How This Woman Fought Against All Odds to Build a $15-million Company After teaching in a government school for 9 years, she headed for a new journey to the western sphere
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Jyothi Reddy's is not a fairy tale transition. It's the bounce back story of a brave heart, who did not give into complacency.
A lady who lives by the slogan that says it is courage that keeps an entrepreneur going and failure is the greatest teacher of all. From a rustic childhood, to facing even difficult times as a teenager, and then being married off young, with encumber of supporting two daughters, Reddy has worked her way up in life. In the initial years, Jyothi worked as a farm labourer to pay for her education.
She was a government school teacher for nine years and at a time when most would become complacent and resign to fate, Reddy put on her boots again and headed for a new journey to the western sphere. "The best thing about this part of the world is that you are never judged by the job you do and I did not let go of any work opportunity. At the end of the two years, I saved $41,000. And that was my start-up capital," she added.
In early 2000s, with the Bush government in power, the H1B visa processing was relatively easier and spelled some good business opportunity for Reddy. The software industry was booming as well and it was in need for quality manpower.
She pooled in all her investments and incorporated her company Key Software Solutions Inc. But it took almost a year for things to start rolling, which was a tough phase, as the stakes were high. She had to pay salaries, rents and other charges, while, the feasibility of her business was still bleak. "When you are planning to make a business investment, you need to prepare for the failure first. Even after collecting all the funds, and working up our network, we were out of business for over a year. But we did not stop trying," shared Reddy.
For her, the journey of an entrepreneur is all about being courageous and never to give up. Her turn around moment came when her business ideas started clicking across continents. She later expanded the business over five continents. Supplying manpower to software companies in USA from countries like India, China and Australia. Today, she has a turnover of $15 Million with a 100 employee strong team. Jyothi is socially associated with multiple NGOs, working to provide better living conditions and world class educational facilities to orphans in India. Further, she has made personal investments into a retail syndicate which will setup cash and carry stores selling Indian products in the US.
