3 weeks ago
Odisha entrepreneur builds ₹1 crore flower business after setbacks
A man named Sanjeev Reddy once worked in an office job in India and saved his money because he dreamed of running his own business.
He quit his job and tried growing mushrooms on a farm.
Two times things went wrong — first the weather hurt his mushroom crop, and later a big cyclone destroyed his farm.
But Sanjeev did not give up.
In 2020, he started growing a special kind of lotus flower called 'Namoh-108.'
He worked with scientists at a research institute in Lucknow and got seeds and baby plants from them.
Soon his farm was growing more than 30,000 lotus flowers every year and selling them in big cities.
He also started growing marigold flowers and collecting many other kinds of flowers to sell.
Together with his wife, he built a flower business called Happy Dukan that earns about one crore rupees every year.
His story shows that even when things go wrong, you can try again and succeed.
A. Sanjeev Reddy of Kalyanpur village in Odisha's Ganjam district quit a corporate job in 2000 to pursue entrepreneurship.
His paddy mushroom ventures suffered losses in 2005 and again in 2019, when Cyclone Hudhud damaged the infrastructure.
In 2020 he partnered with the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow, investing ₹1.08 lakh to cultivate the premium 'Namoh-108' lotus variety.
His lotus farms now produce over 30,000 flowers a year, supplying traders in Delhi, Ludhiana and Kolkata at ₹5-10 per flower.
Happy Dukan, the flower procurement and distribution business built on his wife's registered venture, records an annual turnover of around ₹1 crore.
- Who
- A. Sanjeev Reddy, an entrepreneur from Kalyanpur village in Odisha's Ganjam district, and his wife T. Jayashree Reddy, whose registered venture Happy Dukan anchors the business.
- What
- Built a flower cultivation, procurement and distribution business with an annual turnover of around ₹1 crore, spanning lotus and African marigold farming.
- Where
- Kalyanpur village and Makarajhola Panchayat in Ganjam district, Odisha, with farms in Karatali village; flowers supplied to Delhi, Ludhiana and Kolkata.
- When
- From 1995 (career start) through 2020 (lotus farming) and 2023 (marigold expansion) to the present.
- Why
- He wanted to create something independently rather than spend his life in a salaried job, and he persisted through repeated business losses.
Key facts
- Entrepreneur
- A. Sanjeev Reddy
- Business
- Happy Dukan (flower procurement and distribution)
- Location
- Kalyanpur village, Ganjam district, Odisha
- Annual turnover
- Around ₹1 crore
- Signature lotus variety
- 'Namoh-108' (Laxmi Kamal), a 108-petalled lotus
- Annual flower output
- Over 30,000 lotus flowers
- Marigold operation
- Nearly 7,000 African marigold plants on 4 acres in Karatali village
- Workforce
- 12 permanent workers earning about ₹15,000 per month plus accommodation and meals
Quotes
A. Sanjeev Reddy
Founder and owner of the lotus and marigold business
“"I always wanted to create something independently rather than spend my entire life in a salaried job. Every rupee I saved was for that dream."”
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“"Every setback teaches you something. After the cyclone, I decided to return with a stronger and more sustainable business model."”
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