Bengaluru: Vivek George is only 27, but the resident of southern Indian city of Bengaluru can listen to what you’re not saying, spark a dream for you and conjure up a conversation with any stranger.
You can bet on his creativity and foresight for a business you may not have even started. Watching his adeptness at handling his merchandise, you can even challenge him to sell his well-designed T-shirts to T-shirt companies.
That’s what got this bubbling young guy to begin a start-up enterprise designing T-Shirts and Jerseys even before he could step into his degree studies or complete his MBA (Marketing and Business Administration).
College mates call him ‘Georgie boy’ and vagaries like ‘veta’ ‘beta’ and ‘polio’ (for his once skinny legs) but Vivek has named his company YourDesign (one word) which has already churned out logo and slogan-wear t-shirts and jerseys for reputed companies like Mercedes Benz, Chevrolet, Honda, IBM, Dell, Northern Trust ,ANZ, JpMorgan, Goldman sacs and 24/7 and well-known schools, colleges, various governmental and non- governmental organizations and even for a few Political parties in India.
Vivek’s YourDesign services 50-70 clientele a month and is counting steady growth with new business houses and Institutions evincing interest in the Company’s creativity and customer-relationship factor.
Says George:“My Parents C L George a former school principal my mother V P Magy a federal government officer were but kind but firm on me earning a professional degree and not be called a T-shirt seller.”
“My idea didn’t go well with them in the beginning as we come from an Orthodox Malayalee (Kerala-native) family where earning a professional degree is generally the unwritten norm. I was thinking out-of-the-box for sure” Vivek adds.
He is now grateful for the persuasion and moral of his parents in seeing him complete his 3-year MBA in 2013 at the well-known Christ University in Bengaluru. He completed his Pre-University studies at the reputed Jesuit-managed St. Josephs College, guest-lectures at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and has toured countries.
Foresight and strategic planning got him where he is today. He recalls: “In 2006 due to the economic recession many merchandizing enterprises in the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu were shutting shop. I decided to take advantage of this and picked up as much of the low-priced clearance stock and ventured into the merchandise business. I didn’t even have a start-up capital required for the business but with the goodwill and encouragement of friends and a customer who gave me an advance to a significant order I kick-started YourDesign.”
Beginning with small orders Vivek gradually progressed to larger ones and even got him an office space. By 2013, he not only satisfied his parent’s dream of earning a professional degree, but had grown into a much appreciated business entrepreneur among peers and corporate personnel.
Remembering people who he feels grateful and indebted to he says: “My good friend Auditya Venkatesh from ‘Audiphotography’ and Chethna played a big role with my initial days. They gave me all the support to set my business. I owe these guys big time for all the time they stood by me”.
Entrepreneur Vivek George conveniently shies away from ‘giving advice’ to young people but tells his own story “I didn’t get the pocket money I wanted while in college. I realize my parents had a purpose in that. It was frustrating at times. But I knew even if I got it, I would splurge it not realizing the value of my parent’s hard-earned money. It was only when I began earning through dint of hard work that I not only began convincing my parents of my seriousness about ‘standing on my own feet’ that they always wished, I also realized where the pinch was in working for your money.”
“I believe” he says “many of my friends are living by our much loved Josephite college motto ‘fide et labore’ (Faith and Toil) and are a great source of motivation for me”. Some of his T-shirt designs and slogans wear social messages in tune with the times while his friends join at Christmas season every year doling out blankets in charity from portions of his income. Vivek a foodie who once grappled with obesity is now a Certified Fitness Trainer too helping youngsters for a disciplined body and mind.
Vivek who started YourDesign while still in his pre-degree studies has no marketing or sales team but his own clients and friends do the talking. He smiles saying “If you only talk and but don’t deliver in business, you go nowhere”. He improvises on designs and logos with his innate gift of creativity and executes orders much to the satisfaction of his clients.
Vivek’s romance with life is clear when he says “I learnt from mistakes. But you need to fall and learn to rise if you want to achieve something worthwhile in life. You must talk but learn to listen to what people are not saying. You must remain focused, challenge yourself to hard work, depend on the Grace of God and cultivate a feeling worth even when the whole world may seem to turn you down.”
Pulling out a couple of sample T-shirts and photos, he suddenly recalls: “I forgot to tell you, the first order I delivered was for free, and it was for the Volunteers at the National Media Conference of the esteemed Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) and Union Catholique Internationale de la Presse(UCIP).
(Vivek now lives with his parents and sister Deepa in Viveknagar. He can be contacted at Vivek@ vivek.c.george@gmail.com or 91-09986329250.)