: Selling at a Chowk for Re 1, How Rambabu Churned Kulfi Into a Rs 6 Crore Business #IndiaNEWS #Entrepreneurs The year was 1978 when an 18-year-old Rambabu Ramraj Sharma, a native of Rajasthan made

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Selling at a Chowk for Re 1, How Rambabu Churned Kulfi Into a Rs 6 Crore Business #IndiaNEWS #Entrepreneurs
The year was 1978 when an 18-year-old Rambabu Ramraj Sharma, a native of Rajasthan made his way to Belgaum—currently a part of Karnataka and erstwhile Bombay Presidency—to appear for an army recruitment interview. Despite clearing all the requisite stages, he did not get permission from his father to join the services and was asked to look for some other job. This left Rambabu so disillusioned that he decided not to return.
After moving around and working at several odd jobs, he decided to make a thriving business out of one of the most beloved desserts — ice cream.
The early days of making ice cream.
Thus was the start of Old Mumbai Ice Cream Company, which today is an iconic brand across the three states of Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka. With a turnover of over Rs 6 crore year-on-year, this ice cream brand churns out more than 5 tonnes of ice cream every day.
Netrapal Ram Babu Sharma (37), son of Rambabu, who is currently running the business, says, “After having told everyone in the village that he would join the army, he was upset when his father forbade him from doing so. He did not wish to return to his village until he had made something of his life. �
Like many others of his generation, Rambabu headed to Mumbai – the land of dreams. Life was anything but easy and Netrapal says, “He took up various odd jobs to survive in the city. The only thing that kept him going was his desire to make himself a success. �
At 61 years of age, while Rambabu does not manage the day-to-day affairs of the business he continues to be involved in everything work related.
Becoming The Ice Cream Man
Rambabu and a young Netrapal.
In the one year he spent in Mumbai he saw ice cream vendors carry large pots on their heads. This intrigued him and he took up the job of selling ice creams at Gateway of India. Netrapal says, “These were all stick ice creams and even though he did this for more than one year he found that he wasn’t able to make a lot of money. So, in 1980 he moved to Ichalkaranji [Maharashtra] where he started working at a photo studio. �
While the work at the studio kept him busy until evenings, he would work another job thereafter to make more money. “Even with both these jobs he did not find the happiness he was looking for,� says Netrapal.
But the idea of selling ice creams recurred to Rambabu when he was watching the crowds one evening at a junction called Janta chowk. “He would work at the photo studio until 5 pm and then take a small mini-van on rent for Rs 5. Every evening from 6 pm to midnight he set up the vehicle at Janta chowk and sold the kulfi he would have made in the morning.

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