Journey of CCD Founder – VG Siddhartha! He made his own way!
VG SIDDHARTHA”S JOURNEY –
VG Siddhartha’s began his career soon after his studies!
He could have easily survived off the 350 acres of coffee land his family had, but instead – the ambitious VG Siddhartha decided to start something that attracted to him, something designed by him, something on his own! Agreeing on that; his father gave him Rs. 5 lakhs and also told him that in case if he missed achieving what he is looking for, he is always good to come back to the family business and farms.
So with that money in hand, he first got a piece of land for about Rs. 3 lakhs and saved the rest in a bank.
He moved to Bombay – the city where dreams came true, in and firstly, walked into a Dhaba/Hotel and paid for a room with a shared toilet for Rs. 120/day at a fort. And he was doing all this when he was just 21!
The next day; Siddhartha – who had never seen lifts (elevators) in his life, climbed up the six levels from the ground, just randomly walked into Mahendra Kampani of JM Financial’s office and that too without any appointment.
After a short wait and a healthy conversation, he got the lifetime opportunity to join Mr. Naveen Bhai Kampani J M Financial Services (now J M Morgan Stanley) in Mumbai as a management trainee/intern for trading in the Indian Stock Market.
During this whole phase, he discovered all about the world of investing and also earned the trust of Kampani. And in no time, Siddhartha was managing the accounts of some really big business organizations.
After operating with JM for almost two years, Siddhartha felt that he was ready to come back to start something of his own. He showed his appreciation to Kampani and that he owes a lot to him and soon came back to achieve what he desired the most – business!
After two years Siddhartha moved back to Bangalore and with the outstanding Rs. 2 lakhs decided to start his own capital firm. During that time, the stock market had crashed & he was looking around for a new investment possibility that would gain him good returns and thus began Sivan Securities. At first, Siddhartha bought a stock market card for Rs. 30,000, and then along with that, he also took over an organization called Sivan Securities which later went on to be known as Way2wealth Securities Ltd in 2000.
And Siddhartha successfully reconstructed the venture into a highly successful investment banking and stock broking company.
HOW CAFÉ COFEE DAY FOUNDED –
Back to 1996, when Cafe Coffee Day’s story began and headed to such a remarkable, surprising growth.
V.G. Siddhartha, the founder of Cafe Coffee Day, is a genius; he linked technology and coffee to start. Cafe Coffee Day, the first cafe at Bangalore in 1996.
Siddartha was an analyst with JM Financial and Investment Consultancy and had a curiosity in technology. He also had inherited Coffee farms spread across a massive expanse of 10,000 acres.
Once he returned to Bangalore to look after family business. He was not satisfied by the scope of their objective. He desired to make it really extensive; he sought to reach out people and make drinking coffee a vital experience in common people’s lives.
He inspired by the founders of “leading coffee brand in Germany – Tchibo.” This inspiration gave Siddhartha an image of a different world overall & opened his eyes. It also gave him a great concept, with that idea; cup by cup he made his Billion dollar field.
CCD’s complete marketing strategy is committed towards teenagers. Be it their Facebook page updates or tweets or in TV commercials, they are very immersed in whom to communicate to.
Café Coffee Day also ties up a lot of the famous brands. Examples: Levis, Scooty, Liril, and with Airtel Friends etc.
The coffee market in India has been rising due to the need for “Ready to Drink” coffee and has fitted a part of a being’s daily life drinking partner.
Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) is possibly the market leader regarding retail footprint with more than 2,000+ cafes in 220+ cities across India, with various formats and 600+ kiosks called Value Express. The data is a rough figure; to be exact: As of March 2015, the CCD group run 1530 outlets across 29 states of India.
Cafe Coffee Day also has an international appearance in Karachi, Vienna, Dubai, Austria, Czech Republic and Prague. The business turned over revenue worth $210 million approx., employees 40,000+ and Siddartha has a net worth of $1.3 billion.
And today, CCD sells 6,500-7,000 tons of branded coffee, exports approx. 28,000 tons of coffee and sells another 2,000 tons locally each year and his Cafe attract at least 40,000-50,000 visitors per week.
Siddhartha gave Indian consumer a new lifestyle experience, with a pocket friendly approach.
India will miss a great entrepreneur!
