The nation shocked and grieved over CCD founder VG Siddhartha’s alleged suicide. The last rites of India’s ‘Coffee King’ were held on Wednesday at one of his coffee estates in his village situated in Karnataka.

“A lot can happen over coffee“

He started his coffee company in 1993 and used it to boost a coffee unit in Hassan into the largest one in India. He created the biggest coffee chain in India, later invested in multiple other businesses too.

Siddhartha, who came from a family having a 135-year story of growing coffee, had inherited coffee farms spread across a massive expanse of 10,000 acres. He wanted to link technology and coffee to start a new revolutionary business. He changed India’s entire cultural landscape through his splendid coffee shops. There is no bigger peak to conquer and no bigger glory than Siddhartha had already achieved, even if he had walked away from his empire to square off his debts.

His death has shocked business leaders, who considered him to be a resilient entrepreneur and an optimist.

If only he had shared his thoughts, his misery, and traps with a friend or associate only in his own court where his tagline used to roar A lot can happen over coffee, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened. If only he had not taken that unspeakable jump and take a simple cup of coffee in any outlets of CCD, he would have found a way out of that cage.

CCD Legacy :

• Indians turn nostalgic for CCD.
• Siddhartha, inspired a tea-drinking nation like India to consume coffee. He created a truly Indian brand and legacy CCD made coffee social – and has spread millions of friendships, marriages & startups.
• He may felt he was not a successful entrepreneur but he did inspire many to become an entrepreneur. His many customers who grew up on coffee and conversations at his cafes mourned his death and disagreed that he had failed. It was the place youths got first thought of their ‘big idea’.
• Cafe Coffee Day is where they dream big. “Dreams with eyes open.

Lessons:

• Tycoon CCD Founder was a millionaire but still depressed Wealth ≠ Happiness.
• There are many depressed people around you, all you need to do is just observe & you can see their depression.
• Some circumstances, a crushing event, an impossible situation, a cruel word from relative or friend to whom one may reach out in a trying situation could push anyone, even the strongest, over the edge. All entrepreneurs face it. Every human being goes through periods of doubt and despair. The spirit and flesh both give up. We somehow hold on, take courage to take counsel, and rise again.
• Since PM Modi came to power in 2014, he has made fighting fraud and tax evasion a top goal, saying he wanted to break previous cozy ties between policymakers and rich capitalists. The government officer is concerned that enforcement agencies increasingly go after loan defaulters without differentiating between genuine business failures and corrupt practices.
• There is a very thin line between duty and harassment. The enforcement agencies fail to realize that sometimes their zeal could be seen as harassment.
• The aggressive private equity firms whose only motive is high-profit margins and tough loan covenants will continue to put pressure on businessmen.
• Lack of a business-friendly environment along with high-interest rates acts as the last nail in the coffin on many Indian enterprises.
• Don’t do suicide, let feel the pain, and feel it deeply – but don’t let it control you. Accept the fear, the frustrations – but don’t let them force you to do anything your soul would reject. Don’t hurt yourself.

Successful corporate enterprise facing the combined slaughter of private equity partners, income tax probes and gross undervaluation, resulting in what appears to be a sordid ending.

Entrepreneurs must not allow business failure to destroy their self-esteem. That will bring about the death of entrepreneurship.

READ ALSO | Kulbhushan Jadhav Case | Karnataka Drama |

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