There are some people in the world who write their own destiny. They are strong people with strong headed thought process, heart of gold and determination of steel. Despite all the odds and struggles in life they achieve success and make it to the top. One such person is PC Mustafa.
A coolie’s son, he never let the social and economic conditions define his destiny and went on to become a successful entrepreneur.
According to a report published in Rediff here is the inspiring story of this man who set up a 100 cr company despite being a coolie’s son.
Mustafa grew up in a small village called Chennalode near Kalpatta in Wayanad.
The village was so remote that we had only a primary school. It had no roads or electricity. We had to walk at least four kilometres to go to high school so most of the kids dropped out after primary school.
Lack of supply of electricity ruled out the studies at night and kerosene lamps were only looked up to.
The interest in studies was lost after Mustafa failed in nearly all the subjects except Mathematics in which he was good at.
His father who after seeing his son’s poor results asked Mustafa to join him as a daily wage worker but after the intervention of Mathew, maths teacher, who didn’t like the child’s dropping of school. He spoke to his father who further gave him one chance.
Mathew Sir asked me a question, ‘Do you want to be a coolie or a teacher?’ I looked at him and could see the difference between my father and my teacher. ‘Sir,’ I answered, ‘I want to be a teacher like you.’
The intervention of the teacher helped him so much that Mustafa stood first in class 7 and there was no looking after that and he even came first surpassing everyone in class 10.
Maths teacher’s image of a hero had stayed with him so much that he became Mustafa’s role model and he even decided to become a maths teacher following his teacher’s footsteps.
College was the first opportunity to move out of the village. Though the father had no problem in sending him to college, the financial constraint didn’t allow Mustafa to move out.
He got admission at the Farooq College in Kozhikode where his father’s friend, who had suggested Mustafa to study further, arranged for a free meal scheme in the college charity hostel.
The situation was so difficult that he along with 15 other students had to go to different hostels for breakfast, lunch and dinner as they all were on charity.
The experience at hostels was humiliating as other student’s embarrassing gesticulation and comments pierced the heart but Mustafa swallowed every bit of it for the sake of education which could transform his life in the later stage of his life.
I wrote the engineering entrance exam after my college and was ranked No 63 in the state. I got admission at the Regional Engineering College (now the National Institute of Technology). He stood 63 in the state in the entrance examination of engineering. He took admission in the Regional Engineering College, now known as National Institute of Technology.
I was very lucky to have secured such a good rank. I got the opportunity to study what I really liked — computer science. There was no one to guide me in those days except God Almighty.
Unlike other students, I had to be very careful about spending money, but that was okay. During his stay at hostel, he was careful in spending the money. He took student’s loan and had to take care of only tuition fees which came as a big relief for him.
He had no plans to become an entrepreneur. He wanted to become a known engineer and joined Manhattan Associates, an Indian start-up in the US, after his graduation in 1995.
After a few days of working at the start-up in Bangalore, he got an offer from Motorola. It was a dream come true for a person who initial life went in a remote village. He was set to Ireland. As a young boy, I stepped out of Wayanad for the first time to study in a college. It was special moment as for the first time he boarded a flight and was going out of country.
After working for three years he got a job at Citi Bank in Dubai. The salary was in lakhs and he cleared his loan. After clearing the loan, he sent a cash amount of 1 lakh to his father through his friend. He was told that his father started crying on seeing such a big amount being sent from his son.
His father paid off his debts and planned Mustafa’s sister wedding. One of his sisters had dropped out after school, but the others went to college. In 2000, Mustafa also got married.
Mustafa was looked as an inspiration as he built a home for his parents. The villagers who knew his background and past were startled at this transformation.
In 2003, after having lived in Dubai for so long, he decided to return to India. There were three reasons for the decision.
There are so many smart youngsters in our villages who are not getting a good break in life. I wanted to give them that opportunity so that they too could come up in life. And the best way to help them, I thought, was by providing them with jobs. In order to do that, I had to be an entrepreneur, reports Rediff.
Quitting a well-paid job was the toughest decision which he ever took. It horrified his father and even his wife’s family. Nasser, his cousin, his wife were the two persons who stood beside him.
He came to India with a savings of Rs 15 lakh. He was having no idea of what to do but he wanted to do something.
Instead of studying technology, he decided to do an MBA as he found management more interesting. He took admission at IIM-Bangalore.
Shamsuddin, one of Mustafa’s cousins, had seen dosa batter being sold in plastic bags tied with a rubber band in nearby stores and suggested that they should make and supply dosa batter. He decided to invest Rs 25,000 and start a company immediately.
They found a small place of around 550 square feet and started with two grinders, a mixer and a sealing machine.
The venture was named ID Fresh. The initial target was 20 stores in the neighbouring stores. The plan was such that once the target of 100 packets a day in six months was met, they would buy more machines.
When the customers asked for ID repeatedly, other stores wanted to pile up the stock too but the entrepreneur stuck to the first 20 stores and at the ninth month, they met the target of 100 packets.
After paying the rent of Rs 500 and crossing off the expenditure of buying rice, dal, etc, our profit was Rs 400 in the first month. None of them drew salary initially and the best part was that they were making profits from day one.
After reaching the target of 100 packets, he decided to invest Rs 6 lakh and move to a bigger kitchen of 800 sq ft with 2,000 kg capacity, which is 2,000 packets with 15 wet grinders.
In 2007, I got my MBA and officially joined as the CEO in charge of marketing and finance. Till then, I was only remotely participating in the operation along with my cousins.
The best part about ID Fresh is that non addition of preservatives.
In 2012, the company was expanded to other cities like Chennai, Mangaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. Each partner becomes a shareholder in the parent company.
In 2013, operations were started in Dubai. Maximum demand for dosa batter in Dubai was experienced and they were unable to match the demand.
Today, around 50,000 kg is produced in the plant. The total investment must be around Rs 4 crore and the revenue is Rs 100 crore. They have grown from producing 10 packets a day in 2005, with the management only in cousin’s hands, to 50,000 packets a day with 1,100 employees in 10 years.
Employs only youngsters from rural areas.
Mustafa make a point that the person who will be recruited has to be smart and honest from a rural area, reports Rediff.