Lessons for Budding Entrepreneurs:

1. Opportunity identification: He lived in uptown Mumbai with his wife Leela. Their house was near the Mumbai International Airport. One day she remarked that there is a long queue of people from airports for taxis to ferry them to hotels, most of which were located in South Mumbai. This line from his wife struck Mr. Nair and he decided to venture into Luxury hotel business from his textile business. He shut is lace factory adjacent to his house and built a hotel there. He named the hotel as ‘Leela Palace’ after his wife Leela, who was the inspiration behind the business. The hotel chain spread from Mumbai to Bangalore, Goa, Kovalam, Gurgaon, Udaipur and Delhi.

2. Having faith in your idea and taking the plunge: Captain Nair shut down his lace factory to start the ‘Leela Palace’ hotel adjacent to his home in uptown Mumbai. He had a belief in his idea and then he decided to take a ‘leap of faith’. The hotel was started in the place of a lace factory which was a part of his already successful textile business. Thus, he took a calculated risk by starting a new hotel. This is a great lesson that a budding entrepreneur can imbibe from Captain Nair.

3. Going that extra mile to achieve what you want: He wanted to raise funds from the central government for the All India Handloom Board, of which he was a member. He went to the Home Minister GV Pant and asked for funds to ‘modernize’ the handloom sector. At that time the central government was focusing on Capital intensive projects and raising funds for handloom which is a small scale industry appeared as a remote posiiibility. However, he asked and when GV Pant told Prime minister Nehru about the proposal, the word ‘Modernization’ worked wonders and the board was granted an annual funding of Rs. 300Cr.

4. Passion for Life and Business: He played volleyball in the morning and took a walk from his home to the nearby ‘ Hotel Leela Palace’ to decorate the emerald statue of Buddha with flowers. After that, he did some stretching at the gymnasium. He kept fit even at the age of 92. After a massage, shower and breakfast, he worked till at least 6 pm. He was also courteous and humble as stated by his interviewers in many published interviews. He is described courteous in person and yet strict when it comes to business situations

5. Politically Aware: