In the business world, the real success can only be achieved through the struggles that an entrepreneur withstands on the path to building an empire. A journey teaches us that success is not only about achieving a final goal but it is more about achieving loyalty, respect, and identity. Entrepreneurship is like a journey towards unforeseen horizons, sailing uncertain tides of success and failures, and at the end, the mighty winds spreading the tale of your profound victory.
Ramdas Mane is one such name in Pune who achieved not only success but also respect and identity through their work. The founder of Pune based Mane Group of Companies helms an empire that has an annual turnover of around Rs. 25 crores. His name is synonymous with struggle, hard work, and victory. He is employing around 5,000 people and manufactures and exports Expandable Polystyrene (EPS) thermocol and thermocol machinery. Around 70 percent of the thermocol machines in India are supplied by Mane Group of Industries. Even though he has come from a very poor background, he has achieved flourishing success in life on account of his extreme dedication and hard work.
The irony is that there was a time when his biggest ambition was doing a job as a peon in the local school. “I was coming from a very poor background and had no guidance. I didn’t know about the future of my life but I always wanted to something in life. I was good at studies but had no guidance to what to do in life,” shares Ramdas with a laugh. So he applied for a peon’s job after completing my SSC. Born in a small village, Lodhawade in Satara district of Maharashtra, his journey has inspired every youth of his village.
Rough Sea Make skilled Sailors
After completing his schooling at local schools in Satara, he wanted to study more but had no money for further education.“I used to work at pharms and I don’t like the heat of summer, this is why I wanted the peon job because the government school had electricity and there was a fan,” Shares Ramdas. After completing SSC, he went to Janardhan Lohar to get the peon job. He advised him to train as a wireman instead. “He told me that soon the whole village will have electricity soon and a wireman course could prove beneficial, I still remember the day when we got electricity for the first time. All the people from our village were fascinated by it!”, recalls Ramdas.
Later, he applied for wireman training in Satara Industrial Training Institute got admission easily. The training institute was far from his village and he had no money and no place to stay. Initially, he stayed at the state transport bus stand near the college. “Later I come to know that Mr. Shetty, who owned the canteen at the bus stand, was looking for a helper and I got hired and started staying there,” he shares. “At that time I used to work from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and then attend college in the morning.” with 80 percent marks he finished the course in two years with and got selected with an interview with Mahindra & Mahindra in Pune in 1978. “ As I had no money to go Pune, I asked my grandmother for Rs 20 because I had no money to reach Pune. She gave 20 rs to me and I could travel to Pune and get the job,” says Ramdas.
Later he started a wireman apprenticeship at the company for Rs 100 per month. He was living in a small space with another man, one-room accommodation. He spends his lot of days living underwater tank and had no shelter to stay. Today, Ramdas lives in a 2,000 sq. ft. fully equipped house. Later for seven years, he continued to work for Mahindra. At that time he was simultaneously doing an evening course from IME (Institution of Mechanical Engineers).
Later in 1984, he married Shobha and started living in Pune’s Chakrapani Vasahat where he bought a 2,000 sq ft land for Rs 30000 at that time. Later, after year, he took up a job with Finolex Pipe Pvt Ltd as a maintenance engineer. In 1993, on account of his talent and hard work he got promotion and had an offer to work as Deputy General Manager at a salary of Rs 35,000 but he soon resigned to start his own business. After Finolex, he got an opportunity to work for Bajaj Electrical as General Manager but there was a waiting period of three months at that time. “I had no job for three months so I thought instead of wasting time, I will start my own business”,Says Ramdas.
The Start of Something Big
Later, one company asked him to make control panels for their EPS machine. He gave them six panels in just six months.After this successful attempt, he got more contracts and soon he had a successfully running business. Madras Beard Shell approached him to build two control panels for Rs 70,000 and then eventually gave him the contract for the whole EPS plant. Later he started for working Hyderabad and Bangalore and charged Rs 3 lakh per plant.
Later, he registered Mane Electricals as a proprietorship firm. Then, he took a loan of Rs 5 lakh from the banks to purchase land in Bhosri MIDC, hired six people and set up an office. On account of its exceptional services, he soon had several contracts, including his first foreign client, a Saudi Arabia-based company Kurz, which gave him a whopping $600,000 deal. “we were so much happy at that as it was a huge deal. We built a new office and plant to cater to the order,” says Ramdas.
In 45 countries, Now Mane Electricals has clients including Kenya, Dubai, Ghana, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Saudi Arabia. He has completed over 350 complete EPS projects for these clients and has a Limca record for making the biggest EPS machine in the world.
Ramdas truly believes in giving back in society. He is dedicated to making portable toilets which are made up of thermocol and donating it to the poor people. He says he has distributed around 22,000 such toilets till date. Ramdas has visited more than 100 countries in the world and at times travels to more than one country in a day.
Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs
While advising budding entrepreneurs Ramdas Says, “In this world there is no substitution for hard work. With hard work, perseverance and one can achieve anything they want”. Progressing forward with the positive approach, Mane Industries will continue to deliver its best in class services and products to its consumers. It is truly inspiring to know the fact that there was a time when he didn’t have money to purchase a bus ticket to Pune.
Ramdas Mane: A Name which is synonymous with struggle and Victory
