Because failure is not fatal…!! | Smruti Phatak, IIFT

As quoted by Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla : “ Failure is not fatal. Failure is inevitable. If you don’t fail, it perhaps means you aren’t taking enough risks.”

ABG launched Abof saying that the site would not offer discounts and, instead, sell a more limited and fashionable range of merchandise. “Abof.com” was an online e-commerce platform that failed to survive the competition from Amazon and Flipkart.

But, as a $44.3 billion corporation with operations in 34 countries and 120000 employees worldwide did not stop ABG in moving forward.

When asked what motivated Mr Birla to keep going and the reason behind ABG’s success, his response was : “The motivation, of course, is to take forward the legacy of my father. My father taught us that to thrive, excellence in technology, quality and customer service along with cost competitiveness is a prerequisite.” That is exactly what ABG follows - the values of integrity, commitment, passion, seamlessness and speed. ABG also believes in change, which is reflected by its CSR activities, which focuses on education, the girl child, health-care, women empowerment projects, infrastructure, sustainable livelihood and espousing social reforms.

From selections of clothes at Pantaloons store to hot chapati wrapped in aluminium foil, from leading mobile network company to being no #1 in Aluminium rolling, ABG is everywhere and making it “BIG”. When I think about buying clothes the brands like Allen Solley, Vero Moda pops in head and directly you go to Pantaloons store. The most crucial part of my forward journey started with ABG as I suited up in Allen Solly. I felt confident and motivated wearing it. When I connected the dots and got to know  that ABG is not just perceived as the brand that people enjoy sharing bond with, but, it is part of their everyday life, same as mine. 

Learning to push yourself..

I had a friend studying at one of the premier B schools and he described to me the incidence when Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla visited the campus. It was indeed an overwhelming situation for the entire batch knowing that the Chairman is attending marketing class with you. I remembered his words - “The one important thing that keeps me going is the kind of people I work with.''

Indeed life is a roller- coaster ride with twists and turns and at every point it teaches you to keep going and push yourself beyond limits. I was working with a firm and we worked on Agile model that is you need to deliver every month. Missing deadlines was not an option. As I was the only resource from India working in tandem with US counterparts, I had a tough time to keep up with them and I failed several times. I  then started sitting for long hours to learn new things, I was both mentally and physically exhausted during the process, but then I learnt that you have to keep going to achieve what is desired. Also the people I worked with were supportive, understanding and most importantly trusted me in what I was doing.

When I joined Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, it was manageable for me to meet deadlines, keep working for long hours while drinking coffee and keep pushing yourself till the end.