An NRI entrepreneur who returned to India after spending a decade in the US has shared a candid account of three business ventures that failed, saying the experiences changed his view of doing business in the country. Aniruddha Anjana, who has a background in construction and had already built a successful startup in the US, said he returned to India believing his experience would make it easier to build a business here. Instead, he ran into problems ranging from unpaid customer dues to stalled government work and alleged corruption.
His first venture was a building materials business. He allowed customers to purchase items such as cement and steel on credit but said collecting payments became a constant struggle. After repeatedly following up with customers for money they owed, he eventually decided to shut the business. "What I didn't expect was chasing my own money — calling the same person 10 times a year later just to get paid. Eventually I got tired of humiliating myself over money that was mine to begin with. I shut it down," he wrote.
His second venture was an engineering consultancy. The company secured a government project involving drone surveys for city planning and invested significant time and resources into it. However, Anjana said the project eventually stalled without any clear explanation after the official handling the tender stopped responding.
His third attempt was a restaurant business, FlyDining in Indore. According to Anjana, the venture lasted only six months before alleged corruption and pressure from local players forced it to close. Looking back, he said the three failures affected not just his finances but also his trust in customers, the system and the overall business environment.
"India is not built for people who want to do business with honesty and respect. To win here, you often have to be clever before you're ethical," he added.
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Despite the setbacks, he said his US-based venture continues to operate profitably, which gave him the financial cushion to absorb the losses in India. For now, he added, he has no plans to start another business in the country.
"If you're thinking about starting something in India after moving back from abroad - pause. Rethink. Talk to someone who's already paid the tuition," he added.
Several others related to his experience. One user wrote, "Having worked in Europe and India, this hits home. The hardest part isn't building the business—it's the unnecessary friction around it: delayed payments, unpredictable processes, lack of accountability, and constantly having to chase what should simply work. The gap in ease of doing business is painfully real."
Another commented, "In India nobody cares about quality and to succeed here, you only need price competitiveness.. if you are the cheapest in the market, people will pay upfront and take your goods. Alternatively, you should be the only “Apple” of the industry, someone who can demand a price for quality which no one is offering but market is demanding, then you can ask for advance payments or payment on delivery. Business is knowing how to operate in each market - each behaves separately."
A third said, "Chasing payments is 50% of Indian business time and effort. My friend in SF says payments are credited to bank account on the due date and he almost never follows up." A fourth added, "Hope you fight it out and find your foot. I believe people like you can change India for good."
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