Big Bets Big Rewards – Sushil Mantri
Big Bets Big Rewards is a fascinating story on how Mr Sushil Mantri, Managing Director & Chairman of Mantri Group started his life as a young businessman selling textiles and then moved from textiles to stock broking. From there on getting into manufacturing and then the story continues on how he moved from manufacturing to property development.
About the Book & Author
Big Bets Big Rewards is written by Mr Sushil Mantri Managing Director & Chairman, Mantri Group & Benedict Paramanand. It is published by Westland Ltd. This book is not an autobiography. This book is a mélange of varied & extremely rich experiences of Sushil Mantri in turning around loss making business before moving to Bangalore.
This book’s purpose is to boost the confidence of Indian entrepreneurs who are high on self belief & a do or die attitude but feel beaten by the system. The book demonstrates how despite hurdles, red tapism & corruption, business can be built & run efficiently in India if one is ambitious, disciplined, has the customer’s best interest at heart & walks the talk on transparency & best practices.
This book is full of interesting information and point of views that one would not find in any of the typical news sources. Mr Sushil has shared his practical views, obstacles & success in the journey of unpredictable life. The book is immensely readable & the story is told with clarity & passion.
This book has eight unusual business lessons.
Stepping into the big league
This chapter maps a small developer Mr Sushil Mantri’s journey which took him off the different path. The author writes his association with Morgan Stanley from 2006 to the present day has been truly enriching.
Sushil derived is own formula ROTI- Return on Time Invested, even Morgan Stanley & many banker friends agree with his ROTI concept. The time cost of money was accorded the highest importance. His management philosophy is PQRST, Punctuality, Quality, Reliability, Speed & Transparency.
Big thinking, big rewards
Sushil believes that big is beautiful but the big can be achieved only when many small things are done well. Excellence in execution is as important as having a great strategy. We normally learn by making mistakes, but it’s very expensive. Learning from others’ mistakes rather than your own is a smarter way to get ahead. It is very interesting to know that Sushil visited to failed malls in China to know were they were losing money. The story of how the Mantri mall called Mantri square came into being & the way it revolutionized the business malls in India is very well described in the book.
An instinct for business
Sushil was only sixteen years old when he took charge of the family’s textile business when his father fell ill. For forty five days he managed the shop well, sales increased & there were no customer complaints. When he passed his tenth standard exams in distinction his father wanted to gift him something for achieving a distinction, but he decided to purchase a computer costing Rs 65, 000 for the business. This money was huge in 1978, he could have bought a car instead, but he preferred to buy PC to computerize all the textile business.
Sushil shares few important & interesting lesson he learnt & rightly writes, whose parents don’t impose their own decisions on them go on to achieve greater success in their lives because this independence brings a sense of responsibility.
Don’t follow the crowd
In this chapter the author Sushil says he never followed the crowd. His grandfather had taught to welcome recession by doing what others don’t. An important factor for success in business is being at the right place at the right time.
There’s a saying, necessity is the mother of invention & it holds true in the life of Mr Mantri. He came up with innovative ideas where he didn’t have to spend any money, yet could get things done. He requested his architects to accept their fees in kind, in the form of flats.
Practical idealist
Sushil’s understanding of practical idealist is where one is willing to give in or accept some loss yet not compromise on transparency, trust & ethics. He never sacrificed decency, decorum, transparency or trust in the name of being practical even if I have to pay a price for it.
The author suggests the readers to pay before being asked, Human resources, Time is money, and Learning is future capital. The right blend of a practical approach & instinct for business is a killer combination.
Business lesson from Grandfather
It is true that a strong work or business culture is first learnt at home. Sushil’s grandfather Shri Jivrajji Mantri tought him the most significant lessons of his life. Few of the golden words were engraved in his memory.
A wise starts his business in a deep recession, because recession teaches the value of every rupee & when he completes his learning, he is ready to take full advantage of boom time.
Be an investor, not a speculator. Consider losses an investment & always expect good returns on your investment.
Never say die, keep struggling. There is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Take blessings never ever take curses.
I love recession
To the real-estate world Sushil Mantri might appear a maverick, a contrarian who loves to play big game in all times, even during slow downs & recessions. Sushil loves recession & already he has been taught by his grandfather to understand & appreciate a recession as an opportunity to start a business & appreciate the value of cash.
Building a top school
Sushil wanted to start a school that would create leaders of tomorrow. His Indus school is the best IB school in India. (As stated by Education World magazine survey)
Education sector has always fascinated him. He always believed that the future of any organization or country depends heavily on the number & quality of leaders it nurtures. Unfortunately the focus of our primary education system is more on the theoretical; the practical aspects of life are not given importance. Due to the imbalance of what is taught & what is needed, we seem to be creating more followers than quality leaders. The author shares the shortcoming of our education system. Finally Sushil Mantri in his life time wishes to see India become one of the best places for doing business in the world.
My Verdict.
Big Bets Big Rewards makes a great forum for learning experience valuable to all entrepreneurs. Every young entrepreneur needs good ideas, and this book is full of them. It gives a lot of practical information; one can use in order to succeed in any business at any age. These personal stories of struggle, growth and triumph demonstrate a way forward for all of us.