Gaurav Marya (34) is a born entrepreneur. He started his first Business at the age of 16 and over the years has started and sold some 15 other businesses ranging from mobile phones, career advisory, restaurants to entertainment Business etc. It was not until the age of 24, that Gaurav discovered his real passion in life — Franchising. He was first to it exposed it while on a business trip to United states in 1998 when franchising was the buzzword there and Gaurav dreamed of seeing similar happenings in India. The dream turned into a reality in 1999 when he formed his own company. Today widely known for causing the franchise revolution in India, He is the visionary force behind the India’s largest integrated franchise and retail solution company Franchise India Holdings Limited, a banner that encompasses a variety of domestic and international portfolio of franchise and retail companies apart from offering Franchise and Retail consulting. Under Guarav’s visionary leadership, Franchise India has moved from strength to strength and is well acknowledged for revolutionizing the way companies plan the course of their Business Development.

He proclaims that while he has done several Businesses, some have been hugely successful and some not so successful but the learning’s he has acquired from each Business combined with a larger understanding of several industries has been tremendous and the remarkable knowledge he has gained along the way helped him to decide to share what he’s learned and has been the instigator for the birth of his consulting career. He has interacted with over 25000 budding entrepreneurs with a focus on helping them select and meet the challenges of start-ups Business. His forte of consulting success has largely been in creating a win-win partnership between a channels and large organizations. He has consulted over 250 Large and small corporations in making informed decisions about their Business Growth including Gitanjali Group, Emami, Videocon, Landmark Group, Tata Steel, Unilever India, Levis,Welspun amongst others. He considers himself to be very fortunate to be able to work on a number of exciting projects worldwide and put into practice his passion for aiding startups and large Businesses.

Shiv Khera, the noteworthy motivational speaker of India once dubbed him as “Father of Indian franchising” in 2004 at one of India’s biggest franchise forum and it is the title which has remained with him ever since.

Gaurav is widely admired for his non-conformist operating style, confrontational style of management and aggressive marketing business tactics. He has got several accomplishments to his name: none of them have come the conventional way. Today he has also been retained by several Private equity funds with an interest to invest in Business Projects.

Gaurav has also chaired several Global Business Forums on Franchising and Retail. He is often quoted by the press in Leading Dailies and Business Journals. He has guest starred on several television shows on entrepreneurship. He is also the Author of Bestseller book in franchising "The Science of Reproducing Success" ,in which he has culled his years of experience in franchising, has a proved a milestone in his illustrative career.