Entrepreneurs are a tough group of people. They can witness many a tragedy and still come out fighting.In most cases, they need not start out with all the advantages in life but through sheer grit and determination, they manage to turn their fortune.

One such story is of Gurusamy Mani, who, at a very young age understood that he wasn’t born with a silver spoon and the only way ahead was to work hard!

Hailing from a small village in Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, Guru grew up with a limited exposure to the outside world. With about twenty families being the population of the village, Guru found his own little world is this place, which he calls home!
Life was good; life was fun, unless one day, he got back home from school, only to learn that his sister had a paralysis attack. Guru was in the 12^th grade then.

“I remember traveling 12 kms up and down to the hospital, every day to deliver her meal box. I often slept there and got up at 5 am again to get back home rush to school. It was a tough time but it must have given me some strength. After two months she regained her eye power and the  strength in her hand  but she completely lost her legs and now she’s able to walk with sticks and now she’s at home”

Overcoming the unfortunate conditions at home, Gurusamy had to discontinue his studies after his high school.
He got a job instead to support his family but that didn’t stop his determination to study. He enrolled himself in BSC Mathematics and secured 1^st rank in his under graduation at Alagappa University. His love for maths pushed him to complete his post graduation too.

He was determined to design his career in the field of computer engineering. But the financial parameters hindered his family which got difficult for them to support his higher education.

“It was unfortunate but I have no complaints. My parents did support me through whatever they could. Computer engineering was a budding field at that time and it was hard to achieve. I wasn’t really disheartened and instead took up an elective project in the final semester where I managed to construct a program with the knowledge I had about the system. I won an award for that too! It was a great milestone at that time.”

Soon after his PG, Gurusamy realized that he did carry a passion to make a difference and the only thing standing in his way was lack of exposure. He then moved to Chennai to polish his skills in the software field. He enrolled himself in an institute called Software solutions integrated ltd to learn more about Database Management Systems.

After a long search for jobs, he finally ended up in Mumbai but he didn’t stick around for long.

“I moved on from that job as I was home sick and decided to move back to Chennai. I believe it was for good as I got a job in HCL Info System (HCL Technologies now) for a project manager position. It was exciting because I got to travel a lot. USA, Singapore, UK- I kept hopping around for my projects and I loved it! ”

Even though he liked his job, after one and a half years of working, he felt the need for a change.

“It was good, except I reached my saturation point and desired to start something of my own. it was a risky decision but a calculated one. Considering that I had a family – my wife and kids, by then, I had to be practical. So I continued my work in HCL while building the foundations of my business plan. Only once that was fixed, I put down my papers in 2016. That’s when GRhombus came into the picture.”

He founded GRhombus Consulting in Chennai with a team of four, working in an apartment space.  The startup helps customers perform Non Functional testing of applications by covering a wide spectrum of domains.

Within a year, they got a bunch of clients from the US and India. So they decided to extend a team to Hyderabad for the service demand.

“Our relationship with iKeva’s office space began a year ago. All the initial glitches that come along with the infrastructure were taken care of. Be it the wifi, the cafeteria facility or the team bonding activities that are essential- iKeva has been taking care of it all! Like me, there are many who are looking for an office space that is cost-effective. We appreciate the services and would definitely recommend it to the budding start-ups.”

The company is growing strong with rapidly increasing business opportunities and recognition. For so many upcoming entrepreneurs, Gurusamy Mani’s story is an inspiration. He is a self-made man who redefined the method of being successful.

He is the perfect example of the fact that nothing can stop you from achieving what you wish for, as long as you are open to work hard and carry a passion for it.