Bhavesh Bhatia’s Story: From Streets To Multi-Crore Company
A real-life story of a virtually disabled entrepreneur. Sunrise Candles, situated in Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra, was founded by visually handicapped businessman Dr Bhavesh Bhatia. It is a candle manufacturing business run primarily by people with visual impairments. Additionally, Bhavesh competed in the Paralympics and took home 117 NAB and IBSA medals.
The Story of Bhavesh
Although Bhavesh Bhatia was not born blind, as a child, he had poor vision. He was aware that his vision would deteriorate over time because he was born with retinal macular degeneration. But when, at age 23, his eyes eventually decided to stop following him, no amount of planning could have foreseen the doom that would follow.
After finishing the tenth grade, Bhavesh built a tandem bicycle with a friend who had a disability. Bhavesh used to peddle, and his friend, who was physically disabled, used to take care of the handle. At 16, they covered 6000 km from Nagpur to Kathmandu in 45 days on their cycle, making it to the Limca Book of Records.
After joining National Association for the Blind (NAB), Bhavesh trained himself in various skills, like candle making, acupressure, braille, and many more. The 4-month candle-making rehabilitation course made him the worthy pioneer he is today.
Bhavesh’s Sunrise Candles Company
The birth of Sunrise Candles carries one more name with itself, Niraj Chandan, who helped Bhavesh in his struggling days outside the Holy Cross Church.
Impressed by Bhavesh’s candle-making skills, Niraj took a few photographs on his digital camera, created a new Sunrise Candles website, and posted the photos. Running advertisements on Google gained recognition among people, and they began receiving many orders. The company has created over 10,000 designer-scented, plain, and aromatherapy candle designs.
Presently operating in 14 states with a staff of about 3500 visually impaired individuals, Sunrise Candles is a multimillion-dollar business. Bhavesh Bhatia’s net worth is currently 350 crores of rupees as of 2023. This inspiring story demonstrates that nothing, not even a disability, can stop your enthusiasm.
