Ritesh Agarwal, founder-CEO of OYO radiated experience and energy at Pan Asian, ITC Sonar on April 19 at ‘Powerful Perspectives with Ritesh Agarwal’ organised by Alfa Network. The entrepreneur first addressed the audience and then had a tete-e-tete with Alfa Network members, Arjun Sahni and Mitesh Shah, followed by questions from members of the audience.
“Thank you for bringing me into such an august community of entrepreneurs. I am always happy to come to Calcutta simply because it is much more closer to home in Odisha. When you can speak and write Odiya then understanding Bengali is not very tough. I feel Calcutta has a unique blend of modern and authentic entrepreneurship. In fact, a large part of Indian entrepreneurs hail from Calcutta, take for example the Birla family. I see Calcutta as a dark horse like Bengaluru and Mumbai might be in a tussle but Calcutta might just emerge victorious in the entrepreneurship field,” said Ritesh.
Choosing right was a skill Ritesh said one must hone. “Surrounding yourself with the right people is very important. You have to try to find the smartest people so you are always surrounded by learning opportunities. You have to be authentic and be yourself because people can make out. You transfer energies. For instance, when we see couples married for a long time they start behaving in similar ways that is because they affect each other’s energies. So it is important to have the right energy within yourself and choose your company because you sometimes spend way more time with the management at offices as compared to time spent at home,” he added.
(L-R) Arjun Sahni, Ritesh Agarwal and Mitesh Shah
OYO is presently valued at billions of dollars and it all began when Ritesh was just 19 years old. As an advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, Ritesh said: “One very important reminder is to think and dream big... it does not take money. We doubt whether we have the resources for those dreams or not, what would the parents say, if competitiors could not with resources then how could you.... and 100 other concerns bombard your mind. However, it is important to continue dreaming big, he said. He recounted how he began in Gurgaon around 10 years back. “My ambition was to get 10 to 15 guesthouses in the next 30 years. Even then people in Gurgaon told me that I was expecting too much and if I could run three guesthouses that would me more than enough. Imagine if I stopped dreaming or thinking big then!” he smiled.
For Ritesh “talent acquisition” was a “necessary risk”. “As businesspeople, we often get scared of investing in new talent but talent acquisition is a necessary risk and if entrepreneurs don’t take risks then who will? You will make mistakes initially but if that beats you down you will lose the opportunity to find good talent at all. Even during Covid-19, we had forward invested for three years and it was a tough time for all hospitality businesses. Irrespective of the circumstances, if you can chin-up every morning, get dressed and go to work with the hope that eventually things will get better, you have won half the battle,” he said.
Ritesh saw future India buoyant with “numerous billion dollar companies”. “While the opportunities are ahead of us, the path is fraught with risks but if we can persevere through the challenges that come our way and we dream bigger after learning from the hurdles, everyone in this room will have done very good for themselves and the country in the next 10 years,” added Ritesh.
ORGANISER SPEAK
Rohan Ganeriwala, chairman, Alfa Network said: “Ritesh is a very inspiring entrepreneur and a great person. Today OYO is a standard in itself. If I would go to a Tier II, Tier III city, I would not think before choosing an OYO property. Moreover, he began merely at the age of 19. People at Alfa Network also resonate with his journey and we are happy that he chose to be a part of this evening.”
