LIBA conducted the Inaugural Beyond Management Initiative Session for the academic year 2018-19
Mr.Sharath Babu, Founder and CEO, Food King shared his successful entrepreneurial journey
LIBA organised the Inaugural Beyond Management Initiative (BMI) session on 27th June 2018 and was privileged to host Mr.Sharath Babu, Founder and CEO, Food King, who shared his successful entrepreneurial journey. The BMI session offers a unique opportunity for students to listen to and interact with experts from various fields and thereby benefit from their significant experiences and valuable insights. The BMI lecture series are held every Wednesday at LIBA.
Food King which was started with a seed capital of just 30 USD has today become a company with a turnover of over 1.2 million USD. Operating from five locations in the country, it is one of the fastest growing startups in the institutional and corporate catering space. Reflecting on his journey, Mr. Sharath Babu said, “I had to face numerous hardships while I was growing up. We didn’t have enough money to make both ends meet. But I never bowed down to my hardships. It toughened me and ignited inside me the fire to succeed.” Having risen to fame and success from very humble beginnings, he regards his mother as his greatest inspiration and gives her all the credit for his success.
He recalled his journey from his childhood days in a slum to becoming a successful entrepreneur. He shared his experience of converting every challenge and struggle into a golden opportunity which he emphasised, had helped him touch various pinnacles of glory in his journey to excel. His lecture instilled a great sense of confidence and gave the audience a strong go ahead to follow their entrepreneurial dream in order to come forward and achieve various accomplishments with a strong sense of passion, dedication and an ambitious sense of achieving great heights.
Taking us through his amazing professional journey, Mr Sharath Babu said, “Once I read an article that said 30% of Indian population is below poverty line. They go to bed in empty stomach. That became the seat for my entrepreneurial dream. That’s when I decided I should start a business in the food industry. I went to IIM Ahmadabad with this single dream.” Mr. Babu, who holds an engineering degree from BITS, Pilani and an MBA from IIM-A, said that he was very clear about his entrepreneurial bent right from the first day at IIM and it was there that he started toying with the idea of a catering startup. Starting first from within the campus, the idea finally grew into the ‘Food King’ that the world knows today.
It was an insightful and an inspiring interactive session amidst the presence of students and faculty members of LIBA.