Published By: Sayan Paul

Birthday Special: Understanding Mukesh Ambani's Success Mantra - What Every Entrepreneur Can Learn

Building a successful empire takes vision, strategy, and smart moves—and Mukesh Ambani has mastered them all to become a global business force.

Mukesh Ambani didn't have to start everything from scratch. Yes, he inherited a strong foundation, thanks to his father Dhirubhai Ambani’s legacy. However, let’s get one thing straight: having resources is not the same as building success. Plenty of people are handed opportunities, but not everyone knows how to turn them into an empire. Mukesh not only did that successfully but also ran miles ahead with it. And instead of just sitting on wealth, he is constantly building, expanding, and reshaping the industry. He not only knows how to play the game but also knows how to rewrite its rules. 

So, love him or not, you can’t ignore him. He is one of those rare business minds who sees the big picture before others do—and then makes it happen. Today, as he celebrates another milestone birthday (turns 68), it’s the perfect time to look at the 'mantras' that drive his success. What can entrepreneurs—big or small—learn from him? Quite a lot, actually.

It's Never About the Money, But About the Mission

For someone tagged as the "richest person in Asia and 9th richest in the world", you'd expect money to be their primary motivator. However, it's different with Mukesh Ambani. And honestly, being born into wealth, chasing money wasn’t exactly thrilling for him. In an interview with India Today, he shared, "Money means nothing to me, really. My father said it very well. He said that if you start anything just to make money, you are a fool because you will never make any money or be a billionaire. If you start with a purpose and if your purpose is that you want to be the best in the world, you want to do what nobody else has done, then money is a by-product and that by-product should never be important."

Take the launch of Jio in 2016. India’s mobile internet scene was a mess—people were paying high for patchy 3G, and 4G felt like a luxury. Ambani saw something others didn’t. Instead of selling Jio like a product, he made it a revolution. For months, he gave it away for free.

 

(Credit: ANI)

And while competitors laughed and bled profits, he was changing user behavior—making Indians expect unlimited data, speed, and connection. By the time charges kicked in, Jio had already become a habit. By the end of 2019, over 370 million people were hooked.

 

(Credit: CNBC-TV18)

That wasn’t a telecom gamble. That was a psychological masterstroke. And the lesson is that one should always chase impact. Money will hitch a ride eventually.

Make a Habit First - Business Comes Later

Undoubtedly, this is Ambani’s secret sauce—and it’s wild how often he has used it.

With Jio, he didn’t ask customers to buy anything at first. He changed what they expected from mobile service. He built the habit and then built the business. That habit now pays Reliance over Rs 1,000 crore in profit per quarter from Jio alone.

 

(Credit: NDTV)

He pulled a similar move with Reliance Retail. Long before big names like Amazon were serious about grocery delivery, Ambani was quietly building Reliance Fresh outlets across Tier-2 and Tier-3 Indian cities. People started seeing grocery items, electronics, and fashion under one roof—affordable, accessible, and reliable.

Over time, buying from Reliance became a routine. By 2023, Reliance Retail was raking in over Rs 2.6 lakh crore in revenue, making it India’s largest retailer.

The takeaway? Well, if you want to build a business, first make yourself a daily habit.

Think Not Just Big—Think Decade-Sized

While most CEOs plan for quarterly profits, Ambani plans for decades. Let's take a trip back to the early 2000s. When people still thought broadband was futuristic, he was busy laying over 250,000 km of fiber optic cable across India. Everyone said he was mad. Even some inside Reliance were skeptical.

But two decades later, that very infrastructure became the backbone of Jio’s network. And now, that same network is powering his digital dreams—Jio Cinema, JioMart, Jio Financial Services—the whole Jio ecosystem runs on what he built when no one was looking.

See, contrary to what people say, this isn’t luck. This is long-game thinking. And that is what sets Ambani apart.

Failed? Good. Now Get Up Smarter

Let’s drop the myth—Mukesh Ambani isn’t some business sorcerer who turns everything to gold (obviously, he is no God). He has failed, fumbled, and had his share of losses. But every single time, he’s gotten back up—smarter, wiser, and tougher. And that’s not just to recover, but to reclaim his dominance.

Back in the ’80s, his polyester plant was shut down for some technical issues. That would be a nightmare for others. For Ambani, it was just a learning. He fixed it, reworked the system, and came back stronger.

His textile venture struggled to scale. So what did he do? Instead of staying stuck, he went upstream—into petrochemicals and refining. That pivot turned Reliance into a global energy giant.

And Reliance Infocomm, handed to Anil post-split, collapsed under pressure. People thought Mukesh would never touch telecom again. But they were all wrong. He launched Jio and gave India 4G. The rest is digital history.

Because Ambani believes that failing isn’t the opposite of success; it’s part of it. So, if you're down right now, good. That means you're getting somewhere. Now rise—just like him.

Build a Team That Feels It’s Their Mission Too

You cannot run an empire alone. Ambani doesn’t even try to. He hires the best minds to turn his dreams into reality.

When launching Jio, he brought in top engineers, designers, and marketers from all across the globe. And it's not just fat paychecks that he gives to his employees. He says, "Do your job. I've got your back."

Speaking about the same, he once said in an interview: “The real resource of any company is people. Money is secondary.” And this is visible even in how he’s passing the torch. His children—Isha, Akash, and Anant—are being mentored, tested, and tasked with carving out their own legacy. 

 

(Credit: Business Insider India)

So, whether you're running a corner shop or a unicorn startup, make sure to surround yourself with people who believe in the mission as much as you do.

Stay Madly, Delusionally Optimistic

If Mukesh Ambani had listened to the naysayers, Jio wouldn’t exist. Retail would still be kirana-only. Green energy would still be a pipe dream. India wouldn’t have digital data at dirt-cheap rates.

The point is that Ambani believes optimism is the strategy. In his words, “Entrepreneurs are by nature optimists. You have to be. Without that, you can't change the world.”

So yes, be grounded. But also be mad enough to think you can pull off the impossible. That’s how Ambani built his empire—not from greed, not from ego, but from an unshakable belief that this can be better.

You don’t really need a billion dollars to think like Mukesh Ambani. You need vision. You need guts. You need the patience to build before you earn, and the courage to impact before you count profits. And it's not just about entrepreneurs. Whether you're a student, or someone just trying to make sense of their next big step—take a page from Ambani’s book.