College buddies Sumanth Prabhu and Nikhil Bhaskar, hailing from middle class families in Shimoga rejected tempting job offers and launched their own startup, which has achieved Rs 8 crore turnover and secured $2.5 Million funding, says Bilal Khan

Beginning with a spa that was started with Rs 2.5 lakh, Farah Ahmad has established three businesses that now have a combined turnover of Rs 12.5 crore. Her personal struggles inspired innovative business ideas like the Memory Quilt, says Shyla F

Yuba Romin Aga and Hinshara Manadath Habeeb, who met on WhatsApp, started a hair care brand for curly haired people like them investing Rs 30,000 each. With a wide range of products, their turnover has touched Rs 1.14 crore, says Chaithra Srinivas

Himanshu Lohia sold SIM cards and Oxford dictionaries on Delhi streets, but went on to work in advertising companies before launching his startup in Manesar, which has achieved a turnover of Rs 6.5 crore in just two years, says Sofia Danish Khan

A young MBA graduate, who spent about a year and a half living like a monk in an ashram in Rishikesh, returned home bowing to parental pressure, got married, and today owns a toy and stationery brand with a turnover of Rs 120 crore, says Shyla F

Born into an army family, and sent to a residential army public school at age 13, Kabir Jeet Singh was expected to join the army, but he went on to start a burger brand that’s grown into a Rs 60 crore turnover burger chain, says Sofia Danish Khan

Son of an auto-rickshaw driver, Jaydeepsinh Vaghela is a Class 11 dropout, who started working from age 15 to support his family. Bilal Khan narrates the story of the Rajkot-based entrepreneur who has built a Rs 15 crore turnover export company

Nikhil Gandhi had watched his father slogging at the family’s stainless steel tiffin box manufacturing. Today, he has built a Rs 20 crore turnover business, creating a brand, adding more products and exporting to several countries, says Anvi Mehta

Hailing from a middle class family in Meerut, Ankur Tyagi started a restaurant at age 21 along with a friend, but had to shut it down in two years due to labour issues. Sofia Danish Khan recounts how he bounced back to build a Rs 35 crore business

Poonam Gupta launched her paper trading company in Scotland as a single person from her home office in Greenock in 2003 with just a desk, chair, computer, and telephone line. Today, it has grown into a Rs 800 crore turnover company, says Shyla F

From selling song books and posters of popular actors in a Delhi store, Anil Moolchandani built Archies into a pan-India brand that became synonymous with greeting cards, which is now being led by his son Varun Moolchandani, says Sofia Danish Khan

Tejinder Singh Sekhon came to UK at age 22 and started as a labourer digging building foundations, washing dishes, driving vans, distributing liquor and eventually went on to build a real estate business that is now worth Rs 600 crore, says Shyla F

Brothers Anand Nahar and Amrit Nahar jumped into the QSR business during the Covid pandemic and have built a 88-outlet restaurant chain in less than two years. The cumulative turnover of the chain has touched Rs 22 crore, says Chaithra Srinivas

Hailing from a village in Madhya Pradesh, which had only a government Hindi medium school up to Class eight, Neha Mujawdiya defied the odds to leave the village to continue her studies, and eventually started an edtech company, says Bilal Khan

Nidhi Singh and Shikhar Veer Singh quit their corporate jobs and sold their new house to start a samosa brand, which is nearing Rs 45 crore turnover. Shikhar had this dream of launching a samosa business for a long time, says Sofia Danish Khan