Zoho Case Study – Look carefully at this man who is running India’s most profitable startup. Despite his success, he wears a lungi and rides a bicycle. His profit is Rs 2700 crores. In comparison, the most profitable judge on Shark Tank, Aman Gupta, has a profit of 68 crores. If we combine 38 Aman Guptas, it would still be less than Sridhar Vembu’s profit. Out of the 114 unicorns in India, 77 are in loss. This person, Sridhar Vembu, is doing business in a village and earning a significant amount of money. He has a business in more than 180 countries, over 6 crore customers, and more than 11,000 employees. He consults 300 companies out of the Fortune 500, including Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and Mahindra. His company, Zoho, has a revenue of 7000 crores and a valuation of 40000 crores. He achieved all this without any loans or investors.
Who is Sridhar Vemvu and who started Zoho?
Sridhar Vembu’s story is an example of the youth. He was born in a small village in Tamil Nadu and his family used to do farming. He was the first person in his family to graduate and went on to study electrical engineering at IIT Madras. However, he didn’t find the depth he was looking for in his studies, so he pursued a Ph.D. at Princeton University. Even after obtaining a PhD., he wasn’t satisfied and decided to continue learning on his own.
In 1994, Sridhar Vembu and his brother started their own company called AdventNet in a small room in Chennai. They initially planned to build hardware but had to change their plans due to lack of funding. They shifted their focus to software and started with just two computers. Sridhar Vembu, being a technical person, didn’t have much knowledge about business. He learned the importance of sales and finance through experience and hired professionals to handle those aspects of the company. They faced challenges along the way but eventually had a breakthrough when their software gained popularity among Japanese customers.
The lessons we can learn from Sridhar Vembu’s journey are:
- All knowledge is not available in books. Seek knowledge from different sources and gain exposure.
- A clear vision and understanding of business is crucial for success.
- Mastering your skills is not enough; you need to learn business skills or hire people who possess them.
Zoho Company Launch and Strategic Vision
Sridhar’s Dance Software started in 1996 with the goal of providing the same software solutions to small businesses that big companies were offering to larger clients. The company quickly gained success and reached a revenue of $1 million within two years. In 2000, the company had a team of 115 people and a turnover above $10 million.
Zoho Business Strategy
Sridhar’s Dance Software followed a strategic approach to grow its business. They focused on making profits, investing those profits back into the company, and expanding their offerings. This strategy helped them reach a valuation of $25 million.