By Nayanima Basu
IANS
Book: Bottled for Business: The Less Gassy Guide To Entrepreneurship; Author: Karan Bilimoria with Steve Coomber; Publisher: Wiley India Pvt. Ltd.; Price: Rs.299
In 'Bottled for Business: The Less Gassy Guide To Entrepreneurship', Bilimoria has put forward the basic truth that nothing is impossible to achieve if one is passionate about it and aspires hard to reach his/her goal.
The book very carefully entwines the trials and tribulations Bilimoria went through when he decided to set up his own beer business at the age of 27 while he still had student debts of about 20,000 pounds to clear. He is today the owner of a company that boasts of $300 million worth of global sales.
A must-read for every upcoming entrepreneur, the book is full of tips on how to nurture and erect a company based on ethics and moral values. It suggests ways to hire the right kind of people, keeping in mind the need and requirement of a particular business.
It is, however, in this effort to provide tips on how to conduct good and stable business and how to take it to new heights of success does the book sometimes becomes boring and appears as a guidebook for business-school students.
The author offers splendid reading pleasure when he offers details on what difficulties he faced in arranging funds for his business, like any other start-up businesses face, when banks or any other financial institutions were not ready to provide funds easily because of the brand not being much popular, and other issues related to less visibility factor.
Bilimoria goes on to say how the two things – credibility and innovation that he learnt during his childhood – helped him in organizing funds.
He has suggested young entrepreneurs to invest in credible financial advisors, to get valuable financial advices and to gain reputation in the industry.
Bilimoria, a chartered accountant by training, launched Cobra Beer in 1990. Within a year of its operations it was able to find its way into 100 Indian restaurants in Britain. He is also co-chair of the Indo-British Partnership.