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Meet the man from Chennai who built a 5000 CR company after his father died. 1. Born in the coastal town of Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, Chinni Krishnan Ranganathan was deeply inspired by his father, who pioneered selling shampoo in sachets. At the time, he distributed the famous Velvette Shampoo, but tragedy struck in 1982. 👇 2. His father passed away, leaving him to work in his family business with his elder brother. After eight months, he boldly decided to quit and start his company with Rs 15,000, named after his father's (Chinni Krishnan) initials. Chik India started its journey. 🙌 3. Despite experimenting with poultry farming, Ranganathan stuck to what he knew best: making shampoo. He started with four workers at Kanni Koil in Puducherry, paying Rs 300 monthly for rent and Rs 3,500 for machinery. He had a plan. 🤔 4. Focusing on the right fragrance, with a 7 ml sachet costing just 75 paise, Chik India sold 20,000 sachets in the first year. With offers like a free sachet of Chik Shampoo for five used sachets of any shampoo, it crossed sales of Rs 12 CR and defeated Velvette Shampoo. 💪 5. Ranganathan kept growing with new products—Meera Herbal Hair Wash Powder (1992), Nyle Herbal Shampoo(1993), and Spinz Perfume (1997). As it took the largest market share in South India, he renamed the company using a Tamil word symbolising beauty and his father's initials (CK). In 1998, CavinKare was born. 🚀 6. With the launch of Fairever Fairness Cream (1997) and Indica Hair Dye (1998), Ranganathan entered the beauty market too and shifted his base to Chennai. But Ranganathan had a new idea for expansion: He wanted to enter the 10 lakh CR dairy market. ✅ 7. After acquiring the sick dairy unit, Prakash Dairy of Kanchipuram, for Rs 30 CR in 2008, he expanded on an acquisition-led model with 50 small dairies. By 2013, Cavin's dairy business had revenues of 250 CR and raised 250 CR from Chrys Capital. It was worth 1632 CR. 💰 8. Cavin's kept growing with packaging innovations on UHT milk, making it 20% cheaper than its rival, Nestle. It expanded to associated offerings like Curd, milkshakes, paneer and lassi, as well as product lines like namkeen (Garden), pickles (Ruchi) and soft drinks(Maa). By 2018, it clocked revenues of 1535 CR. 📉 9. Today, CavinKare does revenue of 1962 CR at a profit of 194 CR. Even after 30 years, it continues to innovate with a 39000 sq ft R&D hub in Chennai across seven categories and 500+ products. It commands a 20% market share. 💪 ➡️ After his father died, Chinni Krishnan Ranganathan lived in a 150 sq ft house with one kerosene stove, a foldable cot and a bicycle. He has worked hard to make his father's legacy to a 5000 CR company today. 🙏