In every era, there comes such a man who manages to change the course of the world with his passion and vision. The man who paid for his education by selling dictionaries on the footpath has today reached such great heights in life where big and illustrious business tycoons consult him to take their business decisions. Dr Vivek Bindra was earlier cited as ‘unfit as a trainer’ and rejected by companies, today he has bagged the best motivational speaker of Asia award. His story is not a regular rags-to-riches story, but one that inspires and motivates small startups to big firms. While you may have listened to a few of his motivational speeches, few know much about his personal life and struggles.
Let us dig deeper and find out what inspired Dr Vivek Bindra to become Asia’s biggest motivational speaker.
Childhood and Education
Vivek Bindra was born in Lucknow. He was just 2 years old when his father passed away. His mother remarried and got busy with her new life. He was forced to live with his paternal uncle and grandfather. He completed his schooling at St. Xavier’s High School in Delhi and got his masters in business administration from Amity University, Noida. He had had a disturbed childhood and his business escapades started from the tender age of 16.
He was later conferred with the Honorary PhD degree, Doctorate of Philosophy from OIUM University of Columbo. But there were a lot of upheavals and turmoil in his life journey.
Other Interests Apart from Education
He recalls, that despite his initial struggles in life, from an early age, he was inclined towards sports a lot which gave him the spirit of bouncing back. He was a national runner. Vivek Bindra was also involved in Thai boxing and certain other sports, which taught him the concept of ‘bouncing back’, a term he uses quite frequently in his motivational speeches. He says that sports taught him the philosophy of handling failures in life and then approaching them again with a bouncing-back theory.
Early Business Ventures
He initially started with a part-time job providing home tuition. Growing up, he realized he was good at business studies and had a natural flair for business. He then started teaming up with different teachers to provide coaching on a wide variety of subjects to students in his area. He was just 16 at that time.
He thought if he opened up a tuition center, he will be able to scale his business and earn passive income. He came up with the plan of earning commissions from teachers and students from his center. With these fees, he was able to earn some profit that he used for his education.
In his college days, in the evenings, he used to take a big bag of dictionaries and used to sell them on the streets to earn some money. He recalls that if he managed to sell a few, he used to earn Rs. 25 per dictionary and if he sold more, he used to earn Rs/ 50 per dictionary, each priced at Rs. 600/
He then got admission to the ‘University of Business’ in London. He realized that the fees were quite high and he could not accumulate that amount at that time. He required a big loan to take that course. Any bank would require a collateral security guarantee to give you a loan. Along with feeling quite disappointed at that time, he also realized that many youths of India face this issue in their life. He then decided to make this disappointment in life his mission. He decided to dedicate his life to the upliftment of society and service to God.
Monkhood
He became a monk for 4 years. He recalls this phase as one of the hardest in his life. He began asking for bhiksha, taking alms, reading ancient scriptures, helping out the needy, and helping needy and poor children at this time. He said that he used to get a lot of energy and satisfaction doing so. He used to feel that he is trying to live like God Arjun, who also, despite being quite depressed in life, stood up to fight evil. It is here that Lord Krishna also describes how in life one can make a hopeless end into endless hope and how to convert breakdown to breakthrough. One needs not to cry, but try.
The Transition from a Monk to an Entrepreneur
From a monk, he became an entrepreneur. What brought that change is quite interesting. During his monk phase in life, he used to give lectures on the Bhagavad Gita. He used to go to corporates and colleges to deliver his lectures, wearing monk wear. It was at this time that his Gurudev told him that he would be of better service to society if he embraced the material world. Staying as a monk, he would have a lot of limitations in his life.
He had learned the art of controlling his senses and desires in the ashram. This art helped him to be more controlled and focused in life. All his lectures are always based on the Bhagavad Gita. When he left his monkhood, he got the benefit of digital media and could approach a wider audience. He started giving lectures in the year 2006 but diverted his speeches toward business developments in 2013. He then started the profession of corporate speaking.
Struggles Faced and How He Overcame
But initially, he recalls, he had no money and no manpower. When he opened up his consultancy from a small room, people approached him and heard about his bigger dreams, but left without discussion after seeing his small office room, and no manpower.
He then realized that he had to hire those people in his firm who were on sabbatical (paid leave from bigger firms). This vision helped him get good manpower in this firm and inspire other people to join him. He did not even have a toilet in his office at that time. They all had to use a public toilet. He used to tell his employees to use the toilet at a particular time slot so that he could go and clean it before they went. He did this only to ensure his manpower sticks with him. He was worried that his bigger dream will be left incomplete.
His bigger dream was to help small and large firms in India to make it big. His content on business development tricks and tips is not meant for Paris, but for smaller towns of India. He desires to provide affordable education to the common man in India.
He recalls an amazing experience. Once a water tank on the terrace began leaking. He took buckets of water to refill the tank so that the employees did not have to face any problems. All his initial struggles were about retaining his precious manpower. Most of his employees who were there with him when he began are still there with him. He is a very simple man who normally does not spend on himself.
He recalls once in 2016, he had bagged a few very big corporate projects. But since he had no business background, he made a huge mistake. All the projects suddenly came to an end and his 3 months’ payments were pending. Since the employee’s salary payment date is the 7th of every month in his company, he discreetly sold off his house by the 23rd of June to be able to pay the salaries. His commitments and dedication paid well later when he bounced back and was able to scale the turnover of his company within 3 to 4 months again.
Achievements
- One of the World’s Greatest Influencers, Dr Vivek Bindra is the CEO and founder of Bada Business. He is also an international motivational speaker, leadership consultant, corporate trainer, and inspirational business coach. He has set eight Guinness World Records for the largest webinars on various subjects.
- Dr Vivek Bindra is a renowned motivational speaker and a master business coach, and his YouTube channel is the most subscribed entrepreneurship channel in the world with 19.4 million subscribers and 1.5 billion viewers.
- He continues to inspire millions of people across the nation and serves as a trusted advisor to about 1,500 corporations. Over 100 of the country’s Top CEOs have benefited from his CEO coaching.
- Dr Bindra is the author of ten highly effective motivational books. Through his writings, he teaches and trains people in business, and he discusses how someone can turn a passion for entrepreneurship into a successful business.
- For training the largest group of HR professionals for the event “Can HR Become a CEO,” he was awarded the prestigious Golden Book of Records. He has also been named by Digital First Magazine as one of the “21 Technopreneurs to watch out for in 2021.”
Many great men come and go, but Dr Vivek Bindra’s teachings, life philosophies, and business concepts are sure to linger on for decades to come. The true inspiration behind many successful businesses, this motivational man is surprisingly from a non-business background.
