THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Young Shehaz VB was the odd one out among the middle-aged and older entrepreneurs who turned up for the loan settlement adalat organised by the Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC).
The 29-year-old was among the four engineering graduates who had made news a few years ago for turning down attractive campus placement offers and setting up a handloom startup instead. ‘The People’s Company’ established at the KINFRA apparel park in Kannur downed its shutters after just 19 months. The promoters owed Rs 87 lakh to KFC which they had availed themselves of after pledging the properties of Shehaz and another director Sreerag. The adalat took a favourable stand towards the youngsters and settled the case for Rs 31 lakh.
According to Shehaz, the promoters needed to spend less on settlement since the government has agreed to sanction Rs 11 lakh subsidy which the startup could not secure when it was running. “Recently, on hearing our plight, Finance Minister Thomas Isaac initiated steps to grant us the amount as a special case,” he said.
Young entrepreneurs can learn a lesson or two from the experience of ‘The People’s Company’. “We were hyped by the media ever since we rejected the campus placement offers. In a way, we got carried away by the spotlight and began to think of ourselves as big shots,” Shehaz says.
He said the promoters were innovative in finding a promising sector but failed to get a proper understanding on how to handle the operations. “The business was quite good for around six months. Afterwards, we were hit by the sudden cancellation of some orders. There was no Plan B. We literally sold the wears on the streets of Kannur and Bengaluru,” he said.
He said the promoters were innovative in finding a promising sector but failed to get a proper understanding on how to handle the operations. “The business was quite good for around six months. Afterwards, we were hit by the sudden cancellation of some orders. There was no Plan B. We literally sold the wears on the streets of Kannur and Bengaluru at throwaway prices,” he said.
Shehaz is now working on a proposal to launch a startup in the seafood sector. "I will certainly do it. Once the study is over, I will start looking for capital," he says with eyes gleaming.