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    'Never lose sight of profitability.' Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal's golden advice for every founder

    Synopsis

    Ritesh Agarwal, the billionaire founder and CEO of OYO Rooms, highlighted the importance of profitability for companies, stating that no company can survive indefinitely without generating profits.

    Ritesh Agarwal's new revelation about entrepreneurship.Agencies
    Ritesh Agarwal's new revelation about entrepreneurship.
    Billionaire Ritesh Agarwal has made a name for himself in the hospitality industry around the world. He dropped out of college to be an entrepreneur. At the age of 20, he founded his company OYO Rooms in 2013.

    In more than 10 years, OYO became one of the top hotel chains in the world with an approximate valuation of more than Rs 330 crore, according to The Times of India report published in 2022.

    Since the inception of Oyo, the founder and Group CEO has never looked back. However, the owner of the budget hotel aggregator had earlier said that while his company may seem like an overnight success, it has been a five-10-year-long journey for him.

    Agarwal recently took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share that no company can survive indefinitely without generating profits, regardless of how much capital is available.

    Even the best of founders or funds struggle to raise capital at times. You may not hear about it often but it's the truth. He said that even the most accomplished founders face challenges when it comes to raising capital on occasion.

    "There is no infinite capital in the world that can sustain any company which doesn't make money. Even the best of founders or funds struggle to raise capital at times. You may not hear about it often but it's the truth," he wrote in his caption.

    Sharing lessons from his experience, the 29-year-old entrepreneur revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic was a difficult time for the company.

    "COVID-19 brought about significant hurdles for us. Startups in the travel sector were written off as the world locked down. But despite the challenges, we strengthened our focus towards being an EBITDA-positive company, setting ourselves on a path to generate profits," he added.

    It's often said that in challenging times, resilient individuals take action, and Agarwal agrees with this. He said that the founder should always prioritise profitability no matter how old the company is.

    "They say when times get tough the tough get going. Here is my learning from them - Whether it is Day 1, Day 100, or Day 1000 - never lose sight of profitability," he concluded alongside a video of himself.


    Recalling his early years at Oyo, Agarwal, who made it to the Hurun Rich List in 2020, shared that he donned various hats - from managing the front desk to housekeeping and overseeing customer service - when he was growing his business.

    The company has managed to expand to countries like Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, the UAE, the UK, and the US. Named the second-youngest self-made billionaire in the world, Agarwal featured in the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Asia.

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