term goal in sight.
How would you rate this blog?
Related Blogs
Translate the power of knowledge into action. Open Free* Demat Account
Latest Blog
-
19 Apr, 2022
6 min read
Dhirubhai Ambani Biography: Success Story
Learn all that the Dhirubhai Ambani biography entails and understand how he built Reliance Industries from the ground up.
-
25 May, 2022
5 min read
Mark Zuckerberg's Success Story: Founder...
Understand the Mark Zuckerberg story and take a look at how Meta (formerly Facebook) has transformed over the years.
-
10 Aug, 2022
5 min read
Lakshmi Mittal Success Story
Learn about Lakshmi Mittal, India’s steel tycoon and executive chairman of ArcelorMittal.
-
10 Apr, 2021
7 min read
The Success Story Of Small-cap Czar,...
His knack to pick value stocks of lesser-known companies has earned him the moniker, small-cap czar.
-
04 Oct, 2020
6 min read
Ratan Tata: An Inspirational Success...
Ratan Tata is a name that immediately draws recognition from all. The tata group scion has earned reverence not only as a successful industrialist bu…
-
23 May, 2022
5 min read
Falguni Nayar Success Story: Nykaa Founder
Take a look at what Nykaa founder Falugni Nayar’s story is and understand how the company grew exponentially over the course of the past decade.
-
02 Aug, 2021
10 min read
Success Story of Paytm - Vijay Shekhar...
This is a story about the journey of India’s second-youngest billionaire – Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and his brainchild, Paytm that revolutionised digita…
-
27 Apr, 2022
7 min read
Top 10 Most Inspirational Person in India
Learn about some of the most inspiring personalities of India by examining the article provided below.
-
25 Oct, 2020
5 min read
Rakesh Junjhunwala: A Journey From Rs 5k...
He started with a paltry sum of Rs 5000 in 1985 and made it big. According to the latest Forbes report, his wealth stands at a staggering volume of U…
-
16 Jan, 2021
8 min read
The Success Story Of India's Vaccine...
Cyrus Poonawalla is one of the richest businessmen in India and the world. In 1966, he founded the Serum Institution. Read this blog to know the succ…
-
26 Mar, 2022
5 min read
Nirmala Sitharaman’s Success Story
This article discusses the early life and career of India’s finance minister and touches upon her accomplishments over the years.
-
11 Jul, 2022
5 min read
Biocon Founder: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Success Story
Learn about Kiran Mazumdar Shaw who is one of the country’s self-made billionaire entrepreneurs and who is the founder of Biocon.
-
14 Apr, 2022
5 min read
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam: Success Story,...
Learn the APJ Abdul Kalam story and walk away feeling inspired by the country’s missile man.
-
28 Jul, 2021
9 min read
Success Story of Elon Musk: The...
Elon Musk is a celebrated entrepreneur. This article talks about his pathway to success.
-
22 Oct, 2021
5 min read
The Success Story of Jack Ma, Chinese Businessman
Jack Ma, whose Chinese name is Ma Yun, is one of China's wealthiest and the founder of Alibaba Group. But, did you know that Ma failed the entrance e…
-
27 Jul, 2021
9 min read
Success Story of Jeff Bezos: Founder &...
Know how Jeff Bezos established a multinational company from scratch and became one of the most successful entrepreneurs.
-
22 Dec, 2021
8 min read
Nykaa Success Story - Startup to IPO
How do you go from startup to an IPO oversubscribed over 81 times in under 10 years? That's what we're going to try and understand in today's blog po…
-
22 Jul, 2021
8 min read
OYO Success Story: Inspiring Journey of...
OYO serves to be one of the most well recognized and successful startups the country has produced and holds rank as the largest budget hotel chain.
-
28 Dec, 2020
8 min read
Tracing The Success Story Of Gautam Adani
Gautam Adani is an Indian billionaire Entrepreneur and industrialist. Read this blog to know the success story of a man who thought ambitiously and m…
-
20 Jul, 2023
None min read
Amit Jain Success Story - CEO and...
IIT graduate, successful entrepreneur and now reality TV judge - Amit Jain is someone India’s youth looks up to. But do you know the story behind his…
-
23 Mar, 2023
3 min read
Success Story of Vineeta Singh - Founder...
The success story of Vineeta Singh, founder of Sugar Cosmetics is one of perseverance, the emergence of the startup culture in India and the end of d…
-
07 Mar, 2022
7 min read
Dhirubhai Ambani’s Success Story
This article explores the life and times of Dhirubhai Ambani, the man credited with founding Reliance Commercial Corporation.
-
01 Nov, 2020
5 min read
Warren Buffet: The Success Story Of The...
Warren Buffet is an American investor, businessman, and philanthropist. He is also a self-made billionaire and arguably the most discussed share mark…
-
31 Mar, 2022
6 min read
Sundar Pichai: Success Story of Google CEO
The career trajectory and early life of Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, have been discussed in the article provided below.
-
12 Aug, 2022
6 min read
Shiv Nadar: Success Story
Understand who Shiv Nadar, the man behind the billion-dollar HCL Technologies empire is.
-
21 Apr, 2022
5 min read
Shiv Khera | Every Success Story is Also...
Shiv Khera’s motivational speaking has inspired the masses. Check out his life story and learn why it makes for a compelling case that outlines the p…
-
21 Oct, 2021
8 min read
Success Story of Vijay Kedia
Vijay Kedia has been an inspiration to many. He has been involved in the market since the age of 19! Here is a glimpse of his success story as an Ind…
-
11 Oct, 2020
4 min read
Azim Premji: How One Man’s Action...
Azim Premji turned a small family-owned cooking oil company into a multi-billion IT outsource company.
-
15 May, 2022
4 min read
Ratan Tata's Youngest Assistant: Shantanu...
Learn about Shantanu Naidu and how his start-up caught the eye of Ratan Tata.
-
13 Jul, 2022
5 min read
Top 10 Unicorn Startup Company in India...
Understand the top 10 unicorn companies in India and what makes them stand out.
-
18 Oct, 2020
5 min read
Mukesh Ambani: The Rise of India's Richest Man
In 1981, while studying an MBA at Stanford University, young Mukesh received a call from his father. He dropped out of the Univesity and came back t…
-
28 Feb, 2022
5 min read
Ashneer Grover Biography - BhartPe...
This article focuses on the career trajectory of Ashneer Grover who serves as one of the co-founder’s of BharatPe.
-
29 Mar, 2022
6 min read
Lenskart Startup Story: Leading Eyewear Company
This article uncovers the early days of Lenskart and discusses how it gained popularity and grew over a relatively short period of time.
-
23 Mar, 2021
8 min read
A Software Engineer Turned Value...
One of the most successful value investors of his time, Mohnish Pabrai, considers Warren Buffet his investment guru.
-
02 Mar, 2022
8 min read
Exploring Ed-Tech Giant Byju’s Start-up Story
This article walks the reader through the life and career path of Byju Raveendran who is the founder of Byju’s.
-
23 Sep, 2021
6 min read
Success story – Anil Ambani
This article highlights the highs and lows of once-billionaire Anil Ambani.
-
07 Feb, 2023
None min read
Shaadi.Com Founder: Anupam Mittal Success Story
Discover Anupam Mittal's entrepreneurial journey. Founder of People Group with successful ventures like Shadi.com, Makaan.com & Mauj mobile.
-
13 Mar, 2021
8 min read
From A Small Lender To Asia's Richest...
Starting with a small lending firm that offered affordable loans to small companies, Uday Kotak turned his business into a successful bank, which is …
-
13 Jan, 2022
10 min read
Raamdeo Agrawal: How Discipline can bring...
Mr. Raamdeo Agrawal is a well-known figure in the Indian investment world. His performance, the so-called virtuoso, had the clear goal of demonstrati…
Ready To Trade? Start with
Subscribe to #SmartSauda Newsletter
CONTINUE WITH GOOGLE
CONTINUE WITH FACEBOOK
