Build a team you can't afford to fire - Saurabh Shetty

Infrastructure is the backbone of any country. There is no denying the fact that the infrastructure in rural India is not up to the mark. The basic amenities , life there in general , needs to be improved. Rural India plays a crucial role in supporting the nation's economic growth. India's rural infrastructure needs to be top priority at any given point.

It was from the age of 21 years that Saurabh Shetty embarked on the journey of becoming an entrepreneur. He stepped into the world of business, with an intense desire and dedication to create a successful business. He has worked tremendously hard to reach where he stands now.

His journey began with a company named Solar91. All the partners there at Solar91 were 30 and above. He was the youngest of them all. Back then, all the other partners were Alumni of various IITs , whereas Saurabh was still pursuing engineering from a college located in the rural district of Bellary in Karnataka. 

The main motive behind making this choice was that Saurabh wanted to have deeper insights into his family business which was based in Bellary at the time. The solar business was driven by a team of dedicated and experienced individuals.they left no stones unturned to make noise in the whole solar space. Solar91, today, is a fully mature business. 

The company today has commissioned about 50MW of Solar Power Plants. The business has grown and Solar91 today has pivoted from its traditional EPC(Engineering procurement and Construction) to RESCO( renewable energy service company) model.

Saurabh hails from the coastal belt of Karnataka. Being from Coastal Karnataka and surrounded by sea food since his childhood, he always had motivation to get into the seafood business. He researched various schemes by the government and also did an in depth analysis of the incentives offered by the government.

He did a deep dive into the seafood business and partnered with an industry leader and MalpeFresh came into being. Malpe is famous as one of the enormous fishing hubs in the coastal belt. Therefore, they named the business after it. And this is how the seafood vertical came into being.The Company clocked a whopping revenue of 110cr in its first financial year and has been growing ever since.

Saurabh always desired to have a robust team. Saurabh as a young entrepreneur believes and has made it his philosophy to trust his team and to decentralise the business.

Saurabh also took a keen interest around other businesses that were involved with the government. Rural Infrastructure was something that almost immediately caught his attention. He now focuses on the government rural infra space and is now delivering infra projects across the country in record time.

He is currently managing the HighSeas group that effectively works around several other crucial projects in rural India. The major focus at High Seas Group is to bring in technology that can cut down on the turn around time of projects in rural india as these projects are need based and have a major impact on the day to day life of the locals in the region.He keeps pushing himself and his team to contribute to the cause of improving the standard of living of the rural population.

HighSeas group also invests into early stage startups, a few notable investments are Dobby ads(Ad-Tech Business), TeneraFresh (a seafood B2B business), Real Learning (an AI based Ed-Tech business). The founders for these businesses are from prestigious institutions like IIT/IIM.

The goal that Saurabh is constantly trying to focus on, is to create value and create significant social impact while he grows his business.

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.