Samagam held on 4th August, 2006.

Guest Speaker:
Mr. Kishore Biyani, CEO of the Future Group.

About the Future Group:

Future Retail, Future Capital, Future Brands, Future Space, Future Logistics, and Future Media - there is hardly any field of business left unexplored by this highly reputed and successful group.

India's leading Retail Company, "Pantaloon Retail" is this group's flagship enterprise. Pantaloon which started as a garment manufacturing company in 1987 forayed into modern retail in 1997 with the opening up of a chain of department stores, Pantaloons. In 2001, Mr. Biyani created and evolved a pan-Indian, classless model- Big Bazaar, a hypermarket chain, leading to the democratization of shopping in India. With 'Food Bazaar', a supermarket chain, he blended the look, touch and feel of Indian bazaars with western hygiene and that has now evolved into the favoured destination for the Indian homemakers.

The entire gamut of consumer products and services is provided by the Company- Food, Fashion & Footwear, Books & Music, Home Solutions & Electronics, Health, Wellness & Beauty, General Merchandise, Leisure & Entertainment and many more, the list is almost endless.

Future Capital Holdings, the group's financial arm, has recently raised around US$ 1Billion in private equity funds for Investment in Retail real estate and consumer -related industries. Apart from asset management, it also plans to get into insurance, consumer credit and offer other financial products and services.
The Group's vision is to deliver everything, everywhere, every time to every Indian in the most profitable manner.
The success of the group has been possible because of its corporate credo- "Re-write rules, Retain Values".

About the Man himself:

Mr. Kishore Biyani is a firm believer in Learning, Unlearning & Re- Learning all the time. A non-conformist who has challenged the way things are done conventionally Mr. Biyani believes it is not really about winning it is about learning. He was the first to introduce Disco Dandia (During B.Com days), stone-washed jeans, etc. A realistic person, It was with great humility that he said 'You cannot compare Big Bazaar to Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart is much bigger'.

Learnings from Kishore Biyani

Family and Business Management

It can be a waste of time to try and build consensus at all times with all family members. At times you should just work around them. Mr. Kishore Biyani was considered the "black sheep" of the family and a "rebel". He took the bold decision of not participating in the family business and starting up his own textile-manufacturing unit. Despite his success, he remains an integral part of the joint family, and as much a family man. He also warns that managing the family is actually more difficult at times than managing the business as it can lead to awkward situations as well as conflicts.

Resources exist outside the Business

Mr. Biyani is a living example of Druckers Theory/ Business Reality - "Resources exist outside the business". He has managed to build an empire with just 7 lakhs of his own start-up funds. He further certifies this statement by having raised 5000 Crores through the IPO.

Indian-ness and the 3 C's theory

Indian-ness is an integral part of the Future Group's strategy and plans for the future.The growth in the Indian economy and the booming demand, especially from todays Youth (> 60% of the population) is the opportunity that the group is targeting. The 3 C's Change, Confidence and Consumption further explain the logic.
The company is especially high on "Consumption" as a tool to improve the state of the economy at large (as well as their sale and profits).

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