It’s about ‘working on’ the business

A first generation entrepreneur, Makrand Appalwar, Chairman & Managing Director at Emmbi Industries Limited had a tough time convincing financial institutions to believe in his idea of business and receive funding. In 1994, he received seed funding of Rs 5 lakh and with Rinku Appalwar, he set up a packaging business which they thought was going to be revolutionary in the years to come. And they were right. Within 20 years, the company has grown exponentially – from an employee base of 30 in 1994 to over 1200 employees today, the total turnover of the company is Rs 225 crore. Today, Emmbi manufactures all sorts of polymer-based products from jumbo bags, car covers, pond & canal liners, crop protection products in over 5 continents and 50 countries. Emmbi went public in the year 2010 and with the IPO money their expansion plans have received a great boost. 
People Matters spoke to Makrand Appalwar on transforming a small trading organization to a global manufacturing and supply