“I am only one, but still I am one, I cannot do everything, but still I can do something and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” – Edward Everett Hale
I read it on the Whatsapp display of Dhiraj. Nine months ago, I had first heard about him and his company. Three months back, I got a chance to meet him. Our first meeting was hardly a minute long and the second one went on for more than two hours. He narrated his life’s journey in detail. The stories and incidents were extraordinary as well as inspiring. Some of these are as follows.
~He spent thousands of rupees, time and energy but refused to give any kind of bribe for his work.
~During adversity he had believed in himself and his own intuition.
~He took big risks by investing all his life’s saving in creating his company, in which later he succeeded.
By the end of it, he offered me to join him the next day to visit one of his company’s branches at Kausani.
Dhiraj Dolwani, Founder & CEO of B2R Technologies Pvt. Ltd. , is a visionary. He did his Masters from BITS Pilani and before starting his own venture, worked with several national and multinational companies like Aptech, Satyam computer, NIIT SmartServe, MDeverywhere as a consultant, program manager, associate vice president, country manager and chief operating officer. While working in different places, he was not feeling fulfilled, and was in quest of his life’s purpose. In his mid-thirties, he decided to quit the job and planned to do something bigger, more meaningful.
Being a mountain and nature lover, he had visited Uttarakhand during his college and job days. During that time, he had met several youngsters in the area and observed how due to lack of opportunities of higher education and jobs, they often feel resentful and helplessness. With this information, he planned to do something with them in rural Uttrakhand. Because he had an expertise in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, he planned to start a rural BPO here. Initially, while looking for a suitable location, he met several people and organizations working in Uttarakhand.
The struggle to turn the dream into a reality, began. Without raising money, he put his savings on the stake and started working here. One thing led to another and the journey of B2R started in the year 2009 at Orakhan (a village in Nainital) with eighteen youth. Gradually, it grew and the number of people working there soon reached to three hundred. They opened four more branches of the company at four different locations.
Everything looked perfect but there was a challenge waiting to test his will and determination, yet again. It was 2014. The minimum wage and dearness allowances in Uttarakhand had increased. At that time, the company was not earning huge profits. It was not feasible to increase salaries of team members as per the government policy. Investors started pressurizing and several well-wishers of the company started to draw they supports back. At the same time, he faced severe health problems. Many employees quit the company. Dhiraj was advised to quit this venture, but he didn’t agree to do that. Instead, he gathered his team and shared all the problems and challenges. He asked them for suggestions and the plan ahead. Do they fight or leave?
A large number of team members believed in him and decided to face the challenge. During a conversation, Dhiraj said, “My leap of faith worked. I learnt a lot from that crisis, understood more about people and our organization”. He continues to share with utmost proud and joy, “We are working with competence and confidence, competing with nation’s giant and capitalist companies”. He is consistently working hard to create more jobs in rural areas, so that people do not have to go away from their home and village in search of employment. His vision is to create his company a more joyful place to work, along with it being a quality service provider. He is generous, humble, and a simple person. In response to a question, he told me that due to the company, the story of positive changes in the lives of people is the key that inspires me to keep moving.
I am currently associated with him as a Research and Analysis Intern in his company Business2Rural. It is a profit making firm but on the basis of my experiences, I’m sure it’s doing as much social good as a non-profit, by addressing the problem of migration and youth empowerment where youngsters work with dignity and joy.
Dhiraj Dolwani has proved that utmost faith in something can get you out of any sort of difficult situation. I wish him all the luck for his future endeavors as he is also addressing the problem of migration and unemployment which is most prevailing in India.