subject: Iim-a Student Wants To Quit Irs Job To Turn Industrialist [print this page] While many look forward to placements in multinational companies after an Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad (IIM-A) degree, there are those like Dhananjay Kumar, a student of post graduate programme in management for executives (PGPX), who wants to quit his government job and become a full-time entrepreneur.
Kumar, 36, cleared the civil services exam to become an IRS officer in 2000 and is now among the 86 students in thePGPX batch for executives. After serving for around nine years as an IRS officer, in February 2009 Kumar started a small-format bookshop chain in Mumbai. It has four shops in Mumbainow in which Kumar owns 100 per cent share.
Talking about his yearning to become anentrepreneur, Kumar, who has worked with multinational companies in countries like the US, said, "I have always wanted to do something on my own."
"Small-format book shops need only about 200 sq ft of space," he said. He preferred to open small formats as they could be opened in shopping malls and high-traffic areas. He said, "The revenue per sq ft will be much higher in such shops. Moreover, it is a low investment venture as books come on credit."
Once his bookshops started doing well, he decided to expand his business across the country, and that is when he decided to study PGPX to equip himself better to handle the business.
Kumar said, "PGPX is an opportunity. Apart from acquiring entrepreneurial and business management skills, I am also talking help from my professors and feedback from my classmates for my business expansion. I am finding it really helpful. I am also exploring partnership possibilities with my classmates as there are many of them who are interested in starting their own businesses."
Kumar now plans to take his chain of bookshops to B and C class cities like Udaipur, Guwahati and so on and is also exploring opportunities in Ahmedabad as well. He said, "I want my book shops to cater to the middle class section of the society."
About campus placements atIIM-A, Kumar said, "I will not be taking part in the placements. Instead, I am planning to resign from my service with the government and dedicate all my time to my venture."
"We have just one life. We should follow our dreams," said Kumar.
