I must tell you if it were any other product, I wouldn't have chosen a place like that. Because it was a book store, I knew a book lover would find it anyway.
Landmark became a landmark on the Nungambakkam High Road. In fact, wherever we have gone, we have become the landmark.
The venture took off smoothly and I never felt tense or agitated. We broke even very soon. And at that moment, I was happy with that one store.
We had expanded to music, gaming, CD ROMs, et cetera as I felt it was in large format that India would shop in future. Our first such experiment was in Kolkata.
Selling 76% to Tata Trent
We wanted the brand to grow to all the big cities in India but we didn't have big money to expand. We decided to sell and not go for venture capitalists or PE funds. Only time will tell whether it was good for the brand or not.
It took us almost two years to meet people and decide. We decided on Tata's Trent as a good strategic investor because they ran Westside and some hypermarkets. We thought there would be learning on both sides.
Giving away Landmark completely
It was not easy to relinquish my stake of 24 per cent also in Landmark. As you are not the majority stakeholder and can't run the business the way you want, you might as well let it go.
If you ask any entrepreneur, I don't think she would say she is 100 per cent happy after selling her stake. She would be telling a lie if she said so. It is not that you dilute the dream; the original vision dilutes, and you will start running the business for different reasons.
It is not unusual in my case; it has happened time and again with all entrepreneurs who have sold majority equity stakes. The advice that I want to give to anybody who wants to sell is, it will not go the way you want after the sale.
Toys too became a part of the fare at Landmark. In the image, toy polar bears on display at a shop in Nuremberg, Germany. Photograph: Johannes Simon/Getty Images
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