Profit is essential for the survival and growth of organization but not at the cost of quality. Best service should be the main focus, believes Founder and Chairman of L7 Group of companies
Ravi Agrawal
He is self-motivated and can motivate others through his grace and persona, and the bouquet of achievements he has to his credit. Meet , Founder and Chairman of Nagpur based L7 Group of companies. He is one of the most successful business persons in India. Through his constant efforts in L7, he has his fair share of contribution in bringing Nagpur on global front. Nagpur based L7 Group has ventured into number of business sectors. Established since 1974 with one company, L7 has transformed into a group of companies today, dealing in diversified sectors like construction, trading in commodity markets, finance, media, entertainment, softwares, steel, food processing, flour Mill, resource management, crowd funding, wedding destination and lifestyle farm houses.
Agrawal joined his family business in 2003 and the venture spoke volumes through his abilities and impeccable business approach. Drawing inspiration for the young entrepreneurs and startups in city, Ravi Agrawal still dreams for broader avenues for his business, in order to generate more youth centric opportunities here.
In an exclusive conversation with Nagpur Today Ravi Agrawal shared his journey of success that he scripted for himself and for lot of young and going people of Nagpur. He also opened his heart out on personal front. The Excerpts…
How was your journey till now.
I started knowing business at the age of 18. I used to spend time in my fathers office and got connected with my family business. However, I seriously joined my family business in 2003 when I was in B.Com first year. Once I joined the business I focused on major contracts including contracts from The Food Corporation of India for rice. I also worked on a new grain, Soya bean in 2005. I tried hands on trading stock exchanges and became a Member of National Commodities Exchange (NCDEX) forming Agrawal Commodity, which specializes in trading activities. In 2006 I became the registered member of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). However later I felt that these trading institutions are outdated and not par with the latest stock market trends therefore I deregistered membership from NCDEX and MCX. After this I started the L7 Group and generated business interests into a variety of domains including software development, infrastructure, media, hospitality iIndustry and more.
What is your business mantra?
Our life is full of people with different temperament and keeping all of them together is very important. One who has the ability to stay connected with all of them is the winner of life. I try to maintain connectivity with everyone. I think keeping people from all walks of life is the biggest challenge and one who succeeds in doing this will definitely win hearts and emerge winner. I also believe that a person should keep his promises. One should not promise what he or she can’t do. My father taught me a lesson which is “you commit less and deliver more”. This will create faith of people on you. Employment management also plays an important role in success of any businessperson. You should understand the importance of each and every person connected with you, personally and professionally
Ravi Agrawal with Nitin Gadkari
What are your future business plans and how satisfied you are with your business life?
I am self satisfied at this point of time. Although I have many new projects lined up but I will not be in the rat race. I feel I have achieved something satisfactory. However I will keep working towards taking my empire to new heights. A new project “The Incubation Hub” is something I feel like talking about. I believe the world is moving ahead with new ideas. With this vision in mind I have taken the step towards giving platform to new ideas. The Incubation Hub is a unique and innovative approach towards providing an infrastructure to turn creative ideas into realities. Our state-of-the-art infrastructure in USA and India, lends one complete Office space, HR and Legal assistance, Software’s, Quality Assurance, and all the other paraphernalia’s.
Is it difficult to manage time for your family as you have a big responsibility of business?
Not at all! I give my family a quality time. I am the person who understand that business and family is equally important and how to balance both the responsibilities. I compulsorily spend weekends with my family. I usually go for dinner and lunch with my wife Amita and children Vansh and Vihaan. I am a movie man so I go for movie with family on weekends.
Where you prefer to hangout in your free time?
I spend my spare time at my guest house. I love to play video game with my elder son Vansh. I usually go to my guest house with family and friends in my free time.
Which is your favorite holiday destination?
It is Jordan. The reason is that I get chance of hunting which I don’t get in India. I also have many friends there. Therefore I love to go to Jordan for holidaying.
What is the key of happy life according to you?
A person should be a good citizen. If you are a good citizen you will be loved by all and this leads to happiness for sure. I also believe in giving back to the society. I does not encourage giving freebies to those in need. This will solve their problems only temporarily. I believe in making them capable and I feel that every single person should do something for others in there own possible way.
What message you would like to give to the young business people?
I believe that the most important problems in India are lack of professionalism and over commitment but under delivery. The youth needs to be more professional and dedicated. Keeping promises is very important.
