The name of Dhirubhai Ambani is like a shining star that lights up a spark in the hearts of every aspiring businessman. He is the legendary figure who has achieved his success by his intellect and perseverance. The word “impossible” never existed in his dictionary and this endeavor to reach his goal took him to the highest peak.
Birth and Early Life
Dhirubhai Ambani was born at Chorwad, Junagadh on the 28th of December 1932 in the state of Gujarat. His father was Hirachand Govardhandas and mother Jamunaben. Today when we see him as one of the topmost businessman in the world, we cannot imagine about his childhood days. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father was a school teacher of a village school who had to care for his two daughters and two sons other than Dhirubhai. From his early days he was bent on doing business rather than going to school. He was very intelligent and that is well portrayed in his ways of spending his weekends by selling potato and onion fries at the fairs usually held in the village. That he cared for his family is quite evident from the fact that without using the profit for himself he gave the entire amount to his mother.
He began his working career at the age of 16 after matriculation in Aden, Yemen in a small oil company that grew up to be the distributor of Shell products. Dhiribhai was entrusted with the work of managing the company’s refilling station at the Aden Port. While working in Dubai he tied the knot to Kokilaben and became the proud father of two sons and two daughters. His innovative mind always prompted him to do something independently. He melted the Silver Rial that contained pure silver and sold it to bullion traders and thus earned a good amount.
His Life of Extensive Hard Work and Achievements
Dhirubhai returned to his homeland with his family in 1958 that marked the beginning of a new business era in India. Along with his cousin Majin he imported polyester yarn and exported spices to Yemen. The first office Reliance Commercial Corporation was established at this time on a partnership basis with his cousin and consisted f a mere 350sq.ft room at Narshinatha Street. He appointed two employees to help in the business. In 1965 Dhirubhai Ambani gave up his partnership and started his business on his own. During this time he lived in a single bedroom flat with his family in Jaihind Estate in Mumbai. He gradually set up his own empire and moved to an apartment in Altamount Road in South Mumbai. During the 1970s his business was worth 10 lakhs. The Reliance Industries took a great stride forward and was one of the well known companies in the world having various sectors like textiles, petrochemicals etc.
In 1977 he set up his unique textile mill in Ahmedabad at Naroda. Polyester fibre was greatly used in the manufacturing of the materials that we get till today. He named this brand as “Vimal” after his elder brother. Reliance Textiles was assessed by the World Bank technical team and achieved the “excellent” rating.
Dhirubhai had a wonderful ability to convince investors and his success stories were so visible that he did not have to vouch for his deals. He first started the Equity Cult in this developing country of India. General meetings were held annually in the stadium where all the shareholders and investors met to discuss about the growth and prospects of the companies. In 1992, Reliance was featured in Forbes 500 list and was the first Indian company to reach this level. He was marked out as the greatest creator of wealth of the 20th century. However a severe heart attack laid him down and he handed over the responsibilities of Reliance Companies to his able sons Anil Ambani and Mukesh Ambani. From a mere worker he rose to be one of the fortunate 60 billion dollar families in the world. This magnificent business tycoon is the second richest family and is among the top 50 businessman in Asia. He left for his heavenly abode on the 6th of July 2002.
Dhirubhai Ambani’s Amazing Strategies
The numerous businessmen that we hear of today who have achieved great success in life owe their achievements to the ideals and methods followed by Dhirubhai Ambani. His policy of allowing freedom to assistants got the best in every field. The “no supervision and no policing” system brought out the best. When there is peace of mind and the freedom to express one’s ideas there is sure to be optimum output and this fact was well implemented by Dhirubhai Ambani that brought him success in life. He was a man of head and heart and always open to new changes and ideas. He believed and trusted in the potentialities of his team members and his congenial disposition won the hearts of all.