This year may have closed many doors, yet it opened numerous windows of opportunity for young people with an entrepreneurial mind. From being digital creators to restructuring age-old family businesses, today’s generation can be classified as ‘serial entrepreneurs’—those who successfully run multiple unconnected business ventures.
Taking over the family business is no longer enough to satisfy the go-getters of today. Expanding its scope, and in some cases, reinventing it entirely, has become par for the course. Unfortunately, not everyone can successfully juggle multiple roles. Tejal Pimpley, the 28-year-old director of over ten firms, is an example of someone that does it with ease.
Pimpley believes that being raised in a successful entrepreneurial environment gave her access to advanced business knowledge at a young age. She has worked since the age of 18, when most others her age were busy enjoying the last vestiges of dependent life. Currently she is the Director of CIS Bureaus Facility Services Pvt Ltd, a renowned security and facility management solution agency, and has established a firm presence in the food and beverage sector by opening numerous cafes and lounges.
“When I turned 18, I decided to focus on my family business in addition to completing my education. I was keen to be the youngest entrepreneur in our family as I had always seen my father work extremely hard. With him as my role model, I wanted to chase my dreams. Joining him in the brand he had built over years was not a luxury, but an opportunity to prove myself to the world and show them my capabilities and calibre,” she says without batting an eyelid. After heading numerous established businesses in India, she has set her sights on foreign countries as well.
Of her many ventures, perhaps one of her personal favourites is BYou, a popular Dance Academy that she launched to much fanfare in Mumbai, two years ago. Claimed to be every Bollywood celebrity’s favourite destination, B You is particularly sought-after by millenials. Pimpley nurtures a dream to organise several workshops throughout India to popularise the culture of dance. Located in the Western suburbs of Mumbai City, the Academy provides a platform for people to shine in their chosen art form. “There is no age limit to enrol in the academy. I believe people of any age can learn dance at BYou”, she says with a smile. BYou Dance Academy is all set to expand to major cities across India. Recently, Pimpley teamed up with ace Bollywood choreographer Shabina Khan to host a unique dance event known as Reality in Reality, which will be released soon.
Being in charge of more than 10,000 employees across ventures is no mean feat. Her leadership skills are evident in her desire to constantly create new and interesting employment opportunities for deserving candidates. Pimpley believes in leading by example, and is constantly on the move as she visits her business interests across India. She has never shied away from her responsibilities or from taking tough decisions for the benefit of her companies.
Heavily influenced by the Digital India Campaign, Pimpley decided to digitise the salaries of her parent company’s employees. “I realised that many of our employees across India, especially in rural areas, faced a lot of challenges. Hence, I initiated a change in the company by opening bank accounts for every employee in the company. This made sure that the money was going into the right account for each employee,” she claims with pride. She also takes her Corporate Social Responsibility seriously, and has been quite vocal about hiring local manpower for her clients and services.
“Taking care of one’s own father’s business is a big task. Change is always difficult to deal with and it took a while for people to warm up to me. Employees, suppliers, and clients could never see me as the ‘boss’. They probably thought I was a child born with a silver spoon in my mouth,” she claims. However, she has overcome all these challenges with élan, and is an inspiration for young minds aspiring to be successful in their own business ventures.
The writer is a lawyer who pens lifestyle feature articles for various publications and her blog www.nooranandchawla.com. She can be found on Instagram @nooranandchawla.