We
all know Ronnie Screwvala as the founder and CEO of UTV Group which
was established in 1990. However, his entrepreneurial journey began a
decade before UTV came to life. Ronnie’s father wanted him to
become a Chartered Accountant. But, Ronnie wanted to start his own
business. To keep himself busy while he looked for business
opportunities, he took up a job of a copywriter.
On
a trip to England with his father, Ronnie visited a hairbrush
factory. He bought two discarded machines from the factory for
£4,000. He came back to India and
started his own business of manufacturing toothbrushes. The company
went on to become the largest supplier of toothbrushes in the country
supplying to the top notch brands like Colgate Palmolive. Ronnie sold
the company in 2004 at a profit.
When
he was just 25 years old, he started his own cable network company by
the name “Network”. Ronnie went from door to door in his building
and convinced the residents to sign up for his cable service at a fee
of Rs.200 per month. What started with just 30 houses spread to
buildings in Cuffe Parade, Colaba,
Napeansea Road, Breach Candy and Hanging Gardens. What’s
commendable was that at that age Ronnie understood the importance of
good service. He took care that he provided family oriented content
with good picture quality. Not just that, he regularly met his
customers to understand their viewing preferences. He had the
qualities of a great entrepreneur that he is today.
In
1998 he sold off his cable company and established UTV which to begin
with, was a small production house in 1990. UTV today has ventured
into every possible direction in the entertainment industry from
producing TV shows to animation and TV commercials; dubbing English
and Japanese cartoons in Hindi; creating television channels for
various age groups and distributing & producing movies. UTV was
recently bought over by Disney and Ronnie is now the Managing
Director of Disney UTV- India.
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