For Puneet Singh Jaggi, it all began with a three-month stint at his brother Anmol Singh Jaggi’s company, Gensol Consultants, a consulting firm helping stakeholders set up solar power plants. As usually happens with someone who cannot stay still, Puneet was completely engrossed with the startup ecosystem and with the solar power industry. He decided to take the plunge and join his brother as a Director at Gensol, and not take up either of the two offers he had received as a part of on-campus placement process. Puneet hasn’t looked back since and has made a huge impact in this industry, facilitating construction of solar power plants with a capacity of 7,000 MW (India’s total capacity is 15,000 MW).
To achieve such scale was not easy. Gensol ran into trouble with the global downturn and lack of support systems in the clean energy sector. The company was almost shut down twice because of acute resource constraints and prolonged spells of lack of business. To cope with such spells in an unstable yet rapidly evolving industry, Puneet and Anmol decided to expand their scope. Attracted by the scalability of online businesses, they launched Ezysolare, an online platform that integrates system design and engineering guidance for the procurement and installation of solar equipment and solar panels.
Helming multiple companies without any prior corporate experience has been a tough ask for Puneet. He has had to take a leap of faith and sign term sheets and other important agreements without having a thorough look just to keep his companies afloat. He has had to learn on the job and ensure that his companies comply with all legal and accounting guidelines in a highly regulated space. He has had to sound confident while making promises, upholding which is not always in his control, to big corporations who doubt his abilities due to his young age. He was also a blank slate when it came to digital marketing and building e-commerce platforms.
“Entrepreneurship is the accelerated path to maturity; it’s a super accelerated learning curve.”
However, through dedication, perseverance and driven by the direct and measurable impact he can create, he has stayed motivated and prevailed. He feels that he has matured a lot as an individual and compares the learning curve he went through to jumping off a cliff and constructing an aeroplane while falling down.
And how times have changed! From trying to gain weight then to make people take him seriously to now, running companies that are operational in nine countries, being present in 24 states in India, and generating more than 100 crores in revenue. And Puneet wants to continue doing what makes him happy — impacting lives with his ventures!