Meet woman with Rs 20 first pay who built Rs 100 crore brand, school dropout now drives BMW

Chinu Kala is one of the most inspirational entrepreneurs in the country. She had a rough childhood. However, she spent it building herself. The result of her perseverance: she now owns a Rs 100 crore jewellery brand. Who is Chinu Kala? What's her story?

Chinu Kala is the director of Rubans Accessories, a well-known fashion jewellery brand. Kala was forced to leave her house when she was just a 15-year-old child. She had Rs 300 and some clothes in a bag. She slept on a railway station for two days. As she had no way to support her. She became a sales girl with a paltry salary of Rs 20 per day.

Cut to 2023, she lives in a 5000 square foot house in Bengaluru and drives a BMW 5 series car. All this, however, began from a small shop in a Bengaluru Mall.

Despite the success, she still works for 15 hours every day to realise her dream of making Ruban the biggest jewellery company in India.

Chinu Kala could study till Class 10 only as she had to leave her house when she was just 15.

Her first job was selling knives and coaster sets for Rs 20 per day. She used to live in a hall which had no washrooms or kitchen.

She also participated in Mrs India contest and was among the top 10 finalists. She married Amit in 2004.

The turning point of her life was when she invested Rs 3 lakh in Rubabs Accessories. She used to handle the kiosk on her own. By 2018, she was running five kiosks. The coronavirus pandemic proved to be an opportunity in disguise. Her sales jumped when she started selling jewellery online.

"The first day that I left my parents' home, with only 300 rupees in my pocket, I couldn't really decide how I must eat and survive that day or the days to come. It was that hunger that I think about now while in Rubans," she wrote on Instagram.

She also said that the company was profitable and had 30 percent repeat customers.

Earlier this year, Kala appeared on Shark Tank. Her business received an investment of Rs 1.5 crore.

On the very day, she sold items worth Rs 70. Within six months, she was supervising a team of 3 girls.

She later got a job at Tata Indicom where she met her husband Amit Kala.

She also ran a salon at home. The company was a runway success. It made a sales of Rs 29.7 crore in FY 21 and Rs 51 crore in FY 2022.

The sharks offered her Rs 1 crore at 1 percent equity and Rs 50 lakh in debt. This made the valuation of the company at Rs 100 crore.