"Competing with Levers was one of my toughest decisions": Mariwala

Marico founder and chairman Harsh Mariwala's book, 'Harsh Realities - The Making of Marico', is an insightful read not just for entrepreneurs but also for professionals. Like most entrepreneurial journeys, Mariwala's journey wasn't a cakewalk either. His challenges began right at the start when he had to convince his family members to allow him to start out on his own. Thereafter, it was about raising resources as well as attracting professional talent. After all, working with an entrepreneur with a strong commodity background was not exciting for most professionals and Mariwala had to do a lot of convincing to get them on board.

As his entrepreneurial journey took off, his toughest moment in business was to turn down Hindustan Unilever's offer to buy out his flagship hair oil brand, Parachute. "My decision to compete with Levers was one of my toughest moments. Years later, when I decided to hand over the reign of my business to professional management, I was wondering what would happen. Thankfully, it played out perfectly well."