Blackstone may acquire 51% of Haldiram

From Bikaner to Blackstone

Blackstone may acquire 51% of Haldiram for 40000 crore.

And it is all because of Shiv Kishan Aggarwal.

The man who scaled Haldiram from a single shop to $1.5 billion in revenue.

Here are 3 key lessons to learn from the Willy Wonka of India:

1) Find market gaps and seize them

When Haldirams expanded to Maharashtra, Maharashtrians were exposed only to ladoos, pedas, balushahis.

Shiv Kishan Aggarwal saw a gap and introduced Kaju Katli.

As a promotional strategy, he started giving out free samples.

Word spread about this new sweet.

In 3 years, Nagpur unit’s sales skyrocketed by 400%.

2) Stick to the basics

Every morning, he personally tastes each sweet & namkeen to ensure the quality is perfect.

He has a notorious reputation for firing manufacturing heads if needed.

In his own words: “It’s quality over EVERYTHING.”

3) Innovate… relentlessly

Starting with Bhujia, Haldiram now offers over 400+ products!

Recently, they introduced fusion sweets to attract the younger generation.

He firmly believes that if you don’t innovate, you’ll be left behind.

Shiv Kishan Aggarwal’s story is truly inspirational.

For the past 50 years, he has risen at 5 am and worked 20 hours a day, 6 days a week.

As he says, “All I ever wanted was to do good work & grow.”

Seeing a Madwadi on the big stage feels like a personal victory 🙂