India's retail king, Radhakishan Damani

Radha Kishan Damani, investor, entrepreneur, and a veteran, is one of the top-notch investors in the Indian market. He is the founder of DMart, the man behind the most desired retail chain of supermarkets in India. One of the few billionaires who paved their way to success through hard work, way up around 234 DMart stores across the country. Before starting his own business, he worked as a stock market investor and broker. Damani, passionate about trading and investing, slammed the thought of becoming successful through education and qualification. Currently, he is the 98th wealthiest person in the world. In 2020, Damani became the fourth richest person in India, with a net worth of $16.5 billion. He grew his company rapidly with hard work and dedication. He was one of the few self-made billionaires in the country and comes from a humble beginning. The man is a successful investor and entrepreneur. The universe always bows down to a stubborn heart, just like it did for Radhakishan Damani.

Springtime of Life

Radhakishan Shivkishan Damani was born on 15 March 1954 to an Indian Maheshwari Marwari family, and he belonged to a middle-class family born and brought up in Bikaner, Rajasthan. After schooling, Damani attended the University of Mumbai to study commerce, but he dropped out after one year. After his father's death, who worked on Dalal Street, Damani left his ball-bearing business and became a stock market broker and investor. As soon as he started to invest in stocks once he realized that to make real money, he must become an investor. He began to profit from his trading techniques and investments in multi-bagger stocks. He made profits by short-selling stocks in  1990 that Harsha Mehta inflated. Damani was reportedly the largest individual shareholder of HDFC Bank after it went public in 1995. In 1992, after the Harshad Mehta Scam came to the limelight, he saw a significant rise in his income due to short-selling profits. In 1999, he started operating an Apna Bazaar franchise, a cooperative department store, in Nerul but was "unconvinced" by its business model. As he quit the stock market in 2000 to start his own business, enter the departmental store sector, and create his supermarket chain, DMart. He set up his first store in Powai in 2002. His business multiplied, and Damani became one of the richest people in the country. He was the fourth richest person in India, with a net worth of $16.5 billion in 2020. He was ranked 117 on the global list of billionaires. He was ranked 87 on the worldwide list(Forbes) of billionaires in 2022, with a net worth of $18.9 billion.

D'Mart : Successful Indian Chain of Hypermarkets

And before starting DMart, he bought the cooperative retail chain “Apna bazaar” franchise. He laid the foundation for DMart in 2002; at that time, real estate prices were low, so he utilized that opportunity and bought properties for DMart has risen to success comparatively in a short time. Mr. Damani focused on offering customers a convenient shopping experience and value for money and was also investing in those stocks. D-mart focuses on catering to the middle-income group; hence, its stores are located close to residential areas. Its business model stands on three pillars – customers, vendors, and employees. D-mart believes in the principle of 'Buy it low, stack it high, and sell it cheap.' D-mart offers a price of 6-8 percent lower than its competitors, which helped them command a larger market share. It allows them to keep their operational expenses moderate.  His farsightedness benefitted him greatly, and he always preferred to keep himself away from the herd and so never opened any store in the malls, and he owns all stores of DMart. When all the market players were busy expanding their business, Damani focussed more on profitability. Until 2011 he had only 25 stores, later he developed, and till now, he has more than 200 stores across India. Though he had money, he never thought of opening a new store of DMart, without calculating its profitability compared to the other existing stores.

 Reaping Success

His low-key operational method has helped him to remain profitable, the reason behind Damani's reliance on his successful relationship with local vendors and suppliers. The moment when Radhakishan Damani overpowered famous Indian stockbroker Harshad Mehta was a major highlight in his life. That’s when he secured a strong position in the business. He has become the 2nd richest person in the country after Mukesh Ambani.

When counting the names of successful personalities of India, no one can miss the name of RK Damani. Though he maintains a low profile, his rise as a successful entrepreneur is phenomenal. He is one of the few self-made billionaires who started at nothing but made it big with hard work, focus, and vision.

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