There’s a bit too much emphasis on the young quotient across all of Hironmoy Gogoi’s multiple distinctions as being a man of worth. That of course is a matter of different pride in itself but it isn’t just the numbers denoting his biological age that paints for this Assamese lad a picture of impressive identity. It is his attitude in pursuing the efforts that helped him realise life as a dream that makes the individuality of Gogoi shine through as a collective experience in seeking inspiration.
Still under 30 and still evolving, experimenting and excited as well to take on the world, the plot of Gogoi’s life story has already witnessed many milestones. Be it finding recognition from the India Book of Records as being the Youngest Author for a Book on Entrepreneurship or having indeed solid entrepreneurial experiences to draw upon of which led to the honor, the saga of his unfolding is true in representing the details in life being exactly what it is made to be. That he made it matter specially when faced with a reality as damned and doomed as possibly could be is what has this young identity shining even brighter as a beacon of hope for anyone who looks up to him.
The very beginnings of Gogoi would not perhaps have been derived if he hadn’t by then hit rock bottom already. A string of personal tragedies that included the death of his elder brother and then his mother had deeply disturbed a young Hironmoy, so much so that he had could not cope up with his studies. He dropped out of 11th class due to depression as well as financial instability, with nowhere else to turn to in seeking a second chance at life. And that’s when he decided to take matters of life into his own hand, still very young and wholly inexperienced. Since then he has ventured into numerous territories and explored different opportunities all while resiliently devoted to a noble cause of helping many others like him who might be in dire need of such support.
And yet for all his aspirations of social intention, Hironmoy Gogoi isn’t any social worker. In fact the primary identity that he flaunts as an entrepreneur might strike as being of an entirely different context. It however has been through this mode of conducting ‘business’ that Gogoi has gone on to script a saga of success that upholds his values and struggles as well as his mission to ‘change a thousand lives’.
It wasn’t as if Gogoi did not really have options. He already had been working in a Merchant Navy position at Jaipur in 2011. Hironmoy however quit the job as he got the chance to work in Malaysia. That too would occupy a brief period of six months of Hironmoy’s life as his interest always lay in his motherland, in the region where he knew that someone had to create the opportunities.
Armed with a two pronged approach in working towards his dream, Hironmoy set up MCH Technologies as his first startup. The first international BPO from Assam that was set up at his home district of Sivasagar, MCH Technologies soon morphed into a virtual identity due to the obstacles that it experienced in functioning physically. That itself speaks volumes about the character of Hironmoy Gogoi who had by now made it a part of his nature to work around inconveniences rather than be intimidated by them.
An investment of Rs 30,000 and a few computers bought on EMI served as the capital for MCH Technologies to emerge as the first step for Hironomoy Gogoi in manifesting a newfound identity. But while that was a successful venture by all means and one that is up and functioning even today in thriving through a decade long existence, it would be what followed three years later that would prove to be more definitive in earning Gogoi the identity- and applause for his aptitude and vision.
Gaon Ka Khana came around in 2016 as one of the innovative food businesses but which was a case as emotionally established as it can be regarded in entrepreneurial jargon. The very premise of GKK was based on the considerations of promoting local Assamese food and thereby healthy eating habits with also a special emphasis placed on ensuring that the farmers would benefit as being the primary provider of raw materials. Equally stirring is the physicality through which the award winning venture launched its ambitious plan- from a ridiculously low amount of Rs 10 that Gogoi has time and again reiterated as being the preliminary investment cooking up the GKK tale.
The idea for GKK though had always been deep seated in Gogoi’s mind as an emotional tribute to his mother and the love universally occurring as part of this dynamic. It perhaps is a derivation upon such pureness of thought translating into the work he does that is what has made GKK standout as a one-of-its-kind initiative lauded not just in India but also elsewhere. And yet for all his recognition as being the Founder and Creative Head of Gaon Ka Khana, it would not be the maiden time for Hironmoy Gogoi in gaining institutionalised attention for entrepreneurship.
Having already been awarded the Student Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016 by Entrepreneur magazine for being founder and CEO of MCH Technologies as the first every such winner from northeast India, Gogoi went on to scout greater recognition through GKK. The Home Grown Business of the Year Award by Entrepreneur magazine again accrued to him in 2017 as did the Northeast Excellence Award in the same year. 2017 would also also fetch for Hironmoy Gogoi global applause with the International Youth Committee honoring him with the South Asian Youth Award during the South Asian Youth Summit. 2018 proved to be no less glitzy for the young entrepreneur with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ Rural Entrepreneur Award and the International Youth Committee’s Asia Inspiration Award conferred on him that year.
Alongside GKK as perhaps his most recognisable ‘brand’, Hironmoy Gogoi though has continued to ‘diversify his portfolio’. Thus even as he has launched yet another start-up by the name Blackhorse Finance and Marketing particularly to help small businesses, the ever enterprising youngster has explored also another expanse of possibilities. Blessed with exceptional oratory skills and with a motivating life tale to tell, Gogoi has been religiously devoting himself in making videos about the knowledge and skills that every aspiring entrepreneur and even the general youth would benefit from. This he does through another startup Hironmoy Motivation and sums up also the reason why he set about penning The Future CEO that earned him the youngest writer record. Another similar venture that buzzes with the same intent expresses as Hopun Roshar Mon but which has somehow opened up yet another avenue for Gogoi to further his interests in.
He is an influencer therefore who operates in this capacity not just through his social media presence. Hironmoy has delivered extensive TED Talks and motivational speeches at some of the most eminent institutes of the country. What’s more, he also dabbles as a fitness model and singer in quite different an image of what his identity as entrepreneur ‘allows’. But that’s practically the reason why Gogoi has managed to be so successful and significant in a short period of time and even in the face of variegated struggles. Not one to conform to norms and expectations so much so that his inherent belief occurs as such ambitious proclaiming of real pride being in “making something work when there is a 90 per cent possibility of failure” is this spirited youngster who has acted upon his every whim and specially when the odds have been entirely stacked against his favor.
For someone so passionate about innovating and enterpreneuring that his core conviction is assured of the fate and future of India being entirely reliant on entrepreneurship, Hironmoy Gogoi ‘business’ ideas are relatively simple. But because he knows that what matters in such context is the conciseness and clarity of idea over its grandeur as well as the idea itself scoring over the much fussed about case of investment has he managed to produce exceptional models of self-sufficient and socially responsible functioning. He has been particularly versatile in ensuring that GKK operates like the dream that he has always cherished.
The model that saw Gaon Ka Khana through the initial days is pretty much what persists still in procuring local ingredients from the farmers at reasonable rates and cooking hygienic, homely meals out of them to be sold at as reasonable prices as well. Today though GKK has also another ambit it attends to in as much consciousness of conscience. GKK Naturals and GKK Mondita Snacks assert as the two compositional strands of this dimension- the latter of which is more ‘exclusive’ in paying tribute to the fond memories of his mother. The reality is one of immense cruelness, that Hironmoy Gogoi had to seek inspiration from a place where he had lost everything. But it also is where reality took for him a rosy turn in lending him with such strength that led him to do something exemplary not just for himself but for many others as well. It should at least be this narrative of his story and his spirit that makes Gogoi successful enough, irrespective of how he has fared in terms of the livelihood generating businesses thus spawned.