Indore: Making a mark in family biz with help from sisters

Indore: Supported by fairy like sisters, 24-year-old student Yash Sahu has become a successful businessman overcoming hurdles and financial crunch faced by the family.

Sharing their story, Yash said, “We lived comfortably through most of our childhood, but things changed as technology advanced.” Their father (Mukesh Sahu) was known for recognising and repairing vehicles based on the noise emitted by them.

“Eventually, scooters faded and technology in 2-wheelers changed tremendously a decade back,” eldest sister Swati Sahu said. Mukesh had already passed his prime years and understanding new technology seemed challenging for him.

“Struggling through the time and trying to learn technology, our workshop went into loss incurring expenses with no income,” Shweta said. Eventually, the workshop had to be sold to meet liabilities and they were left with no income.

“I took charge and started working in BPO when I was in eleventh class,” Swati said. Her contribution helped in running basic expenses, but the crunch continued.

“Eventually, Shweta also took up a job and we tried to sail through without selling our house,” Yash said. Managing time between education and work, the sisters motivated him to follow his dreams.

“During my graduation (engineering), I started looking for prospects of starting a business, because I knew it was the only way to bring back our life with confidence in dad’s heart,” Yash said. Following his father, he was interested in automobiles and researched for opportunities.

“I came across a Hyderabad-based chain of ceramic coating for automobiles, which seemed like a possible business with growth opportunities in Indore,” Yash said. The more he enquired, the more he was convinced to start the business.

“When Yash came up with the idea, our father backed and encouraged him to take forward,” Swati said. He borrowed money from his friends and somehow managed a trip to Hyderabad to approach for a franchise.

“They agreed and asked me to deposit the token money next month, but challenge had just begun,” Yash said. They needed investments and even with their house on collateral security, about seven banks refused to give loan.

“One of our uncles spread the word around defaming our credibility, but it failed when the God was on our side,” Swati said. Yash, who was working as junior safety officer in an MNC, approached g banks for five months.

“Eventually, we got lucky and Bank of Maharashtra approved our loan without collateral security but with clause of post payments on bills,” Swati said. Sailing through struggle, they managed to open the store, bring back fame and profits to their family from Oct 2017.