Founder, Renuka Sugars
About The Leader
About The Leader
Narendra Murkumbi, who loved challenging the status quo, declined a well paid job after a prestigious education and moved back to his village to start a very new kind of sugar mill business -- an industry which had a highly traditional business model. He eventually grew a powerful global brand.
Narendra Murkumbi is the founder of Shree Renuka Sugars with his mother in 1998
Trained as an electronical engineer and earning an MBA from IIM-A, Murkumbi decided to pursue entrepreneurship at a time when startup support was difficult.
Starting small by offering equity stakes to farmers, the company was able to grow into an integrated sugar mill with operations in India & Brazil.
His Purpose
Murkumbi's intent was to challenge the status quo both on traditional business models and operations in outdated traditional industries.
Case for Change
Case for Change
Sugar refining was considered highly unprofitable.... and we lacked the extensive capital which setting up the required infrastructure.
Growth Gap
Growth Gap
But we were determined to impact the lives of millions of small farmers in and around my village.
Investment Portfolio
Investment Portfolio
We bought old scrap furniture from a plant which was up from auction to save cost... .We made the farmers shareholders in our company to raise capital.. We went to each and every farmer to convince them why this was great proposition for them.
His Leadership Qualities
His Leadership Qualities
Murkumbi believed in achieving success through dedication and hard work. He was relentless on the ground executing his vision in challenging and tough scenarios.
Lead by Example
Lead by Example
When Murkumbi decided to transition from his biochemicals business into the sugar industry, it required him to hire people who were knowledgeable about the sugar industry. In the initial days Narendra, acquired strong capabilities and knowledge to build capabilities on the ground and later focused on building strong teams to be able to effectively delegate.
Key Actions
Key Actions
At the beginning of his work in the mills, he personally visited 40+ sugar mills & slept over at the factory for couple of months to become intimately familair with how the business worked. His mother & business partner personally visited over 30K farmers & secured 9K+ investors. He spent at least 7 days a week at Brazilian subsidiaries to cross utilize best practices in the two countries.
Leadership Behaviors
Leadership Behaviors
Dedicating time to build capabilities & understand industry dynamics
Tap into new growth & innovation opportunities arising from on ground work
Lesson Learned
Lesson Learned
He understood that the leader needs to understand the complexities and challenges of the business well to be able to drive growth
Through close participation in early days was able to create new innovative business opportunities
He understood the need of good teamwork for business growth
Building a good team and a collaborative culture despite the acquisitions remains his key focus. He says this is a tough challenge for SMEs.
Doing the Job Right
Doing the Job Right
When Murkumbi decided to transition from his biochemicals business into sugar, it required him to build on-the-ground skills. In the initial days Murkumbi acquired strong capabilities and knowledge to build capabilities on ground and later focused on building strong teams to be able to effectively delegate.
Key Actions
Key Actions
After figuring out the difficulty in scaling his biochemical business, he had some managers in his old company keep running the business to apply some of its profits to funding the sugar business in its initial years. Still short of funds for the new business, he had to think about innovative financing offers (farmers co-op) & procurement of stressed government assets,
Leadership Behaviors
Leadership Behaviors
Innovation could be driven by doing things differently in traditional industries ... & there is no shortage of potential innovations within those industries
Strong problem-solving intentions
Lesson Learned
Lesson Learned
He understood that growth and scale are more about doing the right things rather than the new things
Taking advantage of policy changes, he built a scalable asset light business model for growth in a traditional industry
He understood that the intent to drive impact for stakeholders could lead to creative ways to solve problems
Highly motivated by the need to create value for farmers who were suppliers as well as investors in the firm, he looked to find new solution to challenges
Social uplifting
Social uplifting
Murkumbi has not been driven by personal milestones or needs. The largest motivation for him was to build a company for the benefit of thousands of farmers which were not only employees but also financial shareholders. He also supports the Renuka foundation which is the philanthropic arm of the company.
Key Actions
Key Actions
Bonding with the community and partners creates strong brand perception driven by trust and empathy resulting in new ways to engage and grow together.
Leadership Behaviors
Leadership Behaviors
Innovation could be driven by differently doing things in traditional industries & there is no limit of new ideas for those industries
Strong problem-solving intent
Lesson Learned
Lesson Learned
He understood the importance of supporting various company stakeholders and prioritizing them over personal ambitions to ensure the development of trust
Through close engagement with the investors as well as various farmers (who were the key beneficiaries of the mills' success) he ensured success and growth for the company
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