College professor quits job to sell frozen fish, earns Rs 1 lakh a month

Breaking barriers and stereotypes, this 27-year-old engineer from Karur scripts a success story of taking up fish cold storage business.

Published: 19th March 2020 05:58 AM 

Mohan Kumar supplies fish and meet to several food chains in the town including star hotels and small fast food centers | Aravind Raj

By Aravind Raj

Express News Service

KARUR: Breaking barriers and stereotypes, this 27-year-old engineer from Karur scripts a success story of taking up fish cold storage business. After graduating in mechanical engineering, Mohan Kumar, worked as an assistant professor at a private college in Karur. However, he developed interest in his family business of selling fish. His parents Palanivel and Selvarani run a fish fry shop at Gandhigramam. 

Mohan recalls how he used to run back to the shop after completing his work at the college to help his parents. Though his parents were not happy with him joining the business instead wanting him to achieve something ‘big’, he wanted to chase his passion. Talking to Express, Mohan Kumar said, “Many called me a fool for taking up fish business after completing engineering. But I love this job more than my previous one.” 

He recalled that at one point in time, his mother was affected with neurological disorder and they had to shut down the shop. However, profitable income from the business helped him get going. “I had to cross a lot of hurdles in this field. Despite lack of support from family friends, it was my friends Dineshwar and Karthik who kept motivating me and pushed me to follow my dreams,” he said. Mohan supplies two to three ton of frozen fish and meat to several star hotels and small-scale food chains in Karur, where the business is not usually taken up. 

He gets fish from Thoothukudi and Cochin, and meat from a poultry industry in Coimbatore. He earns about 1 lakh a month. “At present, my main aim is to set up a 10-tonne cold storage unit in Karur,” he said. Speaking about overcoming challenges, he said, “People in the society who say that youngsters should be given equal opportunities to help them develop their career does not really help them. A lot of ‘big fishes’ in the industry do not allow youngsters to grow. An entrepreneur has to face such challenged in the initial stages of a start-up.”Inspired by his successful venture, several business schools and colleges have requested him to deliver a speech on entrepreneurship skill development.