RISING STOCK
“A BUSINESS SCHOOL degree is always useful and coveted; it helps you get a more holistic and well-rounded perspective of all aspects of business,” says Nirmal Jain, Founder of IIFL Group, which today includes IIFL Wealth, IIFL Finance, IIFL Securities and 5paisa.com. Indeed, when Jain entered the stock markets in 1995, all he was armed with was his educational qualifications and a few years of work experience in the FMCG space with HUL. Jain was part of the IIM Ahmedabad batch of 1989 and attributes much of his success to his years at the management school, although he is a rank-holder Chartered Accountant and a Cost Accountant as well. “I became an all-rounder after IIMA,” says the first-generation entrepreneur. “I got a holistic perspective of all aspects of business and also understood the importance of teamwork and interpersonal skills.”
Jain entered the stock markets at a time when the arena was dominated by traditional broking firms; professionals were few. Equity research and websites— Jain launched his online trading platform in the year 2000—were not very common even as the markets were just starting to open up in the post-liberalisation era. Interestingly, Rashesh Shah, who founded another new-age entity in Edelweiss Group, is Jain’s batchmate and entered the stock markets around the same time.
Meanwhile, IIFL, which started as an equity research company in 1995, has transformed into a diversified financial services firm whose listed entities command a valuation of over `32,000 crore and has assets under management worth more than `5 lakh crore. “The IIM degree helped me a lot because in entrepreneurship, one has to have an understanding of all aspects of business from accounts to human resources to sales to marketing. The IIMA degree allowed me to have an understanding of all aspects of business, which helped me to scale up,” he says.
Jain acknowledges the fact that the alumni network of a B-school like IIMA does help not only in scaling up the business but also in various other ways. “I benefitted a lot from my friends and alumni network at IIMA. This included opening doors to helping in consummating business deals to contributing to charitable causes. Across the world, the network is very helpful,” he says.
However, Jain is clear that the degree alone cannot be looked upon as a panacea. “All the courses I attended could not prepare me for the challenges thrown by real life and how to manage a crisis, especially during troubled times… The key to success, however talented and intelligent you are, depends on the three Hs—hard work, humility, and honesty,” says Jain.