Here’s how these visionaries from humble backgrounds built an exceptional educational institution

The strength of the Global Institute of Business Studies (GIBS) lies in the struggles of three brothers who since their early years learnt to pick themselves up against the hardest of the burdens as they faced life’s realities.

While Ritesh Goyal, the eldest brother had to find his way to deal with financial hurdles to fund his education and learn English fluency, Pradeep, the youngest of the three brothers had to navigate his way towards success amidst his disability due to polio. Ravi had to hammer away to fund his brother’s educational aspirations. Ritesh Goyal who is seen among the big names in Bengaluru as an educationist today was once a youngster who struggled to complete his higher education. His struggle has not only had a great role to play in the making of this revolutionary B school but also has been an inspiration that many aspiring educationists look up to.

Small town, big dreams

Born in the year 1985 and brought up in Nohar, a small town in Rajasthan, Ritesh comes from a humble background. His father who knew the importance of education gave utmost importance towards educating his kids despite having the tough job of catering to his five-member family. In addition to financial struggle was the need to stand strong against the societal distrust towards the capabilities of the three brothers who were labelled as “Three Idiots”. Not with standing the stigmatic societal perception, Ritesh believed labels are for products, not humans, and carried on with his struggle towards success.

The struggle of the brothers took a worse turn at the time when he went to pursue higher education. His family came together to fund his education and give a push for his aspirations. While his father borrowed money to fund his fees, his brother went all the way to Manali to work hard for 15 to 16 hours a day only to earn enough to fund his pocket money. However, Ritesh joined a renowned institute in New Delhi to pursue his higher education.

For Ritesh learning to speak English at that point in his life felt overwhelming. It had been a walk to remember from days when people thought that English is a prerequisite for success. “Success is a universal language understood by all who work hard and dream big. There were lots of ups and down in my journey from Hindi medium school to IIM which still feels like a dream. During graduation when I couldn’t clear a couple of papers as English seemed like a foreign language to me”, said Ritesh.

“However, I promised my brother that I would never fail again. I decided to work hard and make it big. In 2005, I went to meet my youngest brother Pradeep who was in Kota preparing for IIT. Despite having polio, he was the most courageous and he was an inspiration to me as well. Ravi was my role model” recollects Ritesh as he explained the toughest times of his life.

Finding inspiration in his brothers, Ritesh was determined to conquer every challenge in his way and not only he learnt to speak English fluently but also later became a multilingual motivational speaker. He later moved to Bengaluru where he started his career with a salary of 9,500 a month which turned out to become the beginning of the journey towards building multi-crore institutions and companies.

Joined by his brother Ravi, Ritesh to transform the lives of aspiring youngsters, The trio started Pathfinder which quickly scaled up with a unique business model to become a 125-employee company and went on to start a revolutionary B-School.

Start of a new struggle

Challenges awaited the brothers who were determined towards setting up a first-of-its-kind B school. Having lived with challenges since their early ages, the brothers set up the Global Institute of Business Studies (GIBS) near Anekal. Yet again the brothers put their soul into making up for their noble endeavour, the success of which was seen when GIBS got its campus.

“We have been recognized as one of the top business schools in India. We have achieved this status of distinction by pioneering refined quality of learning, moral upkeep and intellectual support across the all-encompassing span of advanced education in India. We strive to transform our students into leaders of the future by providing innovative and globally accepted programs in a congenial atmosphere. Our programmes are designed for individuals who

endeavour to contribute to the sustained development and inclusive growth of the nation and the world at large. We create leaders imbued with a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship”, said Ritesh.

The pandemic was a nightmare for innumerable leaders. The case of GIBS’s founders wasn’t any different. Talking of the downturns during the pandemic, Ritesh said “While capital is the fuel for any institution, there was a danger of it shutting down without fuel during the pandemic. We spent sleepless nights but not for a second did we lose any hope. The company is growing bigger and the team size will soon increase to 200 members. “We believe in ‘finding’ more than ‘funding’. Instead of hiding our weaknesses, we overcome them by accepting them. For us, the definition of RoI is the Return of Intentions. I have plans of visiting over 90 B-schools in the next five years and by 2025, we are going to build a new campus that will soon become GIBS International University” said Ritesh while also expressing a dream of releasing an autobiography that talks of the struggle behind building GIBS.

Global Institute of Business Studies (GIBS Business School)

Global Institute of Business Studies (GIBS) leads the chart among India’s most reputed educational institutions with its PGDM & BBA courses. GIBS has built its reputation with three main pillars - a refined quality of learning, moral keep up and intellectual support. With the very intention behind the institution being to help aspiring Indians to propel towards the sky, GIBS is renowned to produce India’s highly talented workforce that is hired by a host of top corporates right at the campus.

In addition to building a highly reputed B School, Ritesh has carved a niche with his multifaceted talent as a motivational speaker, business coach, and author. In his capacity, Ritesh has delivered 500+ speeches for corporate employees, leaders, students, and entrepreneurs. He is also a part of the Leadership and GMP programme at IIM Bangalore. Ritesh along with a team of entrepreneurs regularly organizes Business Mastery Programs (BMP) which has enabled thousands of students and start-ups to transform and find success.

VENTURES

1. ☑ Goyal Educational Trust, Bangalore
2. ☑ Global Institute of Business Studies, Bangalore
3. ☑ GIBS Business School, Bangalore
4. ☑ Global Business Forum
5. ☑ GIBS Social Foundation Trust
6. ☑ GIBS Digital IRE School
7. ☑ GIBS Digital Finishing School
8. ☑ Pathfinder Value Creations Pvt. Ltd.

AWARDS

1. ☑ Business Icon Award 2022 by Outlook Business Spotlight
2. ☑ ASMA Academic Excellence Award 2022
3. ☑ Honored as “India’s Top 40 Under 40” in Education 2021
4. ☑ Best Educationist Award received from Sharmila Tagore at World Education Summit
5. ☑ “Vishishth Nagrik Samman” for the youngest entrepreneur in Education Industry by “Parivarthan Prabha – Goenka Group”

Our story talks about Discipline, Struggle, and Conviction. Consistency, Success, Never giving up attitude, Positive attitude, No Micro Management, Process Management, People Management, Passion, Craziness, Honesty, Communication Skills, Life Skills, Gratitude, Grow through what you go through, No complaints. Energy, Madness to achieve, Hard & Smart Work. Reading & Writing Habits, Creating New Rules myself, Putting myself in the uncomfortable zone, being Curious to learn, Network, Giving back to the community, Quick decision-making, Implementation, Health is imp, Auditing myself, Trying new things, Thinking big, Being Happy, Takes feedback positively, Remain humble, Have mentor, Practice, Forget the idea of perfection, Make personal time Dedication, Personality, Helpful Confidence, and Fearless.

The story covered by Bangalore Mirror - https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/local-to-global/articleshow/96821446.cms