u did a splendid job.we salute your endeavour.really today people are so busy nowadays that they are overlooking the small efforts unless it becomes big.media is prsenting only cricket,excesses in society,stories of manbites to dog having selling values.people are also not taking notices which compells them to serve what the people want.once again salute the brave lady.amitabh
We would like to wish the woman who made an irremarkable mark in the Book World by her sole talent.She had made a history and we are proud that we were part of the history.It was a golden opportunity to work with you and learn a lot from you.We all really Miss you Mam. Her business is not just to make money,she created the pleasure of reading books and gain more knowledge.People who really donot have the interest towards books are totally changed when they worked for Landmark Book Store.
in 1987 12 laks was not small change. its equvivalent today would be some 2.4 crores or more. With that kind of capital making a success of a business rested on the entreprenurial skill alone. Import of books were under Open General Licence then. Doller was cheap. It all depended on importing the books that would sell. alternately choosing the right Indian publishers who will give a better margin and credit. I do appreciate the way she built her mega bookstore empire. still availability of capital was the chief reason for her being able to sucdceed.
RE:its good capital.
by natraj tanjore on May 18, 2008 04:26 PM Permalink
Dear subbu There are plenty of guys who had tons of money available and still squandered them bringing grief to the employees, bankers and investors! So please appreciate the effort and the grind she had gone through to make landmark reach the scale it has! If availability of capital was only criteria then ambanis, narayanamurthis would have never been allowed to come up, for you had wadias, birlas, tatas who were much bigger than them when they started out! Entrepreneurial skill, vision and guts are far more important than money / equity which will naturally flow in if the business case is good!
MADAM, LET ME CONGRATULATE FOR THE RATE OF SUCCESS IN YOUR LIFE. WHEN I VISITED CHENNAI AND BANGLORS STORES I FELT VERY GLAD. PL OPEN ONE IN VIJAYAWADA. IF THERE IS ANY PROPOSAL TO GIVE FRNACHISE IN VIJAYAWADA WE WILL TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY. M.NARAYANA RAO mnrao33@rediffmail.com
I had first known Landmark as a bookshop,later on as a keen customer for my products and now as a genuine Indian sucess story.I have always admired Hemu and her team as great people to deal with and count myself lucky to know her personally.
For me any visit to the cities her stores are located ensures a visit from my side
I first met this lady in 1987 when she wanted to open an account at the Grindlays Bank in El Dorado in Chennai - I happily signed the introduction note to the Bank and I am very very happy to note that she is what she is today
I want to thank the gutsy lady for starting landmark. Now its popular all over India. I remember the days when i was in school and college when i use to frequent landmark. They had lovely greeting cards, Cd's, gifts along with books. I also understood her business strategy in the venture 1) She was the first to start it 2) She understood the demand for books 3) She packaged her retail outlet well
12 lakhs to 240 crores in 20 years, a truely amazing story
