Tankering up to Success

May 31, 2016

When Sriram Kaluke visits the Parvati Hill with his family, his wife looks at the entire landscape of Pune and says, “Look! The whole city comes under your client list.” With 7000 clients and a successful water tank cleaning business, Kaluke responds by saying that his services reach less than one per cent of the population and only hard work can make things better.

Kaluke came to Pune from Shekapur in 1999. He got his first job at a construction company which involved looking after the housekeeping and maintenance of houses. In 2003, he got the idea of starting a water tank cleaning business and quit his job with the construction company with their full support. While starting his venture, he tackled many challenges and even faced failure. He was unable to handle the business and went back to working for the construction company.

“I was unable to sustain the business and I had to hand it over to the construction company. They’re running it very successfully now and it is even registered as a Pvt. Ltd. company,” Kaluke explains.

With the help of the Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust, Kaluke was mentored and financed to give another try at starting a tanker cleaning venture. And in 2007, he started what is now called the Shri Ganesh Enterprises. Currently, he has 19 employees working under him. All the workers that enter the tanker to clean it are guarded from hazards and are given protective gear to wear.

“I wanted to start a business that would help others find employment as well as satisfy customers,” Kaluke said. He has helped several others start the same business in different parts of the country like Solapur, Jalna, Srirampur, Nasik, Indore Panaji and Mumbai. An avid film-goer, Kaluke made a list of all the cinemas in his area and now they’re all his clients.

In 2010, he won the Youth Business International Award for his achievements and was flown to Mexico to receive it. This award opened several doors for him and he would later be invited to Germany and England as part of a recognition program of his business. He wants to push the boundaries further and expand his business to Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi as well. Kaluke plans to start a glass cleaning business in Pune and even visited Hong Kong recently to check the available machinery.

“If I’m interested in something, I will get into it. I just want to make sure that there is zero risk involved in this venture. I don’t want people to get hurt. The machinery I saw does not require a person to physically endanger himself and clean the glass,” he explains.

Kaluke has completed school only till the 10^th standard after which he went into industrial training. The 34-year-old now has many plans in store for the future. But what drives him?

“It’s not about ambition. Needs drive people. My parents were farmers. I don’t want to forget my roots but if I didn’t come to Pune, then I wouldn’t have been able to start this business. There is so much scope in this city for development. People here are not hasty like in Mumbai,” narrates Kaluke.

He gets his inspiration from visiting the Parvati Hill regularly. Kaluke describes, “You can see the entire city from there. It is really beautiful but it also reminds me of how much I’m yet to do. My services will take a long time to reach all of these people.”