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Learning outcomes The case discussion will help the participants figure out ways the entrepreneur could handle problems such as labour shortage, demonetisation and customer retention and find possible strategies to overcome them. Case overview/synopsis MVR Leathers is a small-scale leather-processing unit located in Chennai. MVR was the brainchild of Venkat Raj, who started his career in 1982 as a casual labourer in an unrelated domain. His unwavering persistence helped him to become an independent entrepreneur by 2008. In achieving his dream to become an entrepreneur, Raj encountered many challenges and an equal number of new opportunities. Each time he faced a challenge, he met a new set of people who helped him. However, at times, the same people who had helped him once might throw him out of the scene. In brief, his struggle is never-ending. He keeps fighting to come back and find new avenues to success. A different set of challenges surfaced as he took charge of his firm as a sole owner. Once again, he countered those challenges with courage and grit. In doing so, he made full use of his experience. Complexity academic level The case can be used for discussions at the executive, postgraduate and undergraduate levels. Academic courses that address topics such as entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs, small-firm strategies, business environments, leather industry, leadership, human resource management and entrepreneurial journeys can use the case for classroom learning. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

India’s leather industry is an interesting case for a value chain (VC) that has unorganised and organised firms. To understand VC’s upstream, we examine a recent database on unorganised enterprises in the leather industry. First, we assess the determinants of two outcomes: value added and surplus. Second, we gauge if technology impacts employment. We use a multi-database and multi-method approach. Our analysis is based on National Sample Survey’s (NSS) 73rd Round on unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises. To understand the downstream of value-added value chain functions, capacity utilisation, last-mile delivery, product and process innovation, and orientation towards export, we use the World Bank Enterprise survey (2014). While confirming the stylised fact of the direct relationship between the firm’s resources and performance, the study emphasises the pivotal role of human capital in a firm’s performance, valid for both VC streams.