Struggles in life change a person. They become calm, reserved and more aware of reality. Entrepreneurs integrate themselves into a pathway of resilience where discipline and proactive efforts always lead to success. A society respects a person, who has built a life for themselves out of the sheer commitment they devoted towards work. Today, we collaborated with Mekala Ayyappa, who did not have the glitz and glamor of any sort of support, but a perception to come up from a minimum wage laborer to business tycoon in the construction and Shuttering industry.
Mekala Ayyappa’s work inspires several upcoming entrepreneurs. He is a person who built his success with his bare hands when started as a minimum-wage laborer. Mekala Ayyappa comes from a family of farmers. With a large family, Mekala Ayyappa has seen times of high financial struggles and debts. He shifted to the city back in 1985 and started working as a daily wage worker. When we say struggle, we felt it when Mekala Ayyappa shared his days sleeping on the road due to lack of shelter. Throughout this time, Mekala Ayyappa realized that he needs to change this situation as he will not let his children lead such a life of monetary difficulty. Mekala Ayyappa worked as a daily wage laborer for about 11 years before he started his own business in the construction industry as a shuttering contractor.
Coming from such hardships, Mekala Ayyappa has evolved to be a phenomenal leader. His educational journey evokes feats of courage and brilliance as he used to attend night school at his village and learned basic education in his mother tongue. Mekala Ayyappa founded BJ Contractor in 1996 and today it is one of the largest construction companies in Telangana with about 3,000 workers. BJ Contractor, under the leadership of Mekala Ayyappa, has an area of 8.0 lakhs Sft. M.S. Centering Material and an area of 4.0 lakhs Sft. Plywood Shuttering Material.
Mekala Ayyappa, during his business growth phase, woke at 4:00 a.m. and reached the project site by 5:30 a.m. He along with his workers worked till 7:00 p.m. which could sometimes extend to about 9:00 p.m. Mekala Ayyappa finally reached home at 10:00 p.m. and sacrificed a lot of time with his family. He did this only to give a good life for his wife and loving children. Throughout the career of Mekala Ayyappa, his wife has been a constant support system for him. She used to prepare food for Mekala Ayyappa by 5:00 a.m. and used to wait for her husband for dinner. At times, the neighbors asked his wife whether she has a husband or not as they could not get to see Mekala Ayyappa during the daytime. Little did they know the pain and hardships of living on a roadside.
Within 3 years of BJ Contractor getting founded, Mekala Ayyappa cleared all financial debts and started to embrace the joy he gave to his family of 8 siblings. Mekala Ayyappa and his wife have 2 sons and a daughter. Their elder son has done Masters in engineering (Structural engineering), their daughter has Bachelors in Engineering in Information Technology and their younger son has done Masters in Architecture. As he is from a family of farmers, Mekala Ayyappa nowadays invests time in farming, where he grows organic vegetables for his family. He is getting more involved in giving his family a healthy life, where they should not have to consume vegetables from the market that could have harmful pesticides and chemicals.
Being one of the leading Contractors in Hyderabad, BJ Contractor has completed projects like hospitals, theaters, commercial buildings and residential buildings in Hyderabad. Some of the reputed clients of Mekala Ayyappa are NVR Construction, Omsree Builders and developers, Vasavi constructions, Yashoda Hospitals and many others.
The company started with just 10 workers in 1996. In 1996-2001, there were 100 workers and around 5,000 Square feet of Shuttering Area. By 2005, they grew to 250 workers and around 75,000 Square Feet of Shuttering Area, by 2010, about 1200 workers and 4,00,000.00 Square Feet of Shuttering Area, by 2023, there were about 2800 workers and 10,00,000 Square Feet of Shuttering Area and by 2024, BJ Contractor is working with about 3,000 workers and 12,00,000 Square Feet of Shuttering Area. The company has executed 300 projects in Telangana, 10 projects in Andhra Pradesh and 4 Projects in Chennai. They have been awarded as the Best RCC Structure Firm in Telangana state. Some of the ongoing projects of Mekala Ayyappa and BJ Contractor are KIMS Hospital at Kondapur consisting of 4 Cellars + Stilt + 18 Upper Floors, Vasavi Nandanam Apartments at Suchitra (2 Cellars + Stilt + 10 Upper Floors) consisting of 420 Flats, Sita Exotica Apartments at Suchitra Suchitra (2 Cellars + Stilt + 10 Upper Floors), consisting of 350 Flats, Mallareddy Hospital at Sooraram, consisting of 98,000.00 sft per each Slab and many others. Some of the completed projects of Mekala Ayyappa and BJ Contractor are TNR Estates at Suchitra X Roads, which has both commercial and residential blocks. The commercial building consists of 10 theaters and commercial spaces. The Lakshmi Royal Homes at Chennai consisting of 300 flats is another great project followed by Omsree Delight at Kowkur consisting of 150 flats (2 Blocks), Omsree Constructions at Yapral (Completed 4 projects with each project consisting of 4-5 blocks) and several others. When we asked Mekala Ayyappa about his take on success, he said, “Work hard to achieve your goals. Luck is not for everyone.”
