New Delhi. We often hear stories of building large empires from small beginnings. One such businessman is Phanindra Sama, who built a big business from just Rs 5 lakhs. Many of you may not have heard his name, but he is a big name in the Indian startup ecosystem. Phanindra Sama is the co-founder of the bus ticketing platform named RedBus. Today we are telling you how a village genius turned a small idea into a 7000 crore business.

Started business with friends

In his early days, Phanindra Sama was also like an ordinary youth. He met Sudhakar Pasupunuri and Charan Padmaraju while studying engineering. These three friends later laid the foundation of Redbus. After completing their studies, all three of them worked in different companies, but they had a desire to do something big. Meanwhile, Phanindra thought of starting his own business, in which both his friends supported him and the company started. You will be surprised to know that today, Redbus has become a company worth Rs 6985 crore.

How did the business idea come about?

The idea of Redbus did not come suddenly in Phanindra Sama's life. It was due to a personal experience of his. Once Phanindra was preparing to go to his home during the festive season. But he could not get a bus ticket. After a lot of struggle, he got the ticket, but this whole experience made him think. He thought why not create a system that would eliminate the hassle of taking bus tickets from the window forever.

Neither big investment nor special technology, yet raised 1 million dollars

When Phanindra Sama started RedBus in 2006, he had only Rs 5 lakh. This money was also raised by him and his friends. They had neither any big investment nor any special technical resources. But what they had was a clear vision and the determination to achieve something. After starting Redbus, people started showing interest in their business model. Gradually their hard work paid off and in 2007 they got their first major funding of 1 million dollars. This was the time when the startup culture was growing rapidly in India and Phanindra's Redbus played an important role in it. The company is now a global leader in bus ticketing.