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Take Me Home: The Inspiring Stories of 20 Entrepreneurs from Small Town India with Big-Time Dreams
About the Book: Take Me Home: The Inspiring Stories Of 20 Entrepreneurs From Small-Town India With Big-Time Dreams Parakram Singh Jadeja did it in Rajkot. Deepak Dadhoti did it in Belgaum. Vibhor Agrawal did it in Meerut. Take Me Home is the story of 20 entrepreneurs who have built remarkable enterprises, while remaining true to their roots. From small towns across India, they run giant global companies with locally trained talent. The ability to run a professional business is no longer limited by location. What you need is a vision and a mission and a burning desire. To make it happen, wherever you are. About the Author: Rashmi Bansal Rashmi Bansal is a writer, entrepreneur and youth expert. Her five books on entrepreneurship - Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, Connect the Dots, I Have a Dream, Follow Every Rainbow and Poor Little Rich Slum have sold over 7,50,000 copies and been translated into 10 languages. Rashmi is a motivational speaker and mentor to students and young entrepreneurs. She is an economics graduate of Sophia College, Mumbai, and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. You can follow her on www.facebook.com/rashmibansal and www.twitter.com/rashmibansal. Or drop a line to mail@rashmibansal.in
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 27, 2014
236 people are currently reading
1509 people want to read
About the author
Rashmi Bansal
47 books534 followersRashmi Bansal is a writer, entrepreneur and youth expert.She is the author of two bestselling books on entrepreneurship. ‘Stay Hungry Stay Foolish’ features the stories of 25 MBAs who left lucrative jobs to follow the rough road of entrepreneurship. The book created a new record in Indian publishing by selling over 300,000 copies and has been translated into 8 languages.
Rashmi’s second book, ‘Connect the Dots’ focuses on non-MBA entrepreneurs. It has also been a bestseller, selling over 100,000 copies.
Her third book ‘I Have a Dream’, on social entrepreneurs, is releasing in May 2011.
Rashmi is co-founder and editor of JAM (Just Another Magazine), India’s leading youth magazine. She writes extensively on youth, careers and entrepreneurship on her popular blog: Youth Curry.
Rashmi is a columnist on popular Indian news portal Rediff.com. She has been Consulting Editor with Businessworld magazine and Bloomberg UTV, where she hosted India’s first interactive show on careers.
Rashmi is a consultant for international youth research agencies such as The Futures Company (a division of WPP, London ) and Flamingo Research (Singapore ).A guest lecturer at various business schools of repute including IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, ISB, S P Jain among others, Rashmi mentors numerous students and young entrepreneurs. She also conducts motivational talks and youth insight seminars for corporates.
Rashmi’s second book, ‘Connect the Dots’ focuses on non-MBA entrepreneurs. It has also been a bestseller, selling over 100,000 copies.
Her third book ‘I Have a Dream’, on social entrepreneurs, is releasing in May 2011.
Rashmi is co-founder and editor of JAM (Just Another Magazine), India’s leading youth magazine. She writes extensively on youth, careers and entrepreneurship on her popular blog: Youth Curry.
Rashmi is a columnist on popular Indian news portal Rediff.com. She has been Consulting Editor with Businessworld magazine and Bloomberg UTV, where she hosted India’s first interactive show on careers.
Rashmi is a consultant for international youth research agencies such as The Futures Company (a division of WPP, London ) and Flamingo Research (Singapore ).A guest lecturer at various business schools of repute including IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, ISB, S P Jain among others, Rashmi mentors numerous students and young entrepreneurs. She also conducts motivational talks and youth insight seminars for corporates.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
May 5, 2017
Very motivating and inspiring....
A nice book for young entrepreneurs. It includes the stories of different personalities from small towns around India who in spite of all odds became successful in their respective fields. Nice research work done by the author and reading the real life inspiring stories keeps you motivated.
A nice book for young entrepreneurs. It includes the stories of different personalities from small towns around India who in spite of all odds became successful in their respective fields. Nice research work done by the author and reading the real life inspiring stories keeps you motivated.
March 2, 2021
India lives in its numerous villages rather than a few cities. This statement has assumed the dimensions of an adage even though the ratio of village dwellers are rapidly falling as time goes by. Urbanisation has changed the social topography of India’s heartland with numerous small towns now scattered across the country. Usually the big cities are associated with entrepreneurship, industry and credit networks that sustain business. But talent knows no bounds and hardworking innovators thrive in the hinterland as well without any exposure to the outside world. This causes no hurdles in their growth path, but a true appreciation that comes from the knowledge of how they did it helps foster the spirit of entrepreneurship in the land. This book gives the stories of twenty persons across India’s small towns who hit big in business. The list includes only one woman – Dilafroze Qazi of Kashmir – who is into the private sector technical education. The book’s title is inspired from John Denver’s immortal song, ‘Country roads, take me home’ which is amply suited to the rustic focus of the narrative. Rashmi Bansal is a non-fiction writer and herself an entrepreneur who has authored many books on entrepreneurship.
Bansal’s effort tries to mark a distinct phase of India’s growth when the wealth is created not only in the metropolitan cities, but has percolated down to nearby towns and villages. The new India consists of prosperous inhabitants of small towns and countryside. They overpowered the big metros in terms of sheer numbers, thereby becoming the customers every marketer wants to reach. With so much potential available locally, it’s no wonder that a small revolution occurred in the small towns. A new breed of entrepreneurs has emerged who are changing old equations and assumptions. The metros are characterized by people who are always busy and rushing from one place to another in a hurry. But in the countryside, time is what people have for each other, not something you chase.
This book tells the story of twenty innovative business-people, but keeps silent on the revolutionary changes that took place in the business atmosphere of India brought about by globalization. However, readers are reminded of the tectonic shifts that occurred in the mindset of society in consequence to it. In a typical example, Virani Brothers in Rajkot, who specialized in making salty chips for snacks, procures the best raw materials and technology from around the globe. They sent their managers to Israel and began cultivating potato varieties like ‘Lady Rosetta’ in Gujarat. Broiler chicken producers now use ERP software for connecting the head office to farms. When a truck is loaded for delivery, its weight can be seen in real time in all the concerned offices. The bureaucratic babus still maintained haughtiness in their deals with the industry as seen in the case of Jyoti CNC machines of Rajkot. They imported a linear motor for its new lathe from Germany which was making a debut in Europe. It had no rotating parts and was held up by the customs officials for three months because it had no ball bearings which every normal motor had and the device did not rotate!
The author makes a prescient assessment of Kerala as ‘the land of coconuts, lagoons, spice villages, rest and rejuvenation and not a place which you would associate with work’ (p.57). This is god's own country from where god's own children go to other countries in search of work. This sorry state of affairs came about due to excessive politicisation of the society and a foolhardy bias to outdated notions of socialism and by corollary, a visceral hatred of private entrepreneurs. It is here that C V Jacob established ‘Synthite’ to export oleoresins extracted from natural spices. He was a civil engineering contractor who happened to find spices in liquid form – as oleoresins – at an expo in Japan in 1970. He transplanted the technology to Kerala where raw materials like cardamom and pepper are freely available. Synthite steadily grew to become the world's largest oleoresin manufacturer.
One important fact this book conveys to aspiring entrepreneurs is the importance of keeping abreast of new developments in the field. This is achievable by attending the trade fairs organized in the country and abroad. Such an early adoption of new technology confers on them a great advantage in the fierce competition of the markets. The industrialists should also think about innovative measures that are helpful in bringing down the cost of production. As an example, Jagjit Singh of Punjab found an ingenious way to maximize the collection of honey. He transported the boxes containing bees to various places depending on the local season for specific crops. These boxes were then rotated through mustard fields in Rajasthan, sunflower farms in Punjab and kikar and acacia flowers in Kashmir.
Of the twenty people mentioned in the book, Dilafroze Qazi is the only woman, but she hails from Kashmir. Being a state firmly controlled by corrupt politicians and Islamic militants in the past, her success deserves an extra load of laurels. The militants virtually ruled the Valley in the 1990s when businesses had had to pay them protection money. When in dire need, they would kidnap people and extort ransom. The police often stood by as mute spectators while militants rampaged on non-complying establishments. Qazi’s specialization was in providing technical education to Kashmiri girls, but the ulema often obstructed the smooth functioning of colleges as the concept of female education ran counter to the tenets of Islamic laws. This book provides a hint of what a prospective employer looks for in the candidates who have applied for a job there. Most pragmatic of them assess 'how capable is he, how sincere is he and how much does he need the job’.
Bansal has made a neat job of her goal, but monotony sets in after a few chapters. All of them are written in the same repeating pattern. Moreover, some of the examples are not worthy to be listed here. There is no uniform formula for business success, but anything can be made rewarding if you persevere enough – that’s the moral this book conveys. The advice of a successful entrepreneur was never to work on verbal assurance but to get it in writing. We know that it is not always practical, but the man made his career on this principle!
The book is divided into three sections: a) people who never left for greener pastures, but their vision and ambition expanded far beyond their native towns b) return of the native, who returned from fine institutions or foreign lands with the dream of making a difference and c) the people who brought in change in the ways of society. This book reproduces snippets of Hindi conversations in the interviews in transliterated form in English characters along with its English meaning in brackets immediately after the Hindi lines. This becomes tedious and quite difficult for people who are not familiar with Hindi. Each chapter contains a section on the protagonist’s advice to young entrepreneurs.
The book is highly recommended.
Bansal’s effort tries to mark a distinct phase of India’s growth when the wealth is created not only in the metropolitan cities, but has percolated down to nearby towns and villages. The new India consists of prosperous inhabitants of small towns and countryside. They overpowered the big metros in terms of sheer numbers, thereby becoming the customers every marketer wants to reach. With so much potential available locally, it’s no wonder that a small revolution occurred in the small towns. A new breed of entrepreneurs has emerged who are changing old equations and assumptions. The metros are characterized by people who are always busy and rushing from one place to another in a hurry. But in the countryside, time is what people have for each other, not something you chase.
This book tells the story of twenty innovative business-people, but keeps silent on the revolutionary changes that took place in the business atmosphere of India brought about by globalization. However, readers are reminded of the tectonic shifts that occurred in the mindset of society in consequence to it. In a typical example, Virani Brothers in Rajkot, who specialized in making salty chips for snacks, procures the best raw materials and technology from around the globe. They sent their managers to Israel and began cultivating potato varieties like ‘Lady Rosetta’ in Gujarat. Broiler chicken producers now use ERP software for connecting the head office to farms. When a truck is loaded for delivery, its weight can be seen in real time in all the concerned offices. The bureaucratic babus still maintained haughtiness in their deals with the industry as seen in the case of Jyoti CNC machines of Rajkot. They imported a linear motor for its new lathe from Germany which was making a debut in Europe. It had no rotating parts and was held up by the customs officials for three months because it had no ball bearings which every normal motor had and the device did not rotate!
The author makes a prescient assessment of Kerala as ‘the land of coconuts, lagoons, spice villages, rest and rejuvenation and not a place which you would associate with work’ (p.57). This is god's own country from where god's own children go to other countries in search of work. This sorry state of affairs came about due to excessive politicisation of the society and a foolhardy bias to outdated notions of socialism and by corollary, a visceral hatred of private entrepreneurs. It is here that C V Jacob established ‘Synthite’ to export oleoresins extracted from natural spices. He was a civil engineering contractor who happened to find spices in liquid form – as oleoresins – at an expo in Japan in 1970. He transplanted the technology to Kerala where raw materials like cardamom and pepper are freely available. Synthite steadily grew to become the world's largest oleoresin manufacturer.
One important fact this book conveys to aspiring entrepreneurs is the importance of keeping abreast of new developments in the field. This is achievable by attending the trade fairs organized in the country and abroad. Such an early adoption of new technology confers on them a great advantage in the fierce competition of the markets. The industrialists should also think about innovative measures that are helpful in bringing down the cost of production. As an example, Jagjit Singh of Punjab found an ingenious way to maximize the collection of honey. He transported the boxes containing bees to various places depending on the local season for specific crops. These boxes were then rotated through mustard fields in Rajasthan, sunflower farms in Punjab and kikar and acacia flowers in Kashmir.
Of the twenty people mentioned in the book, Dilafroze Qazi is the only woman, but she hails from Kashmir. Being a state firmly controlled by corrupt politicians and Islamic militants in the past, her success deserves an extra load of laurels. The militants virtually ruled the Valley in the 1990s when businesses had had to pay them protection money. When in dire need, they would kidnap people and extort ransom. The police often stood by as mute spectators while militants rampaged on non-complying establishments. Qazi’s specialization was in providing technical education to Kashmiri girls, but the ulema often obstructed the smooth functioning of colleges as the concept of female education ran counter to the tenets of Islamic laws. This book provides a hint of what a prospective employer looks for in the candidates who have applied for a job there. Most pragmatic of them assess 'how capable is he, how sincere is he and how much does he need the job’.
Bansal has made a neat job of her goal, but monotony sets in after a few chapters. All of them are written in the same repeating pattern. Moreover, some of the examples are not worthy to be listed here. There is no uniform formula for business success, but anything can be made rewarding if you persevere enough – that’s the moral this book conveys. The advice of a successful entrepreneur was never to work on verbal assurance but to get it in writing. We know that it is not always practical, but the man made his career on this principle!
The book is divided into three sections: a) people who never left for greener pastures, but their vision and ambition expanded far beyond their native towns b) return of the native, who returned from fine institutions or foreign lands with the dream of making a difference and c) the people who brought in change in the ways of society. This book reproduces snippets of Hindi conversations in the interviews in transliterated form in English characters along with its English meaning in brackets immediately after the Hindi lines. This becomes tedious and quite difficult for people who are not familiar with Hindi. Each chapter contains a section on the protagonist’s advice to young entrepreneurs.
The book is highly recommended.
December 5, 2019
I so want to go back into time and gift this to my dad. Not so insightful for people looking to learn principles or struggles of entrepreneurship but it's more like a bedtime story for every SME lover. Short lovely stories from some common brands you might have heard of while growing up in India.
January 15, 2022
Worth reading, Experiences and ideas of people(and not just success they had), if you are thinking a little to do something of your own!!
May 19, 2014
Another remarkable compilation of success stories of those that made it almost from no-where. A few common traits that run through all these achievers centre around grit, passion, perseverance and honesty of purpose. All of them had a dream but they had their feet firmly on the ground. What is also noteworthy is the role played by various government agencies and the banks in acting as enablers. Credit goes to the author for compiling and narrating these tales in a manner that makes them fascinating and worthy of emulations. These are people not out of this world. They belong to this world but what they have managed to achieve is commendable and eminently replicable. Truly inspiring tales.
August 6, 2014
Lovely & really inspiring!
Anyone & everyone with an iota of entrepreneurial dreams should read this. No fancy packaging, the book is 'Straight from the heart' by these 20 entrepreneurs. Its about their dreams, struggles & the journey that they have undergone.
Must read. Really appreciating Rashmi Bansal for such an idea of exploring these unique personalities and bringing all of them together in the form of a book.
Anyone & everyone with an iota of entrepreneurial dreams should read this. No fancy packaging, the book is 'Straight from the heart' by these 20 entrepreneurs. Its about their dreams, struggles & the journey that they have undergone.
Must read. Really appreciating Rashmi Bansal for such an idea of exploring these unique personalities and bringing all of them together in the form of a book.
December 30, 2016
Book has really good stories of entrepreneurs, specially for those who are interested in entrepreneurship.
Good learning all the way from all prospectives.
One get to learn the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial life, and to get success and let business grow one must stick to it till long.
Book all over to be good but it takes time to read. it's not one day or two day reading like other novel. you must give time to the book to understand.
Good learning all the way from all prospectives.
One get to learn the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial life, and to get success and let business grow one must stick to it till long.
Book all over to be good but it takes time to read. it's not one day or two day reading like other novel. you must give time to the book to understand.
November 27, 2014
I just travelled with the entrepreneurs.
October 6, 2022
Same Template. This time focusing on business people from tier 2 & 3 towns of India. One might argue these books are welcome, since there's so little business/entrepreneur literature in India.
March 11, 2019
Rashmi Bansal beautifully explains the inspirational story of Rohith Bhat.Great book to read.
February 5, 2021
Home
Author: Rashmi Bansal
@rashmibansalofficial #takemehome #rashmibansal
Book Review:
Yes! If you have an entrepreneurial mindset then this pick is for you!
The story of 20 entrepreneurs who have built companies speaks for itself. It’s not just about the success but the path to success that comes when you follow something with full dedication. The right mindset and the right attitude is something that drives you to ultimate success.
This remarkable journey is of those leaders who belong to small towns and who had big dreams and who worked hard and smart to achieve them.
The ability to run a business and make it big is not just restricted to people from big towns or stable backgrounds.
A very inspirational journey that motivates even a normal person to dream big in life.
A good read and a special mention about the advice to young entrepreneurs! If you have a business mindset, do pick up the story out of the 20 which defines your path.........!!
Author: Rashmi Bansal
@rashmibansalofficial #takemehome #rashmibansal
Book Review:
Yes! If you have an entrepreneurial mindset then this pick is for you!
The story of 20 entrepreneurs who have built companies speaks for itself. It’s not just about the success but the path to success that comes when you follow something with full dedication. The right mindset and the right attitude is something that drives you to ultimate success.
This remarkable journey is of those leaders who belong to small towns and who had big dreams and who worked hard and smart to achieve them.
The ability to run a business and make it big is not just restricted to people from big towns or stable backgrounds.
A very inspirational journey that motivates even a normal person to dream big in life.
A good read and a special mention about the advice to young entrepreneurs! If you have a business mindset, do pick up the story out of the 20 which defines your path.........!!
February 25, 2025
Take Me Home is an inspiring and deeply motivating book that showcases the journeys of 20 entrepreneurs from small-town India who turned their dreams into reality. Rashmi Bansal brings their struggles and triumphs to life, offering real insights into the world of entrepreneurship. This book is a must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs, as it provides not only practical lessons but also the motivation to overcome challenges and build something remarkable. It proves that with determination and vision, success knows no boundaries.
May 24, 2021
This is an odd book, it follows a large number of Indian Businesses and is much less polished than many books, particularly in that it contains a reasonable amount of original words and their translations.
Most of the stories are quite straightforward business success stories, that don't teach much about business but a few are very interesting. Where this book is consistently strong is giving an insight into life in India.
Most of the stories are quite straightforward business success stories, that don't teach much about business but a few are very interesting. Where this book is consistently strong is giving an insight into life in India.
May 9, 2021
One of the light case studies type of book which gives you meaning of doing business in your own locality where you are born and brought up.
One can be millionaire in its own community if the business idea is great.
I recommended this book to my cousin after completing it.
Overall good non fiction book.
Thanks
One can be millionaire in its own community if the business idea is great.
I recommended this book to my cousin after completing it.
Overall good non fiction book.
Thanks
February 7, 2019
Good read, about obstacles of unknown entrepreneurs who started just by an Idea and not equipped with college degrees, strong backgrounds or any-kind of support. However they managed to flourish by staying in the game and believing on their soul of idea.
September 15, 2024
Take Me Home by Rashmi Bansal
Inspiring stories in entrepreneurial success, highlighting 20 brilliant cases, were in the entrepreneur(s) chose to build there dreams in India, for India and from India.
#BookLovers #LoveToRead #dntjbookclub #atozentrepreneurship
Inspiring stories in entrepreneurial success, highlighting 20 brilliant cases, were in the entrepreneur(s) chose to build there dreams in India, for India and from India.
#BookLovers #LoveToRead #dntjbookclub #atozentrepreneurship
June 7, 2017
New type
Simply super not read such type of book in Hindi. Narrative and story telling was gud but may be a bit of more technical for common man like me
Simply super not read such type of book in Hindi. Narrative and story telling was gud but may be a bit of more technical for common man like me
February 17, 2018
Another inspiring tales of brave Entrepreneurs. I really enjoyed the book. It motivates me to do my own thing. This is my third book of Rashmi Bansal. I am planning to read her other books as well.
January 9, 2019
A unison of different perspectives. Do read this.
August 9, 2019
The books takes you with the journey these entrepreneurs went through in their quest to find success. Gives a good perspective, what it takes to make it happen
Read
February 13, 2020Beautifully written... awe aspiring tales of the entrepreneurs who took the time in their stride and emerged victorious
April 10, 2020
Good book for whom who are doing MBA.
June 8, 2020
Enjoyed every story, every page of the book..
Each story is inspiring and bit emotional..
Each story is inspiring and bit emotional..
July 7, 2020
For fans of inspiring business stories
September 3, 2020
Good read
Read
June 25, 2021Very knowledgeable one
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2025
Ko
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2017
Excellent book. But I think more emphasis should have been given on their journey and less on the number of stories. After reading a few stories, I felt that they were all monotonous. A detailed version might have avoided that.
Overall, a wonderful book.
Overall, a wonderful book.
December 12, 2017
20 puff pieces that could have been written by a FT/Forbes bot - mindless fawning bios without any insight.
Like a cheap version of FT/Forbes glowing bios of executives and entrepreneurs. The protagonists have no flaws except that they are too intelligent, too kind or too committed. These glaring flaws are all evident in the first headline story. They made chips (the ones you ate). It was not a new market. There are existing competitors. Apparently, in this market, everyone treated each other poorly from suppliers to vendors - a common enough story when you are a small trader in all developing countries. So how did they make it? There is no talk of what they offered that was better and what they did different. Except that they were kinder, more honest and fairer. How cliche. How about telling us how they found good partners with whom this worked, that valued fairness and long term relationships. In my work which involves listening to folks working in developing countries, one recurring theme is finding people who thought in terms of long term mutually gainful business relationships. This was one of their biggest challenges. This is one example of the gaping holes in the stories. I stopped after the 4th story. Waste of time.
Like a cheap version of FT/Forbes glowing bios of executives and entrepreneurs. The protagonists have no flaws except that they are too intelligent, too kind or too committed. These glaring flaws are all evident in the first headline story. They made chips (the ones you ate). It was not a new market. There are existing competitors. Apparently, in this market, everyone treated each other poorly from suppliers to vendors - a common enough story when you are a small trader in all developing countries. So how did they make it? There is no talk of what they offered that was better and what they did different. Except that they were kinder, more honest and fairer. How cliche. How about telling us how they found good partners with whom this worked, that valued fairness and long term relationships. In my work which involves listening to folks working in developing countries, one recurring theme is finding people who thought in terms of long term mutually gainful business relationships. This was one of their biggest challenges. This is one example of the gaping holes in the stories. I stopped after the 4th story. Waste of time.
Want to read
February 27, 2017Great
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews