Biography

Normally people won’t spend money a lot once started earning. But if we talk about dineshbhai this sentence works in a totally different manner. His family’s financial condition was poor and so dineshbhai’s focus area was to earn money, rather than spent. From his childhood he had experiment a lot with earning money, and this habit is still with him. Which is helpful for him to have a creative and innovative idea in his business. That is the reason that his business idea and strategy is unique and differently different from others. Well, that proves that business also need creative, only repetition won’t work more.

Creativity was injected in him by born, he was in 3rd standard while he had a dream to be a comic writer. Once his teacher showed him a library, and ask him to read books. He was obliged too. He started reading, and then after he fall in love with books and reading. He became a big fan of jyontindra dave and so he also dreamed to became a comic writer. He started read more and more comic book and then after write his own jokes. And after that in a prayer meeting of the school, he presents that jokes to the whole school, as much as they laugh, dineshbhai got boost to his dream.

In his reading method, there was something abnormal and that was notice by his elder sister. He met the doctor and then he came to know that he had a huge number in eyes, and that create problems with him in reading. Though this won’t stop him, and he continued reading. Even after he lived in a small village paravdi, his world was bigger. Any of the obstacles did not stop him to do experiment with his life.

At the age of 7 He was found to watch movies but he had not a television set at his home so he goes to neighbour house to watch the movies. Once in a same way he went to watch a movie, after the first half in an interval he went back to home and after few minutes he again went to the neighbour’s house but he found that the door was locked. He said that, that locked door and my grandfather’s advice on that day change his point of view towards life. Well, his grandfather said, “you are wailing because you want to watch a second person at a third person’s home. You should do some significant work that people come to meet you.” His grandfather further said that “Be capable enough to buy your own television set instead of wailing to watch a movie on other people’s television.”

A 7-year child might be not capable to understand this, if he was not dineshbhai. If his mother and father’s income is so small for the family to complete daily needs. Or he has not enough courage to take his own decision and to see dreams to be more independent and to earn money. Well, at this age his friends gets 50 paisa daily as a pocket money, while of course dineshbhai did not. Instead of complaining or have pity on his condition he started to think about how to earn money.

Well, ideas and inspiration are everywhere. One just need to catch it and start to implement on the same. Once he visited a marriage function and he tested Masala Aloo over there. Second day he demanded to his mother to make this spicy masala Aloo. He had excellent marketing skills even in his childhood. He picked a strategic location for selling the chatpata masala Aloo near the diamond factories to the factory workers toiling in heavy physical activity. The very first day was not much good for him, he could not manage to sell the Aloo. Afterward he recognized about the time, when the workers are really hungry and can buy Aloo. He went at 5 pm, one worker came and buy aloo from him and gave him advice to speak about his Aloo. Which helps him to remove his shyness about selling the Aloo. He added some more feature too. He shout like the stock is limited be fast. This marketing technique works and Afterward his Aloo became so famous that in half and hour all the Aloo get finished.

Although he was selling Aloo, but it was too a difficult task for a little child. As only selling was not the task, sometimes he has to convince customers, sometimes he has to handle complain and manages to gave humble and satisfactory replied. However little dinesh became so smart that he can handle all these things so easily and effectively that he can make profit of Rs. 6-7 per day. At an age when other kids focusing on playing sport and studying. Dineshbhai was able to not only earn his pocket money but he also can finically support his family.

Dineshbhai was very sensitive, and kind-hearted even in his childhood. He imbibed this generosity in his childhood from his family members. When Dineshbhai was very young, the Pandya family could barely afford the three meals of the day. Under such circumstances, one day a beggar came to Pandya house for food. His mother fed the beggar but there was nothing left for the members of the family.

Dinesh was upset with his mother’s gesture because he was extremely hungry. He asked his mother the reason for such a gesture when they did not even have enough food for themselves. His mother replied to him, “If you feed others you will be fed and your hunger will be satisfied.” This made Dinesh generous towards others. An example of Dineshbhai’s generosity can be gathered from an incident in his teenage years.

Dineshbhai was in the eighth standard and his school timings were changed. At this moment he noticed a twenty-seven-year-old unemployed man in his neighborhood, Naqqabaku. He had a wife and three kids to take care of but no source of income. His family was struggling to fulfill their daily needs. When Dineshbhai noticed the situation of Naqqabaku, a thirteen-year-old Dinesh handed over his vending business to this man.

The man took the job of selling the potatoes and started earning money. Now, he needed a new source of income. So, at the age of fourteen, Dineshbhai started the business of selling newspapers. Despite all the difficulties in his life, Dineshbhai was always a cheerful kid. In his childhood, he played with matchsticks and tires.

He used to sneak into and climb behind the moving vehicles in the village. He loved to play with marbles and climbing on trees. One of his favorite games was chess. He learned chess at a very young age and became an undefeatable master of the game in his district. He was fond of composing jokes and narrating them to people.

His mathematics’ teacher Mr. Trivedi noticed that Dinesh had a talent of making people laugh and suggested him to carry this talent forward. Sharing one of his many jokes Dinesh narrated, “There was a woman who used to put tilak as big as a coin on her forehead. A man in the village asked her the reason for drawing such a big tilak on her head. The lady responded that it is a mark of her married life and to ensure the health and long life of her husband.

A few days later the man noticed that the size of the tilak had reduced so he asked the lady about it. The lady replied that her husband is unwell so she has reduced the size of tilak. The next day, the man noticed an even smaller tilak and asked her about it. She replied that her husband’s health was worsening by the day. This went on for a few days.

After a few days, he again noticed a big tilak on the forehead of the lady so he asked, ‘Finally your husband is better?’ The lady replied, No, he is not better, I have changed my husband.'” Dineshbhai completed his schooling up to the seventh standard in Paravdi Kendravati Shala which was established by Lord Warren Hastings. He completed his secondary education up to matriculation from M.J. Patel High School and completed his higher secondary education from M.D. Patel High School.

Dineshbhai was motivated by the image of Bhagat Singh in M.D. Patel High School along with a quote of Bhagat Singh, “The spirit and will to change is a revolution for progress.” Dineshbhai was an intelligent student with excellent mathematical skills. One of the reasons for his enhanced mathematical skills was a challenge in the first standard —a boy challenged Dineshbhai Pandya to reverse count from 100 to 1. Dineshbhai took the challenge and started practicing this skill for three days.

Finally, on the fourth day, he completed the challenge. Interestingly, Dineshbhai has never used a calculator in his life. Even today, he manages his balance sheets without a calculator or computer. He thinks that this unmatched mathematical skill is a gift of God. He also believes that he has received this trait from his mother who is exceptional with her mathematical skills. Dineshbhai was sincerely inclined towards studies. He read people like Socrates and Jyotindra Dave in his early teens.

Dineshbhai used to participate in dramas and extempore competitions in school. However, his school life was not easy and smooth. He faced many challenges in his studies. In the fifth standard, his mother conceived his youngest brother Vishal who is now appointed in the high court. His mother moved to her natal home to conceive the baby. Dinesh accompanied her mother and stayed at that home for six months.

He could not attend school for six months but this did not prevent Dinesh from studying. He was a dedicated student who wanted to eagerly pursue his education without any breaks or stoppages. He requested his maternal uncle to arrange classes in the school of the village so that his studies would not suffer. Despite missing classes in his school, he worked hard enough to score the first rank in his school in the annual examination. Other than academic readings, Dineshbhai also read sacred texts like Ramayana and Bhagwad Geeta.

Like other kids, Dineshbhai was also a naughty child—his mother tells him that people came to his home to complain about his notorious activities daily. Recalling one of his notorious activities he said that in the seventh standard, the flooring of the school was damaged which used to cause injuries to students.

One day, Dineshbhai gathered the students and convinced them to completely uproot the flooring. Under the leadership of Dineshbhai, all the students joined hands and uprooted the flooring of the school. The next day, during the morning assembly the principal asked students about the damaged flooring. Dineshbhai took complete responsibility for the damage and told the principal about the incident honestly. He was awarded punishment by the principal but he dared to speak the truth in difficult times. This incident reflects the leadership quality of Dineshbhai and his capability of standing up in a situation and speak the truth with courage.

It was the result of this leadership quality and ability to articulate his ideas to people that he was elected unopposed to be the General Secretary (GS) of the school for three consecutive years in high school. Many interesting incidents took place in Dineshbhai’s school life.

Dineshbhai remembers his school principal who had supported him in his childhood. Dineshbhai did not have enough money to afford more than one white school shirt. One day he reached school wearing his friend’s green shirt. When the principal saw him in the green shirt, he told Dineshbhai that he is a GS and that he should maintain the decorum of uniform. Upon being told that he did not have another white shirt, the principal immediately took off his own white shirt and exchanged it with Dineshbhai which he wore throughout the day.

At the end of the day, Dineshbhai thanked the principal and returned his shirt to him. Another memorable incident in Dineshbhai’s school life was his six-day school trip to Mount Abu and Udaipur in the ninth standard. The cost of the trip was Rs 150 which his family could not afford. Dineshbhai was saving some money ever since he started selling Masala Aloo. He wanted to go on the trip so he used his savings which were Rs 152.

Delighted that he could manage the money, young Dinesh went to the principal to deposit the fees for the trip. The money which Dineshbhai deposited for the trip consisted of coins of 10 paise, 20 paise and Re 1. His principal was curious after seeing all the coins and asked him about it. Dinesh told the principal that he really wanted to go on the trip so he used his savings of seven years. His principal was extremely impressed with Dineshbhai’s efforts. He offered Dineshbhai Rs 50. Dineshbhai was surprised, but he refused to take the money from the principal. His principal told him that he might need some money to spend on the trip and should, therefore, keep the money. Dineshbhai took the money and went on the trip. After coming back from the trip, he returned Rs 20 to his principal. Kailash and Rajesh are two of his friends from childhood. Since his higher secondary school was outside the village, Dineshbhai used to commute with Rajesh via bus. It used to cost them Rs 6 per month to travel to school. He remembers that while returning from school, Dineshbhai and Rajesh used to occupy the last seat on the bus and would create so much disturbance in the bus that even the driver would complain about it. Kailash, Rajesh, and Dineshbhai were always competing among themselves for the first position in the examination.

A successful man is the one who does not forget his true friends ever. Even after becoming such a renowned entrepreneur, Dineshbhai has not forgotten his school friends. He meets them every once in a while and maintains a strong bond with them to date. Dineshbhai’s father Bhanushankar Hargovinddas was the only child in the family which is why his grandfather did not send him outside the village for higher education. He was a postman in Indian Postal services and his mother Rambaben Bhanushankar Pandya worked in Anganwadi. His mother is a courageous and talented woman whereas his father is a dedicated and honest man. In the 1970s and 1980s, the telephone was an uncommon luxury that everyone could not afford, unlike today. In those days, people used to write letters to each other, especially betrothed couples.

Since Dineshbhai Pandya’s father was a postman, he used to deliver these letters to the people they were meant for. Sometimes when the concerned person was not available, Bhanushankar Pandya made sure not to handover those love letters to anybody but the concerned person. He was so dedicated to the job that he would visit the concerned person’s address regularly to deliver the letter in their hands, and nobody else’s. He could not attend the Janeu ceremony of his sons because he was busy distributing letters in the village. By the time Dineshbhai reached the tenth class, he was earning Rs 300-350 every month. His father’s salary also increased to Rs 267 per month in the 1990s and his mother’s salary was Rs 150 per month. His father gave sixty-five years of his life to serve the Indian post office, but he did not get any pension because his job was temporary. On his retirement, he got Rs 50000 worth of the provident fund. His father was an innocent and straightforward man, so he never thought about earning more money, which was one of the reasons for his family’s poverty. Dineshbhai’s mother, Rambaben Bhanushankar Pandya was the eldest child in the family, followed by five brothers. She was married at the age of thirteen and she came to the Paravdi village in 1961. Dineshbhai had five maternal uncles who supported his family emotionally and financially.

His uncles organised the wedding ceremony of his elder sister and the Janeu ceremony of the two brothers. Dineshbhai believes that in today’s world one cannot get such nice and supportive uncles because their wives will not let them help their siblings, but Dineshbhai’s aunts were very generous. Dineshbhai’s grandfather Hargovinddas Pandya promised his grandson’s hand in marriage to a friend’s daughter. He was betrothed at such a young age that he does not even remember his engagement. In 1990, Dineshbhai was married to Jaishree Pandya, merely sixteen days after the demise of his grandfather. Dineshbhai’s in-laws belonged to Bagdana village which was famous for saint Bajrangdas.

His wife was the third child in the family after her elder brother and one elder sister. His father-in-law wanted to organise and settle the weddings of his three daughters on the same day, therefore, Jaishreeben and her two siblings were wedded on the same day. Soon after the wedding, Jaishreeben returned to her natal house because she was only fourteen years of age at the time. Her Gauna (ceremonial bringing of the wife from her natal to the marital house) took place three years after her wedding. Dineshbhai’s mother always encouraged him to study harder and do well in life. Dineshbhai had opted for the Science stream in the eleventh and twelfth standard. He scored 92% in his twelfth examinations. He wanted to pursue his studies and aimed at becoming a doctor. However, destiny had chosen a different destination for Dineshbhai. He realised that the family couldn’t sustain at an income of less than Rs 500 per month.

The situation was difficult therefore he decided to discontinue his studies and start working. Dineshbhai grew up seeing his father working hard day and night in every season. Every day he left home at six am in the morning and returned by ten pm at night. Dineshbhai remembers that in the scorching heat of June, his father used to cover his head with a towel and ride his bicycle from village to village posting letters and couriers. The unforgiving life of his father as a postman discouraged Dineshbhai to take up a government job. He could not have gone back to selling Masala Aloo or newspapers because he would not be able to earn sufficient money with those jobs to take care of his wife and his family. Since the responsibilities had increased, he needed more income to meet those exigencies. Dineshbhai decided to start his own paan stall for which he borrowed Rs 1500-2000 from one of his friends. Gradually his paan stall became famous and he made decent money out of it. However, Dinesh was a bright individual, and he was not satisfied with his profession. He asked himself whether he wanted to make paan for people throughout his life or he wanted to have a better and more respectable job.

He chose the latter on and decided to switch his life path. One day Dineshbhai saw an advertisement in the newspaper for the job of cashier in State Bank of Saurashtra. He attempted the objective exam for the job and scored 98 out of 100 in the exams. Mathematics was his strongest subject and he was able to score excellent marks in the bank examination. He was shortlisted for the job in Surat. Dineshbhai shifted from his village to Surat without his family. Now Dineshbhai had a decent job where he was earning Rs 6500 per month. Dineshbhai says “For an ordinary man who had never ever seen a Rs 1000 note in his entire life, Rs 6500 per month is equivalent to a lottery for him.” However, Dineshbhai was no ordinary man. His strong will and stout intention motivated him to strive harder for a better life. Dineshbhai could have been satisfied with the salary and the job where his actual working hours were between 11 am and 2:30 pm. After 2:30 pm he was virtually idle. He could have continued with his simple and comfortable job throughout his life but he wanted more from his life. The picture of his father on a bicycle, sweating and working hard in the extreme heat of June bothered Dineshbhai.

He wanted to earn enough money to give a comfortable life to his father. There were other factors as well which were responsible for Dineshbhai’s dissatisfaction with the bank job. With increasing age, responsibilities increased on Dineshbhai’s shoulders. Secondly, when he compared his success and his salary with his childhood friends, he came to know that his childhood friends were earning more than Rs 50,000 per month. He assessed his job and salary grades to find out when he would have such a hefty monthly income, if at all. He feared he would lose his youth and life in the bank job but he would not be able to match the income of his friends. He wanted to match the success of his friends and become rich enough to fulfill all his dreams and provide a luxurious life to his family. He was only eighteen-years-old at the time and he wanted to travel the world. Society and parents always teach us that one should not compare one’s success with others and shall be satisfied with one’s success, but Dineshbhai believed in a different idea. He believed that if one wants growth in life, one shall never be satisfied and shall always strive to achieve more. It is an old saying that one should stretch one’s legs according to the length of the sheet. It means one should envisage a future and plan one’s life according to the standard of life and financial condition. However, life has different lessons to teach Dineshbhai.

He says that he saw many people who did not even have a sheet and yet they stretched their legs so far and the sheet was extended. In other words, numerous men dared to dream big irrespective of their financial and social status and they achieved their dreams in a manner that set an example for others. Dineshbhai says “Stretch your legs as far as you can, the length of the sheet will increase. Dare to dream big and chase your dreams. Hard work and honest efforts make everything possible.”

Dineshbhai practiced what he preached. He was about to change the course of his life and reset his destination. He did not want to end his journey at the bank. One day, Dineshbhai read an advertisement in the newspaper which required 250 employees in the field of marketing. The job advertisement had mentioned no qualification requirements. The major attraction in this advertisement was the fact that they were promising an income of over Rs 1 lakhs per month without any investment. Dineshbhai was excited upon reading such an advertisement, and he wanted to push his luck. The very next day, Dineshbhai visited the company which had advertised for the job, and he asked about the job description. He was asked to visit the next day to understand the job description. When he was leaving, the person asked him about his life and career.

Dineshbhai told him that he was a cashier in the Bank of Saurashtra. The person laughed and told Dineshbhai not to visit because he thought that a man, who has a well-established banking job, must not take the risk of quitting his job for a small marketing job. The person did not want Dineshbhai to miss a day at the office and waste his entire day’s income. he know that Dineshbhai was not a man who can be attracted by a settled job, he had big dreams and even bigger intentions to make his dreams come true. Dineshbhai went again to the company the next day. He was made to sit at the reception, from where he was peeping inside a room where he observed young, excited and enthusiastic boys and girls of his age who were chatting with each other. He was wondering about their activities when the man who had met him the previous day appeared. The man was startled to see Dineshbhai. He introduced Dineshbhai to a twenty-year-old boy Jagatmahan, with who he had to spend the entire day, and in the evening he would be interviewed.

Despite Jagatmahan’s reservations about Dineshbhai, he agreed to train him. The sales and marketing job was commission-based which meant that the more Dineshbhai sold, the more he earned. The job had no income limit and there were regular promotions guaranteed for successful individuals. One even had a shot at becoming the director of the company. Jagatmahan took him to various markets like Begium Tower in Surat, Maiderpura market where he sold his products, mainly calculators. Jagatmohan gave him a demonstration—he took out the calculator from his bag and taught Dineshbhai ways to convince random people on the street to buy the product. Jagatmohan told Dineshbhai that selling a product is an art, it is a magic and salesmen are the artists, the magicians. Dineshbhai was not novel in the art of selling because he himself was a smart salesman in his childhood but he wanted to learn the magic that Jagatmahan was talking about.

Jagatmahan told him that there is a five step-method to talk to and convince the customers. The first step is to introduce oneself without mentioning the product. The most important thing while introducing oneself is to make eye contact; it reflected the confidence level of an individual. As soon as eye contact was made, one has to smile to grab the attention of the customer. The second step to convince the customer was the short story. Jagatmahan told Dineshbhai that people like to listen to stories and pay close attention to these stories. A good story and a story-teller can easily attract the attention of the customers. The third step is the presentation of the product, the most important step of all. The quality of presentation determines the impact of the product on the customer and becomes one of the deciding factors of the sale. The fourth step is to lure the customer with low prices of the product. The calculators they were selling were directly bought by the company from the manufacturer which cut the cost of the wholesaler, distributor, and shopkeeper. This reduced the cost to an extent that a calculator that cost Rs 200 in the market was sold by Jagatmahan and his company at Rs 100 each.

Such low prices of a calculator always attracted customers. The fifth and final step is to close the deal by exchanging the calculator in lieu of money and to make sure that the deal ends on a good note. Within four hours, Jagatmahan sold over twenty calculators which impressed Dineshbhai. At the end of the day, Dineshbhai was interviewed and he was selected for the job. He extended his leave to another five days to take this job on trial. The next day, Dineshbhai was again sent with Jagatmahan for the training. Jagatmahan managed to sell more than twenty calculators. Now, Dineshbhai was convinced that with good marketing skills, one can sell calculators and earn a healthy income. On the third day, Dineshbhai went to the field alone to sell calculators for himself for the first time in his life. By the end of the day, Dineshbhai was upset and exhausted because he tried his best the whole day but could not sell even one calculator. Disappointed with the day, Dineshbhai went to the manager and told him that he could not sell even one calculator all day. The manager comforted Dineshbhai and took him in his room, played music and told him to dance. Dineshbhai was baffled with the manager’s action; he could not understand this gesture. The manager was only twenty-two-years-old. He told Dineshbhai that life is meant to be enjoyed; one bad day will not decide his life. Success can be delayed but one should not be disheartened with a minor failure.

He gave him the lesson for life that one should not worry about minor setbacks, it is a part and parcel of life and gradually success will come to him. For the next four days, Dineshbhai could not even sell one calculator. This worried Dineshbhai because he wanted to work in the company but the job was without a fixed salary and the commission depended upon the sale of calculators. The situation was escalating because Dineshbhai had a decent job in the bank and if he wanted to continue with the marketing job, he would be needed to quit the job at the bank. The opportunity of greater success in the marketing job allured him but the insecurity and risk of an unstable income troubled him. Dineshbhai knew that once he would be able to sell calculators daily, gradually he would become a trainer, and then manager, and then area manager, so on and so forth to the post of director. However, initially, it was a huge risk and the failure he had seen in the last five days discouraged him from quitting his bank job.

The next morning Dineshbhai woke up and he decided that if he is unable to sell the calculator on the sixth day as well, he would quit the marketing job. He went to the market like every day to sell the calculator but today was different, he was attracting customers. Destiny did not want him to quit and within the first hour of the day, he sold his first-ever calculator. The joy Dineshbhai received from this success was immeasurable. He was delighted because he did not want to quit the job. The sale reinstated his confidence in his marketing skills and he believed that he could continue with the job. Immediately, he went to his office and resigned from the bank. He remembered the tough times his family had faced in the past few years. The secured bank job provided comfort to his family and they were satisfied with his bank job. They might not be very happy with his decision. This thought prevented Dineshbhai from sharing the news with this family. While writing his resignation letter, an old man put his hand on Dineshbhai’s head and slowly brushed his hair with his hand. This old man was Jani Dada, who had seen the struggles of Dineshbhai’s family closely. He was concerned with his decision to quit the job. Jani Dada tried to change his mind—he reminded Dineshbhai about the hardships his family had faced for the past two decades. When Dineshbhai declined Jani Dada’s advice, he told him to reconsider his decision otherwise he would inform his family. As a result, Dineshbhai was anxious all night and could not sleep properly. His stress drove him to take extreme action. He wrote a letter to Jani Dada telling him that he will be quitting the bank job and if Jani Dada informed his parents about his decision, he would commit suicide.

Jani Dada was scared after reading the letter and told Dineshbhai to go ahead with his life. Dineshbhai quit the job and joined his new marketing job. The situation and challenges in front of Dineshbhai were very clear. He needed to sell calculators to earn an amount equivalent to his bank salary otherwise his family would come to know about his job. Dineshbhai worked hard every day to sell calculators. On what is considered the unluckiest day of the month, on the 13th, Dineshbhai proved to be the luckiest—he sold over twenty calculators which earned him money equivalent to his monthly salary of Rs 6500. The sale boosted the morale of Dineshbhai. He was ready for new challenges now. Over time he became a marketing expert and his average sale went up to seventy-eighty calculators per day. In his early days of marketing, Dineshbhai was struggling with finances so he used to stay at Piplok in Surat with his branch manager. Every day he travelled with his branch manager on his Chetak scooter and reach the office by at 8:15 am in the morning. Dineshbhai used to wake up at 5 am in the morning to do the daily chores.

He took care of his manager as well. For instance, he used to give him hot water for bathing. One day, Dineshbhai was running five minutes late; his manager did not wait for him and left him behind. Dineshbhai did not have money for public transport and the office was fourteen kilometers away from his house. Dineshbhai walked to the office that day. He left his house at 6:30 am and reached the office by 9 am. That day his manager did not give him the products to be sold in the market because Dineshbhai was late at work by 45 minutes. Dineshbhai spent the whole day without consuming any meals because he did not have money to buy food. In the evening, when Dineshbhai and his manager were returning home, Dineshbhai asked him the reason for not giving him the bag knowing that he did not have any money. His manager told him that had he had money to board the bus in the morning, he would not have been late. His manager told him that he should sell more calculators so that he has more money to spend and save. Later that evening, his manager took him to a five star hotel for dinner. His manager told him that he should always respect others’ time and be punctual otherwise success will be nearly impossible to come. The experience which Dineshbhai gained from his job as an employee in the previous company helped him throughout his life. One day, Dineshbhai was selling Casio Company’s music instrument, which could produce 150 different types of sounds, between Maiderpura and Badal in Surat.

Dineshbhai was tired, so he halted at the wholesale vegetable market for a while. He noticed a woman in the market who was selling bananas; he thought of selling the musical instrument to the woman. The challenge here was that the cost of the instrument was Rs 150 and the woman most certainly did not have a daily income of Rs 150. He called out to the woman, “Madam” and tried to sell his product. The woman was infuriated with this action and she ran after him with a stick in her hand. Dineshbhai had to escape the woman to reach the office unharmed but he was confused with the woman’s reaction. When he reached the office, he narrated the story to his boss. His boss told him to visit the woman again the next day and try selling his product again. Dineshbhai was surprised by this answer and asked his boss the reason behind such a piece of advice. His boss told him that it would be fun to try again. The next morning, Dineshbhai was determined to sell the instrument to the woman.

He approached the woman again calling out to her, “Madam”. The woman was again infuriated with Dineshbhai. She abused Dineshbhai and chased him with the stick. Dineshbhai went to his boss and narrated the incident to his boss and asked him the reason for sending Dineshabhai to the woman again. His boss told him to go again the next day. Dineshbhai was unsettled by this advice and asked his boss “Why would you tell me to do that?” Dineshbhai told his boss that it was very difficult to approach the woman because the woman was very aggressive and violent. Dineshbhai requested his boss to accompany him to the market because he was the one insisting on visiting the lady. His boss rejected his request and told him to go alone. For the third consecutive day, Dineshbhai went to that woman again with the instrument. The lady recognised Dineshbhai and told him to go. Dineshbhai tried to convince the lady to talk to him. Dineshbhai asked the lady the reason for abusing and chasing him with a stick when he was only calling out to her. The woman told Dineshbhai that it was he who was abusing the woman. Dineshbhai was completely baffled; he could not understand what the lady meant. The lady said that he called her “Madam” which she thought meant wife. Dineshbhai explained the meaning of “Madam” and cleared the misunderstanding.

He told the woman that he sold musical instruments that kids love and asked her if she would like to buy one for her kids. Even though the lady’s daily income was less than Rs 150, she bought two of those instruments for her children for Rs 300. Dineshbhai went to meet his manager again and narrated the events to him. The manager gave him important marketing advice that anyone, anywhere is a potential customer, one needs to try hard enough to make a connection with him/her. Dineshbhai believes that a person who is abusing you today might be your customer tomorrow, and that’s why you should never turn your back on anybody. Dineshbhai believes that marketing is not something that one can learn in a day or two without any hardwork. It is a skill that one accumulates with experience and immense perseverance. Patience is the most important virtue in marketing and life. Dineshbhai was promoted from the post of training manager to brand manager in 1992. His company sent him for a ten-day trip to Rajkot with a team of seven people. This road trip aimed to test the management skills of the employees. The trip required them to sell the products of the company while on the trip. The task required the manager to instruct and train his team in an unknown locality for this exercise.

Dineshbhai was given the task of selling 1200 dining table mats in ten days and if he failed, he would not be promoted. Unlike calculators, dining table mats were not a product that everyone used, so this was a major challenge. After reaching Rajkot, the very next day Dineshbhai and his team started selling mats. While travelling in a bus, Dineshbhai met a woman named Sunita. Dineshbhai approached the woman and advertised the mats. The lady bought two dining table mats for Rs 200. The early success convinced Dineshbhai of his success in Rajkot. Within six days Dineshbhai was able to sell 1200 dining mats. His success promoted him to the post of brand manager. After working for eleven months in the company, Dineshbhai became the youngest director of the company in India. Dineshbhai was inching towards his dream every day. In 1993, Dineshbhai’s wife Jaishree Pandya returned to her marital house as promised three years ago. Dineshbhai visited his home at Paravdi to meet his family and wife. His mother told him that Dineshbhai should take his wife along with him to Surat. Dineshbhai wanted to travel in India and now he had the money to travel.